Live Pterosaurs in America – Page 4 – Non-fiction cryptozoology book by Jonathan David Whitcomb

January 25, 2014January 25, 2014

“Pterodactyl” Sightings in Virginia

The third edition of Searching for Ropens (to be published around the end of February, 2014) will include the following pterosaur-sighting report from Virginia (this is only part of it). The full title of the book is Searching for Ropens and Finding God.

“. . . a couple of weeks ago [mid-2012], by myself I saw two flying. Then this Sunday in about the same place, my daughter and I saw one fairly close up, flying in the opposite direction. . . . The most obvious feature was the diamond or spade tipped tail, I have not found any creature that compares. . . .

“Based on my personal readings concerning hawks and eagles and their size and general flight patterns I would estimate the creature we saw as having 6 foot wing span minimum with a maximum of 10 foot . . . When the creature was in front and above us was about when we were the closest. At this point I saw the tail structure off and on and my daughter, who is 13, however said she saw the tail structure the whole time.”

The new book will also feature a more lengthy sighting report from Virginia. The word “pterodactyl” came to the young lady’s mind at the time; later she learned the correct word: “pterosaur.” The following is a tiny portion of that report:

“I was seventeen at the time of this encounter. It was very late at night. . . . I’d place the time to be somewhere between ten and midnight . . . I went swimming with a friend at a local reservoir . . . in the back of a U-shaped inlet. . . . I was standing straight up in the middle of the U section with the water about as high as my hips and I was making some splashing I remember, rather loudly, right before I saw it.

“It came from the direction of the moon . . . all I saw was its silhouette. I could see it was big even before it was close. It seemed like it crossed a great distance with only a few flaps of its wings . . . I have not before nor since ever been so petrified in my life. . . .

“The wings were somewhere between 15 and 20 feet wide and they covered the entire opening to the U-shaped inlet when they were open. The wings were bat shaped without feathers, the head’s silhouette . . . like a point . . . like a head crest but what I was looking at more than anything else was its large, sharp talons.

“. . . it hovered there mid air 20 to 30 feet away directly in front of me about 15 to 20 feet above the water . . . I can’t even remember in which direction it flew off. I think I was in shock.“

Many more details on this sighting you can read in Searching for Ropens and Finding God, including the author’s questions for this eyewitness from Virginia and her detailed answers. This third edition of the book is greatly expanded from the second edition, with many sighting reports from the United States. It will be a great supplement to the third edition of Live Pterosaurs in America.

New Nonfiction Book on Ropens

“Hello, Jonathan. It’s nice to meet you. . . . Thank you for keeping me anonymous. I finished reading your book ‘Live Pterosaurs in America’ yesterday. It was very good. I like how you peppered it with a little humor, too. I appreciated how you kept private those who wished to remain anonymous. . . .”

Pterosaur Sighting in North Carolina

I was driving along on I-540 in Raleigh at sundown tonight, cruising at about 70 mph, heading to my weekly jam session with my buddy. All of a sudden I see the HUGE bird looking thing fly across the overpass I was on, maybe 20-25 feet in front of my car and about 7 or 8 feet off the ground.

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August 24, 2013

Marfa Lights and Bioluminescence

I recommend the nonfiction book Hunting Marfa Lights, by James Bunnell. It is the best resource I know of for data on the more mysterious of the lights. This book should be a major reference for any researcher of this phenomenon, at least until we have a major breakthrough in discovering the nature of the CE-II and CE-III mystery lights (ML) of Marfa, Texas.

Photo by imelda of a photograph of a CE-III flying Marfa Light

The above is a photograph of a CE-III Marfa Light, flying horizontally

What do I mean by “major breakthrough?” I believe that a future discovery involving Marfa Lights may involve capturing an animal, but that requires an explanation. Let’s begin with strange lights outside of Texas.

Ropen Lights of Papua New Guinea

I led the first of the two ropen expeditions of 2004 on Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea. After interviewing three important eyewitnesses just south of Lake Pung, I began to return to Gomlongon with my natives guides and my interpreter. We met a man, Jonah Jim, who also had seen the huge flying creature. Of course with his limited English, he did not know the word “bioluminescence,” although he surely knew of glowing things in the sea.

I was tired and anxious to get back to Gomlongon and prepare to leave the island, for my funds were running low; I took no notes of my brief communication with Jonah Jim. Fortunately, a few weeks later, Garth Guessman and David Woetzel, on the second ropen expedition of that year, found this eyewitness and interviewed him with a detailed questionnaire. After my associates returned to the USA, I was thrilled at what they had learned from Jonah Jim.

