Father and Daughter Report Sighting of "Thin, Black [Winged] Figure" with Eyes That Were "Glowing Bright Red" in Chicago's Little Village

Manuel Navarette of UFO Clearinghouse recently received the following report from a father and daughter who claimed to have seen a “thin, black figure” with eyes that were “glowing bright red” in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago at around 8 p.m. on October 25th.

My father and I had just left the La Burbuja grocery store and were crossing 32nd to go toward my car when we heard what sounded like a baby crying out. We thought it was maybe one of the neighbors’ babies but then my father said “Mira Mija!” [Look, my daughter!] and was pointing toward the house across the street. I looked and saw a thin black figure perched on the brick fence post and looking directly at us. This thing was dark, dark black; it actually looked like it was absorbing the light around it. It was very easy to make out the body, the wings and the long, pointed tail that it swished around much like a cat does when it is interested in something. The eyes were the most striking feature as they were glowing bright red and were locked directly on my father and myself.
I was frozen in fear and the only thing going through my mind was how to defend my elderly father if this thing decided to attack us. I could care less about myself, but my father is 70 years old and not able to move or defend himself if he was attacked. I could hear my father praying and asking La Virgin de Guadalupe for protection and to send this thing away. I managed to tell my father that we needed to get into the car as quickly as possible where we could be safe. I pressed the button to the remote and the horn chirped as the alarm was deactivated and the doors unlocked. At the sound of the horn chirping, this thing opened its wings and stood up on the fence post and chirped back at us. It took off and hovered for a few seconds, its wings flapping and making a light whoosh sound. My father and I dove into the relative safety of the car as this thing flew away and was gone from our sight
This thing was maybe 3-4 feet tall and thin, but its wings were large and maybe 10 feet when spread apart. They looked a lot like bat wings, no feathers were visible as it was jet black. We drove straight home, and my father told my mother and my sister about our encounter with this thing and what had happened. My mother said it was probably a bruja disguised as a Lechuza and that we were lucky we were not attacked, either way she refused to let anyone out of the house for the rest of the night.

Navarette said he was able to speak with both witnesses, although “the father was quite reluctant to discuss the matter for fear of invoking the entity and bringing it back to attack him.”

Others have mentioned similar fears, including three reported witnesses of a winged humanoid perched atop a nearby garage during a family birthday party in Elk Grove, Illinois, who refused to cooperate in the subsequent investigation because they were afraid to “provoke a Lechuza,” and a woman who was reportedly afraid that the “flying witch” she saw near Darien, Wisconsin, would seek reprisal if she talked about it too much.

"The father spoke mostly through the daughter, and I assured him that I understood if he was hesitant to speak regarding this incident," Navarette said. "The daughter retold her story and said they had gone to the neighborhood grocery store to get a few grocery items and they were leaving the store and walking toward her car when this incident occurred."

He said the daughter described the creature as "small and thin,” but told him its wings were "very noticeable."

The creature had a "long, pointed tail that it moved as it observed them," which reminded her of her cat and "how it moves its tail when interested or observing something."

Its eyes were "very large and glowing a bright red" but the face "lacked any visible features except the eyes," she reportedly told the investigator.

Navarette said that the daughter also described how the creature "remained in complete darkness almost as if it was observing the surrounding light into itself in order to remain invisible" and how, strangely, "there was a streetlight right in front of its position and even that failed to illuminate the creature."

When the creature took off, Navarette said, "it was thin and … it hovered in place while looking at them and making a sound that sounded like a cross between a baby crying and a cat hissing but much, much louder."

After that, the father and daughter both reportedly dove into the car while the creature flew north and was quickly out of sight.

Navarette noted that this is one of several sightings that have been reported in the Little Village neighborhood within the past several years, although "this entity so far has been the smallest one reported by a witness."

"It is also not the first entity to be reported as a Lechuza," he added, "which lends to the very heavy Hispanic population that makes up the Little Village neighborhood."

In Mexican folklore, La Lechuza is an old woman—normally a witch, or 'bruja'—who can turn into a giant, black bird. In most stories, the bird is an owl, but sometimes it is said to be an eagle.

The investigator said he plans to forward the report to the Phantoms and Monsters Fortean Research team for further investigation.

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.

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

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