Lon Strickler of Phantoms & Monsters recently received the following report from a man claiming to be a former security guard at a building in downtown Chicago.

Hello, sir. In the spring of 2021, I was working as a security employee in downtown Chicago, Illinois. On this specific night at around 1:30 a.m., I had completed my usual rounds and then settled into the monitor room to check the footage.

After about an hour, I took a walk to start my next round. Sitting all night can get tiresome and I needed to stretch my legs occasionally. I would start at the ground floor, then up the stairwells, checking all crucial points. I'd check the entrances, and exits, check to see if all the offices were locked up and then I would head back down to the ground floor.

When I got back to the third floor, the elevator stopped. When the doors opened, no one was there. I noticed the corridor lights flickering and it felt a little creepy when that happened. I got back into the elevator and went to the ground floor. When I reached the ground floor, and after the elevator door opened, I made my way to the security room to watch the monitors.

As soon as I sat down, I caught a fleeting glimpse of something unusual passing by on one of the surveillance monitors that was situated outside the security room. I could have sworn that it had wings, but it went by too quickly. I got up, opened the door, and peeked out of the room. My stomach started to churn; I could 'feel' that something was aware that I was there. Don't ask me why, I just had that immediate sense of nervousness.

I returned to the monitor room. I started to review the CCTV footage and pulled up the feed from a camera. As I watched I saw the familiar scene of the empty hallway. Then I observed a hazy figure materialize on the screen. It resembled a human form, but its edges shimmered and blurred making it seem dreamlike. The figure floated down the hallway. It cast no shadow and seemed entirely devoid of substance. I continued to monitor the ghostly figure as its movements became more erratic.

Then, as it moved towards the front street door, it began to gain a more defined form. I immediately got to my feet and rushed to the door. I walked into the hallway and quickly moved toward the front. As I turned the corner, I saw a [six-to-seven-foot-tall] winged being that looked human-like. It was very thin and dark in color. The wings were almost transparent as the light from the street could be seen through it. The wings were huge, I'd say 15 feet in total width, and unfurled. I was in shock. I accidentally dropped my flashlight on the floor and the being turned and looked in my direction. That is when I noticed its eyes illuminated with a bright orange-red color. Then, in a flash of blue light, it vanished! It was totally gone!

I stood there for several minutes in total silence. I eventually walked back to the security room, but the rest of the shift was a blur. I never mentioned the sighting to anyone, and I never wrote it in my report. Why? Because when I went back to watch the recording there was nothing there! I know that I didn't erase it because there was no way that I could have done that. No mechanism would allow me to do so.

I live alone, so there was no one at home to relay my incident to. About two weeks later, I quit my security job after finding another line of work.

More recently, I was at a friend's home for dinner. He had other acquaintances there as well. As we sat in his living room after dinner, a discussion started about the Chicago Mothman sightings. I had never heard of the phenomenon, but I was intrigued by what I heard.

That is when I decided to search online about the sightings and that is how I found you. I don't know what I witnessed that night, but deep down I believe that it may be related. I'm hesitant to reveal the location of my sighting because I don't want any trouble from my ex-employer. At this point, I'm debating with myself how much information that I want to disclose.

Strickler was unable to speak with the witness directly, but they did exchange messages via encrypted text.

"I was able to contact and message the witness," Strickler said. "There was no telephone communication, and the text was devoid of ID and stated 'SECURED' only. He eventually told me where his sighting occurred but insisted that I not release the information. All that I will disclose is that it occurred in a building located at the intersection of West Washington Street and North State Street. For now, the specific location and other information will remain confidential and only known by the Phantoms & Monsters Fortean Research Team."

"This encounter suggests that these winged humanoids may be supernatural, an aspect of this investigation that the team has believed to be true," he added.

Additional details were provided to Singular Fortean Society investigator Tobias Wayland by Strickler, including the witness’s first name and the address of the sighting location. Those details will remain unpublished to protect the witness’s privacy.

The sudden disappearance described above is consistent with other reports, including a report from 1999 in which a trio of witnesses said that they saw a red-eyed, flying “gargoyle” fly between two pine trees and vanish; another from April of 2017 in which the witness said that he saw a seven-foot-tall, winged bat/reptile hybrid humanoid briefly become a blur before vanishing; and one from April of 2018 in which two women said that they were mysteriously paralyzed by a “dark, winged being” prior to it vanishing into thin air.

Also, although rare, encounters with winged humanoids in or near people’s homes or other buildings are not unheard of.

In 2020, a woman from a Cicero, Illinois, said that she saw “something huge” with demonic wings and “a brief flash of bright red color” when walking past her son’s room one summer evening.

In early 2002, a woman in Madison, Wisconsin, said she saw a "large bat-like creature” with glowing red eyes while driving near the Seminole Highway exit off of the Beltline. Soon after, the woman believed she saw that same creature in a basement storage unit.

That series of encounters also included a number of other concurrent paranormal phenomena, including phantom baby cries, an anomalous fire, and the sound of dishes being thrown from cupboards only to be found unharmed immediately after.

Also in 2002, a young woman in Babcock, Wisconsin, reportedly witnessed a “gargoyle” with feathered wings perched on the roof of her family’s home.

That sighting out of Babcock is one of several wherein people have claimed to see a winged humanoid on the roof of someone’s home.

Because of its proximity to other sighting locations, the creature described in the above report could be related to the larger Lake Michigan Mothman phenomenon. Those sightings are commonly reported within a few-hundred-mile radius surrounding Lake Michigan, including every state bordering the great lake.

The sightings ostensibly began in the spring of 2017, but more historical accounts are being reported as more people become aware of the phenomenon. They generally take place in the evening or at night, often in or near a park or natural area, and around water. Witnesses consistently describe a large gray, brown, or black, bat or bird-like creature, sometimes with glowing or reflective red, yellow, or orange eyes, and humanoid features such as an upright, bipedal posture are often reported. Some witnesses have reported feeling intense fear and an aura of evil emanating from the creature they encountered. Many of the sightings are also of something seen only briefly or are described only as a flying creature with few details, which leaves open the possibility that a misidentified large bird—such as a heron or crane—or some type of anomalous avian species could explain some, although certainly not all, of the encounters. A number of associated high strangeness incidents have also occurred alongside the creature sightings. These include reports of UFOs, other anomalous flying creatures and mysterious humanoids, parapsychological phenomena, and bizarre events experienced by those investigating the sightings.

To report a sighting reach out to us directly at The Singular Fortean Society through our contact page.

You can view a timeline of the sightings so far here.

A map of the sightings, compiled by Strickler, is available here.

TO REPORT YOUR OWN ENCOUNTER WITH THE IMPOSSIBLE, REACH OUT TO US DIRECTLY AT THE SINGULAR FORTEAN SOCIETY THROUGH OUR CONTACT PAGE.