Chicago Paranormal Investigator Reports Sighting of Strange Flying Creature with "Membranous Wings" near O'Hare Airport

An illustration submitted by Navarette to help describe his sighting. (Manuel Navarette) — An illustration submitted by Navarette to help describe his sighting. *(Manuel Navarette)*

The Singular Fortean Society became aware of a sighting had by Chicago-based paranormal investigator Manuel Navarette after he posted a request for someone to call him in a Phantoms & Monsters Fortean Research Team shared message thread on Tuesday morning.

Navarette has been actively receiving and investigating flying humanoid reports in the Chicago area through his website UFO Clearinghouse for the past several years.

Investigator Tobias Wayland called Navarette shortly following receipt of that message.

"I was driving to work [on March 3rd, 2020], taking my usual route on Mannheim Road, and I’m talking to my wife on the phone," Navarette said during the interview. "So, I’m talking, and I’m coming up to the [intersection of Mannheim Road and Zemke Boulevard]—on the right side of it is an old Enterprise Rent-A-Car lot that used to be there, but they moved it to the other side of the airport. The building is still there and everything. I’m talking as I pull up to the red light, and I saw what looked like a large, winged being coming in like it was either landing behind the building or landing basically on top of it."

"The reason I say it was landing is because it was coming down, and it looked like it had its chest out with its wings flared up like it was trying to slow down enough to come in for a landing," he explained. "I remember yelling out to my wife ‘What the hell is that?’ She’s like ‘What? What? What?’ I told her what I was seeing. She said it could be a goose, and I said ‘This is way larger than a goose.’ I’ve seen geese. Right now, I see geese all over the place here. There are geese everywhere. They’re migrating."

Photographs of the sighting area taken by Navarette, featuring the garages (left) and former car rental building (right). (Manuel Navarette) — Photographs of the sighting area taken by Navarette, featuring the garages (left) and former car rental building (right). *(Manuel Navarette)*

According to Navarette, he was sitting in the third lane of traffic near the intersection when movement caught his eye. That's when he looked over and saw the creature.

"The street at the traffic stop is five lanes, and it was rush hour, so slamming on the brakes and trying to get a good look was an invitation to get into a wreck," he said. "I found a place to turn around and went back, drove around a few places. I couldn’t get onto their property, because it’s sealed off. It’s an old building, and I guess they’re using it for storage now. At least one of the garages is used for storage of compressors or something, because there was an open garage and I could see inside, and there were mobile compressors. Last thing I needed was to have airport security all over me for trespassing. So I drove around, and at one point there was an opening where I could go in. I went in, took a few pictures, and quickly got out, trying to find this thing, and I wasn’t able to find it."

Navarette said that the creature had "membranous wings" with "no feathers."

"Honestly, this did not look like a goose," he said. "It was brownish/grayish, more on the brownish side, and it didn’t look as big—it’s not like some of the reports we’ve taken since we started investigating—this thing wasn’t six or seven feet tall; it was maybe, at best, four feet tall. The wings were membranous. The only way I can describe them, the only thing I could compare them to, they kind of looked like an imp’s wings. I never got a really good look at the head. The sighting itself only lasted one, maybe two seconds."

"I know it only lasted two seconds, but you’re able to get a lot of information in that two seconds,” he added. “I can honestly tell you that it had no feathers. It looked like it had no feathers on it, just membranous wings. It was far larger than what a Canadian goose is. Its legs were tucked up beneath it, because it looked like it was coming in to land either on top of or behind the building. What I saw was basically the chest and the wings. What I got a good look at was the wings—they were completely outspread. It looked like it was trying to spread itself out so it could slow down for a landing."

Navarette added that he will likely return to the area and continue searching for the creature.

This is the most recently reported sighting in a series of unusual sighting reports that have taken place in the vicinity of O’Hare International Airport.

The sighting reports in this area so far include a January 23rd report from a man who said he saw an “egg-shaped” object fly over Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and shine a “brilliant blue light” to the ground, through which a “person” appeared to be taken aboard the craft, the December 6th sighting of a red-eyed, winged humanoid near O’Hare, a December 3rd report of a “red-eyed flying man” from a security person at O’Hare, a November 26th sighting of a seven-foot-tall “person with wings” outside of O’Hare, a September 29th sighting of a toddler-sized “bat creature…running like a gorilla” near Barrington, an October 30th sighting of a large, winged humanoid in Park Ridge, an October 29th report of a winged humanoid accompanied by several other beings who disappeared in a flash of blue light, a late October sighting of an “unknown flying human owl” in Hoffman Estates, an October 19th sighting of a “giant-sized bat” outside of the Edward Hotel in Rosemont, an October 5th sighting of a "tall creature" with "bright red eyes" and "large wings” near O’Hare, and a report from July of a six-foot-tall creature flying over the Des Plaines River near Rosemont.

In addition, a recent report out of Bensenville described an encounter by a man who claimed he encountered a “large, dark being” with “cape-like wings" in 2006.

These reports are seemingly related to a string of ‘Mothman’ sightings from 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. Sightings of weird winged beings around Lake Michigan have been reported at all hours, often in or near a park, and around water. Witnesses consistently describe a large, gray 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, or orange eyes; and humanoid features such as arms and legs are often reported. 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 large avian being could explain some encounters. Sightings of anomalous avians, including thunderbirds and pterosaurs, are often reported in or near the same locations as those where witnesses have reported winged humanoids.

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 Lake Michigan Mothman sightings so far here, and an interactive map 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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