Spiritual Author Shares Story of Late Father's 1976 Encounter with Red-Eyed, Black, Winged Being

*(Emily Wayland / Singular Fortean Society)*

The Singular Fortean Society was contacted recently by spiritual author and business owner Nefer Khepri, who wished to share her late father’s sighting of a “black figure” with “glowing red eyes.”

According to an email sent by Khepri:

I'd like to report second-hand what my Dad saw in 1976. I was 14 at the time.

I grew up in Waukegan. My dad worked part-time nights at Victory Memorial Hospital, which I believe is located along Sheridan Rd. After work one night he went to help a friend who had car trouble at the Marathon Restaurant, which was located along the train tracks by Johnson Outboard Motor company right on Lake Michigan.

It was a full moon. They were in the parking lot where my dad was giving the guy's car a jump when Dad—as he often told it—suddenly felt scared, as if something was watching them. There were two or more very tall silos there, or some such structure. They were probably three stories high. As dad looked up, in the moonlight he saw a black figure crouched down watching them. It had glowing red eyes. He told his friend to look so they both saw it. Dad said the creature was probably around six feet tall because it was so high up, and even from that angle it looked large. It definitely was not a bird or anything he had ever seen before. Dad said he sensed it was evil, removed the jumper cables, and he and his friend took off in Dad's car. They didn't even bother to lock up his friend's car, they were that frightened.

As they drove off they heard a loud "swooshing" sound & then something seemed to hit and the slide across the top of my dad's car. He kept going convinced that thing was trying to drive them off the road. The next day Dad was freaking out because you could see three long scratches on the roof of the car. I saw them myself. They were about 1/4" apart. There were four of them and it looked like the talon of a large bird had scratched the car.

From that point on I was banned from going to the Lake after dark, and my dad didn't even like me going there during the day either. I had never heard of reports of winged creatures until I read your article so just had to share.

The Singular Fortean Society’s Tobias Wayland corresponded with Khepri, who provided additional details of her father’s sighting.

"My dad got off work at 10 p.m. It’s probably a 15 minute drive to the Marathon from the hospital, maybe 20, so I’d estimate the sighting occurred around 10:30 p.m. I remember school had just let out for the summer and it was before my birthday (June 19th),” she explained. “My dad always stressed the Moon was full.”

Historical weather data revealed that the full moon fell on the 11th of June in 1976, which was a Friday. Moonrise on the 11th was at 8:01 p.m., and weather conditions were fair—meaning that the moon would have been high in the sky and visible at 10:30 p.m. that evening, marking it as the likeliest day for the encounter.

Waukegan is a city on the northern edge of Chicago’s metropolitan area, directly adjacent to Lake Michigan. It’s bordered to the west by the County Forest Preserve and to the northeast by the Illinois Beach Nature Preserve.

This is the latest news in a string of ‘Mothman’ sightings from within a few hundred mile radius surrounding Lake Michigan, including every state bordering the great lake. These sightings ostensibly began in the spring of 2017, but more historical accounts are being reported as more people become aware of the phenomenon. They generally take place in the evening or at night, often in or near a park, and around water. Witnesses consistently describe a large, gray or black, bat or bird-like creature—although in a small number of cases the creature was described as insect-like—sometimes with glowing or reflective red, yellow, or orange eyes, and humanoid features such as arms and legs are often reported. Some witnesses have reported feeling intense fear and an aura of evil emanating from the creature they encountered. Many of the sightings are also of something seen only briefly or are described only as a flying creature with few details, which leaves open the possibility that a large bird or bird-like being could explain some—although certainly not all—of the encounters.

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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