Perhaps one of the most publicized beings that came around prior to a disaster was The Mothman. Point Pleasant, West Virginia was the home of a bridge collapse in 1967 that killed 46 people. In the year prior to the collapse, people in the area began seeing a strange being called The Mothman.
Eyewitness accounts said the being was 7 feet tall with red eyes and could fly. Skeptics said that the creature actually matches descriptions of the Sandhill Crane and is most likely what they saw. While there were not many reported sighting of the The Mothman after the bridge collapse, there is evidence that others have continued to the see being through the years.
The Mothman has become a part of the popular culture and folklore of the area and spawned festivals and even a couple of movies. There is debate on whether The Mothman is a supernatural creature, cryptozoological creature, alien or hoax. It was brought into the main stream in the 1970s with the publication of The Mothman Prophecies and again in 2002 with the release of a movie based on the book.
The debate continues 40 years after the original sightings and it doesn't look like a consensus on creature is coming anytime soon.