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Is the Ropen a “Stupid Fantasy?”

Professor Peter Beach is interviewed by cryptozoologist Jonathan Whitcomb, on the banks of the Yakima River in Washington state

It began after the online publication of a photo of a biology professor from Oregon; he was standing by the Yakima River in Washington state. Professor Peter Beach (who has taught at a small college in the Portland area) was being interviewed by me, Jonathan D. Whitcomb (an American cryptozoology author), on August 6, 2014, with Milt Marcy (also from Portland), another cryptozoologist. The controversy related to what Beach and Marcy believe they may have seen: bioluminescent pterosaurs, perhaps even ropens.

Peter Beach tells Whitcomb about how the light flew up from this tree on night, by the Yakima River in WashingtonPeter Beach explains how the flying light left this tree at night

As this interview became publicized online, another biology professor, this one in Minnesota, became upset and wrote his own blog post, ridiculing the idea of modern pterosaurs. The content of the post by the skeptical professor, however, was weak; it relied on words like “stupid” (in the title) and with “turds” to describe the many writings of a cryptozoologist with whom the Minnesota professor disagrees. I think it would have been more intelligent to rely on reasoning or facts, rather than on bulverism.

The skeptic proclaimed the absence of any evidence for modern pterosaurs (ropen or not) and used his imagination to come up with various faulty motivations for the one that he concentrated on criticizing.

No Evidence for Living Pterosaurs?

Do cryptozoologists really have no evidence for the bioluminescent ropen? It depends on how one defines “evidence.” One thing is certain: There is no evidence of any kind for the universal extinction of all species of pterosaurs.

So what about modern living ones? The great weight of evidence for extant pterosaurs lives in eyewitness testimonies and the statistical analysis of the compiled data from those records. Hoaxes have been eliminated as a significant possibility for the overall case of 128 sighting reports compiled at the end of 2012, by several methods.

In other words, ropen searching and research still lives within the realm of cryptozoology, with no dead or living body of this flying creature to examine in a laboratory or in a zoo; yet scientific methods have been used in examining the eyewitness evidence. Biologists need not worry that cryptozoology is trying to break down a back door or to sneak through a crack in the wall of biology; thus far, it’s just a few scientific tools being borrowed from science, to be used in this narrow field of cryptozoology: Nothing is stolen. When a ropen is caught, dead or alive, it will be brought in through the front door. (Once it’s inside, however, the philosophical case will be opened wide.)

What is a Ropen?

The title of the skeptic’s post was “There are no living pterosaurs, and ‘ropen’ is a stupid fantasy.” So what is the definition for this flying creature whose existence the skeptic-professor in Minnesota disputes? The third edition of my nonfiction book Searching for Ropens and Finding God gives it thus: “A modern pterosaur with Rhamphorhynchoid characteristics.” In other words, a long-tailed featherless flying creature that many American non-scientists would call a “pterodactyl.”

Yet we need to clarify the difference between “Rhamphorhynchoid” and “ropen.” At least as of August 27, 2014, “ropen” refers to a cryptid, and the longer name refers to a type of pterosaur known from fossils. The relationship between them, however, is critical: worldwide, the resemblances are astonishing: featherless flying creatures that have long tails that end with a “diamond” (or a similar description for a tail flange).

nonfiction cryptozoology book "Live Pterosaurs in Australia and in Papua New Guinea"

On a book cover: sketch of an apparent pterosaur seen by Patty Carson in Cuba

Definition of “Stupid”

One dictionary defined it as “lacking ordinary quickness and keenness of mind.” Take that simply in the literal sense and the biology professor in Minnesota has a problem in making that word useful to his case. A closer look reveals that “stupid” problem.

The cryptozoologist criticized by the professor in Minnesota has worked in his specialty (of sighting reports of apparent pterosaurs) for eleven years, with many thousands of hours of experience with the overall subject; the critic, probably less than ten serious hours. Even if the skeptic in Minnesota were ten times as smart (or less stupid) than the cryptozoologist he criticized, the professor would be at the wrong end of the resulting ratio, 60-to-1. Those are not good odds for the man who teaches biology in Minnesota. This is not to say that the professor is stupid. He is just not likely to be many hundreds of times smarter than the cryptozoologist who has written several nonfiction books on the subject, in addition to a published scientific paper in a recognized peer-reviewed journal of science.

