From the nonfiction book Live Pterosaurs in America (Chapter One: South Carolina Sighting):
Susan Wooten was driving east on Highway 20, to the town of Florence, on a clear mid-afternoon in the fall of about 1989, following a girl who lived in her dorm, who was driving ahead. . . . Wooten saw something flying from her left, then passing in front of her, behind her friend’s car. “It swooped down over the highway and back up gracefully over the pines,” but its appearance was shocking: “It looked as big as any car . . . NO feathers . . . like a humongous bat.”
Local libraries revealed other sighting accounts in the area, but not until 2007 did Wooten find much more: accounts on web sites . . .
Since early 2004, living-pterosaurs investigations have relied on eyewitnesses finding a web page and responding. Have you seen something like a living pterosaur? Do you know someone who saw a “pterodactyl” or “dinosaur bird?” Please contact me, Jonathan Whitcomb. You may remain anonymous; your privacy will be protected.
Read more about bats, ropens, and pterosaurs
This crude sketch relates to the realistic sketch done by Eskin Kuhn of two pterosaurs he saw in Cuba in 1971.
By email, over a period of years, I have interviewed Susan Wooten and have found her to be a credible eyewitness. The shocking nature of her sighting—a giant long-tailed pterosaur—does not distract from her basic credibility.
In addition, many other eyewitnesses have come forward (before and after her report), confirming that apparent Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaurs, rare and nocturnal as they probably are, live in North America.
Late last year a waitress in a restaurant told me and my dinner companion about seeing what she would describe as a “mutated pterodactyl” flying alongside her car on I-75 outside Atlanta. It was about 8:30 at night and she said it had a body at least five feet long a huge wingspan and was flying as fast as her car. 75-80 mph. She said it was in front of the car at one point and banked towards her and she could see it had a long curved beak sort of like a duck. She said even with the car windows closed she could hear it was making a loud high-pitched squealing sound. She knows it sounds crazy but she swears it’s true. Her impression is that it had feathers.
Thank you, Christy, for telling us about this sighting on I-75, near Atlanta, Georgia. Incredible as it sounds, high-speed flight has been reported for the ropen of Papua New Guinea, and the speed reported for this creature in Georgia is possible. I doubt that the eyewitness saw any feathers, however, (if there were any) as the creature must have been flapping its wings extremely fast, and it would have been dark at 8:30 p.m. I would very much like to interview this eyewitness.
Hi. I would be happy to give you the witnesses contact information. It was back at the early part of December, 2010 that she gave me her name and cell phone number. (I was hoping to find someone such as yourself who would be interested in her fascinating story.) She swears every word is true and actually the story she told me was a bit longer and even more incredible that what I wrote to you. I think I am the only one who ever believed her! Her name is Sara and her cell phone number is 678-510-3724. Good luck! Please let me know if and when you have the chance to interview her!