I received the following account from Tobias Wayland at the Singular Fortean Society:
"I was just reminded of an experience I had that I never told to anyone because I couldn’t even explain it to myself. Don’t know why I never Googled it before, maybe because I thought it was too crazy (I’ve never ever told my husband!!!). Anyway, it was sometime between 2001-2003 and I was going to school in DeKalb, IL and was working at a restaurant in Maple Park. I was driving home from work late one night on County Line Road (This is a really rural area, no street lights, just corn and a few farms) and something flew across my windshield. I was probably going about 45-50 mph and it was going fast enough in the opposite direction to not get hit by my car. It came close enough to the windshield to almost touch it but I don’t think it did. It was at least as long as the width of the car. There were no lights on the street so I only had the lights of the car to see. It was big and black and fast! It actually shook the car as it flew past. I literally had no idea what I had just seen. There was nothing I could think of to explain it so I mostly forgot about it.
Just did a Google search on a black flying creature on a whim at 3am and came across your site among others that have reported on numerous similar sittings in the Chicago area. There was a man who mentioned in the comment section on your site that he saw it on Route 47 which is a route about a mile east of the road I saw it! While just looking on Google Maps I noticed (and never knew back then) that there is a pretty large Forest Preserve (Virgil Forest Preserve) that sits in between the two roads in a town called Virgil. Possibly where this thing hangs out?! I guess I’m not crazy after all this thing is/was real."
Tobias also received this follow-up:
"I would say is was at least 5’ in length. The only thing I could relate it to in shape and size in my mind was a pterodactyl!"
NOTE: There have been sightings of Pterosaur-type beings in Illinois historically. I have posted a few in the past. Could this have been a Sandhill Crane? I suppose it is possible. Lon
Live Pterosaurs in America: Not extinct, flying creatures of cryptozoology that some call pterodactyls or flying dinosaurs or prehistoric birds
Modern Pterosaurs: Human encounters with living "pterodactyls"
Weird Highway: Illinois
Weird Illinois: Your Travel Guide to Illinois' Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets
