Strange Light Near Peoria, Illinois—Helicopter in Pursuit?

A weird pursuit was reportedly spotted over Peoria, Illinois recently as an eyewitness claims a large, strange light had a helicopter in pursuit.

This new report just shared by the National UFO Reporting Center was captured the night of February 15, 2026. According to the eyewitness report, a large light about double the size of a helicopter was seen near Peoria, Illinois around 6:10pm. Here's a small part of what they saw that night:

"I looked up to the east the way I was facing I noticed a white light, much larger than any star, and very bright, it was moving southbound horizontally and slightly downward angle, I couldn’t under what I was seeing because it had no tail, moved slower than any shooting star, and did not have any details similar to a plane or helicopter, not to mention its speed and size, before I fully processed it all it suddenly vanished."

The person who reported this sighting went on to say "a couple minutes later a helicopter of unknown origin passed through the same area I can just seeing this anomaly". The eyewitness also said the object seemed to have a haze around it and animals seemed to react to its presence. The description of this report reminds me of another UFO over Peoria a few years ago.

What did this person near Peoria see a few weeks ago? So far there are no known explanations that have been shared on the National UFO Reporting Center site. That means, by definition, it is an unidentified flying object.