"THE BLACKBIRD OF CHERNOBYL"
(photo posted by CrahingCymbal, and story
read from the Creepypasta Wiki)
Beginning in early April 1986 the people in
and around the little known Chernobyl Nuclear
Power Plant began to experience a series of
strange events revolving around sightings
of a mysterious creature described as a large,
dark, and mutated man with gigantic wings
and piercing red eyes.
People affected by this phenomena experienced
horrific nightmares, threatening phone calls
and first hand encounters with the winged
beast which became known as the Black Bird
of Chernobyl.
Reports of these strange happening continued
to increase until the morning of April 26,
1986, when at 1:23 am, reactor 4 of the Chernobyl
Nuclear Power Plant suffered a catastrophic
steam explosion that resulted in a fire which
caused a series of additional explosions followed
by a nuclear meltdown.
The power plant, located near Pripyat, Ukraine,
Soviet Union, spewed a plume of radioactive
fallout which drifted over parts of the Western
Soviet Union, Eastern and Western Europe,
Scandinavia, the UK, Ireland and eastern North
America.
Large areas of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia
were badly contaminated, resulting in the
evacuation and resettlement of over 336,000
people.
The Chernobyl Disaster, as the incident was
dubbed, is considered the worst accident ever
in the history of nuclear power.
Following the meltdown, and subsequent explosions
and fires, Soviet helicopters were dispatched
to the scene, equipped with special fire fighting
gear.
These helicopters circled the plant dropping
clay, sand, lead and other extinguishing chemicals
on to the burning facility.
Most of the fire was put out by 5 am with
the fire burning with in reactor 4 continuing
to blaze for several hours after.
The firefighters who responded were unaware
of the nature of the fire, assuming that it
was simply an electrical fire, and received
massive overdoses of radiation leading to
many of their deaths, including Lieutenant
Vladimir Pravik, who died on May 9, 1986.
The workers who survived the initial blast
and fire, but would later die of radiation
poisoning, claimed to have witnessed what
has been described as a large black, bird
like creature, with a 20 foot wingspan, gliding
through the swirling plumes of irradiated
smoke pouring from the reactor.
No further sightings of the Black Bird of
Chernobyl were reported after the Chernobyl
Disaster, leaving researchers to speculate
just what haunted the workers of the plant
during the days leading up to the disaster.
The most commonly accepted theory suggests
that the Black Bird of Chernobyl may have
been the same creature spotted in Point Pleasant,
West Virginia leading up to the collapse of
the Silver Bridge on December 15, 1968.
Investigators have suggested that the appearance
of this creature is an omen of disasters to
come in the area in which it shows itself.
The physical description of both the Black
Bird of Chernobyl and the Mothman, the creature
sighted in West Virginia, are very similar,
and the reports of nightmares and threatening
phone calls leading up to these disasters
are shared in both cases.
A second, less accepted theory, suggests that
the Black Bird of Chernobyl was nothing more
than the misidentification of the black stork,
an endangered species endemic to southern
Eurasia.
The black stork stands nearly 3 feet tall
and has a wing span of nearly 6 feet.
This theory however fails to take into account
the menacing phone calls and the disturbing
nightmares.
Also the physical description given by the
majority of eyewitnesses who actually saw
the Black Bird of Chernobyl does not in anyway
match the physical appearance of the Black
Stork.
Both the Black Bird of Chernobyl and the Mothman
have not been sighted since their respective
disasters, leaving us with many unanswered
questions.
All we can do is wait for the beast to show
itself again and give us a chance to figure
out just what it may be, unfortunately it
would appear that for this creature to show
up again we will have to anticipate some form
of disaster in the area it has selected to
appear.
