The catalog
Sightings
Witness reports, held as-reported. Each entry keeps its source, its coordinates where the record has them, and its place in the larger pattern.
3,749 entries
August 23, 2017 · 4:30 AM · OVAL
New Lenox, IL
I was driving down I-80 west bound towards the New Lenox exit. I saw a light come down from the sky towards the ground but not fast like a meteor. The light was so visible that all the cars and trucks around me hit their brakes to watch this thing land come down. I knew I was not the only one to see this. I think it landed somewhere south of Rt 30 East of Exit 137 off of I-80. Quite impressed by this I never reported something of this nature before. Since I saw everyone else step on their brakes to look at it, I decided to put up a report.
August 21, 2017 · 12:15 AM · UNKNOWN
Lake Shelbyville, IL
Then we see the strangest thing. A meteor shoot up from the horizon. Never seen that before. But figuring the earth is round, sure. About three minutes later (the whole time the iPhone clicking away) we see a almost horizontal fireball shoot across the sky. But instead of a straight trajectory it shoots in a strange curved almost "u" shape. But instead of the common burn out on most meteors it just blinks out. We give each other a high five excited we both saw it. It was very bright. High altitude. Faster then anything I have ever seen in the night sky. But unusual in its trajectory. We talk about it. Stay out till 1 am and collect our phones and go to bed. As I'm laying in bed, I see I caught a series from one fireball. I note the first three captures at 12:01. Progressive fireball. Again. There was no other light source near us to reflect anything. This was all high altitude. And we never noticed the object. However we were getting up and moving around and there were moments we were not staring at the sky. I tried zooming on the object. Unable to identify. And although it was pitch black except for the stars I can't explain it. If you notice. The stars in the background are crisp. If it were an image of a blurred star all of the stars would be blurred. The biggest hangup was the speed at which the previous "meteor" was traveling, and its obvious altitude. And how it traveled in almost a cursive u course. How bright it was and the way its "tail" hung in the sky, as if it were almost drawn with a white glowing pen. I'm not sure we were meant to see this. I'm not even sure what it is. However, I do feel people fail to notice these things because they don't take the time to sit three hours staring at the sky. Any thoughts?
August 15, 2017 · 11:00 PM · LIGHT
Montrose, IL
Me and a friend were looking up and we both seen at the same time a light that was flashing, just a bit brighter than the stars and almost had a red tint to it here and there and was moving in almost a triangle form slowly. It was not flashing quickly, like a planes would. The object disappeared behind a tree that was in our way and didn't see anything for about another 5 min. Then we look up again and I don't know if it was a different UFO, but this one was streaking across the sky almost like a satellite looks, almost the same spot where we lost the other UFO, but this was having various speeds and disappearing ever so slightly heading east, north east, and as we were watching it out of the west and south there were what we think military planes looking for this object! There were 3 planes all together, and before all of this there were no planes in the sky! also before these events happened we seen the best shooting star with a pretty blue tail trailing off the end of it. The planes keep going over and around the spot where the UFO disappeared for about another 20 min. I really wish i had a camera with me at the time!
August 15, 2017 · 3:15 AM · LIGHT
Oakwood Hills, IL
On August 15th, at 3:15 AM, I had just gone to bed. I was lying in bed by my window waiting to see if I could see a meteor. I had a view of the southern sky. I saw a red light approaching from the west headed east at a very high rate of speed. The object then made a very abrupt U turn and headed back west at an even higher rate of speed. The object came back into view and darted around the sky for approximately 30 mins. Each time a plane would fly over the object would go away or not be visible. When the planes had passed the object would come back. This event lasted about 30 minutes.
August 1, 2017 · 10:00 PM · LIGHT
Rockford, IL
At Approx. 10 PM Central Time Zone, Witnessed Light Overhead. Light Appeared Normal, Like Satellite Moving Across The Sky, Except It was Shrouded In An Aura Or A Cloud. Moving From South To North The Aura Around the Object Seemed To Coalesce Into A Circle Around The Light. A Plane Traveling From West To East Passed Near The Object (Or At Least In Line Of Sight) And Did Not Show Same Shrouded Effects. Clear Night. No Wind. Shortly After Sunset. No Images Captured.
