Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois

Stevens wrote it, and it opens Illinois at 2:08. The record came out on July 4 and 5, 2005 on Asthmatic Kitty and Secretly Canadian in the US and Rough Trade in Europe, 73:59, produced by Stevens and mastered by Alan Douches. Most of it was recorded at The Buddy Project in Astoria, Queens and in his Brooklyn apartment from late 2004 to early 2005, with other New York locations including St. Paul's Church in Brooklyn. Wikipedia names Katrina Kerns and Shara Worden on backing vocals here.

The subject is a UFO sighting by police officers near Highland, Illinois, early on January 5, 2000, when a large triangular object with three lights was reported across several towns in the southwestern part of the state. No singles were taken from the album, which reached 121 on the Billboard 200, 1 on Heatseekers and 124 in the UK, and is Gold from the RIAA (August 2017) and the BPI (April 2023). A bootleg live recording from the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles on July 16, 2005 runs 3:14. We found no statement from Stevens on the song, and no video.