STATE FILE · IL
Cryptids of Illinois
What cryptids are in Illinois? The best-known are Piasa Bird, Thunderbird, Murphysboro Mud Monster and Enfield Horror, among 6 on file.
Illinois holds one of the oldest monster images in North America. In 1673, the explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet described a painting high on the Mississippi River bluffs near present-day Alton: a creature with horns, scales, a long tail and a fearsome face. Later writers called it the Piasa Bird and spun elaborate legends around it. The original rock art was destroyed by quarrying in the 19th century, but a large reproduction painted on the bluff along the Great River Road remains one of the state’s most photographed landmarks.
Cryptids reported in Illinois
FLYING · 1673
Piasa Bird
Mississippi River bluffs, Alton, Illinois
A winged, horned, man-faced monster painted on the Mississippi bluffs at Alton – first seen by Marquette in 1673 and reinvented by a storyteller in 1836.
REGIONAL LEGEND
FLYING · Pre-colonial
Thunderbird
Northern Pennsylvania mountains and central Illinois
A giant bird with a wingspan said to rival a small plane, reported over Pennsylvania’s Black Forest and blamed for lifting an Illinois boy in 1977.
REGIONAL LEGEND HOMINID · 1973Murphysboro Mud Monster
Big Muddy River, Murphysboro, Illinois
A 7-foot, mud-caked, whitish creature reported along the Big Muddy River in Murphysboro, Illinois, in 1973 – a case local police say is still open.
LOCAL LEGEND OTHER · 1973Enfield Horror
Enfield, White County, Illinois
A gray, three-legged creature with pink eyes reported in Enfield, Illinois, in 1973 – later a sociology case study in how monster panics spread.
LOCAL LEGEND
HOMINID · 1958
Bigfoot
Pacific Northwest forests, reported across North America
North America’s most famous cryptid: a huge, hairy, upright ape-like being reported from the Pacific Northwest to Florida since the 1958 “Bigfoot” tracks.
WIDELY REPORTED
FLYING · 1966
Mothman
Point Pleasant and the “TNT area”, Mason County, West Virginia
A man-sized winged figure with glowing red eyes reported around Point Pleasant, West Virginia, in 1966–67 – now a festival, museum and steel statue.
REGIONAL LEGENDThe legends of Illinois
The 20th century added a remarkable run of encounters. In July 1977, a family in Lawndale, Logan County, said two huge birds swooped down and one briefly lifted their ten-year-old son off the ground – the most famous modern “Thunderbird” report. In 1973, residents of Enfield in White County described a three-legged, grey creature attacking their house (the Enfield Horror), and the same summer Murphysboro was gripped by reports of a large, pale, mud-caked creature near the Big Muddy River. Murphysboro now celebrates its Big Muddy Monster with an annual festival and a statue unveiled in 2023 for the 50th anniversary. In 2017 Chicago drew national attention when people reported a winged “Mothman” figure near the lakefront.
Skeptics point to large birds such as turkey vultures and herons, owls with glowing eyeshine, bears and loose animals, and to the contagious nature of media-driven flaps. But between the bluffs, the Shawnee Hills and the Chicago lakeshore, Illinois offers some of the Midwest’s most storied cryptid destinations.
Hotspots
A giant reproduction of the creature Marquette described in 1673, painted on the Mississippi bluffs.
Home of the 1973 Big Muddy Monster, now honored with a festival and a statue.
Where a boy was reportedly lifted by a giant bird in 1977, Illinois’ best-known Thunderbird case.
Southern Illinois hills, bluffs and swamps with frequent Bigfoot and strange-creature reports.
Scene of the 2017 wave of winged-humanoid “Chicago Mothman” sightings.
Sightings timeline
- April 25, 1973Henry McDaniel’s encounter Enfield Horror
McDaniel saw a three-legged, pink-eyed creature outside his home and fired four shots at it. It hissed and leaped away toward the railroad, and deputies found unusual tracks.
