How unfortunate for living-pterosaur investigations that some recent web pages display photos of Frigate birds as if they were living pterosaurs! Those daylight-loving feathered soarers look hardly anything like ropens, or long-tailed modern pterosaurs. Let’s consider a photo of a Frigate bird, then compare it with the sketch by the U.S. Marine Eskin Kuhn (which he drew soon after his sighting in 1971 in Cuba). This deserves careful attention, please.
Notice the huge size of the ropen head. (I say “ropen” because that is the name becoming common in at least some English-speaking countries.) Notice the ropen’s head crest. Notice the depth of the wings (distance from cutting-edge to trailing-edge of wing). Notice the bone structure visible because of the lack of feathers. How little this creature resembles the common Frigate bird!
Sketch by Eskin Kuhn: 1971 sighting in Cuba
Posted in Reasoning, general, Sightings, general.
Tagged with Frigate bird, pterosaur, ropen.
By Jonathan Whitcomb
– August 30, 2010
How incredible those many flocks of pterosaurs must have been! With all the varieties known from fossils, those flying wonders must have been dazzling: short-tailed Pterodactyloids and long-tailed Rhamphornynchoids. Yet how few Americans are aware of the serious investigations that have delved into the reports of live pterosaurs in the United States!
Part of the problem involves assumptions: assuming “science” tells us that all dinosaurs and all pterosaurs became extinct many millions of years ago. I once started to talk with a kindergardner about living pterosaurs. I hardly got started with the word “pterosaur,” when he interupted with, “A comet.” How deeply this universal extinction dogma has been injected into our mentalities!
Have I really spent years of my life in vain, vainly writing about eyewitness accounts of living pterosaurs? My interviews with eyewitnesses—those fill much of the contents of my books. Are they really of no account because fossils tell us that all species of pterosaurs must have become extinct long ago? If there really is evidence in the fossils (and supposed lack of “recent” fossils), then it should hold up under scrutiny: Paleontologists, however, (including Darren Naish and Glen Kuban) seem unable or unwilling to answer the objection about dating those fossils, for the dating includes the assumption that all those fossils must be many millions of years old.
Assumptions, when they are treated as if facts, can get us into trouble and that has happened with standard-model interpretations pterosaur fossils. Too many paleontologists, for too long, have held on dogmatically to the assumption of ancient extinctions of all species of dinosaurs and pterosaurs. That dogmatism is a big part of the problem.
Standard-model procedures in dating strata include the evaluation of types of fossils contained therein. In other words, should a pterosaur fossil be found in a formation, that layer would be dated in millions of years old, just because it contained a pterosaur fossil. Is that only a recent procedure? If you call the ninteenth century “recent,” then yes. But if all those fossils of pterosaurs are actually comparatively recent themselves, then all of those many datings (at millions of years old) have been in vain, spoiling the soup with methodically-minced cockroaches.
Listen to the experiences of many eyewitnesses, even if it means turning the attention away from the imaginations of many professors. Human experience, in the end, is the foundation of science.
Posted in Reasoning, general.
Tagged with dating strata, fossils.
By Jonathan Whitcomb
– August 13, 2010
Whether reported in the United States of America or elsewhere, “pterosaur” is not the only word that comes to mind when someone sees a strange featherless flying creature that is not a bat; but that is the technically correct word. Let’s consider those other names: “flying dinosaur,” “pterodactyl,” “ropen,” and “dinosaur bird.”
Flying Dinosaur (actually, pterosaurs are not really dinosaurs)
Called by some Americans “flying dinosaurs,” pterosaurs, in modern times, appear to be at least somewhat rare, for they are rarely reported by eyewitnesses.
Pterodactyl
“Pterosaurs,” the technically correct name for what many call “pterodactyls,” are known by Western scientists through their fossils. Textbooks and children’s books declare that they all became extinct many millions of years ago. . . . But where is the evidence for the extinction of all pterosaurs?
According to one news report, strange featherless flying creatures fly over a valley in the center of New Britain Island, Papua New Guinea.
Ropen
A man who was taking a walk with his wife near Perth, Australia, in December, 1997. . . . “In the distance I perceived an object in the sky. . . . I watched it as it approached. . . . It was some sort of flying creature, and my first thought was that it must be some very large bird . . . Within a minute or so it had reached our position and was about 250 or 300 feet above us . . . it seemed to be a light reddish-tan color. It did not appear to be covered with feathers but had a leathery texture. Soon after it passed us it flew over a more brightly lit sports area which highlighted even more the leathery appearance also bringing more detail to view. The wings were the most definite leathery feature, they were shaped in a triangular arch, similar to a very elongated shark fin . . . [I] estimated the size to be in excess of thirty foot, possibly as great as fifty foot.”
