Size of Pterosaur Head

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Jonathan Whitcomb

The size of the head of a flying creature sometimes gives us a clue that neither bird nor bat was observed, but a living pterosaur, especially when the head appears to be three feet or more in length.

Scott Norman (the late cryptozoologist) observed an apparent Pteranodon, one night in 2007, as he sat alone watching the sky. He estimated the head of the huge flying creature at about four feet in length.

Duane Hodgkinson (the World War II veteran) observed an apparent Rhamphorhynchoid, one day in 1944, as he and his army buddy had been watching some large tropical ants in a jungle clearing in New Guinea. He estimated the head of the “pterodactyl” at about three to four feet.

A skeptic might suggest that Hodgkinson had observed a large bird that had a big head, but that suggestion runs into problems. The World War II veteran estimated the length of the tail at “at least” ten or fifteen feet, far too long to have been the tail of any bird known to science. The head crest was long and much more like a pterosaur’s than like any bird’s. There was no sign of feathers. The wingspan was similar to that of a Piper Tri-Pacer (a little less than thirty feet). And this sighting was in clear view, at only about 80-100 feet away, in the middle of the day. There was no misidentification of a bird.

Other details in an eyewitness reports can give clues that the flying creature was a modern living pterosaurs, but the size of the head may nonetheless be significant.

Scott Norman – Nocturnal Pterosaur Sighting

I give Scott high credibility in this night sighting, for he began his watch that night with honest skepticism. He suspected that his associates, may have been over-zealous in hoping that the nocturnal flyers in that area were pterosaurs.

Cryptozoologist Scott Norman Sees Pterosaur

The animal I saw had an 8-10 foot wing span, the wings were bat-like in shape, the inside had that wavy type of look. The body was about 5-6 feet in length, the neck about 1-2 feet in length, the head was about four feet in length, and the head was key for me: it has a crest that was about 2 feet in length, fit that of a pteranodon . . .

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“Pterodactyl” in Southern States

Posted on February 25, 2012 by Jonathan Whitcomb

No sightings were reported in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, in the third edition of Live Pterosaurs in America. But “pterodactyls” have been reported in other southern states: New Mexico, Texas, Georgia, and Florida.

From LPA-3: Winder, Georgia, Sightings

Late in the summer of 2008, I received an email from a lady who lives in Winder, Georgia. . . . Her first sighting was at 7 a.m., the second, 9 a.m., with both mornings overcast . . . Both times she phoned a friend to tell him of her extraordinary experience.

. . . She had driven less than ten miles, just leaving an area of pasture, entering an area of thick woods, around a mild downhill curve, with high banks and brush on each side of the road, when an animal suddenly flew from the right, just over the front of her car. Although alone, she yelled, “What the — what — what is that?” She was stunned.

She told me what made her yell out loud: It was the tail; she looked up at a “very long” tail that had a strange shape at the end. She later sent me some sketches (she is a professional artist but has not given me permission to publish the sketches), one of them showing a thick almost-heart-shape at the end of the tail; it differs from the usual “diamond” shape suggested by some eyewitnesses, but I believe this creature is related to the others.

Large Flying Creature in New Mexico

“I live in central N.M.. Fourteen years ago, in [Socorro], N.M., me and a close friend, who now has a masters in biology, were hiking during the midday sun at [a] box canyon and something blocked the sun for a moment. We both looked up to see what did that and saw a large flying animal.”

Arkansas Pterosaurs

“My father and I saw a huge, featherless bird in Arkansas . . .  We were sitting on big rocks at a cliff about 300 foot above the river when it flew out just under us and we watched it all the way down toward the river till it passed the tree lines. It was an awesome experience, indeed. It was however smaller, and wing span of maybe eight feet . . .”

 

Live Pterosaurs in America -third edition of the nonfiction book - covers An Amazon review of the third edition of Live Pterosaurs in America:

Mr. Whitcomb does a thorough job questioning indoctrination and the close-mindedness of the Western world. Reading so many eye-witness reports of people who have seen living pterosaurs in America was mind-opening, to say the least. Speculation is not an easy thing to address, but Whitcomb does a noteworthy job stringing together testimony and speculation in a scientific, yet personal way. The passion that Whitcomb and the pterosaur witnesses feel about these investigations make this book a great read and keep the pages turning. If you are prepared to question the indoctrination society has imposed on you since childhood, you are ready for Live Pterosaurs in America.