By the way, I had little or no knowledge of Marfa Lights in 2004.

Here is part of what Jonah Jim revealed to us, quoting from the second edition of my cryptozoology book Searching for Ropens:

Page 95:

. . . this young man saw the ropen not as a vague, distant light but as a creature—close. In addition to the glow, he saw the long tail.

Page 113:

All six members of his family were together when the ropen, without wing flapping, flew “directly overhead.” . . . Only the tail was glowing and it was blue, “a shade darker than sky blue.” The “wingspan” [he estimated to be] six to seven meters; tail length, two-and-a-half to three meters . . .

Can you see Jonah Jim in the coconut tree? (Photo by Whitcomb)

In other words, we have no need to rely on native traditions to tie together the flying lights to the giant flying creatures. And Jonah Jim was not alone. Guessman and Woetzel also interviewed Jonathan Ragu, who also saw a ropen at night: the general form, the shape of the wings, and the glow emanating from the flying creature.

So for Americans who have heard about the strangest kinds of Marfa Lights in Texas, it’s not so strange to consider bioluminescent flying creatures in Texas; we have the glowing ropen that may be related.

Why Should CE-II and CE-III be Bioluminescent Creatures?

Take the CE-III’s first. They sometimes fly long distances well above the desert vegetation, though not as high as airplanes normally fly at night: Sometimes the CE-III’s fly just a few feet off the ground. Those uncommon glowing balls commonly turn off and on. Ropen lights also have a limit to how long they can stay on; they have a shorter duration than Marfa Lights of CE-II and CE-III types.

Bunnell calls the truly unexplained glowing objects around Marfa “mystery lights” or ML. CE-III mystery lights are absent from the Marfa area for weeks at a time. They may be seen in the same area two nights in a row (in warmer weather), but they then commonly disappear for weeks. As far as I can tell from analyzing Bunnell’s data, this CE-III type of light never returns to this area of Texas after 4-10 days or so. When these lights leave, they are gone for weeks. The explanation is simple.

Unless the hunting is especially successful, the bioluminescent flying predators (BFP) will move on to another area of Texas or Mexico, on a night following an appearance near Marfa. And when would hunting be most likely to be especially successful? In warmer weather, when prey is more active and easier to find. Can you guess what Bunnell’s data shows for weather when the CE-III’s are seen two nights in a row? It’s on warmer nights.

What about CE-II mystery lights? They are similar to CE-III’s except that they do not fly; they are stationary. How does that relate to my theory? Flying creatures do not always fly.

Many other details in Bunnell’s data fit perfectly well with the Bioluminescent Flying Predator theory, notwithstanding his reluctance to consider such an unorthodox interpretation. I don’t blame him. After all, the glowing ropen of Papua New Guinea is considered by those who search for it to be a modern living pterosaur, and “not everybody embraces a live pterodactyl.”

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Explanation for Marfa Lights

The author of Hunting Marfa Lights, James Bunnell, said nothing about the following theory in his book. I informed him of part of my theory early in 2010, after the publication of his [book].

Marfa Lights in Texas

. . . a press release about Marfa Lights, suggesting they might be related to the ropen lights of Papua New Guinea . . .

Marfa Lights – Flying Predators?

James Bunnell has observed and videotaped those strange flying lights that appear near Marfa only a few times each year . . .

Marfa Lights on Consecutive Nights

In the book Hunting Marfa Lights, James Bunnell reveals, “On rare occasions I have observed MLs [mystery lights in the Marfa area of Texas] repeat their location but only on consecutive nights.”

July 13, 2013

Living Pterosaur in North Carolina

Looking out over the city of Raleigh, North Carolina, with many trees

Raleigh, North Carolina – photo by James Willamor

The sighting was reported on The Gear Page, an internet forum that is popular with some musicians. Because it’s not a cryptozoology forum, we can better see how Western cultural assumptions influence how people react to a report of a “pterodactyl” flying over a highway on the outskirts of Raleigh, North Carolina.

Within about six hours of the sighting of the apparent pterosaur, “Smgbad” wrote (on March 24, 2013, at 12:21 a.m.) what is partially quoted here:

Ok… so I saw a Pterodactyl up close tonight. Not joking.

I was driving along on I-540 in Raleigh at sundown tonight, cruising at about 70 mph, heading to my weekly jam session with my buddy. All of a sudden I see the HUGE bird looking thing fly across the overpass I was on, maybe 20-25 feet in front of my car and about 7 or 8 feet off the ground.

