The Owlman of Mawnan
Issue #14: February 1980
Since 1976, witnesses near a small Cornish church have reported encounters with a creature that defies conventional explanation: a large, owl-like humanoid with glowing red eyes. The Owlman of Mawnan, as it has become known, represents one of the most intriguing cryptid cases in recent British history, with striking parallels to the American Mothman phenomenon.
The First Sighting
On 17 April 1976, a family from Lancaster was holidaying near Mawnan Smith, a village on the Helford estuary in Cornwall. The father had been walking through the wooded grounds near Mawnan Old Church when his two daughters, aged twelve and nine, became visibly distressed.
Both girls described seeing a creature hovering above the church tower: human-sized, covered in feathers, with enormous wings and blazing red eyes. The father asked the older girl to draw what she had seen. The resulting sketch showed a figure with a humanoid body, pointed ears, and vast wings extending from its back.
The family cut their holiday short and returned to Lancaster that evening.
Subsequent Encounters
The creature reappeared three months later. On 3 July 1976, two fourteen-year-old girls camping in the woods near the church heard a hissing sound above them. Looking up, they saw something standing on a thick branch, staring down at them. They described it as “like a big owl with pointed ears and red eyes,” standing as tall as a man.
The following day, a holidaymaker identified only as Jane sent a letter describing her own encounter. “It was like a big owl with pointed ears, as big as a man,” she wrote. “The eyes were red and glowing. It had large wings with grey feathers. The creature stared at us and then rose straight up into the air and flew off.”
Further sightings were reported in 1978, with witnesses again describing the same creature near Mawnan Old Church.
The Pattern
Analysis of the sightings reveals consistent details:
All witnesses describe a creature of human proportions, far larger than any British owl species. The pointed ears are particularly distinctive, resembling neither owl nor any known animal. The eyes are invariably described as red and luminous, appearing to emit their own light. The creature’s behaviour includes hovering with uncanny stillness before departing with powerful wingbeats.
All sightings cluster around Mawnan Old Church, a 13th-century building set in dense woodland. The concentration suggests the creature, whatever it may be, is bound to this specific location.
The Mothman Parallel
The similarities to the Mothman of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, are striking. Between 1966 and 1967, witnesses in Point Pleasant reported encounters with a large, winged, humanoid creature with glowing red eyes. Both entities share the same basic morphology and induced similar feelings of overwhelming dread in witnesses.
The Mothman sightings preceded the catastrophic collapse of the Silver Bridge in December 1967, leading some researchers to suggest the creature served as an omen of disaster. No comparable tragedy has struck Mawnan, but the parallel remains noteworthy.
Whether these creatures represent the same phenomenon manifesting in different locations, different members of an unknown species, or merely coincidental similarities in unrelated cases remains unknown.
Theories
Several explanations have been proposed for the Owlman sightings.
Sceptics suggest witnesses may have seen a large owl, perhaps an escaped eagle owl, and embellished their accounts through fear. This fails to explain the consistent details across multiple independent witnesses, particularly the pointed ears and humanoid proportions.
Some researchers note that Mawnan Old Church occupies a site that may have been sacred long before Christianity arrived in Cornwall. The churchyard lies within what appears to be an ancient earthwork, suggesting possible prehistoric ritual significance. If certain locations can serve as focal points for paranormal manifestation, Mawnan’s history makes it a plausible candidate.
The case remains open. Sightings continue to be reported, though many witnesses are reluctant to come forward for fear of ridicule. The Owlman of Mawnan, whatever it may be, has not departed.