'Black Devil' Reported in Chicago's Little Village

Manuel Navarette of UFO Clearinghouse said he was contacted on the evening of September 14th, by a witness who wanted to report an encounter with a large entity that had "huge black wings and a pair of glowing orange eyes."  The reported sighting took place two days prior, on September 12th.

According to the witness,

I was leaving work and walking down the street toward Millard Avenue in the little village neighborhood of Chicago. I stopped at the store to pick up a couple of items that I needed at home and left turning to my left onto Millard Avenue to walk toward home. As I was walking I saw something that looked like a large person but had huge black wings and a pair of glowing orange eyes. At first, I thought it might be a large owl but as I got closer I realized that this person was at least 7 ft tall. I’m 5 foot 4 and this thing towered over me. It stood there and looked right at me for about 10 seconds and made a sort of chirping sound as I approached it.

My first thought was that this was the devil and they started praying as I walked. And I kept walking because I felt that if I stopped I was going to be paralyzed with fear. As I got to about 20 ft from where it was standing it let out a very loud screech that sounded as it was trying to warn me before leaping up into the air and taking off in the direction of West 25th Street. I watched it disappear into the night and continued saying my prayers as I walked toward home. When I got home I was hysterical and crying and my family came rushing to my side when they saw me crying uncontrollably. I related the story to everybody in the living room and my grandmother said that it was either the devil or a lechusa. She stated that either way I was very lucky to make it home and that saying my prayers had protected me from this thing. I slept at night with the window locked, curtains drawn and a light from my desk on. Even though I slept with the lights on I still dreamed of this horrific thing and that it was coming to get me. I pray to God that I never see this thing again and now I know that my prayers protected me from whatever this thing was.

Navarette spoke to the witness that same evening.

"The witness reiterated the story as reported. No embellishing of the story was given when presented the opportunity and when asked a series of questions about the sighting, she gave no variation of the sighting reported. The witness stated that she was still visibly upset by this sighting, even 48 hours removed.  After speaking with the witness and going over the sighting with her in detail, it is the investigator’s opinion that the witness did see something that evening and that her report is credible," he said in his report.

"The witness also stated that she has heard stories from the surrounding neighborhood that other witnesses have seen what they describe as ‘Un Diablo Negro’ or a ‘Black devil’ in the neighborhoods within Little Village,” Navarette continued. “When asked if she could point me in the direction of any other witnesses, she was very hesitant to divulge any information. After some time speaking with her and assuring her that the witnesses could remain anonymous she agreed to refer any witnesses she knew to UFOCH."

The sighting took place approximately five miles west of Lake Michigan, and is the second such sighting to compare the creature to a Lechuza.  In Mexican folklore a Lechuza is an old woman--often a witch, or 'bruja'--who can turn into a giant, black bird. 

This is the latest in a string of flying humanoid sightings reported in the Chicago area.  Most of the sightings have taken place near the lakefront within a few miles of Lake Michigan, although there are some reports coming from the suburbs surrounding Chicago.  The sightings generally take place in the evening or at night, often in or near a park and around water, and witnesses consistently describe a large, bat or bird-like creature with humanoid features; although in one case the creature was reportedly "insect-like." 

UFO Clearinghouse also offered the following plea to witnesses who may be concerned with being identified publicly.

This is a plea to any witnesses that have had similar encounters in the Little Village neighborhood. You are assured that your report and your identity will remain anonymous if you so wish. The information gathered here will be purely for research purposes into these sighting and will not be shared with anyone else outside of the UFO Clearinghouse research team and will NOT be shared with any governmental or law enforcement agencies.

Esta es una súplica a los testigos que han tenido encuentros similares en el vecindario de Little Village. Usted está seguro de que su informe y su identidad permanecerán anónimas si así lo desea. La información reunida aquí será puramente para propósitos de investigación en estas observaciones y no será compartida con nadie más fuera del equipo de investigación de UFO Clearinghouse y NO será compartida con ninguna agencia gubernamental o de aplicación de la ley.

To report a sighting, reach out to us directly at The Singular Fortean Society through our contact page.

You can view a timeline of the sightings so far here, and an interactive map here.

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