A video claiming to spot the “largest living moth” in Kansas City and instead showing something human-sized is blowing up on TikTok. The eerie shadow creature appeared to have eyes on the back of its head as it clung to a wall, or was rendered there by AI.
Either way, other accounts are playing along for fun and views, if they’re not spreading Mothman conspiracies.
Is Mothman in Kansas City now?
On Dec. 3, TikTok account @crime.stories39 posted the strange footage that would gain 16.3 million views in two weeks. A dark, vaguely moth-shaped figure the size of a man appeared to be attached to the middle of a wall outside at night.
As the person filming approached, a pair of eyes became visible on the back of its hairy “head” beneath two antennae—or horns.
“Is that a moth?” the cameraman asked.
@crime.stories39 Worlds largest moth has been sighted in Kansas 👀👀👀👀👀 #criminalminds #viral #horror #police #murder ♬ original sound – crime stories | crime
The man gasped as the figure started to move, revealing a barred window beneath it.
“The largest living moth has been sighted in Kansas City, leaving the city’s residents completely helpless,” the caption claims.
There have so far been no actual news reports about Kansas City being terrorized by a giant moth. Guinness World Records lists the largest species of this insect as the Atlas moth, which is native to Southeast Asia and is as big as some birds.
Regardless, commenters are playing along, if not believing the video outright. Few seem to think that it’s a moth, however. Suggestions for its true identity include the Devil, a demon, a behemoth, Baphomet, and the thing from Jeepers Creepers.
Of course, a few party poopers insist that it’s a person in a costume holding on to the bars over a window. The eyes could have been edited into the footage later.
“You have the survival instincts of a fish”
Regardless of who or what that is, more TikTokers are going viral by responding to the footage as though it’s a real creature, or at least could be. On Dec. 8, @thoka.2 posted his response video and gained over 7.1 million views by complaining that whoever filmed it didn’t run.
“You have the survival instincts of a fish,” he said.
@thoka.2 We in Derry now
♬ original sound – Aura
“If you could see a creature like that latched onto a wall staring back at you and you don’t try to run? It’s over. Heck, right now you’re probably possessed.”
Dedicated reaction TikToker @callumskillen1, however, thinks it’s no more than a costume. Certainly, he doesn’t believe it’s a moth.
“You’re telling me moths get that big?” he asked. “I never knew that.”
“It looks like someone dressed up in a costume hanging from the wall.”
Meanwhile, conspiracy accounts are all over this footage declaring the return of Mothman.
“They told you Mothman was ‘just a West Virginia myth’… but Kansas is now lighting up with the same winged humanoid sightings—and the pattern is WAY too familiar to ignore,” wrote @hiddentruthhunter.
“The creature they mocked for decades… is showing up in the Midwest—right where the power grid, the military flight paths, and the underground systems converge.”
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