The Mothman's Photographer III: Meetings with Remarkable Witnesses Touched by Interdimensional Entities, Archetypal Avatars, and the Eerie Phenomenon Known Infamously as "Mothman" [Paperback]

Andrew Colvin (Author), Nick Redfern (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 31, 2008

Spurred in 2001 by the realization that the 9/11 attacks were accurately predicted - in 1967 - by a friend who was seeing Mothman, Seattle artist Andrew Colvin began filming a reality series, "The Mothman's Photographer," documenting his experiences growing up in Mound, West Virginia.

"The Mothman's Photographer III" is a book of oral history based on the second half of that series, where Colvin travels afield in search of Mothman-related avatars like Thunderbird, Bigfoot, and Garuda. As the synchronicities pile up, Colvin shocks listeners to one of America's top conspiracy shows, The Grassy Knoll, by explaining that Mothman seems to have been worshipped widely in the ancient past, perhaps within the context of a single, worldwide religion. Mothman is not a demon, but an avenging angel - an archetypal protector deity sending dreams, visions, and prophecies to psychically enhanced experiencers.

By looking at the evidence found in historical texts, artwork, and philosophical and religious traditions from other countries, Colvin demonstrates that the birdman has always been one of the most revered spiritual entities, especially in times of crisis. In his interviews and encounters with experiencers, Colvin uniquely blends historical research, parapolitical theory, and spiritual wisdom to reveal valuable techniques for increasing one’s happiness, creativity, and self-knowledge.

This is the revised, indexed, and corrected second edition (2012), featuring an insightful foreword by noted paranormal researcher Nick Redfern. The Mothman's Photographer III also includes interviews with a wide range of artists, researchers, and experiencers, including David Lynch, Walter Bowart, John Veltheim, Eugenia Macer-Story, Jim Woodring, Adam Gorightly, and Charles Manson.

"One of the most compelling takes on Mothman..." -Greg Bishop, Radio Misterioso

"Interesting and complex..." -Jim Moseley, Saucer Smear

"Alluring, mysterious, dizzying... Immense..." -Keith Hansen, The Grassy Knoll

"Intelligent... Sensitive... Uniquely genuine..." -Eugenia Macer Story, The Magick Mirror

"Riveting, unusual, and thought-provoking..." -Nick Redfern, UFO Mystic

"Carries John Keel's torch into the 21st Century..." -Bill Darmon

"The premiere voice on Mothman..." -Phil Reynolds, Invisible College Press

"An awesome work..." -Joan D'Arc, Paranoia Magazine

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

In the 1960s, on a West Virginia backroad, Andy Colvin and his family and friends had encounters with the entity popularly known as "Mothman." Following those encounters, Colvin found that he could draw, sing, and take pictures, and that he had a photographic memory. Colvin was recognized as a prodigy, and was eventually offered a National Merit scholarship to Harvard University.

While attending graduate school at the Univ. of Texas at Austin, Colvin helped found U.T.'s celebrated Transmedia Dept. as well as the Austin Film Society, an organization now credited with bringing commercial filmmaking to Texas. In 1985, Colvin used his tuition grant money to purchase the only 8mm camcorder then available, becoming the first filmmaker in Austin to shoot in the new format. His ensuing documentation of the lives of Austin "slackers" influenced the seminal cult hit that defined Generation X, "Slacker" - a project for which Colvin helped raise funds and equipment. Colvin's band, Ed Hall, appeared in the film and on the soundtrack.

Following graduate school, Colvin worked on Hollywood films, toured with his experimental band, The Interdimensional Vortex League (once named America's "most underground band" by Europe's hip arts magazine, "Blitz"), and began making small, ethnographic documentaries about unusual tribes, subcultures, and personalities.

Colvin's work has been seen or heard in all 50 states, and in several foreign countries. His writing has appeared in various magazines, including Paranoia, Inside the Grassy Knoll, The Stranger, and D'Art, the arts journal for the Church of the Subgenius. Colvin's unique career has been studded with various mind-blowing, synchronistic events, some of which allowed him to study with, or work with, some of the greatest creative minds of the 20th Century, including Nam June Paik, Lee Friedlander, Keith Haring, Dennis Hopper, David Lynch, Robert Anton Wilson, Laurie Anderson, Daniel Johnston, Vito Acconci, Bruce Bickford, and the Butthole Surfers.

