During her years of dominating the punk scene with her band Against Me!, and her critically acclaimed solo work garnering mainstream and indie appraise, Laura Jane Grace spent a lot of time listening to podcasts on the paranormal. Now, she has her own experience to share.
Grace witnessed a large flock of birds outside of her Chicago pad not too far from O’Hare Airport on Wednesday June 19, 2024 around sunset. There was something larger, and higher than the birds she saw visibly clear with large spread out wings, and was flipping and floating, making loops, and hovering. It had a head, large wings, and a large tail, but Grace could not see red glowing eyes like “Mothman” is usually described with.
“The way it was obviously playing, and it was going somewhere too, going contrary to the birds,” said Grace to punkrockandufos.com.
Grace continued to describe the movements of the bird-like sighting to an android and compared to something that would be seen on the TV show “Raised By Wolves.”
“My phone was inside charging, and I’m lying there on my back and I didn’t want to lose sight of it, so I’m yelling for my wife,” Grace said. “ I just lied there watching it doing its thing, and in my opinion it was not a bird.”
Grace’s latest solo album “Hole in My Head” is one of 2024’s best releases, and showcases some of the best work of her storied career, with some songs that could easily be Against Me! hits.
“I don’t put on a different hat per se,” Grace said. “I just keep writing and for band stuff, if it clicks with the band it is like OK this is meant to be for the band. I keep on writing and the song will find its home.”
Back in the day, Grace and her band toured with blink-182, and Grace became friendly with Tom DeLonge as he hung out often, but the discussion of UAPs never came up. Atom Willard (now of Alkaline Trio) once drummed with Against Me, and Angels & Airwaves, and when Grace would start discussing the topic Willard would roll his eyes since he’s heard paranormal discussions millions of times before from DeLonge. Grace said she has always been “Team Tom DeLonge” and loved the “arc of Tom DeLonge… as he was completely validated by U.S. government.”
Grace was also familiar about the lore of sightings in the Midwest and surrounding areas from the podcasts she listened to as well as her experiences learning from traveling the country as a touring musician. Now, Grace has a validation of knowing she saw something extraordinary herself.
“I’m not the type of person to throw out things like that unless I really feel sure about what I saw, even if I didn’t know exactly what I saw- just that I saw something out of the ordinary,” Grace said.
By MIKE DAMANTE
If you are a fan of UAP studies, Mike Damante’s book “Punk rock and UFOs: Stranger Than Fiction” features exclusive interviews with Travis Taylor, Leslie Kean, Tom DeLonge, Peter Levenda, Kevin Day, Sean Cahill, Diana Pasulka, Jeffrey Kripal, and the producers of “Unidentified.” Order now.
If you are a fan of pop-punk, Mike Damante’s latest book “Hey Suburbia: A guide to the emo/pop-punk rise” is out now, and features interviews with blink-182, New Found Glory, Alkaline Trio, Descendents, and others.