August 1, 2017 · 9:30 PM · LIGHT
Crystal Lake, IL
My brother and I witnessed a large light in the sky, moving from the south, heading north. The light was about the size of a pencil eraser in the sky. The object seemed to have a circle or halo of light surrounding it. After a minute of amazement, I thought to grab my high-powered binoculars. Looking through the binoculars the point of light became sharper, but remained just that, a point of light. The surprising observation was the circle of light/halo surrounding the object. As the point moved, the halo moved with the light. The halo was set apart from the point of light, I could clearly see other stars in the space between the light and the inner ring of the halo. I submitted this report after seeing another individual submitted a report on the same sighting on 8/4/17 out of Rockford, 40 miles west of my location. As a closing comment we have almost a sighting a month here of strange phenomena in the sky (mostly flashes). (( Witness indicates that the date above is approximate. PD)
August 1, 2017 · 9:25 PM · UNKNOWN
Orland Hills, IL
A large, green/teal brightly lit craft appeared for 1-2 seconds flying very quickly across the sky and disappeared. It was much larger then air planes flying at the same time, but it was hard to see how far up it was. Some planes were even with it at height I would estimate, others well above it. As I was watching the sky it appeared from nowhere, and disappeared into nothing. Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD
August 1, 2017 · 2:00 PM · OTHER
Joliet, IL
In the summer of 2017, I was driving south on Collins Street in Joliet, Illinois and was approaching the intersection of Cass Street where I had planned to turn westbound. It was a fairly clear, sunny, cloudless day around 2:00 pm in the afternoon. I looked in the sky above Collins Street. About 2 blocks down, I saw a large white cube in the sky just hovering over Collins Street. As there was no good frame of reference it was difficult to say how high in the sky it was, but I would guess about 100 feet or so. It was also difficult to say how large it was, but it appeared to me to be about the size of a 2 or 3 story building and was a perfect cube in shape. I wondered if this was some kind of reflection or other issue, maybe regarding the windshield. So, I turned my head various directions and looked through different parts of the windshield to see if the cube changed in size, shape or location. It did not. The cube stayed in the sky at the same location, so I am fairly sure it had nothing to do with that. It just hovered there. As I turned onto Cass at the intersection the cube just disappeared. Even though I have looked for it in that location since that day, I have never seen it again.
July 28, 2017 · 10:30 PM · FIREBALL
Chicago, IL
Three ufos. Fire type over Humboldt Park.
July 23, 2017 · 9:05 PM · FIREBALL
Geneva, IL
Red orb clearly visible looking south. Light was constant and did not have the regular blinking of airplane and motion was not in a consistent speed or pattern. Appeared to be coming in my direction then turned east. Seemed to hover for several seconds before turning again and heading away from me (south) very fast.
July 20, 2017 · 6:30 PM · FORMATION
Naperville, IL
Witness indicates that the date above is approximate. PD
July 18, 2017 · 1:00 PM · SPHERE
Hanover Park, IL
I was sitting in my car in a parking lot when I saw something appear in the horizon, coming from the northwest. My first impression was that it was a balloon, as it floated and fluttered in the blue sky (no clouds whatsoever). It appeared to be spherical in shape, metallic, reflecting the sun. I also noticed that it slowly twirled in a circular motion. Then it began to move upward in a more deliberate fashion, going way, way up in the sky, from the northwest to the east. Then it crossed my mind that it could be a drone but I’ve never heard of a drone that rose up into the sky that high, perhaps as high as an airplane. I managed to snap a couple of photos with my phone, when it was closer to the ground, and I sent them to the link as requested.
July 16, 2017 · 11:00 PM · OTHER
Walnut, IL
Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD
July 4, 2017 · 9:50 PM · LIGHT
Rantoul, IL
I went outside to head to a friend's house and to the south east i saw a very bright light in the sky just hovering there, no noise other than some residual fireworks and my car dinging. At first i dismissed it thinking it was maybe a helicopter or a drone, The light coming from it was very bright but not flooding and did not strobe or flash. I checked a flight radar app and there where no planes in the area at all. I took a picture of the light and a short video clip. The area I live in is on the decommissioned air force here in town.
