Wikipedia:WikiProject Deletion sorting/West Virginia

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This is a collection of discussions on the deletion of articles related to West Virginia. It is one of many deletion lists coordinated by WikiProject Deletion sorting. Anyone can help maintain the list on this page.

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1. Edit this page and add {{Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/PageName}} to the top of the list. Replace "PageName" with the relevant article name, i.e. the one on the existing AFD discussion. Also, indicate the title of the article in the edit summary as it is particularly helpful to add a link to the article in the edit summary. When you save the page, the discussion will automatically appear.
2. You should also tag the AfD by adding {{subst:delsort|West Virginia|~~~~}} to it, which will inform editors that it has been listed here. You may place this tag above or below the nomination statement or at the end of the discussion thread.

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Other types of discussions

You can also add and remove other discussions (prod, CfD, TfD etc.) related to West Virginia. For the other XfD's, the process is the same as AfD (except {{Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion/PageName}} is used for MFD and {{transclude xfd}} for the rest). For PRODs, adding a link with {{prodded}} will suffice.

Further information

For further information see Wikipedia's deletion policy and WP:AfD for general information about Articles for Deletion, including a list of article deletions sorted by day of nomination.

This list is also part of the larger list of deletion debates related to US.

Archived discussions (starting from September 2007) may be found at:

• WikiProject Deletion sorting/West Virginia/archive

List of West Virginia cryptids (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View AfD | edits since nomination)

(Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL)

One good source for mothman, others are WBOY-TV and a local station's site w/ news. Only list of cryptids for a state, don't see categories or lists by country. Removed some sources before nominating. fiveby(zero) 22:01, 24 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

• Note: This discussion has been included in the deletion sorting lists for the following topics: Paranormal and Mythology. fiveby(zero) 22:01, 24 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
• Note: This discussion has been included in the list of West Virginia-related deletion discussions. jlwoodwa (talk) 01:58, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
• Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Lists-related deletion discussions. jlwoodwa (talk) 01:59, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

*Keep Sadly, *Merge to West Virginia folklore (as this is slightly more isefull overall. but this could be useful as I was not even aware the Snallygaster was a real myth, so it has been informative, I suppose a push Merge with list of cryptids.But I can see why a more local list could have use. Slatersteven (talk) 09:35, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

• Keep. There's no particular need for there to be other articles or lists by state in order for this one to exist; others could just as easily be created if they're supported by reliable sources. The question is whether reliable sources for the creatures on this list exist, not whether they're currently cited. There will obviously be lots of sources for Mothman and the Flatwoods Monster, not as sure about the others. But I'm pretty sure a search will turn up news articles about some of them, and I've seen books on West Virginia folklore that presumably mention more than these two—I seem to recall one with the Flatwoods Monster on the cover—and it's not a requirement that sources be available over the internet. A trip to the library may be in order, but remember, there's no deadline to improve articles, and that's what this is: an article in need of improved sourcing, not one that's impossible to source. P Aculeius (talk) 13:38, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Folklore should go into West Virginia folklore and better lists would might be folklore creatures by country or maybe even state. That is a big problem with some of these articles, they turn 'folklore' into 'cryptids' and use and attract a lot of dubious sources to do it. Anyway made some more edits to the list article. fiveby(zero) 14:30, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

All of your numerous edits—besides nominating the article for deletion—have been deletion of material from the article: around 2,000 bytes so far. It looks like you're attempting deletion piece-by-piece so that you can make the argument that there's not enough left to keep! That's not how this should work. Did you look for sources, or just delete the ones that didn't meet your personal inclusion criteria, and then all of the items that were no longer sufficiently supported by the remaining sources? I note that in one case, you deleted an item because the cited source didn't call it a "cryptid". It may be that this article is mis-titled, and it would be better called something like "monsters of West Virginia" or "monsters and creatures of folklore from West Virginia". That's not an argument for deletion—but it seems to be providing the basis for shrinking the list in support of deleting it! Chopping up a short article that you yourself nominated for deletion—within a day of its creation, and without any attempt to identify issues that might be addressed by means short of deletion, or sources that could be added—seems like a poor way of dealing with a new article. P Aculeius (talk) 16:31, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I thought i was attempting deletion by AfD no? Everyone can see my edits in the history and disagree or not—and edit the article. I kinda remember letting everyone know i had made edits, lets see: Removed some sources before nominating and just above Anyway made some more edits to the list article. I did not really look for sources, thought it hardly worth the effort. Did note an ISBN in an edit summary if anyone wants to try and find it. There is one source there which collects a West Virginia list of cryptids. I nominated, as i thought i had said in the above, because it was a one-of-a-kind when there are no country lists even. There's some disagreement as to whether there should be a main list at all.

