Click image for a fuller size version. “The Curse Continues” © Charles Berlin 2007

The above original Cryptomundo exclusive cartoon* was created by Charles Berlin. It is made in the style of the “four-fold vision.”

But you ought to know that What is Grand is necessarily obscure to Weak
men. That which can be made Explicit to the Idiot is not worth my care.- William Blake, Letter to Dr. Trusler.

Update: I will be on Coast to Coast AM, briefly after 10 PM PDT, 1 AM EDT, tonight (August 10-11) talking a bit about this topic.

On Tuesday, August 7, 2007, Fortean Tim Chapman observed: “BBC1 is scheduled to show The Mothman Prophecies movie this Friday [August 10, 2007]. Given that UK channels tend to be rather peculiarly squeamish about fictional programming that might ’cause distress’ in the light of recent news events, what are the odds on a late schedule change?”

In the wake of the I-35W Bridge collapse, people have reacted strangely regarding Mothman and the Silver Bridge. Spoof.com floated a silly fake story that the US government used an acoustic gun named “Mothman” to bring down the Minnesota bridge. At least two news sites posted the hoax article as real. But truth is stranger than fiction, and continues to be.

Now comes firm confirmation that BBC 1 has changed their programming in the wake of the I-35W Bridge collapse. They have, indeed, pulled The Mothman Prophecies off the air, apparently because the film contains the recreation of the Silver Bridge collapse, although there is no official comment yet. The Mothman film is being replaced with the CIA melodrama, Bad Company, followed later by Scanners.

Guess what movie was shown right before the August 1st collapse? In an ironic twist that I discovered from backtracking the television listings for the week of July 29-Aug. 4, 2007, in the United States, the Mothman movie was screened shortly before the collapse of the I-35W Bridge.

On Sunday July 29th, 2007, the Turner Network TNT, showed The Mothman Prophecies, nationally. Their newspaper listings noted the title of the film, then this: “(2002) Richard Gere, Laura Linney. A reporter investigates strange phenomena in a small town. ‘PG-13′ LAV (CC) (150 min.) (TNT: Sun 3:30 am).”

The Silver Bridge scene is not mentioned in the description.

As remarked upon before, the first “media-acknowledged” Mothman sightings of November 15, 1966, occurred in the TNT area outside of Point Pleasant, West Virginia. The “TNT” coincidence is there, nothing more, nothing less.

Meanwhile, for those in the UK who won’t be about to see the film today, here again is the clip of the Silver Bridge scene from the movie:

*Regarding Charles Berlin’s “The Curse Continues,” any resemblance to Loren Coleman and his current research vehicle is anything but purely coincidental. The curse alluded to is the one detailed here, and sometimes discussed at Cryptomundo.

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For recent blogs in the wake of the I-35W Bridge event, see:

Bridge Collapse: Flashback to 1967;

Bridge Name Game: Reeves/McDaniel;

Beyond Mothman: I-35W Blues; and

The Mothman Prophecies: Silver Bridge Collapse.