Man Reports "Black Thing" with Wings near St. Joseph Cemetery in River Grove, Illinois

A rough sketch of the creature sent to Strickler by the witness. *(Lon Strickler / Phantoms & Monsters)*

Lon Strickler of Phantoms & Monsters received the following report from a man who claimed he was riding in a car driven by his fiancé on April 20th at around 9 a.m. when he saw a strange, black, winged creature flying near St. Joseph Cemetery in River Grove, Illinois.

I have lived in Franklin Park, Illinois for a few years now and have been following all the Chicago Mothman sightings. I had a day off work on April 20th (2022) this year, and my fiancé and I were driving on W Belmont Ave going east around 9 a.m. (it was W Belmont Ave right after River Rd).
I was looking out the window (my fiancé was driving) and I saw over St. Joseph Cemetery, flying high up, this black thing. At first I thought it might've been a drone, but the way it was flying, I could tell it was not any kind of aircraft or bird that I've ever seen. It was all black and I could see it had wings, but I couldn't see any other features and no head. It wasn't flapping its wings either. It was just flying extremely fast at an angle.
I yelled to my fiancé, "Do you see that?"
She couldn't see as it was almost gone and plus she was driving.
I said, "I think that's the Mothman thing everyone is seeing! It has to be!"
But she dismissed it and said I was crazy.
I really thought about not reporting it, until this morning when I saw someone reported seeing three of these black things. The video is exactly what I saw, except it was only one I saw, not three like the person and his daughter in Bensenville.
I'm not an artist, but as the days were passing I decided to draw what I saw, I've enclosed the pic I drew on my phone. It was just this black thing. I didn’t take a picture or video because it would’ve been just a small dot with how fast it was flying into the clouds.

Strickler noted that the witness "was reluctant to add additional information because of his fiancé," but he was able to find out a few more details regarding the sighting, which he then added to the account.

The report and video referenced by this witness are from a man who said he was outside with his daughter in Bensenville, Illinois, when, at approximately 4 p.m. on May 17th, they witnessed “three human-shaped objects that looked like they had wings flying overhead.”

The villages of Bensenville and River Grove are both directly adjacent to O’Hare International Airport, which has been the epicenter of recent winged humanoid sightings in the Lake Michigan Mothman investigation, with over a dozen sighting reports coming from the airport itself since August of 2019, and many more reported in the surrounding communities. Reports from the larger investigation have come from every state bordering Lake Michigan and date back to 1957.

In addition, both cases mentioned above bear a strong resemblance to one that took place in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood in May of 2018.

That sighting involved a man who was bicycling to work one afternoon when he saw what he would later describe to investigators as a “bat-like” creature resembling “someone in a wingsuit,” although the encounter did not mirror the seemingly paranormal aspects of some other winged humanoid cases or include any reported high strangeness.

The man had a GoPro camera that was filming during the event attached to his bicycle helmet, and helped the Singular Fortean Society isolate several stills of the creature from the video. The creature, upon examination of this evidence, appeared to be a bird.

Investigator Tobias Wayland ultimately found the witness credible, in that he showed no indication at all that he was attempting to hoax his sighting. Rather, the man seemed genuinely confused by what he had seen.

"As time has passed, I am still uncertain of what exactly I saw," the witness said of his experience. "Certainly none of the birds I typically see flying are similar, but I am increasingly more accepting to the idea that this could have been a very large migratory bird."

Springtime sees an influx of large migratory birds—such as cranes and herons—into the upper Midwest, and it’s possible that has led to misidentifications, especially since studies have shown that some species are roosting more often in urban areas due to the destruction of their usual wetland habitats.

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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