When paranormal investigator Tobias Wayland noticed an uptick in online reports of a strange winged creature in the Chicago area, he connected with colleague Lon Strickler to see what they could learn. For years, Chicagoans had reported a flying black humanoid cryptid between 6 and 8 feet tall; its body had bat-like wings that spanned 12 to 15 feet. The creature had been spotted at night and during the day, despite the bustle of the city.
Strickler called this winged entity the Chicago Phantom. But as these stories turned up in the mainstream media, journalists likened the creature to another paranormal figure: The Mothman. In 2002, Unsolved Mysteries aired a segment about the legend, and since then, new stories have continued to emerge. Unsolved Mysteries Volume 4, Episode 5, “The Mothman Revisited,” examines more than 50 years of shadowy sightings and speculation to shed light on what has been haunting witnesses all over the world.
“In the world of the paranormal, Bigfoot and UFOs are the most commonly talked about and researched,” Wayland explains. “Close behind, you have winged humanoids — part human, part avian beings — which have been witnessed for centuries.” While accounts vary, The Mothman is typically described as a dark figure with red eyes and a large, humanlike body that appears to be shiny, wet, or slick. Some witnesses have recounted that it has an ear-piercing screech and a sinister presence. Many continue to experience nightmares and anxiety long after having seen it.
In many instances, these winged humanoid figures have been thought to be ill omens. Reports of Mothman-like creatures have cropped up around the Fukushima and Chernobyl disasters, as well as bridge collapses. The sudden nature of The Mothman’s appearances makes photographic evidence rare.
In 1966, a pair of young couples in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, were driving around at night when they pulled up to an abandoned World War II-era munitions factory. There, they noticed a winged, red-eyed creature that scared them so much they turned around and sped away with the creature in pursuit. They were far from the only people in the area who experienced something similar.
The 2002 Unsolved Mysteries segment about The Mothman featured several Point Pleasant residents’ recollections of what they saw during the years the creature allegedly roamed the town. Though some speculated that its presence was a harbinger of the deadly Silver Bridge collapse of December 1967, Wayland discovered that Mothman sightings around Point Pleasant persist to this day.
Strickler logged 161 Chicago-area sightings of The Mothman on a map, which shows where there has been concentrated activity. Among these reports are several at Chicago O’Hare airport — a number of airport employees have witnessed a large, winged, humanoid figure while on the clock. Many of these witnesses didn’t come forward for fear of losing their jobs.
For as long as there have been Mothman sightings, there has been a reluctance to report them, lest those who do be called crazy. But if more people come forward with details of their encounters with The Mothman, investigators like Wayland and Strickler may be able to get closer to some kind of definitive explanation of what this creature really is — and why it continues to make itself known all over the world.
See more bonus material for “The Mothman Revisited” including evidence and a map of where Mothman sightings have been documented.
Watch “The Mothman Revisited” here.
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