He reported the following points of description:

It had “an enormous pointed beak.”
“a pointed top of its head”
“The wingspan was probably about 5-6 feet wide”
“bony wing structure ending in points (almost like sails)”
“what looked like small claws” on the middle of wing
“bat-like in a way”
Maybe it had “greyish fur or dark skin.”
“two legs like a bird kind of jutting straight out” the rear
The legs were “followed by a LONG tail with a spade at the end.”

The eyewitness added the following:

I am not joking. I was not drinking. There were NO drugs involved. Some friends I told tonight believed me as they knew was unusually freaked and excited. My wife thought I was full of it.

The comments on that forum, that followed the report, filled 70 pages, with over 1,000 remarks, at least a few of which were responses by the eyewitness, defending his stand that what he had observed was not a common bird.

Many persons on that forum stated that it was almost impossible that the flying creature was a pterosaur. Some insisted that it was a bird that the eyewitness misidentified. Other persons just made fun of the idea. A few believed that the eyewitness actually saw what he reported that he saw.

Long Tails of Pterosaurs

Any cryptozoologist who might investigate the sighting could find the following statement interesting: The eyewitness also said, “Pterodactyls don’t have long tails in reconstructive art I looked at afterwards. Question is…. WHAT THE HELL DID I SEE?!?”

Statistical analysis of the more credible reports of apparent modern pterosaurs is clear about long tails: 41% of the sightings were of long-tailed flying creatures and only 2% did not have a long tail (57% of the reports did not give any clear indication of tail length). A twenty-to-one ratio tells us that long tails are common on these flying creatures, regardless of popular assumptions based upon television and film portrayals of pterosaurs.

Paleontologists, for the most part, believe that the short-tailed pterosaurs mostly lived long after the dominance of the long-tailed “basal” pterosaurs. Perhaps that’s why many science fiction animations (on television and in film) show “pterodactyls” with short tails. The point is this: Eyewitnesses are not being influenced by television or film when they report long tails on the featherless flying creatures they encounter.

Other Sightings in North Carolina

Many of the persons who commented on the forum discussion seemed to have no knowledge of any other similar sighting; they looked at the report without the perspective of those cryptozoologists who have examined many reports of modern pterosaurs. Let’s consider other sightings in North Carolina.

In Asheville, N.C., a lady saw a “huge” black winged creature fly very low over her car. It had no feathers but “sharp edges” to its features.

In Jacksonville, N.C., an eyewitness saw something “huge” flying in the sky: “It looked like a pale greenish white and smooth-skinned. It didn’t appear to have any feathers, and it had the tail with the diamond shape on the end.”

Another eyewitness reported, “When I was around 10 y/o and on the way to a camp in North Carolina, I saw one . . . It was an amazing sight. . . . It looked like a pterodactyl!”

Sighting in Raleigh, North Carolina

I was going over a report of a pterosaur sighting in North Carolina and noticed similarities with Susan Wooten’s sighting in South Carolina.

Why Pterosaur Extinction may be Wrong

At about sundown, but with sufficient light, on March 23, 2013, the eyewitness . . . was driving on the I-540, in or near Raleigh, North Carolina . . .

Pterosaurs in North Carolina and South Carolina

I too have seen one, or what I believe to have been one, and there are many people who claim they have seen them. When I was around [ten years old] and on the way to a camp in North Carolina, I saw one soaring high in the sky.

June 4, 2013

Pterosaurs East of Griffith Park

Two pterosaur sightings in Los Angeles, in 2013, have caused a stir, being ten weeks apart and the second one being just a mile and a half south of the first one. Both eyewitnesses are young adult females, and both passed a brief credibility check; misidentifications also appear unlikely. Let’s consider what the eyewitnesses say, in their own words.

March 3, 2013, Sighting

This morning at about 6 a.m. I saw three “dragons” flying over the 5-North freeway between Griffith Park and Glendale. . . . with a head-body-tail ratio that was certainly not that of a bird. Their wings were long, angular and pointed and their tails had triangular points. They appeared light in color—white, gray or light green. . . .

. . . flying straight at me, opposite the flow of traffic, along
the freeway. [cars going north; three flying creatures, south] . . .

. . . They each had a distinct neck between body and head, that was more narrow and clearly visible. . . . [Tails were] long and thin with a bigger point at the tip.

May 13, 2013, Sighting

I’m almost positive what I saw fly over the freeway in Los Angeles WAS NOT a bird of any kind. . . . I was [shocked] by the head crest and the wings. . . .

Yesterday, so the 13th of May 2013. Around 4 p.m. Someone else had to see. There was traffic and we were all going about 30 mph. It flew right over us . . .

