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.
“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.
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.
It should be mentioned here that “Duah” (used by William Gibbons in his book “Missionaries and Monsters”) seems to be a mistake. The correct version of the word is “duwas,” and it probably refers to a similar (or the identical) large or giant featherless flying creature that is called “ropen” in another part of Papua New Guinea.