The Butterfly People of Joplin, Missouri

[Ninshub]

Mysterious Universe has an article on this phenomenon during the major 2011 tornado event on the town, that I remember reading about in IANDS' Vital Signs newsletter not too long after.

The Mysterious Butterfly People of Missouri

Brent Swancer January 5, 2019

The name itself comes from some of the descriptions of the various young children who supposedly encountered seemingly angelic beings often called “Butterfly People,” with multicolored wings and often surrounded by a shimmering illumination or orbs of light, although descriptions vary. One popular account that probably made the name stick comes from a 2 ½-year-old little girl who was in a car with her father when the tornado came tearing through. Miraculously, although the vehicle was blown clear off the road and tumbled over, the two occupants within were shaken but completely unharmed. The girl would later say that “butterfly people” had been sitting in the car with them, and when she was told that no one else had been in the car she insisted, “No, Daddy! There were butterfly people in the car with us!” Was this the mind of a very young child trying to adequately describe angels or is it the product of a stress addled young mind?

(...) Other accounts happened right out in the open, such as that of a young boy of about 5 years of age, who was caught outdoors when the tornado inexorably came lumbering through, and although there was much devastation to the area in its wake he was found to be unharmed, with the debris around him arranged precisely so as it just missed him. The boy would claim that as the winds roared about him he had seen three glowing figures with “butterfly wings” walking towards him across the field, and that wherever they stood the flying debris would bounce off to the side or disappear. These three winged entities then surrounded him until the raging tornado passed, after which they were described as smiling before vanishing into thin air.

There are a few videos online also recounting the several anecdotes involved, like this one:
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