Woman Reports Indoor Sighting of "Something Huge" with Demonic Wings in Cicero, Illinois

Lon Strickler of Phantoms & Monsters recently received the following report from a Cicero, Illinois woman who said that she saw “something huge” with demonic wings and “a brief flash of bright red color” when walking past her son’s room one summer evening in 2020.

I'm not even sure if I'm explaining this right because I don't have the right words, but I am gonna try. I have three kids, and they're pretty active. It was a summer evening in 2020. The boys asked to go outside into the yard, so I said yes, and they headed into the back. I had to go to the bathroom, so I had to walk past my boy's room to get there. They had left the dresser light on which was against the wall shared with the bathroom wall. When I walked past the door, something huge flew past the light making a shadow that had wings. Not like bird wings or insects but like those cartoons or drawings of demons where they have like pointy edges in the flaps? I also saw a brief flash of bright red color for a second.
It literally scared me so much that I jumped back and hesitated walking by the door, but I heard some toys shift and the dresser being closed. But there is no one else inside the house. My kids are outside with my husband and I'm alone (or was I, so I thought?). So, what the hell would make that shadow? I walked into the room, and everything was normal looking except my son's Gundams, which are these Japanese build-your-self toys of giant robots that vary in size. The one that normally is up on the shelf, too high for my kids to reach, was down on the dresser away from the other 3 that are on the shelf above.
Now normally I would just assume that my son was fixing it or something but it just didn't add up as I had been inside doing laundry, putting clothes in that same dresser just a few minutes before. My son hadn't been in his room, and my other son could not reach them and would break them if he grabbed them.
When I went outside I asked everyone if they had been moving the Gundams or fixing them and instantly my oldest was concerned someone broke it and had to go check, saying he hadn't touched it since we put them on the shelf. Now, when he returned from their room, he was annoyed asking me why I was making stuff up about the Gundams because they're all in their places. I asked about the one on the dresser and he said, "No, you put it back just fine, thank you for being gentle." I cannot reach the shelf without a chair or step ladder and neither of those things are in their room, so whatever moved that thing made me look crazy or like I was playing some prank.
So what was in the room and how was it big enough to cast a shadow that darkened the whole room? Maybe it was just my mind playing tricks on itself. But my dog hasn't gone into the boy's room since and both of my boys slept in the living room last night, saying they kept hearing scraping and scratches in the wall behind the dresser.

Strickler has not yet been able to speak with the witness directly, but he did correspond with her via email.

"The witness got back to me by email and told me that they live in Cicero, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois," Strickler said. "I mentioned the winged humanoid sightings in the Chicagoland region. She was not aware of the phenomenon. [...] She refused to give me her address, only that they live a few blocks north of Chicago Midway International Airport. Hopefully, she will eventually allow me to talk to her by telephone."

Although rare, encounters with winged humanoids in or near people’s homes are not unheard of.

In early 2002, a woman in Madison, Wisconsin, said she saw a "large bat-like creature” with glowing red eyes while driving near the Seminole Highway exit off of the Beltline. Soon after, the woman believed she saw that same creature in a basement storage unit.

That series of encounters also included a number of other concurrent paranormal phenomena, including phantom baby cries, an anomalous fire, and the sound of dishes being thrown from cupboards only to be found unharmed immediately after.

Also in 2002, a young woman in Babcock, Wisconsin, reportedly witnessed a “gargoyle” with feathered wings perched on the roof of her family’s home.

That sighting out of Babcock is one of several wherein people have claimed to see a winged humanoid on someone’s home.

Because of its proximity to other sighting locations, the creature described in the above report could be related to the larger Lake Michigan Mothman phenomenon. Those sightings are commonly reported within a few-hundred-mile radius surrounding Lake Michigan, including every state bordering the great lake.

The 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, 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.

A map of the sightings, compiled by Strickler, is available here.