The real ‘Mothman’ or merely a Halloween costume? A spooky Chicago icon makes an appearance

A spooky sighting over the weekend has reignited some interest in a Chicago urban legend that wreaked havoc on the internet over the last decade.

The “Mothman” legend, after decades of random alleged sightings around the country, picked up steam in the Chicago area in 2011 when reports of a giant, flying, winged humanoid began surfacing.

WBEZ tried unsuccessfully to track down the mystery of the “Mothman” back in 2019. They did, however, break it down with a case file of the legend. You can learn more on the history of the “Mothman” here.

The Brewed, a horror-themed coffee shop in Avondale, hosted a Halloween event over the weekend. One attendee appeared to be dressed as the “Mothman,” completing the look with the trademark glowing red eyes. Either that, or it’s the real “Mothman.”

A tweet later on in the evening confirmed a spotting out in the wild, though we cannot confirm whether it was the same one.

“Chicago, the mothman is real and I know because I yelled ‘are you the mothman’ from across the street and they yelled back ‘yes’ and then disappeared into the night,” tweeted Nina Corcoran.

In WBEZ’s past coverage, some of the “Mothman’s” behaviors are described as “Screaming, flying toward lake, disappearing, going real fast, portenting, looking at people with eyeballs.”

And in this tweet posted Saturday, a new behavior: posing for pictures with fans.

Where did it come from? Will it strike again in another Chicago neighborhood this spooky season? Only time will tell.