Posted in Excerpts from the book, Sightings, general | Tagged | 2 Comments

Attack on the “Pterodactyl Expert”

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Jonathan Whitcomb

One of the problems with the cryptozoology.com forum thread discussion titled “Jonathan Whitcomb: Pterodactyl Expert” is this: Most of the comments involve attacks against me personally (the exception being comments from the person who seems to have initiated the discussion). I now answer two criticisms.

From “Ape Man”

“Johnathon Whitcomb IS NOT a pterosaur or pterodactyl expert. He is a CREATIONIST who did minimal research about legendary creatures and fossil flying reptiles . . .”

Reply

In the sense of being a paleontologist, I am not a pterosaur expert; but many paleontologists do not seem to even consider the possibility that any pterosaurs are extant. “Ape man” seems to rebel against any idea involving any modern living pterosaur. But in another sense—some living pterosaurs (AKA “pterodactyls”)—I am probably one of the leading “pterodactyl experts” in the world, having written more than any other cryptozoologist on this subject, perhaps more than all other cryptozoologists in the world combined, regarding sightings of apparent modern pterosaurs.

I consider myself a creationist in the sense that I believe the Bible is literally correct in the first few chapters of Genesis. But I am not a Young Earth Creationist (YEC) in the sense that I insist that the days spoken of in the first chapter of Genesis are 24-hour periods. I have no problem with the earth itself (setting aside all general forms of life) may very well be much older than 6,000 years.

Have I done “minimal research?” From what I have read of “ape man’s” comments on this forum thread, I doubt if he has read more than 1% of what I have written about modern living pterosaurs. Where does he get his concept of how much research I have done? How did I write over one thousand online pages (blog posts plus web pages)? How did I write two editions of one nonfiction book and three editions of another nonfiction book? How did I write a peer-reviewed scientific paper that was published in a journal of science? How did I write about a quarter of a million words, online, (not counting the books) on the subject of extant pterosaurs? With many thousands of sentences to choose from, why does “ape man” not quote something that I have written and then explain how I was wrong? Has “ape man” himself done “minimal research?”

From Gerry Bacon

“I don’t believe Whitcomb is a scientist . . .”

Reply

Defining “scientist” is off-topic, I believe, and too deep for this reply. The point I stress is that I have interviewed eyewitnesses, from around the world, for eight years, accumulating more data on this phenomenon of pterosaur sightings, perhaps, than anyone else, regardless of whether or not other investigators have the undisputed title of “scientist.” I have an article published in a journal of science and have copyrighted an earlier scientific paper on another subject. I consider myself a scientist.

Pterodactyl Expert

What “invented monster” is “ape man” referring to? My overall conclusion, after more than eight years of research, is that there are a number of species of pterosaurs living in various parts of the world, with various differences in appearance. What do the important sightings have in common? Descriptions of the flying creatures (often called “pterodactyls”) suggest a modern pterosaur far more than they suggest any misidentification or hallucination or hoax.

Jonathan Whitcomb: Pterodactyl Expert

It is true that I do not study fossils directly. I am not a paleontologist. But modern “pterodactyls” need not closely resemble any fossils, whether or not they are descended from older species that left fossils that are now studied by paleontologists. I study eyewitness reports. For some reason, my critics often neglect that point.

cover of third edition of the nonfiction cryptozoology book

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Arkansas Pterosaurs

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Jonathan Whitcomb

In Arkansas, we have two sightings, separated by about five years. The 1977 sighting was in the early afternoon. The 1982 sighting was in the twilight evening.

Pterosaur Sighting in Arkansas (summer of 1977)

“My father and I saw a huge, featherless bird in Arkansas . . . when I was sixteen . . .  We were sitting on big rocks at a cliff about 300 foot above the river when it flew out just under us and we watched it all the way down toward the river till it passed the tree lines. It was an awesome experience, indeed. It was however smaller, and wing span of maybe eight feet . . .”

