I recently received the following witness account:
One night in September 2014, I had just gotten off of work at around 1AM. I stopped at the store, got back in my truck and starting heading home. Went about a mile when I saw this beast flying low (about 10 ft above the roadway) towards me, down the middle of the highway in Beardstown, Illinois. It didn't act scared. It had razor teeth top and bottom of a big mouth with a flat round face and forward direction eyes. It just flew over my truck. It had a small body with wings and feathers - about the size of a medium-sized dog. Do I think it could kill a human? I'd say yes with that big mouth and razor teeth. It was absolutely real. It was a real monster. Ricky
NOTE: I don't think I have received a flying cryptid description like this before. I contacted the witness...his account stayed consistent. Usually, cryptid bird sightings involve a large black bird (possibly a Thunderbird) or a pterosaur-like creature. The witness' description seems like that of a large owl with a mutation of the mouth. But owls have no teeth. Possibly a huge bat? Experimental hybrid? Who knows. Any information that can be provided would be appreciated. BTW...Beardstown is supposedly known as the 'Watermelon Capitol of the Nation.' Illinois has a history of flying cryptids (as well as Wisconsin and Indiana)...some links posted below:
Reader Submission: Thunderbird Encounters - Illinois / Wisconsin
Reader Submissions: Flying Cryptid Reports
Lawndale, Illinois Thunderbird Witness Comes Forward
Phantoms & Monsters: Cryptid Encounters
Destination Truth: Memoirs of a Monster Hunter
The Road Unseen: A Paranormal Journey Into High Strangeness
Thirty True Tales of the Weird, Unusual and Macabre: From the Notebooks of the Paranormal Journalist