Man Reports Sighting of "Gargoyle with Little Horns on Its Head" in Itasca, Illinois

Lon Strickler of Phantoms & Monsters recently received the following report describing one man’s encounter with a winged humanoid which took place on an August night in 2020 in Itasca, Illinois.

I have an experience I would like to tell you about. I did not know this site existed and I was telling my brothers about it a few weeks ago at my son's birthday party (they were laughing at me). I live in Itasca, Illinois and two years ago, in August 2020, I went out at about 9pm at night and was putting something in my car. About 50-75 yards away I saw something land in the street. It looked like it was crouching, and it looked the size of a coyote or maybe bigger sitting in an upright position. It was too big to be an owl but kind of looked like a bat/owl-looking creature. Like a gargoyle with little horns on its head. I was focusing on it for about a minute and kept asking myself, "What the hell is that?"
In a sudden burst with its wings, it kind of hopped up and exploded out of a crouching stance with a thunderous stroke of its wings and disappeared into the trees. I yelped and stepped back a bit as I could not believe my eyes. It looked like a five-foot black bat/animal thing jumping/flying into the trees.
I have been reading about other sightings in the area and my sighting matches what others have seen. I got a good look at that creepy thing, but I do not believe that it observed me because I was watching it quietly.

Strickler was able to interview the man via telephone.

"[The witness stated] that he was quite surprised when he noticed the creature," Strickler said. "It was crouched under a fairly bright streetlight and about 50 yards in front of him in his neighborhood (in the vicinity of Bryn Mawr and Elm Street in Itasca). This location is approximately 2 miles west of O'Hare International Airport. As he watched, it was apparent that it had bat-like wings and that the face was similar to a gargoyle's depiction with small horns on its head. The coloring was grey to black. There was no eye color recognized."

The man reportedly went on to tell Strickler that the creature stood five to six feet in height and that "the body was somewhat emaciated but defined."

"The arms were attached to the wide wings that spanned far off the body. It was definitely a humanoid form," Strickler said. "He used the word 'explode' to describe the sudden burst of energy when it took flight after just one flap of the powerful wings. The sound of the wings and ascent burst like thunder. It quickly flew into the trees and disappeared."

As noted by Strickler, the sighting location is approximately two miles west of 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.

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.

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