Product Details

• Paperback: 594 pages
• Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (December 31, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1419652435
• ISBN-13: 978-1419652431
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,068,261 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Andy Colvin is a West Coast artist, photographer, and writer who has been called "his generation's Charles Fort," due to his intensive documentation of synchronicities in relation to investigative research (i.e., "synchromysticism" or "synchroconspiracy"). Colvin's often controversial theories have made him a popular speaker on venues like Coast to Coast AM, The Paracast, and PBS, and have gained him a dedicated following. Colvin currently co-hosts the popular conspiracy show, "That Was the Month That Wasn't," which examines how the media blends stories to subconsciously "manufacture consent" in the public mind. Following in the footsteps of Fortean author John A. Keel, Colvin has blazed a 21st Century trail of investigation into mysteries that have plagued mankind for centuries, such as UFOs, creature entities, magic, and the creative workings of the human mind. Colvin's approach is unique in that it blends a background of genuine paranormal experience with decades of research into political science, history, media behavior, and social psychology. His understanding of art and symbology has, at times, allowed Colvin to connect dots that previously escaped attention.

In the 1960s, on a West Virginia backroad, Colvin's neighborhood was hit by a series of mysterious phenomena, such as exotic flying craft, Men in Black, and the intriguing entity now known as "Mothman." Following these encounters, Colvin found that he could draw, sing, and take pictures, and that he had a photographic memory. He was recognized as a prodigy, and was eventually offered a scholarship to Harvard University. While in college, Colvin broke ground in several then-new disciplines, such as guerilla art, performance art, and "shamanic conceptual" art. In the early 1980s, Colvin made a splash in the New York art world by taking on the persona of "Whiz," a practitioner of "collaborative art." This unique approach allowed Colvin to actually work in some manner with several notable artists.

While attending graduate school at the Univ. of Texas at Austin, Colvin helped found U.T.'s celebrated Transmedia Dept. as well as the Austin Film Society, an organization now credited with bringing commercial filmmaking to Texas. In 1985, Colvin used his tuition grant money to purchase the only 8mm camcorder then available in town, becoming the first filmmaker in Austin to shoot in the new format. His ensuing documentation of the lives of local "slackers" influenced the seminal cult hit that defined Generation-X, "Slacker" - a project for which Colvin helped raise funds and equipment. Colvin's band, "Ed Hall," appeared in the film and on the soundtrack.

Following graduate school, Colvin worked on Hollywood films, toured with his experimental troupe, The Interdimensional Vortex League (once named America's "most underground band" by Europe's hip arts magazine, Blitz), and began making small, ethnographic documentaries about unusual tribes, subcultures, and personalities. His 25-year study of modern Texans, "Multislack," is slated for production in 2012.

Colvin's work has been seen or heard in all 50 states, and in several foreign countries. His writing has appeared in various magazines, including Paranoia, Inside the Grassy Knoll, The Stranger, and D'Art, the arts journal for the Church of the Subgenius. Colvin's unique career has been studded with various mind-blowing, synchronistic events, some of which allowed him to study with, or work with, some of the greatest creative minds of the 20th Century, including Nam June Paik, Lee Friedlander, Keith Haring, Dennis Hopper, David Lynch, Robert Anton Wilson, Laurie Anderson, Daniel Johnston, Vito Acconci, Bruce Bickford, and the Butthole Surfers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Book Is Like A Visit With An 'Old Friend', October 18, 2010

By 

Walter B. Bosley (CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mothman's Photographer III: Meetings with Remarkable Witnesses Touched by Interdimensional Entities, Archetypal Avatars, and the Eerie Phenomenon Known Infamously as "Mothman" (Paperback)

