Massive Birds...or Something Else?

“I have a real story. I don't know what kind of bird it was. Around 2:00 AM in Oakbrook, Illinois in September (2017). I saw a massive bird land on a parking lot light. It was so big, its wings blocked the light and it was so heavy that the light shook back and forth after it jumped off and flew away right over my head. It was so dark out, I walked right to the light to try and see what was on the light. I felt the wind from its wings. I would guess it was a golden eagle or vulture but I'm close to Chicago and it was freaking 2:00 AM. An owl's wingspan is 5 feet so that's too small. Not sure what it was. It freaked me out. I remember thinking, how did some 8 year old kid climb up on this light. This is the only unexplainable thing I have seen in my life. Wish I had video of it.” Peter Borchek

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“I don't care what these experts say. I saw two of these in central Alabama in June of 1977. The two I saw were sitting on their haunches and were at least 6 feet tall with white heads. I was as close as 100 feet to them when with three flaps of their wings, they were over the tops of the 100 foot pine trees. Mark Thomas Jones

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“I myself remember seeing huge birds flying high in the sky in central Illinois back in the late 70's. I can't say what they were, all I know is that they were huge and I have never seen a bird that large flying anywhere since. I saw one more than once on different occasions on different days that summer. I can remember seeing it soaring and also flapping its wings. The rumor back then was that Doctor Nord who was also a wealthy farmer and landowner had somehow managed to have a pair of California Condors shipped to central Illinois and that he either released them or they had managed to escape. Whatever it or they were, from what I remember seeing, I can believe the part of the story where the boy claims he was picked up and carried away. I was a teenager back then and pretty much fully grown so it's not like a was just a small child imaging that what I saw was not as large as it was. These days the number of even small birds have decreased dramatically, and seeing any type of large birds here in the same location is a rare sight. The escaped Condor story sounds very realistic to me, and could easily explain why so many large bird sightings were reported in central Illinois back then.” Steve Smith