Man Reportedly Follows Flying Creature Seen over Jackson Park Highlands in Chicago

An artist’s interpretation of the sighting. (Emily Wayland / Singular Fortean Society)

Lon Strickler of Phantoms & Monsters spoke to a man recently who said he’d seen a creature with "bat-like wings, a small bulbous head and what seemed to be 'tentacles' extending from behind it" over the Jackson Park Highlands neighborhood in Chicago at approximately 4 p.m. on September 5th, 2011.

"I received a telephone call in regards to a winged being sighting on September 5th, 2011 (Labor Day)," Strickler said. "This occurred during the same three-month period in 2011 when three previous winged being/humanoid sightings were reported to the MUFON CMS (when our investigation initially began)."

Strickler is referring to the investigation of weird, winged beings around Lake Michigan, of which the Singular Fortean Society has been a part since 2017. The three cases he referenced all came out of Chicago, and involve an anomalous photograph taken near Pulaski Road, a creature with glowing eyes reportedly peeping in windows around Miller Park in the University Park neighborhood, and a reported sighting of a similar creature in Washington Park near the University of Chicago. Investigator Emily Wayland later identified the object in the Pulaski Road photo as likely to be an out-of-focus butterfly.

Another sighting that same year took place around 30 miles west in Downers Grove, where a man and his brother-in-law reported a "huge creature [that] seemed to kind of jump, maybe dead drop out intentionally [of a nearby tree]. It fell forward, spreading or opening what looked more like bat wings or a cape, then a set of wings."

According to the report recently taken by Strickler,

At approximately 4 p.m. CT, [the] eyewitness was getting off the metro bus at the intersection of South Jeffery Boulevard and East 67th Street in Jackson Park Highlands in south Chicago (near the Mobile gas station). [He] noticed an unusual flying being approximately 100 to 120 feet above him, adjacent to an apartment building in the vicinity.
[The witness] described the entity as black in color with bat-like wings, a small bulbous head and what seemed to be 'tentacles' extending from behind it. He stated that it was definitely biological and seemed to be looking down at him and others. He began to follow it as it made its way over Jackson Park and the golf course. As he continued to follow the entity into a stretch of trees, the entity 'rolled' and displayed an emerald green 'light' on [its] underbelly. During the entire time, the entity never flapped its wings, but flew 'up and down' in altitude.
Also, [the witness] sensed that the entity was watching him as he chased it. It would dip and turn towards him on occasion. He never determined the structure of a face.
The winged being eventually turned towards Lake Michigan and quickly flew towards the east.

But that wasn't the end of this witness’s experience, said Strickler.

"That night, and on several subsequent nights, [the witness] had very vivid and frightening dreams of the winged being flying towards him and displaying an owl-like head and face with large round amber eyes," the investigator explained. "[He] is positive that the entity knew that he was following it and that [it] wanted him to remember the incident."

"This event has bothered [him] since that day, only recently deciding to come forward and make a report," added Strickler.

This report constitutes 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 or natural area, and around water. Witnesses consistently describe a large gray, brown, 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; these include reports of UFOs, other anomalous flying creatures and mysterious humanoids, parapsychological 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.

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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