I first met Andy Colvin on the Radio Misterioso Show when he was the guest this past summer. It was one of those nights when I knew I didn't want to miss being there, based on what little I heard from Greg Bishop. All I knew was that Andy had done some fairly extensive work on the Mothman topic and, having spent early childhood in Mineral Wells, West Virginia, during some of the actual events (and having returned there for a couple of years in the mid 1970s), I was quite intrigued.
For me, the Mothman saga mostly means Indrid Cold. In the decade following the events centered around (but by no means limited to) Point Pleasant, Indrid Cold was very much a bogeyman used by the adults to keep the kids coming home by sundown. I was just young enough to know I never wanted to be caught in the woods after dark, for the ever present shadow of Indrid Cold stood over the area where we lived, allegedly within visual distance of where Woody Dernberger first encountered the strange man from Lanulos. I recall my dad and the other adults speaking of Woody in amused terms, yet the conversation always seemed to meander into a strange place, primarily a mood of silent regard for things indescribable. This, of course, made it all the more memorable to my imaginative young mind.
`Mister Cold', as the elder adults referred to him (with eyes agleam and a cautionary tone), was more mysterious than The Shadow. He was an outline, a murky figure who was not a monster but who did not belong here. Indrid Cold was the only figure of terror in my life who also fascinated me, probably because there was no real description of him and the idea of being taken to Lanulos, a place where people lived naked (which naturally included women...)( I was 12 ) was not in itself like the fiery pit of Hell. What was potentially spooky about Mister Cold was the common childhood fear of being abducted which, in spite of the harmless analysis of a fate among naked ladies on another planet, brought with it something my young mind could not put a word on but I felt was not so benevolent.
Mister Cold became much scarier after we returned to California and I got older and read more about him and Mothman. Indrid Cold started to take shape with the more hard to explain experiences I began to have myself. With every strange dream and every startling step through the veil of reality, my curiosity to understand the unknown led me to the literature of the fantastic accounts of others who spoke of `people' from alternate dimensions. As I learned more details about what I had always been taught were happy little folk like leprechauns and fairies, I began to see how the lore had been distorted, mostly to minimize that helpless feeling most adults do not wish to entertain. The `others', whom some call The Gentry, were not originally just harmless little Christmas pixies. They were quite frightening and they often abducted children in their cold arms, secreting them away to a dark and horrible underworld, as implied by the one poem that scared me my entire childhood, The Erl King. That was when I began to see Mister Cold as something a tad more sinister than an extraterrestrial Santa Claus. How close had I come on many twilight evenings to being stolen away by his `pale daughters'?
After many years of high strangeness that invaded my life, I developed a healthy respect for Indrid Cold as a sort of gatekeeper or messenger from some other side. You might not want to meet Mister Cold, but if you did you knew it was his choice. My impression of Cold had expanded, yet I still had no clearer picture of him many years later. That is, until I saw the film of John Keel's book, The Mothman Prophecies. Many people are lukewarm on this film, many simply do not like it at all. For me, it is far too personal to my life to care what others think of it. I found this film to tell its story with just the same measure of mystical dread and wonder as I experienced the saga in childhood and youth. The film did two things for me: It captured the indescribable essence of Mister Cold and it provided me with the most definable glimpse yet of what he really may be. I now think I know where Indrid Cold comes from, and the best way I can tell you is to suggest you watch the scenes with Alan Bates when Richard Gere's `John Keel' character goes to him for his closer glimpse.
And yet, still I fail to put a face on Indrid Cold.
Why do I gravitate to the bogeyman of the lore when the very intriguing Mothman is far more prevalent? I guess it's because the giant bird creature is a little more obviously an attention getter, but Indrid Cold is the one who watches from afar and selects his moment to follow up on things. Mister Cold is the one who knocks on your door late at night, or taps you gently on the shoulder when you're alone in the woods. Mister Cold is not the shocking Mothman with the big wings and the blazing red eyes; he is instead the soft spoken man on the bench next to you in the park at sunset, whose face you can't quite recall but whose words you never forget. You may wonder where Mothman comes from, but you wonder who sent Indrid Cold, and somehow that has always been a bit creepier to me.
Perhaps Mister Cold ushers Mothman into this world like some falconer of the gods. As scary as Mothman and Mister Cold can be, could they be hunting something darker than themselves?
Now, some years after the film of Keel's book, I have encountered the next level of examination of the topic. As familiar as I think I am with the lore, the works of Andy Colvin pull back yet another veil in the mystery school of the Americas that is the Mothman saga. Until I had met Andy and read his work, I had no idea of the scope of this shared experience. Mothman gets around, it would seem. Others have seen him, coming away with the same questions, and questions they never dreamed of have taken root in their psyches. I am not so sure I'd want to encounter Mothman. I don't know if I have never met or felt the presence of Indrid Cold. Perhaps Andy knows the answer to that.
I do know one thing. After reading Andy's extensive and poetic look at the Mothman phenomena, I am reminded of a popular figure of speech made so in the spirit of wishful thinking. Only now, it's not so comforting as it used to seem...`We are not alone...'