Winged Being in Michigan Reminiscent of Sighting in Chicago's Tinley Park

A large, winged being reportedly seen in Lansing, Michigan, was mentioned by the witness to bear a resemblance to a similar creature seen earlier this year in Chicago's Tinley Park suburb.  Lon Strickler of Phantoms and Monsters was contacted September 19th by the witness via email.

I've been scanning the internet trying to find anything that resembles what I saw about one week ago today here in Lansing, Michigan. Your articles on the Chicago bat creature/owlman/mothman seem to be the closest I could find. Especially the article titled 'Big Winged Being Observed on Chicago Suburb Home Roof.'

It was about 5:45am and I was preparing to leave for work. As usual, I glanced out of my small bathroom window to see if it was raining. It was very calm and dry that morning, but then I noticed an unusual shape on my neighbor's rooftop. Obviously, the sun was not up yet, but it was just bright enough that I could see the outline. I enclosed a picture drawn with Microsoft paint. I do own a cellphone, but it's one of those cheap Consumer Cellular ones, and those are worthless in low light. I stared at the figure for about 30 seconds and it never moved. There was tree foliage behind the creature. I'm thinking it may have been sitting (or perched) just on the other side of the roof, as I never saw a head or glowing eyes. It's hard to guess on the size of the being as I only saw the wings. I was about 20 feet away from it. I wished I had stared at it longer or even shined a flashlight on it, but I didn't want to be late for work. CS

A drawn image of the creature provided by the witness.

A drawn image of the creature provided by the witness.

A follow-up with the witness helped clarify some of the details of the sighting.

"I asked the witness to provide further detail, if possible," wrote Strickler in his blog.  "He did state that the image he provided was wrong, in reference to the chimney. The being was perched on the other side of the chimney, but the wing was so large that it extended back in front of the chimney and totally obscured the witness' view of the front of the structure."

"If this is a similar being, as seen in the Chicago area, then it may be originating at another location or flying across Lake Michigan," speculated the investigator.

Lansing, Michigan, is approximately 95 miles away from Lake Michigan, which makes this sighting the furthest away from the great lake of any of the possibly related sightings so far.  

This is the latest in a string of flying humanoid sightings reported around Lake Michigan.  Most of the sightings have taken place near Chicago's lakefront within a few miles of Lake Michigan, although there are some reports coming from the suburbs surrounding Chicago—and still others have come from further afield in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan.  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.

Tobias Wayland