Two Witnesses See Mothman or Giant Bird on June 20 in Independence, Missouri

Two independent witnesses in Sugar Creek and Independence, Missouri reported seeing a Mothman or giant bird on the same day. 

Sugar Creek, MO
6/20/2019
4:00 pm

Valerie Hoover was outside in her back yard when she heard a small plane flying overhead.  She looked up and saw a small plane flying from the Southeast to the northwest, but she wasn't prepared to see a bird nearly the same size as the plane.  An extremely large black bird was flying above the plane in a circular pattern. She watched it for five minutes as it flew downward, then up again, then it flew off to the Northeast and out of sight. 

She was shocked to see that the bird’s wings were as wide as the plane's. Valerie speculates that it could have been a moth man due to the size. The creature was too far away for her to  see any features, but it did not look like a turkey buzzard, eagle, hawk or any other large bird that she has seen before. “It certainly was much larger than any bird I’ve ever seen, and perhaps it wasn't a bird at all - it may have been a mothman,” said Valerie.

1976 Cessna 172N Skyhawk
Photo: FlugKerl2 [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

Although Valerie could not identify the type of plane she saw she did recognize that it was a small engine plane. The most popular small engine four -passenger craft is the Cessna 172N Skyhawk with a 36' wingspan and 27' body length. If the bird was the same size, that is one very large creature. 

Second sighting: 

Independence, Missouri
6/20/2019

6:30 pm

Later that evening at approximately 6:30 pm, another witness saw a giant bird. Terre T. lives in east Independence, Missouri. She heard the birds outside her home suddenly get very agitated and start squawking and screeching, so she ran outside to see what was going on. Her first thought was that there may have been a hawk chasing a small animal, but what she saw stopped her dead in her tracks. 

She heard a loud screeching coming from a very large black bird, which had just flown over her house. Terre did not recognize the bird as anything she's seen before. It was all black with fluffy feathers, not smooth and shiny like a crow's feathers. She estimates the size of the wingspan to be at least five to six feet, but can't be certain. The crows and other birds in the trees continued to squawk for several minutes after the giant bird was out of sight, so something agitated them. The creature was heading north and flew out of sight. Note: the Missouri River is north of this location) Terre also speculates that the creature is a Mothman or an unknown type of bird. 

California Condor flying over the Grand Canyon
Photo: By Silent Paws - Self-photographed, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2310679

According to Wikipedia, the California Condor is the largest bird in the United States. It has a wingspan of 9.5 feet. However, Condors do not live in the Midwest region, so that eliminates the Condor unless there is a rogue bird here. Even so, the wingspan is still not large enough to explain Valerie's sighting or some of the past sighting reports (see my earlier posts).  

These two sightings combined with the six reports already on file, make a total of eight giant bird or Mothman sightings in the same general area in Independence, Missouri in the past few years. (UPDATE:  As of 12/12/19 there have been 24 reports received by QPI). 

So what is this creature?  Photos received so far are not clear enough to see what it is. 

It is interesting to note that there was a mass UFO sighting in Kansas City on this same day. Is this a coincidence? 

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Margie Kay is a paranormal investigator living in Kansas City, Missouri. She is the director of Quest Paranormal Investigations. Contact Margie at margiekay06@yahoo.com.