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Ropen – A Modern Pterosaur

Countless eyewitnesses, in many countries across the planet, have pondered what it was they had seen. But ropens continue to  fly overhead, continuing to shock humans who had assumed that all pterosaurs had become extinct millions of years ago.

Destination Truth Ropen Episode

I’m thinking about a particular native who was interviewed by Josh Gates, during the Destination Truth expedition of 2007: Fabian. In spite of Fabian’s assurance, however, the expedition team was probably skeptical, at least to some extent, for those visitors to Papua New Guinea were, after all, Americans. They may have thought, “How could a large long-tailed pterosaur be still alive, without the knowledge of any of our scientists?”

Bioluminescent Pterosaurs

There is a species other than a pterosaur that is purported to have intrinsic bioluminescent capability, namely the common barn owl, Tyto Alba.

Evidence for Pterosaurs and Honesty

For modern living pterosaurs, however, we have BOTH physical evidence and eyewitness evidence. The difficulty some persons have with it, however, is that reported eyewitness encounters with living pterosaurs dominate the physical evidence, in both quantity and quality.

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LPA (Second Edition) Nearing Publication

Front cover of the second edition of the nonfiction cryptozoology book "Live Pterosaurs in America"The publication of the second edition of Live Pterosaurs in America is approaching, with final editing within the next two weeks or so. It may take several more weeks, however, to become visible on Amazon, with direct sales from the publisher coming first. [Amazon page actually showed up on Nov 23, 2010.]

Two Pterosaurs in Cuba

This new edition of the book will include several pages (in the appendix) on Eskin Kuhn’s 1971 sighting in Cuba. Although this was outside the contiguous forty-eight states, it was included because of its proximity. This extraordinary sighting deserves a partial quotation:

How rare the ropen pair, in daylight, daring sortie in the air! Notwithstanding rarity, two long-tailed intruders flew over the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, mesmerizing the marine Eskin Kuhn. . .

[Words of Mr. Kuhn] ” . . . I saw two pterosaurs (or pterodactyls . . . what’s in a name?) flying together at low altitude, perhaps 100 feet, very close in range from where I was standing, so that I had a perfectly clear view of them. . . . they were flying and not merely gliding . . . The rate of their [wing flaps] was more like that of crows, perhaps a little slower, but very graceful.”

Two Pterosaurs In Washington State

Also newly included in the second edition of the book is the sighting report about two large long-tailed pterosaurs seen in daylight in rural Washington state. The two creatures may have been involved in courtship, as one of them was hopping off and onto a fence while the other one watched. The teenaged eyewitness of the creatures was riding his bike when he saw them; he nearly fell off.

Purpose of the Book

An unforseen purpose for this cryptozoology book has come to light, soon after the publication of this second edition. It may be used as part of a remedy for mild teenager malaise. In fact, one pre-teen in Florida, became so excited with living pterosaur investigations, that he started his own interviewing investigation, becoming a child cryptozoologist. One of the sighting reports in the book came from this child’s interview with an eyewitness of a strange flying creature in St. Louis, Missouri.

Washington State Pterosaur Pair

From the second edition of Live Pterosaurs in America (to be published within the next few weeks; available from Amazon and other retailers):

Early in 2008, I received an email from man who reported a pair of ropen-like creatures in the state of Washington. [sighting in 1987] . . . the plausibility that he has honestly reported two living pterosaurs that he did encounter—that appears significant enough to justify inclusion here. More likely than not, he told the truth, and that is what he encountered. GW is anonymous.

I was 15 yrs old . . . riding my bike home from a friend’s house around 5 pm . . . I heard a strange noise . . . on a wood plank fence were two of the biggest bird-like creatures I could ever imagine! I almost crashed my bike! They were about 50 ft from me; the first thing I noticed was their heads, then I thought this can’t be! Could they be dinosaurs?

I can tell you I believe their wing span was about 20 ft tip to tip. These creatures didn’t fly very high up when we first saw them, they don’t glide much either. . . . I still heard a screaching type noise, enough to make your skin crawl. . . .

The thing on the back of their heads looked like HMMM more spooned shape and narrow on the head side and wider on the other end. They did notice me at one point, and these creatures were nesting on the ground! Not in the trees, but in a brushy woodsy area near a small abandoned home.

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