Dinosaur Bird (Google searches were in mid-July, 2010)
How do you spell “pterosaur?” Some eyewitnesses may search on Google with “flying creature” or “dinosaur bird.” That is unfortunate, for those searches, with those words, will bring up many irrelevant pages, not likely pages of the cryptozoology researchers who have specialized in modern living pterosaurs.
Posted in Reasoning, general.
Tagged with dinosaur bird, flying dinosaur, pterodactyl, pterosaur, ropen.
By Jonathan Whitcomb
– July 22, 2010
I recently received an email from an eyewitness:
” . . .On June 26, 2010 at 11:15 PM I was driving on Rt 309 just outside of Kenton Ohio, perfectly clear night and very bright outside due to the full moon and I had a creature swoop down and glide over my hood of my car. It glided smoothly and looked like a Pterodactyl and I thought to myself “what the H _ ll was that!” and watched it as it smoothly flew into a thick area of trees . . . it looked like it had a tail and was also looking like it was jet black, I could see almost the bones in its wings but I did NOT see feathers at all.”
A minister gave this account of his sighting in Ohio:
“It was around 9am on a Sunday morning in Oct. of 2005. I was in Mount Vernon, Ohio. I was coming to preach at a church out in the country . . . I happen to notice a creature in the sky. . . . I took a moment to slow the car down and take a look at it. To my estimation it appeared to have no feathers . . . a leathery grayish color. . . . It’s wings did not look like bird wings, but also appeared leathery and bat-like . . . The tail: longer than most bird tails I am used to, no feathers, and with a diamond-shaped point at the end.”
Some time ago I received an email from an eyewitness of a daylight long-tailed pterosaur.
’We have them here in U.S. Hi my name is Jan. I am from Antwerp, OH in Northwest Ohio. I have seen the same thing. It was huge. And it matches your description. About 4.5 ft tall, 10ft from head to end of tail. long skinny tail with a spade about 3-4in from end of tail. It had a wing span of I would say 8-10ft. Dark green skin sort of like an alligator. It had round long pointed teeth . . .”
Posted in Bat, Eastern U.S..
By Jonathan Whitcomb
– July 14, 2010
I have watched many science documentaries. How often does a documentary proclaim the extinction of dinosaurs “65 million years ago,” as if datings were from a verifiable measurement or extinctions were from a verifiable observation! Dinosaurs were not a species. “Dinosaur” is a general word for countless species; likewise for “pterosaur.” Who can dispute the idea that there were dinosaur and pterosaur species for which we have not yet discovered fossils? Perhaps nobody disputes that idea. Yet how rarely is the consequence acknowledged by any scientist! The point is this: There is a world of difference between extinction and near-extinction. It is the difference between death and life.
Consider this obvious conclusion: Fossils, at best, can give us only a limited understanding of what species have lived in the past. I don’t belittle what paleontologists can learn about particular organisms that left fossils; but the subject is extinction, and nothing, absolutely nothing, in all the fossils (in all the laboratories, universities, and museums of the world) can give us any sure knowledge about the extinction of even one species. Since fossils cannot prove even one species extinct, what about the many species of dinosaurs and pterosaurs?
How did we come to believe that they are extinct? I don’t dispute the general concept of dinosaur and pterosaur extinction, for the many species for which we have fossils does suggest those wonderful creatures were once common. But I dispute the dogmatic indoctrination of universal extinctions of general categories, in particular “dinosaur” and “pterosaur.” Why should we believe that all those species are forever gone? Simple it is. We rarely hear or read about human encounters with dinosaurs and pterosaurs. Why? It’s not that nobody ever encounters a dinosaur or a pterosaur. In some remote areas of the earth, people are not astonished by the encounters (although they are often scared by them), for the existence of certain rare creatures is common knowledge. The problem lies in Western society, for we have been indoctrinated into the belief in universal extinctions, so any report of a living dinosaur or pterosaur is met with skepticsm.
It is actually more complicated, however. The rarity of some species (especially nocturnal, seclusive, or remote ones) has made observations rare. But a critical cause has been a combination of partial extinctions and near-extinctions, which has mimicked universal extinction. Many species of dinosaurs and pterosaurs have surely become extinct at some time in the past; those still living are mostly either rare, nocturnal, seclusive, or remote (or some combination). Whether one believes in worldwide destruction 65 million years ago or a few thousand years ago (Noah’s Flood), the possibility of near-extinction, as opposed to absolute extinction, of a species must be taken into account.