Later in her answering questions, she used the word “teradactyl,” instead of “featherless bird.” The flying creature, or pterosaur, had a large head with a head crest that she described as “fat, long and curved back toward the neck.” The tail length was similar to about half the wingspan (about four feet and eight feet). She was certain about the lack of any feathers, later indicating that the creature was first observed only about twenty feet away. She was impressed by its graceful flight.

From the book Live Pterosaurs in America

. . . It [about] 1982 when me and my older brother were sitting in our carport . . . in Texarkana, AR. It was getting dark but there was plenty of light in the sky when we saw what we believe to be a pterodactyle. The wingspan seemed to be about twenty-five to thirty feet wide. It was probably about 70-80 [feet] off the ground, flying over a large tree in front of the house.

Teradactyl

something “huge” took off into the air from the far side of the clearing. The creature ran to their left, taking six to ten steps to get airborne. . . . It then disappeared over the dense brush but soon returned and flew over the clearing, presenting a “perfect side view” of its features . . .

[When eyewitnesses mention "pterodactyle" or "pterodactyl," they mean "pterosaur."]

Posted in Sightings, general | 1 Comment

Revised Review for Live Pterosaurs in America

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Jonathan Whitcomb

I don’t know the real name of the reviewer “stevie” on Amazon, but I am very grateful for his revised review of the second edition of my book Live Pterosaurs in America. He recently changed his four-star rating to five-star.

Before quoting from his lengthy review, I quote from the introduction in the third edition of LPA, for it reveals an important part of my motivation (added comments, not in the book, are in brackets [ ] ).

If this book does nothing more than comfort the eyewitnesses of strange creatures [comforting them to know that they are not alone and insane], I would be grateful; but there’s much more. We need to understand why we believe what we believe. . . . while writing this book, I mentioned my work to a second-grader; she said, “Who will buy your book? Crazy people?” I think better of you. And I think, because of what she and many others have told me, that we must understand indoctrination, for it influences our beliefs; the extent of that influence discomforts me.

If money were my primary motivation for writing books, I would have given up being an author years ago. Giving someone joy and purpose, even in just a short reading session—that motivates me to keep writing. The following excerpts from “stevie’s” review give an example of what helps me to keep writing, even when some critics accuse me of spreading lies (I will leave that unpleasant subject alone for now). Thank you to all my readers who recognize the truth in what they read.

This is an updated review of the book and I am changing my rating to 5 stars. This book has been on my shelf for almost a year now. I pick it up every now and then and a part of me becomes more impressed by the book every time. . . .

Whitcomb painstakingly reviews every account for credibility and reason. This man is not a crank. He tries to weed out would be hoaxes and miss-identification. This is not a guy looking to create evidence to confirm his own beliefs. On top of this, I have great respect for a guy who follows his dreams so passionately. He has traveled to Papua New Guinea to search for the creature there and this book is somewhat of a sequel if you will. After Whitcomb traveled to New Guinea, he started to collect more stories from North America concerning the pterosaur like creature . . .

. . . This is well written and very hard to put down.

Thank you for those words. They will help me to continue to get up at 3:00 on cold winter mornings. I thank God that I am not alone in this society that frowns at living pterosaurs.

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Pterodactyl in San Diego, California

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Jonathan Whitcomb

Two eyewitnesses were shocked, one night last November, by two giant long-tailed creatures that flew over the city of San Diego: apparent “pterodactyls.” This was not the first report that I have received from San Diego, but it’s the first one with repeated two-way communication. The two men saw, near Holy Cross Cemetary but far from extinct, the pterosaurs flying about 90-120 feet high.

Ropens Over San Diego

“It was about 8 pm. I was at my friend’s house. The sky was super clear. We were standing on the street. I was watching the stars when from the west came this large dark object overhead. As it got closer, we noticed its huge wingspan; each wing was about 10 to 15 ft. It was gliding right above us . . . we had never seen anything like it. Then it suddenly stopped and turned around. . . . Then . . . we saw another one above us. . . . then they both left [towards the] east.”

Flying Creature in Los Angeles

California is a hot state for reports of apparent living pterosaurs, probably because of the combination of large land area and large human population (potential eyewitnesses), like Texas, where the reports are even more common.

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 . . . [leading one eyewitness] to connect the creature with the ropen of Papua New Guinea.

