THINK ABOUTIT

UFO|UAP & ENTITY ENCOUNTER REPORT

1954: The Chicago Lakefront Sighting — Lelah Stokes

Lelah Stokes watched what looked like a white parachute drift over Lake Michigan, a human shape hanging beneath it — and then watched it shrink, impossibly, until it was no bigger than a scrap of newspaper by the time it touched down. What climbed out onto the lakefront wasn’t a downed parachutist. It paced the shore in a tight green suit until a Coast Guard search boat passed by, then walked back to its now-full-sized carrier, climbed aboard, and vanished without a sound.

Date: April 8, 1954                             BBU

Sighting Time: 4:33 p.m. (16:33)

Day/Night: Day

Location: Chicago, Illinois (lakefront, Lake Michigan)

Urban or Rural: Urban lakefront

No. of Entity(‘s): 1

Entity Type: Humanoid

Entity Description: Short in stature, wearing a tight-fitting, one-piece green suit that covered the entire body including the head

Hynek Classification: CE-III (Close Encounter, Third Kind — entity present, observed at length, no direct interaction or abduction)

Duration: Extended observation from initial sighting through the object’s descent, the entity’s time on the ground, and its departure — total time not precisely specified but long enough for a Coast Guard boat to be called and to complete a search pass

No. of Object(s): 1

Description of the Object(s): A white, parachute-like object with a suspended human-like form beneath it, which shrank in apparent size as it descended until appearing no larger than a sheet of newspaper

Shape/Size/Color of Object(s): Parachute-like, white; apparent size decreased dramatically during descent, then increased again before departure

Distance to Object(s): Observed skimming over the lake in view of witnesses in a lakefront building, then landing on the shore itself

Height & Speed: Departed soundlessly at great speed after re-enlarging and the entity boarding

Number of Witnesses: 2 (Lelah Stokes and a fellow building tenant, Mr. Boruszak)

Special Features/Characteristics: The object’s apparent size changed dramatically twice — shrinking to the apparent size of a piece of newspaper as it descended and landed, then enlarging again before departure — a detail suggesting either an object changing genuine physical size or one whose distance from the witnesses changed in a way inconsistent with normal parachute descent; the entity, once on the ground, paced the lakefront until a Coast Guard search boat (called by Stokes) had passed by before returning to its now-enlarged craft; the entity then boarded and the object departed soundlessly at high speed

Case Status: Officially logged by Project Blue Book (BBU); a two-witness account with active Coast Guard involvement at the time of the incident

Source: Project Blue Book files

Summary/Description: At 4:33 p.m. on April 8, 1954, Lelah Stokes saw a white, parachute-like object with a suspended human-like form skimming erratically over Lake Michigan in Chicago, Illinois. She called in a neighboring tenant, Mr. Boruszak, who also witnessed the object, and contacted the Coast Guard. As the object descended, it appeared to shrink until it was no larger than a piece of newspaper by the time it landed on the lakefront. The figure beneath it, short and dressed in a tight, full-body green suit, walked up and down the shore until a Coast Guard search boat had passed the area. The object then enlarged again, the figure boarded, and it departed soundlessly at great speed.

Related Cases: None known

Detailed Report

At 4:33 in the afternoon on April 8, 1954, Lelah Stokes, from her vantage point in a Chicago lakefront building, noticed something odd skimming over the surface of Lake Michigan: a white, parachute-like shape, with what looked distinctly like a human form suspended beneath it, moving erratically in all directions above the water.

She called in another tenant of the building, a Mr. Boruszak, who confirmed he could see the same thing. Together, they watched as the object began to descend — and as it did, its apparent size shrank dramatically, continuing to diminish until, by the time it reached the ground, it looked no larger than a sheet of newspaper. Stokes, taking the sighting seriously enough to seek official help, called the Coast Guard.

What had been suspended beneath the parachute-like canopy proved, on landing, to be a short figure dressed in a tight-fitting, one-piece green suit that covered it entirely, head included. Rather than remaining still or fleeing immediately, the figure walked up and down the lakefront — pacing, by all appearances waiting something out — until the Coast Guard’s search boat, dispatched in response to Stokes’s call, had completed its pass through the area and moved on.

Only then did the object begin to change again, growing back to a size large enough to carry its passenger. The figure climbed aboard, and the whole assembly lifted away from the shore soundlessly, departing at considerable speed.

RESEARCHER’S NOTES

Chicago — 1954 and an Object That Changed Size Twice

• The size change is the case’s most distinctive detail: An object shrinking to the size of a piece of newspaper during descent, then growing large enough to carry a passenger away, is either a genuine claim of physical size change or a detail reflecting some optical or perceptual effect this account doesn’t otherwise explain — either way, it’s specific and unusual enough to set this case apart from a simple parachute misidentification.
• An entity that appeared to wait deliberately: Pacing the shore until a Coast Guard boat had passed, rather than fleeing immediately or ignoring the search entirely, suggests behavior calibrated to avoid detection — a small but pointed detail about apparent intent.
• Real-time official involvement: Unlike many entries in this archive reconstructed after the fact, the Coast Guard was actively involved during the incident itself, called in direct response to what Stokes was watching in real time.
• Two witnesses, one vantage point: Boruszak’s corroboration strengthens the sighting, though both witnesses shared the same building and viewing angle rather than offering independent, separated observation points.
• Officially logged by Blue Book: This case’s inclusion in Project Blue Book’s own files places it within the formal record of military-reviewed sightings, distinct from cases that reach this archive only through secondary civilian compilations.

This case combines a specific, hard-to-explain visual detail (the object’s size change) with real-time Coast Guard involvement and two corroborating witnesses — a stronger evidentiary combination than many single-witness entries in this archive. It remains, ultimately, unresolved, with no indication in the surviving record of what conclusion, if any, Blue Book reached.

“The object diminished in size, till it was no bigger than a piece of newspaper, as it descended and landed.”
— Project Blue Book Files, on Lelah Stokes’s account, April 8, 1954