No, seriously…

On September 24, at a USPS sorting facility at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, a woman reported having a close encounter with a “some kind of very, very large bird…almost 7 feet tall” with “red eyed and what appeared…were actually wings which it spread out as it turned to look at me.” The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Manuel Navarette of UFO Clearinghouse “she was walking toward her car after her shift had ended and was checking her text messages on her phone as she made the familiar walk to her vehicle.

I’m 5’4 and this thing looked taller than me by at least 2 feet. This thing then started making some type of chirping sound, almost a half chirp and half click like someone was clicking their tongue but much much faster. It then made some type of screeching sound and took off running toward me, it got to within 10 feet of me and took off into the air and flew above me.

The 17-year veteran of the United States Postal Service was reluctant to report the incident to UFO Clearinghouse, which is investigating the incident. While the woman never outright referred to the ‘winged humanoid’ as the Mothman, from the sounds of the woman’s descriptions, it would appear she encountered a Vengeful Mothman from that of Fallout 76.

Mothman of Fallout 76 and Legend

In Fallout 76, a Vengeful Mothman is one of six types of mothman cryptids: Wise, Stalking, and Vengeful are the most seen and Glowing, Scorched, and regular Mothman being a tad bit more rare. The difference between the cryptids is the color of their eyes, which indicate how dangerous they are. The Wise Mothman has purple eyes and is not violent. The Stalking Mothman has yellow eyes and, like his name says, is more of a watcher, but will attack if provoked. The Vengeful Mothman has red eyes and will attack you just for daring to be in their presence.

The Mothman legend began in Point Pleasant, West Virginia where there is a Mothman Museum and a local holiday dedicated to the legendary creature. The USPS worker’s description matches that of the encounters in West Virginia throughout the years. Though, it’s been sighted in Russia once, sightings have tended to remain largely in West Virginia. Though, since 2017, there have been a few reported sightings in Chicago including a Mothman sighting in Calumet Park May 2017 from the account of a “Law enforcement officer and his son - witnessed by others in the park - Flying humanoid about 6 feet in height per witness' estimates. Blackish/grayish in color and had an enormous pair of wings that must have been 8 to 10 feet in width.”

The USPS woman was frightened out of her wits, reporting:

I was screaming hysterically as I crouched down behind cars open door and I dived into my car head first. I was in a near panic as I tried to start the car, close and lock the doors and turn on my interior lights. I started my car and took off out of the parking lot and flew down the road till I hit the main road. I got home and told my husband who also works at the same facility and he was the one who told me about the sightings of this thing. I was scared shitless and hope I never see this thing again.

Did the USPS worker see Mothman? Was it someone in a costume? Was it something else? Someone suggested that the sighting was possibly a sandhill crane, which are in fall migration right now. It is 2020, however—the year the Pentagon released 3 UFO videos, the year of Covid, locust swarms, and so much more weird shit. At this point, anything is possible.

Edited to report this isn’t the first time a “mothman” like creature was spotted in Illinois.