. . . I have never read about living pterosaurs nor have I heard of any others reporting of their sightings. . . .

. . . I did see its head crest and the . . . charcoal gray/teal undertone skin. No feathers, and the wings were pointed and never flapped. It glided through the air with its wings in an arched position. . . . I feel like I could not have been the only one to see [it] that day.

The Los Angeles River, near where "three dragons" were flying at 6:10 a.m., on March 3, 2013, seen by a lady driving north on the I-5

Los Angeles River near the Colorado Street Bridge, east of Griffith Park

Pterosaur Sightings East of Griffith Park

May 13, 2013, Sighting of a “Pterosaur”
1. Flying northeast at about 4:00 p.m.
2. Eyewitness was “almost positive” it was not a bird
3. No wing flaps
4. Did not notice if it had a tail or not
5. Observed in full daylight
6. Presence or absence of feathers: “No feathers”
7. Was there a head crest? A: “I did see its head crest” [yes]
8. Alone in the car, driving northbound
9. Credibility verified by Whitcomb, but limited

Pterosaurs in Griffith Park and Other Areas in So. Calif.

The most recent sighting had been just fifteen days earlier, between Griffith Park and Glendale. Not one of those sightings was very far from a storm channel or stream bed.

Ropens in California

How can living Rhamphorhynchoid (“basal”) pterosaurs fly in California, in modern times? In the United States, we have been taught since early childhood that all such creatures became extinct many millions of years ago. Rather than delve into speculations about fossils, let’s now consider eyewitness testimonies.

Nonfiction: Live Pterosaurs in America, third edition

From Chapter Two: California Sightings

When I returned from Papua New Guinea, in 2004, I knew almost nothing about reports of apparent pterosaurs, or “dragons,” in California. I was convinced of the reality of long-tailed ropens of the southwest Pacific, but assumed they live there because of the vast tropical wildernesses, providing them warmth, food, and seclusion. I also assumed that the few reports that I had read—apparent pterosaurs in some of the 48 States—were of a few stragglers from Central America. But after publishing many web pages about living pterosaurs in Papua New Guinea, I received emails and phone calls from eyewitnesses: sightings in California, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland-Virginia border, Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Kansas, and Washington State. I became a believer in American pterosaurs.

April 11, 2013May 3, 2017

Civil War Photo of “Unknown Bird” or “Monster”

Controversial photograph of six Civil War soldiers next to the apparent body of a recently deceased giant pterodactyl or pterosaur, maybe a Pteranodon

Update on the Civil War Photograph

The original post below was written in April of 2013, long before the early-2017 proclamation by Clifford Paiva and me, Jonathan Whitcomb. For a more up-to-date post, see “Skeptical Responses to Civil War Pteranodon Photo.”

Introduction

I don’t display this version of this photograph as clear and convincing evidence for a giant pterosaur living during the American Civil War. As of 5:00 a.m., April 10, 2013, after spending several days researching and analyzing comments on this photo, and personally examining the photo itself, I rate the probability of its authenticity, in its original portrayal of a modern pterosaur, at only 30% [but before the end of January, 2017, this estimate approached much closer to 100%. See “Skeptical Responses to Civil War Pteranodon Photo”]: More than likely those soldiers were not posing for a photograph next to the body of a recently deceased pterosaur, at least close to how it appears here. But comments from skeptics I found unconvincing and worse.

I do submit others’ comments on this photo as clear and convincing evidence for Western bias against the concept of a species of pterosaur living in human times.

Who is Jonathan Whitcomb?

I believe I have written more nonfiction books and blog posts on modern pterosaurs than any other person on earth, which quantity of words proves nothing about my own objectiveness, to be sure; but those who’ve read even a little in those books and blog posts should have no doubt about this: I have spent much time and thought on the subject, more than any other person on earth, as far as I know, and that should count.

Who am I to judge bias against the possibility of modern pterosaurs? I cannot look into the heart of each skeptic who dismisses reports of living “pterodactyls,” but I draw conclusions from the reasoning in many of their comments. I often see similarities in weak arguments for universal extinction and weak arguments in dismissing eyewitness testimony. Consider what has been written about this apparently old photo of six Civil War soldiers and a huge Pteranodon-like winged creature or what looks like that kind of pterosaur.

