Witness Reports Bat-Winged "Something" in Carol Stream, Illinois

Lon Strickler of Phantoms & Monsters recently received the following query from a witness who claimed to have twice seen "'something' about 4 [feet] tall [and] brownish [with] two legs and bat-like wings" in Carol Streams, Illinois, last summer.

Has anyone from Carol Stream, Illinois (DuPage County—Chicago northwest suburbs) sent any sighting of the winged humanoid? Twice now I’ve seen 'something' about 4 [feet] tall [and] brownish [with] two legs and bat-like wings. Both times late [at] night, around 3 am or so, by ponds off of Morton Road. On one occasion flying right above [my car’s] headlights. I know there was another car that stopped to 'look' also.

In response to Strickler's follow-up, the witness said "Both times I saw it during last summer on Morton Road. The first time I only caught a quick glance as it took off flying from the side of a small pond. I figured it was a crane that got spooked by coyotes or something. But they are not nocturnal.”

“The second time was at the corner on Morton Road as I was waiting at a stop sign for a car—not far from the pond,” the witness continued. “It began moving through the intersection. I began turning left and it flew right in front of us—the other car stopped also to check it out. It then turned sharply. That's when I saw its bat-like wings as it flew through nearby backyards. It definitely wasn’t a large owl."

Carol Stream is an unincorporated village with a population of around 40,000 people. The village is bordered on three sides by natural areas—to the north is Hawk Hollow and Mallard Lake, to the west is the West Branch Forest Preserve, and to the south is the Timber Ridge Forest Preserve. The west branch of the DuPage River runs through the Timber Ridge and West Branch forest preserves.

Winged cryptids have been reported extensively in the area, with O’Hare International Airport—which lies less than 15 miles east of this sighting—serving as a recent focal point.

Sightings similar to this one include a report from Wheaton, several miles to the south, where a man said he’d seen a “pterosaur” in the late afternoon of July 5th, 2019, and a report by Chicago paranormal investigator Manuel Navarette of what he described as a strange flying creature with "membranous wings" near O'Hare on March 3rd, 2020.

Another sighting in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood from May 9th, 2018, involved what the witness initially described as a "bat-like" creature resembling "someone in a wing suit." Video evidence of the sighting later pointed to the likelihood of the creature having been a misidentified large bird.

Because of their proximity to other unexplained sighting reports, these reports could be related to the 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 or natural area, 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 misidentified large bird—such as a heron or crane—or some type of anomalous avian species 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 and mysterious humanoids, parapsychological phenomena, and bizarre events experienced by those investigating the sightings.

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You can view a timeline of the sightings so far here.

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