Indrid Cold (the Grinning Man).
allegedclose_encounterFortean / Mothman / MIB
Telepathic 'grinning man' allegedly met by salesman Woodrow Derenberger near Point Pleasant (Nov 1966); claimed to be from planet 'Lanulos'; popularized by Keel and possibly a Barker prank.
Derenberger (Mineral Wells, WV) reported a Nov 1966 roadside encounter with a grinning man who communicated telepathically, named himself Indrid Cold, and said he came from a place 'less powerful than the United States.' Later elaborated into trips to planet 'Lanulos' (book Visitors from Lanulos, 1971, foreword by Keel). Keel linked Cold to the Mothman flap and to a separate Oct 1966 'grinning man' sighting by two NJ boys. Skeptic Brian Dunning notes Derenberger's original account specified no unusual grin; Sherwood suggests Barker may have prank-called Keel as Cold. Derenberger suffered ridicule and personal ruin; died 1990.