- May 6, 1973The radio search party Enfield Horror
After McDaniel reported a second sighting, a search party including WWKI news director Rick Rainbow said they saw an ape-like creature in an abandoned building and recorded its cries.
- May 1973Monster hunters arrested Enfield Horror
Deputies answering reports of gunfire arrested five young men from out of town who said they had come to photograph the monster; they were charged with hunting violations.
- June 25, 1973The couple at Riverside Park Murphysboro Mud Monster
Randy Needham and Judy Johnson reported a 7-foot, mud-covered, whitish creature approaching their parked car around midnight, and drove to the police station. Officers later found large, narrow footprints.
- June 26, 1973Creath and Ray’s close look Murphysboro Mud Monster
Randy Creath and Cheryl Ray watched a cream-colored creature walk out of the trees and back into a field. The police report recorded an estimated 7 to 8 feet in height and a musky odor.
- Summer 1973The search dogs and the barn Murphysboro Mud Monster
The police chief led officers and tracking dogs after the creature to an abandoned barn, which they searched without finding anything. The story spread to national newspapers.
- July 1977The Huffer film Thunderbird
Photographer John Huffer filmed large dark birds perched and flying near Lake Shelbyville, footage later featured on television documentaries. Skeptics argue the birds are turkey vultures.
- July 25, 1977Marlon Lowe is lifted off the ground Thunderbird
Two large birds reportedly swooped on boys playing outdoors, and one allegedly lifted 10-year-old Marlon Lowe a short way before releasing him as his mother screamed. Wire services carried the story, while bird experts said no native bird could carry a child.
- 1978The sociologists’ verdict Enfield Horror
David L. Miller, Kenneth Mietus and Richard Mathers published their study of the Enfield scare, finding only a handful of firsthand reports magnified by media coverage and rumor.
- 1988Siege at the salvage yard Murphysboro Mud Monster
A salvage yard owner and an employee said they saw and shot at a creature, then sheltered in their metal office while something banged on the walls for over half an hour.
- June 2007Vandals tar the mural Piasa Bird
Five local high school students confessed to throwing tar-dipped sticks at the painting. The city arranged a cleanup with dry ice blasting, and artist Dave Stevens planned to retouch faded sections.
- July 2021Creature from Big Muddy released Murphysboro Mud Monster
Joe Tury’s documentary revisited the sightings, the police investigation and the hoax theories, with investigators Chad Lewis and Kevin Lee Nelson.
Latest from Illinois
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Videos
ARCHIVE.ORG3:07
Patterson–Gimlin film (unedited)
Roger Patterson and Bob GimlinThe original 1967 Bluff Creek footage – the most famous and most debated minute in Bigfoot history. Marked public domain on archive.org.
ARCHIVE.ORG4:59
The Film That Made Bigfoot A Star
Oregon Public BroadcastingOPB’s short documentary on how the Patterson–Gimlin film turned a regional legend into a global icon – and the hoax claims around it.
▶ VIDEO
Sts’ailes Sasquatch Days in Harrison Hot Springs
Tourism Harrison River ValleyShows the festival celebrating the Sts’ailes people’s Sásq’ets, the being behind the word “Sasquatch” (no archive.org equivalent).
ARCHIVE.ORG59:41
Sojourners Along the Way: Mothman – The Investigation
ACTV (community television)Talk by Jeff Wamsley, founder of the Mothman Museum and author of books on the sightings, about the witnesses and events of 1966–67.
ARCHIVE.ORG1:38
The Mothman of Point Pleasant (trailer)
Small Town MonstersTrailer for Small Town Monsters’ 2017 documentary built around interviews with Point Pleasant residents.
ARCHIVE.ORG21:40
The “Mothman” Encounters, 1966–1967
Think AnomalousA detailed documentary walk-through of the original Point Pleasant reports and their context.