Witness Reports Eye Affliction Following Sighting of "Human-Like Bat" near Missouri/Arkansas Border

Lon Strickler of Phantoms & Monsters recently received a report from a man who said that in January of this year he’d suffered a detached retina following his sighting of a “human-like bat” near the border of Missouri and Arkansas; a report which prompted Strickler to ask, “Was this a winged cryptid similar to the Chicago / Lake Michigan Mothman?”

"I received a report of a cryptid bat that was encountered in January 2021 near Crowley’s Ridge in southeast Missouri, not far from the St. Francis River and the Arkansas border," said Strickler.

The witness stated that he was traveling north on [County Road] 217 during the late afternoon. Suddenly, a large bat-winged creature was observed flying directly towards the vehicle, quickly ascending to avoid striking the windshield.
[He] described the creature as a "human-like bat" with a thin body and a wingspan several feet wider than the windshield. The body was approximately [four to five feet] in height with a small, bat-like head. The legs were longer than those of a bat and the arms were attached to the wings.
One strange aspect of the encounter was that the witness immediately suffered a severe headache, prompting him to pull onto the shoulder. It took him almost 15 minutes to gather his wits and to proceed to his destination, which was home.

But according to the witness, his ordeal didn’t end with the encounter.

Strickler said the witness stated that “he had sharp right eye pain for several days afterwards. He later went to the ophthalmologist, where he was diagnosed with a a detached retina. He assumed that his encounter with the creature was responsible for the eye problems.”

The investigator decided to look for other sightings in the area.

“After a bit of research, I found another encounter with a cryptid bat in the same general area in February 2021. The description was somewhat similar, though the account was very brief and did not mention any physical or mental maladies as a result,” he said.

After receiving the report, Strickler spoke to the witness over the phone, whom he said is still recovering from his encounter.

“He is currently unable to drive and is scheduled to undergo a medical procedure on his right eye in August 2021,” Strickler said. “This is the first report of eye issues resulting from a winged humanoid encounter since Billy Bantz's sighting in March 2017 in Cicero, Illinois.”

Bantz said he was in his semitruck on Cicero Avenue in Chicago when he saw something glide overhead and disappear into the clouds. Following the sighting, said Strickler, Bantz suffered from “bizarre medical problems...eventually traced to a rare condition in his eyes.”

The Singular Fortean Society has received two other recent reports of weird, winged creatures out of Missouri; one from two sisters who said they saw what “looked like a body shrouded in wings” in late August of 2020, and another from a woman who said she’d seen a “black, humanoid figure with very large wings and legs” on October 8th of the same year. Both sightings took place within a mile of each other in the city of Cape Girardeau, which is approximately 70 miles from the section of border between Missouri and Arkansas, close to Crowley’s Ridge and the St. Francis River, where this sighting was said to have taken place.

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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