It's not my "personal inclusion criteria" but my best interpretation of other peoples. If you disagree, go revert. I've dug through plenty of sources looking at cryptids and argued to keep occasionally. Just don't like calling a deer a horse. fiveby(zero) 17:23, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

• Keep. It's true this is a first-of-its-kind list for cryptids specifying a state, but it does create a useful resource and fits in with other research info about West Virginia. See Category:West Virginia-related lists, and Category:West_Virginia_history-related_lists. 5Q5|^✉ 13:41, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
• Merge to West Virginia folklore. These aren't notable things requiring their own list, they're just ghost stories. Reywas92^Talk 14:38, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
• Merge (the sources at least) to West Virginia folklore. This was an unnecessary spinoff that doesn't serve any purpose. Trainsandotherthings (talk) 21:54, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
• Delete, weak support. There may be a world in which this list could be salvaged. As it stands, the list itself is not clearly notable and the flurry of recent edits have led to a massive removal of items and references. These removals are appropriate. I'm not too concerned about the reliability of a local TV news station for individual cryptids, although it additional sources would be stronger. The bigger issues is the notability of the list itself. I also weakly oppose outright merging with West Virginia folklore on the basis of the concern about editors blurring the line between folklore and cryptids. Individual cases or references that warrant inclusion can be manually incorporated into WV folklore.--MYCETEAE 🍄‍🟫—talk 20:59, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
• Delete and/or Merge anything of value into West Virginia folklore without the use of pseudoscientific terminology like cryptid. These are all entities from folklore — the cryptozoology coat of paint is WP:PROFRINGE — and we already have the extremely dubious list of cryptids with no criteria. :bloodofox: (talk) 21:47, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
• Comment. Doing a WP:GTEST I found these mainstream sources (including Skeptical Inquirer) all using the term "cryptid" in their reporting on West Virginia. None is currently used in the article as I write this: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12]. 5Q5|^✉ 12:38, 27 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Ona Airpark (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View AfD | edits since nomination)

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Does not meet GNG. I found one article in FLYING Magazine, but GNG expects more than one source. Could be redirected to Ona Speedway which is next door. The two facilities operate jointly, as clearly shown on the website. Trainsandotherthings (talk) 21:27, 21 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

• Note: This discussion has been included in the deletion sorting lists for the following topics: Aviation and West Virginia. Trainsandotherthings (talk) 21:27, 21 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
• Merge to Ona Speedway, and perhaps also to Ona, West Virginia, which already mentions it, but doesn't include all of the same details. The difference between a deletion and a merge is that an effort is made to save all of the relevant or important details, such as the year of establishment, its precise location, or authority under which it was licensed. I note that when I looked over the article earlier, it erroneously placed it "in Milton". Not being familiar with it, I checked the location on Google Maps. It's not "in" either Ona or Milton, but is adjacent to Ona, and not nearly as close to Milton. I adjusted the wording accordingly. P Aculeius (talk) 13:40, 22 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
• Merge to Ona Speedway per @P Aculeius. I note that when I looked over the article earlier, it erroneously placed it "in Milton"... It's not "in" either Ona or Milton, but is adjacent to Ona, and not nearly as close to Milton. It's not necessarily erroneous; the FAA airport record indicates Milton. I've noticed that FAA records for rural airports sometimes list a seemingly incorrect city or town. I'm guessing it has to do with peculiarities in rural postal delivery, but the address on the airfield website is in Ona. I dunno. Carguychris (talk) 12:21, 23 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

  That seems like as good a reason as any to explain it. But it's definitely not in Milton, so it shouldn't be described as though it were, irrespective of where its mail originates (or once did) or what the FAA record says (and that could also just be careless registration, or perhaps some technical quirk relating to the manner or type of municipality). In describing anything clearly, reality should trump misleading information! P Aculeius (talk) 16:21, 23 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

  I did a little more digging. The WV Assessment record indicates that the airport and speedway are in Ona, which is a spread-out unincorporated community, whereas Milton is an incorporated town with an identifiable central business district. FAA airport records always indicate the distance to the nearest city center (the airfield is 4 NM west), so the airfield owners probably listed Milton for the sake of convenience. Carguychris (talk) 17:16, 23 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]