A Lee County, Illinois witness contacted me about an encounter with a shiny, black bat-winged humanoid while driving home from the family cabin at Woodhaven Lake.
I recently received the following account:
"Hi, Lon. I live in Rochelle, Illinois, and my family has a place at Woodhaven Lakes, between Sublette, Illinois, and Amboy, Illinois. We were on our way home from a weekend at our place in Woodhaven on a Sunday three years ago (After talking to the witness, it was in July 2021 at approximately 4 PM).
I was in my mom's van with my wife, mom, and two dogs. We were going northbound on Brooklyn Road, which runs alongside I-39. We were just talking and all of a sudden my wife. Two dogs, and myself all see a big flying black "thing" as clear as day, fly right in front of the van. When I say the dogs saw it, I mean that their attention was instantly drawn to the sky in front of the van, like they were startled. It reminded me of when they saw an animal or someone outside my house who didn't belong. They went into "defend my family mode." They didn't bark, just in defense mode or maybe scared.
I don't know why but my mom didn't see it, she also was the one driving. My wife and I looked at each other and we both said, "Did you see that? It looked like the Mothman." At the time we hadn't heard of all the sightings in Chicago but were aware of the sightings in West Virginia and the collapsed Silver Bridge. We might have heard of some stories from Chicago too, but didn't really think anything of it.
At no time did we feel threatened. I felt like it was toying with us. Having fun you might say. Like it dove down in front of us to scare or surprise us. We looked behind the car after we saw it but we didn't see anything behind us.
We didn't hear it make any noises or see any red eyes. We just saw something very big flying at us. I have seen eagles fly many times close up and this thing made them look small!
It is one of those things that freaked us out and we talked about it a lot at first to each other but we didn't really want to tell anyone for obvious reasons of them thinking we were crazy. Once in a while, we bring it up. But a few weeks ago a Facebook friend made a post making fun of the people who witnessed the Mothman on Unsolved Mysteries.
I deliver for Yelloh (formerly Schwans) in that area and drive to and from my cabin a lot and have never seen anything like it. I always pay attention because I remember the spot where it happened.
We finally started watching the show tonight, and I am emailing you while watching it.
I just wanted to tell you our story. Feel free to email me back or call me." LL
NOTE: I called the witness this morning and had him repeat the scenario. The winged being was humanoid in appearance. No facial details were determined other than it had a head. The body was human-like, about 6 feet in length, and black with a shiny or wet appearance. The wings were bat-like and much wider than the van.
The winged being swooped down, flying toward the front of the van, then flew over as it neared. It then vanished. Only the witness, his wife, and the dogs observed it. For some unknown reason, the witness's mother, who was driving, did not see it. This is not unusual if compared to other sightings of the phenomenon. There does appear to be evidence that these beings 'allow' certain people to observe it. This has occurred in several previous reports, among other 'supernatural' characteristics associated with these creatures.
The report and witness contact information were forwarded to my investigative colleague, Tobias Wayland. Lon
Have you had a sighting of a winged humanoid or huge bat-like creature in the Chicago, Illinois metro area / Lake Michigan region? The entity has also been referred to as the 'Chicago Mothman', 'Chicago Owlman' & 'O'Hare Mothman' or 'O'Hare Batman.' - Chicago / Lake Michigan Winged Humanoid Regional Interactive Map - Please feel free to contact me at lonstrickler@phantomsandmonsters.com - your anonymity is guaranteed. Our investigative group is conducting a serious examination of his phenomenon. We are merely seeking the truth and wish to determine what eyewitnesses have been encountering. Your cooperation is truly appreciated.
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