Witness Reports 2016 Sighting of "Huge, Winged Humanoid" in Chicago's Irving Park Neighborhood

An artist’s interpretation of the witness’s description of events. (Tobias Wayland / Singular Fortean Society) — An artist’s interpretation of the witness’s description of events. *(Tobias Wayland / Singular Fortean Society)*

Lon Strickler of Phantoms & Monsters spoke to a witness recently who said that in June of 2016 she’d seen a “huge, winged humanoid” flying over the Irving Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois.

"I received the following information from the witness...in reference to her sighting of a winged humanoid in June 2016," Strickler said.

[The witness] was driving north on North Milwaukee Avenue at West Addison Street in Chicago's Irving Park neighborhood at approximately 8 am local time. The Carl Schurz High School was upcoming on her right side. She then noticed the winged being gliding above the school, which she believes is three stories tall. [She] had just dropped her son off at another school, which was located nearby the sighting location.
[She said] that the being was huge, at least 10 feet tall in length, and the wingspan was probably twice that (15 to 20 feet in width). The [being's] color was dark brown, possibly black, but [it was backlit] against the sun. The wings looked fleshy like bat wings, so they were a little lighter than the rest of the body, like what a bat's wings look like when you stretch them out in front of a light.

According to Strickler, the witness compared the shape of the creature to an anomalous object captured on camera near Chicago’s Pulaski Road in 2011.

"[The witness] said that the winged being was definitely humanoid-like with legs and [a] thin, elongated body," he explained. "It seemed to glide and hover, not flapping its wings during [the] 20 seconds or so that she observed it. The size of this particular winged being is by far the largest reported to us so far."

This sighting location is approximately five miles west of Lake Michigan, and six miles east of Schiller Woods—a location where, in December of 2019, a visiting couple said they saw a “large, thin man” whose “eyes were huge, almost looked like a praying mantis’s eyes, just jet black.”

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, green, 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. A number of associated high strangeness incidents have also occurred alongside the creature sightings; including reports of UFOs, other anomalous flying creatures, psychic and haunting phenomena, and bizarre events experienced by those investigating the sightings.

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.

To report your own encounter with the impossible, reach out to us directly at the Singular Fortean Society through our contact page.

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