'Chicago Mothman' Reported in River North Neighborhood

A witness contacted Lon Strickler of Phantoms and Monsters on October 8th to report a sighting of a large, winged being in the River North neighborhood of Chicago.  The sighting took place between 10:15 and 10:20 p.m.the night before, on October 7th.

I was writing to share my sighting of the Chicago Mothman. I was walking towards the Chicago Ave. Redline entrance from work when I made the sighting. It happened to be around 10:15/10:20PM CT on Saturday October 7th. I happened to look up to my left, when I saw an object drifting in the sky. Upon closer look I was able to see the object was dark grey in color and seemed to have a large wing span. It started to drift up, but then dived down. It ducked between buildings but then reappeared on the other side. I was standing on Chicago Ave. and Wabash Ave. (witness was looking south along Wabash Ave.)

After the object reappeared, it passed between a few more building but then flew towards the lake.

Strickler was able to follow up with the witness, and received further detail regarding the sighting.

“From my distance it was a little hard to make out details of the object,” the witness said. “It kept moving rather quickly and very fluid-like. The wings were about equal length if not a bit longer than the object itself. They also flapped a few times, but seemed to have glided more than flapped. I could tell the object was quite large. Easily ruled out a bird."

The sighting took place less than half a mile away from Lake Michigan, and approximately five miles northeast of the most recent encounters in Little Village.

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." 

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.