Unravelling the mystery of the Chicago Mothman: Experts reveal the truth behind the creepy red-eyed flying monster - as Netflix releases trailer for Unsolved Mysteries

From the Loch Ness monster to Bigfoot and the Abominable Snowman, the world is full of many legendary 'creatures' never proven to exist. 

Now, a new series of Netflix's 'Unexplained Mysteries' is set to look at one of the most terrifying 'cryptids' of all – the Chicago Mothman. 

Allegedly witnessed in Chicago and Point Pleasant, West Virginia, the horrifying figure is described as a 'human with wings' and massive glowing red eyes.  

Linked to fatal bridge collapses, it's the subject of a 2002 film starring Richard Gere and Laura Linney – but what could the monster actually be?

MailOnline spoke to an academic and a 'cryptozoologist' – someone in the outlandish pseudoscientific field dedicated to finding such fantastical beasts – to find out the truth behind the Chicago Mothman. 

Allegedly witnessed in Chicago and Point Pleasant, West Virginia , the horrifying figure is described as a 'human with wings' and massive glowing red eyes (artist's impression)

Episode five of the new Netflix series – which arrives on July 31 – focuses on the Chicago Mothman. 

In a description for the episode, Netflix says: 'Amid eerie sightings of a tall, winged humanoid creature with red eyes, paranormal investigators explore the Mothman's seeming link to major disasters.' 

Richard Freeman is zoological director of the Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ), an eccentric cryptozoology organisation that relies on public donations to carry out 'extensive research into mystery animals' around the world. 

Mr Freeman told MailOnline that Mothman is a 'paranormal manifestation' – 'not a flesh and blood creature but a supernatural entity'.

But Dr Jason Gilchrist, an ecologist and lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University, said he always believes in 'rational over irrational explanations' when it comes to myths like this. 

'Sightings and reports may well fall into the "expectant attention" bracket – the psychological effect where people see what they want or expect to see where something is difficult to see with resolution,' Dr Gilchrist told MailOnline. 

People claiming to see the Mothman may have actually misidentified a real animal, according to the academic.  

A sandhill crane – a large bird found throughout North America with red markings around its eyes – may be 'the most likely explanation'. 

Netflix says: 'Amid eerie sightings of a tall, winged humanoid creature with red eyes, paranormal investigators explore the Mothman's seeming link to major disasters' 

MailOnline spoke to an academic and a 'cryptozoologist' - someone in the outlandish pseudoscientific field dedicated to finding such fantastical beasts - to find out the truth behind the Chicago Mothman (artist's impression)

Dr Jason Gilchrist, an ecologist at Edinburgh Napier University, thinks Mothman 'witnesses' may have seen a sandhill crane - a large bird found throughout North America with red markings around its eyes (pictured)

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'Alternative explanations include hallucination or consciously constructed story for attention,' Dr Gilchrist added. 

'Deliberate fabrications and hoaxes are also possible.' 

The Mothman phenomenon dates back nearly 60 years ago to Point Pleasant, a small city in West Virginia, close to the border with Ohio. 

In November 1966, two couples spotted the 'man-sized, bird-like creature' in the city at around midnight (and they insisted they hadn't been drinking). 

They told the Point Pleasant Register that the figure was about 'six or seven feet tall' with a wingspan of 10 feet and red eyes about two inches in diameter. 

Described as like 'a man with wings' it was airborne, flying at 'about 100 miles an hour' and even following them in their car along Route 62. 

Following the initial newspaper report, more people in the Point Pleasant area reported seeing it too, including two fireman who described is as a 'large bird with red eyes'.

When the city's Silver Bridge collapsed in December 1967, killing 46 people, locals were connecting the event with the monster. 

More recently, the creature has been allegedly spotted in Chicago, with 55 sightings in the city in 2017 alone, according to reports. 

The Mothman was allegedly first seen in Point Pleasant, West Virginia in the 1960s but more recent sightings have occurred in Chicago, Illinois 

When Point Pleasant's Silver Bridge collapsed in December 1967, killing 46 people, locals were connecting the event with the monster

Author John Keel published his 1975 novel 'The Mothman Prophecies', which was adapted into a 2002 film starring Richard Gere and Laura Linney (pictured) 

Now more than half a century later Point Pleasant hold an annual Mothman festival featuring tours, films and music, helping boost tourism in the city. 

'With all the attention and visitors and the Mothman festival, there are now economic reasons for the myth to be perpetuated, as with the Loch Ness Monster,' said Dr Gilchrist.  

According to the researcher, the mystery of cryptids such as Nessie, Bigfoot, Mothman and the Abominable Snowman are 'self-perpetuating'. 

'People want to see or find something rare or special – it's a part of human nature,' he told MailOnline. 

'Unsolved Mysteries: Volume 4' is released to Netflix on July 31.