Similarly, the world’s largest owl, the great grey owl, finds its home across the northernmost parts of the northern hemisphere, but is also far too small to be the creature as described, standing at under three feet in height.

It's possible that people are catching a quick glimpse of an out of place animal and a paranormal narrative is being applied to it, but the witnesses themselves tend not to create their own explanation, preferring to simply try and describe what they think they saw. One would think a simple animal sighting would likely go unreported in the first place.

It's a paranormal manifestation. Fans of forteana are speculating that these sightings might be the result of an entity similar to that which haunted Point Pleasant, West Virginia, from 1966 to 1967. It certainly has a lot in common with the Mothman of that era. Witnesses report feelings of abject fear, and eerie, glowing red eyes; both popular qualities associated with the Mothman. We spoke to Lon Strickler of Phantoms and Monsters in June, and while he admits he can't be sure, during the interview he did say that he felt it could be an interdimensional entity; especially considering the UFOs reported recently over Lake Michigan.

There are certainly other possible explanations, but these three are by far the most popular we've found. Time will tell what this turns out to be, of course, but until then we'll continue to cover the story and enjoy the mystery.

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, and an interactive map here.