The following account was kindly forwarded to me by Tobias Wayland at The Singular Fortean Society:
"This happened a while ago and I've never told anyone for fear of being ridiculed. I have nightmares about this and thought it might help to tell someone. I just wanted someone to know that this thing is real and I saw it. I have lived close to the Great Lakes forever and have never seen anything like this before. This took place on the west end of Lake Ontario.
In 2014 in August, while traveling home on a four-lane divided highway at about ten-thirty at night I caught sight of something that has yet to be forgotten.
My car was traveling east along what we refer to as 'the parkway.' About a mile and a half from the end of this particular road which ends abruptly with cautionary 'stop' signs and then empties onto a smaller less traveled road.
The two lanes that are eastbound in this area went down into a dip and the two westbound lanes, at this point, were higher, as was the median. There was no moon that night in the eastern sky and no lights in this area to distract attention from the dark. To the left, there were trees both off the left-hand side of the highway and in the median. On the right is an old cemetery (Oakland Rural Cemetery) that had a chain link fence dividing it away from the four lane highway.
My bright lights were on as this area is pitch black under moonless conditions. The windows were open about two inches as it was quite warm that night and I had a cigarette lit.
As I approached the area where the cemetery was coming up on my right I was slowing down as there is a curve and then the signs warning that the parkway is coming to an end in one thousand feet.
At this time some sort of movement caught my eyes at the top of my windshield coming from the trees to the left in the median. At first, I thought it was a giant hawk or an eagle. I could hear what sounded like the flapping of huge wings. I knew that whatever it was, was very big.
Then it swooped down from the top of the trees in the median toward the cemetery to my right. It was low enough for my headlights to catch its underside in the light. It had short hairs like that of a deer and it shone gray in the headlights although I think the color of it was very dark gray or black. The wings were like that of a giant bat. It was huge and scared me enough to hit the brakes for fear of hitting it. It landed on the other side of the fence on a small path that was used for people to drive through the cemetery. When it first landed I could see its back only and knew that it wasn't a bird or a bat. I could see some of the headstones in the cemetery and also the chain link fence. It was taller than both the gravestones and the fence. I was close to being stopped at this time and got a good look. It turned around and it was some kind of a human-looking creature that appeared to be about six or even seven feet tall, black or very dark gray and its eyes were the thing I won't forget. They reflected a piercing reddish orange and looked like they were on fire. The eyes were hard to look away from. Almost like they mesmerized you. What finally made me move was when it flapped those wings while it was standing there. They appeared to be about twelve to fourteen feet across and they weren't even opened fully. I could not make out a mouth or a nose as the intensity of the eyes detracted from that, but I do remember seeing the musculature, it had no arms or hands and I saw a rib cage as the fur on this thing still shone in the side sweep of my headlights as I took off. The scariest part was having to drive by it as I left. I had stopped just before the spot where it stood off to my right.
I don't go that way anymore in the daytime or at night. It is a very lonely stretch of road for a four-lane highway and I often wonder if others have seen it and know better than to drive that road at night.
Thank you for letting me get that off my chest."
NOTE: The location is in Youngstown, NY in Niagara County, along the Niagara Scenic Parkway...approximately 2 miles east of Old Fort Niagara. The link goes to a July 2011 Google Maps view...the chain link fence was added since then. I'm not sure if there have been similar sightings previously or since...though paranormal activity is no stranger to the area. Lon
Mothman: Behind the Red Eyes
Encounters with Flying Humanoids: Mothman, Manbirds, Gargoyles & Other Winged Beasts
The Book of Mothman
Paranormal Niagara: Cases of the Mysterious and Macabre