My specialty is eyewitness reports of apparent living pterosaurs, so let’s push aside the dinosaurs. Fossils cannot give us any indication of extinction, but eyewitnesses can give us testimony evidence of life. The many testimonies, from the mid-twentieth century into the early twenty-first century in particular, suggest apparent Rhamphorhynchoids may be more common than apparent Pterodactyloids. I suggest considering individual eyewitness accounts, comparing them with other accounts of apparent pterosaurs. I have done this for years, and it has been rewarding, thrilling beyond words. I invite you to learn more about these accounts of what are described as wonderful creatures (though sometimes frightening) that live and fly in the present.
South Carolina flying creature (long-tailed pterosaur)
Cryptozoology Book (nonfiction) about pterosaurs living in North America
Pterosaur Extinction or non-extinction
Posted in Reasoning, general.
Tagged with dinosaur, extinction, fossils, paleontologist, pterosaur, scientist, species.
By Jonathan Whitcomb
– July 2, 2010
Flying only about 300 feet above the heads of two astonished humans (the couple had been taking a walk in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County one night in 2009), the creature appeared to have a wingspan of 10-20 feet. Also astonishing was the faint glow that led one of the eyewitnesses to connect the creature with the ropen of Papua New Guinea.
But it was not the bright flash of the ropen that the Los Angeles creature displayed that night; the glow was faint enough to suggest a possible reflective quality on the wings. It was definitely unlike a bird.
More about the Flying Creature in San Fernando Valley, Southern California
Posted in California sightings, Lights, strange.
Tagged with California, flying creature, glow, Los Angeles, ropen, San Fernando, Southern, Valley.
By Jonathan Whitcomb
– June 25, 2010
How are a British insect expert and strange flying lights in New Guinea related to reports of modern living pterosaurs in the United States? That requires a detailed explanation, but they do relate.
Bioluminescence is light produced by living organisms such as fireflies, some fungi, and some oceanic life (especially marine life deep in the oceans). According to many natives in Papua New Guinea, some flying creatures glow as they fly at night. Daylight descriptions strongly suggest modern pterosaurs live in Papua New Guinea, and some native eyewitnesses have observed the glowing flying creatures close enough to see the form (Jonah Jim and Jonathan Ragu of Umboi Island), comparing it to a silhouette sketch of a Sordes Pilosus (Rhamphornynchoid pterosaur).
The point? Evelyn Cheesman, a British entomologist, long ago observed strange flying lights deep in the mainland of what is now the nation of Papua New Guinea; just south of that location, in 2006, Paul Nation, of Texas, observed similar lights (called by the local natives “indava”). When native eyewitnesses observe the indavas in daylight, they see large winged-creatures; one native described the size in terms of an airplane (near Tawa Village is an airstrip for small planes). But strange flying lights are hardly confined to Papua New Guinea. Stories of American ghost lights abound in many areas, and in Marfa, Texas, the behavior of strange lights suggests nocturnal flying predators are hunting bats. In the United States, sightings of strange flying lights and rare daylight sightings of obvious pterosaurs are in the same general areas. As rare and strange as they may be, it seems that nocturnal pterosaurs hunt bats at night, even in the United States of America.
Saving an endangered salamander in Mexico
Posted in Lights, strange, Sightings, general.
Tagged with bats, bioluminescence, British, Cheesman, entomologist, Evelyn, flying lights, indava, Marfa, New Guinea, Texas.
By Jonathan Whitcomb
– May 27, 2010
Something on front page of the Antwerp-Bee Argus newspaper was different, on August 5, 2009. It was the live pterodactyl that made the news.
“A young man was reported to have seen something strange flying over the Maumee River in the summer of 2003.; he described it like a pterosaur, according to a recently-published book, Live Pterosaurs in America. It was reported to be chasing sparrows as it flew over the Route 49 bridge near Antwerp, Ohio.”
It delighted me to see that the editor of the small-town Ohio newspaper had published my article. Many big-city newspapers seem to ignore these kinds of reports, for whatever reasons. I knew of newspaper reports from the 1980′s of giant pterosaurs flying in Texas, but I’ve noticed little else like that in recent years. It seems to be a matter of culture, for Americans live in a news environment that has become unfriendly to anything that seems to contradict standard models of biology.
Posted in Sightings, general.
Tagged with 2003, Antwerp, book, bridge, living, Maumee River, newspaper, Ohio, pterosaur, sparrows, summer.
By Jonathan Whitcomb
– May 20, 2010
