Lexington, Illinois Winged Being Report Similar to Wilmington Sighting

Lon Strickler of Phantoms and Monsters received a report in late January regarding a strange, winged being seen near Lexington, Illinois, on January 27th of this year.

My wife and I moved to Lexington, Illinois in April 2016. During that first summer here, we heard a lot of stories, from residents that we talked to.

Back on January 27, 2018, I wasn't sleeping well because the local coyote pack was getting riled up about something. They were extremely vocal that night. I'm usually a deep sleeper but they woke me up with their incessant yipping barking and howling. It sounded like a hunt was on.

I got up and decided to use the bathroom, after I did a quick check outside from our windows. While in there I heard what could be liked to an animal-like screech like the Rous from the 'Princess Bride' film and a really deep bass “whoo whoo”. I thought it was odd. So I looked out our bathroom window and saw a large shadow pass under a streetlight about 30 feet from our place. It did it a couple times before a creature, like witness from Wilmington, IL described, landed. It made no sound when it flared its wings when it landed in a tree not more than ten feet from our place. A local creek is about 60 – 70 feet away from our place and about the same distance from the tree this being was perched in. It walked with a kind of hop. The feet had a splayed three clawed foot, with digits like a sloth. I did not get a good look at the torso or how its arms and grasping digits looked, but the way it landed it looked like it had paws, but I'm not sure. I never got a good look at the head.

I observed it for a few minutes before it made that unnerving screech-hoot sound about 4 times before it just glided out of the tree towards the creek, in a south-southwest direction of the Mackinaw River. The coyotes started up again with their noise but it sounded like they were following it.

I don't think it knew it was being observed. It was more unnerving than the times a Bigfoot made visits to my family's property when I was young, or the night when something literally destroyed two of our mares. I remember enough of that night sometimes to actually have nightmares. But not this thing. It just unnerved me. But one thing I did notice was the stench of blood in the air. I don't know if you've been hunting, but that blood smell when you are field dressing a deer or antelope, that was the smell it left behind. This occurred between 2:30am and 2:45am on 1-27-18.

The Wilmington, IL witness reported helicopter activity. In my area that ramps up in the late fall early winter, between 11pm and 1:45am. It quits and starts up again at around 2:30-2:45am until around 4am.

One night I was out for a quick walk and heard an odd chopper sound. It sounded like a Blackhawk but really weird, like it had baffling on, but the chop of the blades is unmistakable. That night there was a clear enough sky for a full moon. I saw the silhouette but the tail section was shaped like the rear tail of the cancelled Comanche helicopter. It flew over the cornfields and little forest area nearby and the Mackinaw River for hours, back an forth.

One night in November 2016, I got curious enough to try out my night vision camera. I waited for the chopper to come, right like clockwork it began its route in a 5x5 search pattern. Through the lens I seen two domes under the fuselage, by the cockpit. To my eye not glued to my eyepiece, one was emitting a rather powerful search light but it was concentrated on the river area. It banked north an came close by our place. I seen a brightness emitting from the other dome, I couldn't see it with my naked eye, but it was there on screen. It overloaded the optics on my camera, also the video that I recorded on the flash drive was corrupted and not retrievable. The battery supply burst and the main board was toast.

That same night around 2:30am-3am i was woken up by the sound of diesel engines, but not semi diesel. I looked out on PJ Keller highway, and there was a small convoy of 3 MRAPS, 4 HUMMERS, AND 5 MATVS. A couple hummers had that new .50 cal mini gun mounted. The rest had either the M2 or M240 mounted. They all looked like they were primer grey colored. They stopped at intervals on either side of the small bridge 50ft away. Troops dismounted from the MRAP AND MATV. They had rifles and strange body armor. They kept the lights on the vehicles on. I took out my field spotter glasses and got a better look...fast entry helmets, balaclava's, four eye night vision sets. Dull finished metallic looking body armor. Vest, arms, legs and curiously neck they all carried combat sabers, and either FN2000 rifles or rifles that looked like the XM25,26,27 prototypes.

A team of 3 went into the woods off to the right of the road. If you are headed west, by the cemetery. They were gone about ten minutes, when a couple shots rang out and all the troops came out of the woods in a hurry got in the vehicles and took off.

The helicopter flyovers stopped until this past August. It's like clockwork...Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 11pm to 12:45am and 2:30am to 4:00am. Currently one is flying over as I type this. 1-31-2018 12:30am.

I prefer to remain anonymous for now. I worked as a civilian independent contractor in the Dakotas for about 8 years. Advised in the Golden Coyote exercises in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and the bombing range recovery in the Badlands of South Dakota. I grew up in a military family, all branches, been around military vehicles since I could remember. I couldn't join because of a health problem they detected.

This sighting report is similar to one reported by a resident of Wilmington, a town about 60 miles northeast of Lexington.  Both witnesses described nearly identical creatures, and both incidents correlated to nearby wilderness preserves and unusual military activity in the area, according to the submitted reports.  There are three military bases in Bloomington-Normal within approximately 15 miles southwest of Lexington--a National Guard Readiness Training Center, Army National Guard base, and a US Army Reserve Center--and the Merwin Nature Preserve is roughly six miles northwest of the city.  The Mackinaw River flows just a few miles southwest of Lexington, and directly through Merwin Nature Preserve.

This is the latest in a string of flying creature sightings reported in the Chicago and greater Illinois 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 and even farther afield.  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.