July 4, 2017 · 9:00 PM
Chicago, IL
Source of the report elects to remain anonymous; provides no contact information. PD
June 23, 2017 · 9:30 PM · CHEVRON
Olney, IL
An adult male telephoned the NUFORC UFO Hotline at 0907 hrs. (PDT) on Saturday, June 24, 2017, to report an alleged sighting that he and his wife had experienced the prior night, while returning to their home from a restaurant. The witness recounted that his wife, who was a passenger, suddenly became alarmed, and pointed to an object in the night sky. The husband looked up and allegedly witnessed a "boomerang" shaped object, which appeared to be hovering motionless in the nighttime sky. The witness reported that the object appeared to him to be giving off either steam, or perhaps smoke. The husband described himself as a former law enforcement officer, with several decades of experience.
June 20, 2017 · 1:30 PM · SPHERE
Harvey, IL
Later that night a friend and myself were having a bonfire when we heard a loud guttural noise that we could not recognize coming from the forest. As we went to go investigate we saw a very large shadow come through the tree line so we ran back inside. That concludes the incident. Witness provides no contact information. PD
June 10, 2017 · 6:00 PM · UNKNOWN
Oak Lawn, IL
I'm late reporting this. It happened either June 10 or the 11th. I saw a black dot in the far distance moving right and then disappeared when a plane from Midway airport was closing in on it. I tried to film it but the camera was picking up too much brightness. I don't know what is was. Today is June 17th and was just hearing alot of sightings happening with Mothman lately in Chicago, so I thought I would report this. Source of the report elects to remain anonymous; provides no contact information. PD
June 9, 2017 · 2:00 PM · OVAL
Round Lake, IL
The ovals began floating around, at one point very close to each other. Sometimes they would shine so bright it hurt my eyes, but for the most part they just looked white. The first one began flying away, until I could no longer see it. Soon after, the other flew off into the same direction. Source of the report elects to remain anonymous; provides no contact information. PD
June 8, 2017 · 11:41 PM · OVAL
Peoria, IL
Around about 11:41 pm, my friend and I noticed a red dot while on the highway. We decided to watch it further for a bit, thinking it was a plane but it remained stationary until we came close to a nearby lighted shopping center and saw that it flashed red and green. Upon entering the shopping center, one of the buildings blocked our view of it, and by the time we backed up so we could see it was about 3-5 miles away within a few seconds. We then proceeded to watch it until it disappeared miles away.
June 7, 2017 · 3:00 PM · DISK
Manteno, IL
Looking at it closer, I noticed it was not moving. I took off my sunglasses to see if I could see it better, but as soon as I did, that it disappeared. Putting them back on, you could easily see it again. I figured this was related to the polarized lens....very weird though. I immediately changed my direction to head north towards it. Driving very fast, I was only about 2 miles from the object that was only about 3,000 feet in the air. I had never seen anything like this in my life. As I got closer the object began to move. At this time, I immediately felt light headed and a headache ensued (which I rarely get...related idk). At the same moment hundreds of birds began to flock away from the object from the adjacent tree line. It changed its direction a few times and began to head north. I hopped on I-57 towards Chicago and drove very fast so I would not lose sight of it. As I did this, the craft picked up incredible speeds towards increased altitude dramatically. If I had to guess, roughly 15 times faster than a typical 747, but this is likely an underestimate. I was dumbfounded, concluding the only explanation is new military technology or extraterrestrial. Unfortuantely, the object moved so fast that it disappeared in the distance in less than 30 to 45 seconds. I decided I would turn around at the next exit at this point as it was long gone. I slowed down a bit because I noticed an unmarked all black police car flashing white, yellow, red, and blue lights pulled off on the side of the interstate. I could not identify the model, as it was a car I had never seen before, and I know my cars very well. I would say the closest car would be a Chrysler 300 with a sleek body kit, maybe it's the 2018 version. Who knows. As I approached it, I noticed it had US Government plates, with no other vehicles pulled over next to it, and I could not see into the windows as I passed, they were tinted which striked me as odd. I thought it might be related to the presence of the craft so I kept driving past the next exit. I continued on the expressway