Cryptids and UFOs in Illinois

Creatures reported in Illinois

Piasaaka Piasa Bird, PiesaA monster painted on Mississippi River bluffs, seen by French explorers in 1673; later retold as a giant bird.Enfield Monsteraka Enfield Horror, Enfield creatureA three-legged, pink-eyed creature that scratched at an Illinois front door in 1973.Thunderbirdaka Giant bird, Big bird of the PlainsGiant birds with impossible wingspans reported across North America.

Famous cases

1. 1673Marquette and Jolliet see the painted monsters
   Piasa · Alton, Illinois
2. 1973McDaniel encounter
   Enfield Monster · Enfield, Illinois
3. 1977Lawndale incident
   Thunderbird · Lawndale, Illinois

UFO files

• 252 US Air Force Project Blue Book files from Illinois, 1947 to 1969
• 9 FAA pilot reports of lights and objects over Illinois, 2007 to 2024
• Saw a strange light? Check whether it was a planet

From the old newspapers

Strange creatures, sea serpents and mystery airships reported in Illinois papers before 1927.

1. 1868A hideous beast killed in the Illinois bottoms
   Jerseyville
2. 1890Five anglers rocked by the Fish Trap Lake monster
   Galena
3. 1890A strange creature prowls a Chicago suburb
   Chicago
4. 1891Hunters catch the wild man of the Okaw
   Vandalia
5. 1892A 'log' turns into a giant snake at Thompson's Lake
   Havana
6. 1897Chicago and Evanston stare at four lights
   Evanston
7. 1897A snapshot of the airship at Rogers Park
   Rogers Park
8. 1897Following the Hennepin canal
   Moline
9. 1897Joe Downey's Lake Michigan serpent
   North Chicago
10. 1904A sheep-headed animal in the Rock River
    Sterling

All 10 newspaper reports from Illinois

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