The following report was submitted to Manuel Navarette at UFO Clearinghouse on Wednesday September 20, 2017. The actual incident occurred on Saturday September 16, 2017 at about 10:00PM CT. The original report was submitted in Spanish:
We were walking back from visiting a family member's house, when we saw what looked like a huge bat (later described as having 'large wings and black') fly over our heads and continue down the street. As we continued walking, we saw that the bat had landed on the ground across the street from the tiendita (convenience store) on the corner of S. Ridgeway Ave. and W. 24th St. We also noticed that it was looking right at us as we walked toward the intersection, it was very easy to see it with the lights. As we got nearer, we saw someone come out of the tiendita across the street and this thing turned its attention toward the person, who saw it and screamed and took off running. It was then that it turned back to us and opened its wings and took a step toward us. My sister and I did not stand around to see what was going to happen next and took off running back toward W. 23rd St.
The family members house where we had come from was near the viaduct where the train goes over. This large bat let out a shriek and took off into the air, because it flew just over our heads and then landed about 15 feet in front of us on the road. It looked right at us and shrieked at us. At that time a car turned onto S. Ridgeway Ave. from behind us on W. 24th St. This bat took off from the road and flew off, leaving us cowering on the sidewalk.
We have never been so scared in all of our lives and we hate to think what would have happened to us if that car had not turned the corner when it did. The car continued its way, not even stopping and we headed back to our family member's house and her son gave us a ride home.
Manuel Navarette's notes:
After receiving the report, an investigator did make contact with the witnesses and spoke at length with both of them via telephone. Both siblings spoke of the events leading up to the encounter, neither strayed from the story as told in the sighting report. Even after being questioned by the investigator separately they both told the exact same story with no embellishment. They have both agreed to meet with a field investigator to retrace the steps at the sight of the encounter. It will be scheduled at a future date and any information will be posted on the website.
It is the investigator's opinion that the sighting appears genuine, but further investigation is warranted since the nature of the sighting is completely different than any of the others. Field investigators will be sent to the location within the next 72 hours to gather any additional data and to attempt to speak with people in the area in an attempt to gather more information.
NOTE: This series of encounters was within a few blocks of the S. Millard Ave. encounter the previous week. This account describes a more aggressive being than any of the prior reports. I believe that there may have been real danger if the circumstance would have been slightly different. I really hope that this is not an ominous sign for the future. Manuel stated to me that he plans to go to the location and talk with the witnesses for further being descriptions and details. Any updates will be included with this post. This sighting has been added to the Chicago Phantom / Owlman / Mothman / Man-Bat / Flying Humanoid Reports - Chicago Metro Area - Interactive Map
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