Butterfly Person

The Buttefly People are insectoid beings only sighted during the events of the EF5 tornado in Joplin, Missouri.

Sightings
On 22 May 2011, an EF5 tornado befell on the town of Joplin, Missouri. It leveled several houses and killed around 158 of the civilians. A major tragedy, many families managed to survive against the odds. While this in itself is not unique, what is however, is the story the children of the town gave about strange beings known as the Butterfly People. According to these stories, the children would explain that the Butterfly People would hover over them, protecting them from the falling debris resulting from the tornado. Some of the more outlandish claims include a boy being wrapped in a blanket by the butterfly people and four men lifting up the columns of a fallen church, saving those who encountered them. Many also accredit the Butterfly People with personally taking those that had perished, as if they were the angels of death. While many children claimed to have seen them, so older people were also believed to have seen them, except as cloaked figures.

Who these beings were is unknown. Because the town existed within the "religious belt," many people believe that what the citizens of Joplin saw that day were angels. The idea that they were angels is unsurprising as many of the descriptions of what the Butterfly People did matches what many people believe about angels such as them appearing to save the citizens as part of a divine intervention. However, the children explicitly identified the beings as "Butterflies." It could be that considering that several of the children were at an age where they couldn't understand abstract ideas, it's likely that they didn't fully understand the concept of an angel, thusly, their minds concluded that they had to be butterflies.

Other theories insist that they are what they are: fairies, or the Fair folk if you want to get more technical. The descriptions of their wings matches some people's ideas on what fairies look like, particularly their insect-like appearances. The Butterfly People are also believed to be the same race as the Watchers, enigmatic beings who are often inferred to be dimensional travelers. Some theorists also believe that the Butterfly People and the Mothman are connected. The Mothman is a creature that was reportedly sighted in the Point Pleasant area in West Virginia appearing between the years of 1966 to 1967. The Mothman's last appearance took place before a major incident, the collapsing of the Silver Bridge, occurred. The collapse resulted in 46 casualties. Some view Mothman as being the culprit of the attack, while others believe that Mothman was instead a harbinger warning of the upcoming disaster.