Nocturnal Pterosaurs

The general rule points to nocturnal pterosaurs, with daylight sightings being quite likely the exceptions. We might review the two daylight sightings in Georgia a few years ago. The eyewitness saw two apparent pterosaurs flying early in the morning, but after sunrise, the first sighting being very soon after a major storm passed through that part of the United States. It seems likely that the storm had disturbed two nocturnal pterosaurs enough that they made themselves known in daylight, by flying over a highway.

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Attracting a Pterosaur

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Jonathan Whitcomb

The following was sent to me by a blog reader who suggests a possibility for attracting a nocturnal bioluminescent pterosaur:

“Has anyone tried the obvious strategy of luring a pterosaur with a glowing decoy? If there are still living pterosaurs, they would be quite rare, and anxious to find a mate (assuming they use their glow like fireflies do.)” [From Joe]

Well, Joe, I believe that some persons have unintentionally done just that, through simply driving a car at night. I have never encountered a nocturnal pterosaur myself (not yet), but I have encountered eyewitnesses who have been surprised and even terrorized, at night, by a glowing pterosaur who appeared to enjoy car chasing.

One case involved a young man who was traumatized by an apparent glowing pterosaur that chased his car for some distance at night. The young man later went through many sessions with a psychologist. How tragic if that psychologist assumed that there was no such flying creature!

Driving While Under the Influence of a Pterosaur

. . . Americans (at least a few Americans) observed Drive Safely Work Week . . . I doubt we will ever have Drive Safely While Witnessing a Live Pterodactyl Week. But in the United States, driving may be the most common activity when someone sees an apparent living pterosaur . . . Within a period of about three years, I received reports of at least ten sightings involving driving, in seven states . . .

American Ghost Lights (bioluminescent pterosaurs)

My associates and I have a unique perspective, having studied the ropen light of Papua New Guinea. We know, from many eyewitness testimonies, that those nocturnal lights correlate with sightings of glowing flying creatures described like giant Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaurs.

Live Pterosaurs in America -third edition of the nonfiction book - covers

From the Acknowledgements page of the third edition of Live Pterosaurs in America:

Ignoring previous ridicule from those who would not listen, Hodgkinson told us of his experience, helping prepare the way for many expeditions in the southwest Pacific. Alongside countless other American veterans of World War II, who risked their lives to preserve our freedom, he faced the threat of death in a faraway land. But his bravery in reporting a giant living “pterodactyl” gave us another freedom, even the freedom to believe in a life thought to have been long extinct—featherless flying creatures unlike any bat, some of them gigantic, both faraway and here in America: live pterosaurs.

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Wingspan Estimates Eliminate Hoaxes

Posted on December 27, 2011 by Jonathan Whitcomb

Recent analysis of recently-accumulated data shows that no significant number of hoaxes could have been involved in fifty-seven of the ninety-eight eyewitness sighting reports in which wingspans were numerically estimated. In other words, no hoax or hoaxes had any major influence on the living-pterosaur investigations.

This had been shown in an earlier study, when less data was available. A larger sampling of eyewitness testimonies now confirms the earlier conclusion: no hoaxes, or at least so few of them that the result is unimportant.

A Hoax in Wingspan Estimates?

Most of the 98 sighting reports, from which the 57 with wingspan estimates were taken, suggest flying creatures that have long tails like Rhamphorhynchoids. That is where the idea comes from for the possibility that hoaxers may have tried to conjure up that type of pterosaur in their hoaxes. But the data shows something far different from what is commonly believed about Rhamphorhynchoids, for the size-estimates do not fall sharply at around five-to-seven-feet, but gradually decline at huge wingspans, far larger than what is standard-size for even the largest flying birds of modern times.

Hoax of Pterosaurs

How do I know that these reports are not the result of hoaxes? . . .  With many eyewitnesses, with sightings in many American states, I have found something interesting about reports of featherless appearances. A hoax would be expected to include certainty of no-feathers, for why would a hoaxer want to leave any room for doubt? But the overall descriptions in the many sighting reports I have examined show something different: The definitely-no-feathers are out-numbered by the probably-no-feathers. Since actual sightings would involve many conditions (distance from creature, visibility, angle of view), some eyewitnesses would not get a clear enough view to be really sure the creature had no feathers. That is what I have received from many eyewitnesses: What is natural for true sightings but unnatural for hoaxes.

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