Anonymous “Chicago Firefighter” Reports Sighting of Red-Eyed, Winged “Batman” at O’Hare International Airport

Miguel Navarette of UFO Clearinghouse recently received the following report from a man claiming to be a firefighter stationed at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.

I work for the Chicago Fire Department and have been stationed at O’Hare International Airport for the last seven years. This occurred on Thursday, December 29th, at about 2300 [11 p.m.] at O’Hare Station 3, which is just past terminal two and next to the HVAC plant that sits across the street.

I was in the middle of my shift, and as usual, I would bring my laptop with me to watch movies and play games on. I was setting up my laptop when I realized that I had left my charging cord in my pickup, so I got up and ran outside to go and grab it and head back in. As I got my cord, I heard what sounded like a chirping sound, followed by what sounded like shuffling coming from nearby. I looked around and that’s when I heard the clicking coming from across the street, I looked up and standing on the edge of the HVAC plant was a very tall, thin humanlike creature with huge wings that were spread out. This creature was looking directly at me with a pair of large red eyes that had the intensity of a pair of taillights or one of the lights on the engine. It just stood there and looked at me and made this rapid clicking sound. I was in complete shock at what I was seeing and just how large this creature was and how enormous its wings were, they had to be close to 15 feet from tip to tip and it had to be at least [seven] feet in height! The body was thin, and its limbs were very thin and long. They looked like they would be unable to support such a tall body, but apparently, looks can be deceiving from what I was looking at. We stared at each other for about [six to seven] seconds before this thing flapped its wings and silently took to the air, and within a few seconds, it disappeared. I stood out there for at least a minute before coming to my senses and realizing I should get inside.

I went inside and told some of my coworkers, besides the gentle ribbing, there was also an air of caution (more than usual considering our profession). A few of them spoke up and said that this was not the first time it had been seen and that it had been seen around the HVAC plant a few times by people and around the airport by hundreds of employees, passengers and pilots. They said it had been seen by a few in the firehouse, but it never stuck around too long and was more content with just staring at you and scaring the bejesus out of people. You can’t work at O’Hare for any length of time without hearing about the O’Hare “Batman”. It’s practically a legend in and around the airport, and people always claim to see it all over the airport. We spent the better part of two hours talking about these sightings, many of my co-workers sharing their own experiences.

Navarette was reportedly able to sit down and speak with the man, whom he said “is a ten-year veteran of the Chicago fire department and has been stationed at O’Hare for the last five years and before that was in the military for over ten years. He has been a lifelong resident of the city of Chicago and has deep family roots within his community.”

According to Navarette, “The witness stated that his shift began as any normal shift would and that there was nothing particularly of interest going on during that time,” however, he said the man did mention that “the weekend before had seen record-setting low temperatures and winds that caused the airport to basically shut down” and “the following week brought temperatures that were well above normal in the sixties and low seventies and that the sky was overcast with light drizzle coming down on the night of the sighting.”

The man then reportedly reiterated the account featured above, adding that he also “had an overwhelming feeling of being watched” when he first heard the clicking sound, and that the shuffling “reminded him of one of his children dragging their feet along.”

Navarette said that the man also claimed to have made eye contact with the creature, but “When asked if he felt anything while staring at this entity, he stated other than obvious shock he did not feel any feeling of dread or impending doom.”

The man reportedly described the creature to Navarette as “thin and at least seven feet tall” with “a pair of wings that were extended from its back.”

Navarette said the man told him the wings “must have been at least fifteen feet in width and looked thin, like a thin piece of membrane.”

The man also reportedly told the investigator that the entity “had arms and legs that were very thin and abnormally long” and that it “was a shade of black that was so black that it stood out against the night sky.”

Otherwise, Navarette said, “He stated that no obvious features were recognizable other than the two eyes that were brilliant red.”

The entity reportedly then “began to slowly flap its wings and took off by jumping off the building and flying away into the night in a southerly direction.”

“When asked if it disappeared into the night, [the witness] stated that it was visible because of the black stood out against a grey sky that was back lit by the lights of the airport for a few seconds before it was out of sight,” Navarette said.

The witness then added “that he stood there almost transfixed for upwards of a minute before he decided that it was prudent for him to get inside and tell somebody about what he had seen,” the investigator said.

Navarette said that the witness told him that afterwards he went inside and told his coworkers of the experience.

“He stated that besides the usual ribbing that he is used to from his coworkers, there was a palpable air of disbelief among those in the firehouse,” Navarette said.

It was then the man reportedly learned “that the entity is dubbed the O’Hare ‘Batman’ by some at the airport and that it has been seen by members of the firehouse multiple times. The entity seems to like perching itself on the HVAC building and observing the comings and goings of the firehouse and startling the members who work there.”

The man claimed to have been told “multiple stories by his coworkers of sightings and encounters with this winged entity,” Navarette said. “I documented all of them and have my contact information to the witness to pass along to his coworkers in hopes that they will come forward. I will detail these other sightings in another report to be published soon.”

Any new information regarding these events will be published as it is released.

The chirping and clicking reported in the above testimony has been reported in at least four other cases: on September 12th, 2017, a woman walking home from work reportedly encountered a “black devil” in Chicago’s Little Village; on April 13th, 2018, a couple in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, reportedly encountered a bat-like flying humanoid with “large glowing red eyes”; on September 24th, 2020, a woman reportedly encountered a seven-foot-tall, red-eyed creature after leaving work at the United States Postal Service sorting facility in Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport; and on April 28th, 2022, a truck driver claimed to have encountered a giant, red-eyed “man-bat” while dropping off equipment at work in Bensenville, Illinois.

Each of those reports mentions a clicking or chirping sound associated with the creature.

Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport has been the epicenter of recent winged humanoid sightings in the Lake Michigan Mothman investigation, with over a dozen sighting reports coming from the airport itself since August of 2019, and many more reported in the surrounding communities. Reports from the larger investigation have come from every state bordering Lake Michigan and date back to 1957.

This report constitutes the latest news in a string of ‘Mothman’ sightings from within a few hundred-mile radius surrounding Lake Michigan, including every state bordering the great lake. These 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—although in a small number of cases the creature was described as insect-like—sometimes with glowing or reflective red, yellow, green, or orange eyes, and humanoid features such as arms and legs 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.