Eyewitness account, Western Australia
“Call me Tom. In the early 1990s I was living in . . .
South Australia. I’m an American, but I had a job there
for a few years. . . . We drove from Perth out to Western
Australia. [We wanted to see the outback] We stopped at
about 6 PM, ate, set up the tent . . . I was up still and
wanted to see the sun go down . . . [something] looked
like an airplane, far away. . . . maybe a couple hundred
feet [high]. . . .
“[As] it got nearer to me, I noticed that the wings were
actually flapping gently. . . . color was a dark tan. . . . no
sound. It was getting closer . . . [I thought] maybe this is
some kind of weird outback bird . . . had a wingspan [of
about] 15 or 20 feet. It got close . . . leathery . . . no
feathers at all." Read the whole sighting report.
Perth pterosaur sighting of 1997
"In the distance I perceived an object in the sky. . . . [it
was] rather indistinct . . . [I wondered] what it might be . .
. as it approached. Soon I was able to determine that it
was some sort of flying creature, and my first thought was
that it must be some very large bird . . . I saw that it
seemed to be a light reddish-tan color. It [was not]
covered with feathers but had a leathery texture.
“Soon after it passed us it flew over a more brightly lit
sports area which highlighted . . . the leathery appearance.
. . . The wings were . . . leathery . . . shaped in a triangular
arch, similar to a very elongated shark fin . . . the body
was a streamlined torpedo shape, slightly broadest at the
chest and tapering slightly back to the hip, then tapering
more quickly after the hips to a moderately thin tail which
was slightly longer than the body. . . .”
South Australia. I’m an American, but I had a job there
for a few years. . . . We drove from Perth out to Western
Australia. [We wanted to see the outback] We stopped at
about 6 PM, ate, set up the tent . . . I was up still and
wanted to see the sun go down . . . [something] looked
like an airplane, far away. . . . maybe a couple hundred
feet [high]. . . .
“[As] it got nearer to me, I noticed that the wings were
actually flapping gently. . . . color was a dark tan. . . . no
sound. It was getting closer . . . [I thought] maybe this is
some kind of weird outback bird . . . had a wingspan [of
about] 15 or 20 feet. It got close . . . leathery . . . no
feathers at all." Read the whole sighting report.
Perth pterosaur sighting of 1997
"In the distance I perceived an object in the sky. . . . [it
was] rather indistinct . . . [I wondered] what it might be . .
. as it approached. Soon I was able to determine that it
was some sort of flying creature, and my first thought was
that it must be some very large bird . . . I saw that it
seemed to be a light reddish-tan color. It [was not]
covered with feathers but had a leathery texture.
“Soon after it passed us it flew over a more brightly lit
sports area which highlighted . . . the leathery appearance.
. . . The wings were . . . leathery . . . shaped in a triangular
arch, similar to a very elongated shark fin . . . the body
was a streamlined torpedo shape, slightly broadest at the
chest and tapering slightly back to the hip, then tapering
more quickly after the hips to a moderately thin tail which
was slightly longer than the body. . . .”
Featherless flying creatures in the Southwest Pacific
Copyright 2010-2016 Jonathan Whitcomb
The ropen of Papua New Guinea is not restricted to
that island nation, not at all. It is also sometimes
observed in Australia and in New Zealand and in
many other parts of the world. The above sketch
was drawn by an eyewitness who saw two of them
flying together in daylight, in 1971, in Cuba.
Don't confuse fruit bat and ropen
Flying fox fruit bats normally sleep upside down, hanging
from tree branches during the day. Some branches can
become over-crowded with a tree full of chattering bats.
On the other hand, the ropen (apparently a long-tailed
pterosaur) eats fish or clams from reefs in the southwest
Pacific. It has been seen near Umboi Island to fly down to
a reef and behave as if catching fish. This nocturnal
cryptid has also been observed to glow with what must be
an intrinsic bioluminescence, as it flies around at night.
In addition, the ropen has a very long tail. According to
the eyewitness Duane Hodgkinson, the “pterodactyl” he
and his army buddy saw, west of Finschhafen, New
Guinea, in 1944, had a tail that he estimated was at least
“ten or fifteen feet” long.
The Australian eyewitness Brian Hennessy also described
a long tail on the “primitive” flying creature he observed
in 1971 on Bougainville Island, New Guinea.
Are all pterosaurs really extinct? NO!
Pick up a biology text book. Notice that any mention of
dinosaurs and pterosaurs is connected with a word like
“extinction.” Constantly these wonderful creatures are
said to have all died out millions of years ago. But talk to
an eyewitness of a living pterosaur and notice the great
difference: Human experience proves not all of the flying
creatures labeled “primitive” are extinct.
The universal extinction of all species of pterosaurs—that
is a dogmatic assumption, unworthy of the label often
connected with it: “science.”
Flying fox fruit bats normally sleep upside down, hanging
from tree branches during the day. Some branches can
become over-crowded with a tree full of chattering bats.
On the other hand, the ropen (apparently a long-tailed
pterosaur) eats fish or clams from reefs in the southwest
Pacific. It has been seen near Umboi Island to fly down to
a reef and behave as if catching fish. This nocturnal
cryptid has also been observed to glow with what must be
an intrinsic bioluminescence, as it flies around at night.
In addition, the ropen has a very long tail. According to
the eyewitness Duane Hodgkinson, the “pterodactyl” he
and his army buddy saw, west of Finschhafen, New
Guinea, in 1944, had a tail that he estimated was at least
“ten or fifteen feet” long.
The Australian eyewitness Brian Hennessy also described
a long tail on the “primitive” flying creature he observed
in 1971 on Bougainville Island, New Guinea.
Are all pterosaurs really extinct? NO!
Pick up a biology text book. Notice that any mention of
dinosaurs and pterosaurs is connected with a word like
“extinction.” Constantly these wonderful creatures are
said to have all died out millions of years ago. But talk to
an eyewitness of a living pterosaur and notice the great
difference: Human experience proves not all of the flying
creatures labeled “primitive” are extinct.
The universal extinction of all species of pterosaurs—that
is a dogmatic assumption, unworthy of the label often
connected with it: “science.”
Australian
Pterosaur
Sightings
Whether you call it gigantic bird or ropen or dinosaur bird or
pterodactyl, this flying creature in Australia is shocking
NO FEATHERS on these huge flying things in
Australia—that’s what the eyewitnesses tell us
Live Pterosaurs in America - third edition
Sighting by the Australian Brian Hennessy
Contact Whitcomb by email