for another 10 to 12 miles to see if anything odd would appear. As I began to merge into the right lane to get off the expressway I saw it again...maybe 10 miles West of me hovering above a radio tower. At this point I tried to snap a photo, but figured it would not work as I could not see the object without my polarized lens. I got off the freeway and headed west towards the object which was likely above Frankfort, IL. At this point I noticed a prop plane heading towards it from the east and two dark planes flying in formation from the north. At this point I was only a few miles away from it, but as the jets approached the craft it accelerated south at a very high speeds. The best pa! rt was the fact you could see it breaking the sound barrier within a matter of a few seconds. It picked up speeds so fast and headed into the skies where I lost sight of it within 10 seconds. I pulled off the road to turn around and see what types of planes where approaching. They were two fighter jets, maybe the F35 but I couldn't say definitely. They had no chance of keeping up with the object though. I hopped back on the freeway and on my way back home I noticed a strong presence of police cars. I saw 15-20 in the 20 minute drive home. As I approached my town I noticed more police lights, a fire truck, and ambulance which was weird because it was right where I began to have a headache. There was a car in the ditch on one side of the road and two cars that collided at the intersection. Maybe it was just all a coincidence though, but it was very odd coincidence. I reviewed the photos I took and I managed to capture the object on one of them, which I will upload. I watched the six o'clock news to see if anyone else reported it, but no news at all regarding craft, military testing, fighter jets, etc. Hoping someone will see this post and possibly confirm some of these events. Lastly, I have been keeping an eye out for an odd activity over the last few days. I noticed a strange, constant light that traveled much faster than the any of the other planes that fly over my house the night after the initial sighting. Additionally, I worked outside the day after and today on the landscaping. I kept hearing roaring jet engines over the house. This occured 6 or 7 times since I saw the object on thd 7th. Unfortunately, it has been cloudy here since then, but I can only confirm that I saw a fighter jet on two of these occasions during the day. I've lived hear since 2004 and have only seen a fighter jet once so all of this is very odd. Hope someone else can provide an explanation. Thanks. Note: the attached photo is the original unedited photo. It has the object on the right side, if you zoom on you can see the radio tower in the distance 10 to 15 miles away or so. It is directly above the radio tower.
June 5, 2017 · 9:29 PM · OTHER
Crystal Lake, IL
So, I was looking at the moon through a telescope and I noticed on the left side of the moon that there was a peak tall enough to be noticed, and in a place where there shouldnt be any peaks. So i called a buddy over and told him that i saw something strange on the moon. He took a pair of binoculars and looked at the moon, and, sure enough, it was there too. So we looked up a map of the moon, and came back 15 minutes or so, and it was gone. Also, earlier in the evening, we had moved the telescope to avoid a tree that was in the way. And after we had looked up the map the tree was mysteriously in the way again, and the pyramid ish like thing was gone. We were the only ones home and there was nobody to move the telescope. Sighting of Jupiter?? PD
June 3, 2017 · 3:55 AM · CYLINDER
Nashville, IL
At first, believed it was a star but upon further investigation object was moving up and down and sideways, The light or object was not there prior to that time, We began fishing at 1800 hours on 6/1/17. It was very strange I felt like I was being observed, It was not a plane, It hovered behind trees for 2 hours, It went above the trees on side tree. I am really rather in shock. The animals were all riled up, Birds screeching, and all sorts of sounds coming from animals. Venus. PD
May 29, 2017 · 5:15 AM · CHANGING
Kewanee, IL
I had just stepped out side and I saw something in the southern sky. I saw a blue to a teal green light with a smaller white light to the east of the blue one. Both lights looked to be part of the same object. I first thought I was looking at an airplane turning to the north. All the sudden the blue teal light gets very large and bright at the same time. That lasted no more then 2 seconds, then the white light grew in size and got brighter as the blue teal one shrunk in size. But did not grow to the size of the blue teal light. The lights looked to have had a grey haze around them. The white light shrunk to a dull red to amber color and disappeared.