'Mothman-type' Creature Reported to Lon Strickler During Coast-to-Coast Appearance

A witness called in to Coast-to-Coast AM, a popular paranormal radio show, on August 16th, 2017, during a segment featuring Lon Strickler of Phantoms and Monsters, to report a sighting of a "Mothman-type insectoid" creature.  According to the witness, who identified himself as Greg from Harwood Heights, Illinois, he saw a weird, winged humanoid after work about three years ago.

I was coming back from work three years ago...about 1:30 in the morning. I pulled up to the driveway and something caught the side of my eye. I walked up the stairs, went to the window. I live on the second floor. I looked out to the window to across the street and I saw a crypto, if you will, a Mothman-type insectoid; small body, unusually large head normal, no red eyes, and it kept staring.

I went to make tea, fed the cats, came back, rubbed my eyes to see if I was tired and seeing things and, sure enough, it was there. One important thing, there was no foreboding fear. None whatsoever. That I found interesting. I was shocked as many people that had seen similar things. I went several times. I would say about four to five times, just peering outside, looking at the window and it just stood there. I live in a small town near Chicago. I figured police would do their rounds or someone would see it. You could hear a pin drop. It's a very small community, sure enough, no one was around. It did not faze me to take a picture. I did have a smartphone at the time right but overall no fear and absolutely, you're just there in the shock because you just can't believe what you're seeing. You listen to accounts but you never think you will be in that situation. I went back several times. I was listening to your show that night, peering out every now and then. It just kept standing there.

In the morning I went to see any trace of anything. It was gone, so, yeah. Above all, I would say the strangest thing would be I was not afraid at all and it shocks me to even say that now. Thinking back over the several months and years, I talked to friends, they have an interest in it - I kept thinking it was crouching like a runner would be so it could have been taller as many people claim to it being six or seven feet. It was almost as if definitely the body was much smaller and the head came to a point, almost as if, you know the old cartoons from Mad Magazine Spy Vs Spy, with the nose, if you will, comes into like a parrot's or a bird beak, but there's no beak, so it is very kind of pointed protruding face, if you will, but again, there were no eyes and there were no facial features, but again, in that humanoid design that's where the face would be, of course, so yeah, but the head was much bigger than the body. I guess just by seeing this small body and large head as odd as it was, I wasn't going to go outside and even look outside. I felt safe at home hoping that it might not be seeing me look to the window.

Harwood Heights is a village just northwest of Chicago, and is about eight miles west of Lake Michigan.  

Unlike the most recent reports of flying humanoids in the Chicago area, this witness went out of his way to express the almost uncanny lack of fear during his encounter.  

"That's not normal," said Strickler.  "We have had witnesses who haven't shown much fear, but everyone shows some type of shock or surprise when seeing [flying humanoids]."

This sighting is one of several past reports to come to light after the beginning of a string of such sightings in the Chicago area this year.  Most of the sightings have taken place near the lakefront within a few miles of Lake Michigan, although some are starting to come 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 some cases the creature was reportedly "insect-like."

To report a sighting, contact Lon Strickler at lonstrickler@phantomsandmonsters.com or call him directly at 410-241-5974; fill out UFO Clearinghouse's contact form to get in touch with Manuel Navarette; or 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.