First Union Civil War soldier on the left in the main photo of six men by a dead Pteranodon-like flying creature

Missing Fingers of Soldier #1

Some skeptics have pointed out missing fingers and opposing thumb on this poor Union soldier (above), the first man on the left in the top photo. It’s unlikely from any injury suffered during the Civil War. Those critics give this detail as if evidence of a hoax. Let’s look a little deeper by comparing his rifle with that of soldier number six:

Union soldier from the far right side of the original photo

Of course this man, soldier #6, has his fingers intact, but look at the rifle. What else is missing from the enlarged image of soldier #1, besides fingers? I’m no Civil War expert, but I see that soldier #6 has his rifle turned in a way that reveals the gun’s ramrod. Soldier #1, on the other hand, has a rifle in which the ramrod is not showing.Why could not soldier #1 be holding onto a ramrod that is turned away from our view? How obvious! But it takes time and thought to discover that kind of detail.

We have a more serious problem with the missing fingers insinuation. Consider hows and whys of photo manipulation regarding soldier #1. If a Photoshop job caused the soldier to have missing fingers, how did that occur? The critic, probably unknowingly, brings up the possibility of a cut and paste hoax operation; that brings up a big problem.

If an adept Photoshop hoaxer made a slight error and cut off that soldier’s fingers, what happened? He would have cut out the original rifle in an old Civil War photo, and then pasted onto the image another rifle. But why would he do such a thing? (And why not just paste an image of a giant Pteranodon onto a photo of Civil War soldiers?) Why bother cutting out and pasting rifles?

Did the original photograph show a soldier without a rifle? Then why was that soldier holding out his arm, as if holding a rifle? The critics who bring up missing fingers completely fail to comprehend both a ramrod ramification and the unbelievable image-origins that their words imply.

With all that said, I myself do not imply that no manipulation was done on the image shown in the top photo, the image with six Union soldiers. I have found details that could be explained through an image-manipulation hoax, both by Photoshop and older techniques. But most of the details that Skeptics bring up as if evidence for a hoax are either worthless or of questionable value.

Bias Against Modern Pterosaurs

Why do so many skeptics simply dismiss this Civil War photo as if it had been proven to have arisen from a hoax? Western people have been indoctrinated, for generations, into universal extinction dogma. It’s drilled into us since early childhood. How difficult it is for us to accept a photograph of an apparent recently-deceased or still living pterosaur!

That severe bias can cause a skeptic to latch onto any little detail in a photo, proclaim it as evidence of a hoax, and then dismiss the whole matter. I don’t suggest anybody simply accept this photo on face value, to satisfy an inward desire that dinosaurs and pterosaurs might still live; I suggest we need to think more clearly, search more deeply, and try to be more open minded to various possibilities.

The sad truth is that if one of my associates or I were to photograph a modern living pterosaur tomorrow, and display the photo to the world, many skeptics would simply dismiss it as a Photoshop job. They would probably give it little attention except to search for something that would justify their previous conclusion about extinction. How we need clear objective thinking!

Photograph of Civil War Soldiers and a “Monster”

To begin, I do not present Photo #1 as overwhelming evidence for the existence of a huge modern living pterosaur that has a head suggesting a Pteranodon; I interview eyewitnesses, and some of them report sighting details that have convinced me that huge pterosaurs (rare and nocturnal as they may be) live in this modern world of ours.

Pterosaurs in Georgia

My wife and I were sitting outside when motion from above the tree tops to our left caught my attention . . . We were looking at two extremely large birds flying together . . . 15-20′ wingspans . . . appeared to be featherless.

Pterosaur Sightings and Photos

My associates and I hope that our efforts will someday directly yield photographic evidence and even the capture of one or more of these flying creatures; but for the moment, let’s consider photos that have already been held up as images of possible pterosaurs . . .

February 16, 2013

New Comment on “Live Pterosaurs in America”

Although the third edition of Live Pterosaurs in America has been available for a year now, the most recent comment on this crypotozoology book is for the second edition:

Some of the words of Lisa Roark

Dear Sir, Thank you for writing such an interesting and well-documented book on pterosaur sightings in America! I literally danced down to the mailbox when it arrived, and hardly put it down until I had finished the last page. . . .

I loved your cautious, yet enthusiastic writing style. Thank you so very much for all your good work. I read parts of it aloud to my family, and they seemed to enjoy it, too. Whereas I would love to encourage others to read your wonderful work, I am not currently allowing my own particular copy of your book to leave my house! It is just too important to lose! May God richly bless you!

From the book itself:

Acknowledgements

In the United States of America—that’s where Scott Norman, in 2007, became the first American cryptozoologist to see a clear form of a living pterosaur while searching for one: a large flying creature with a head three to four feet long. We mourn the passing (from natural causes) of our young friend who is deeply missed in the cryptozoology community.

Introduction

During those years of expeditions in the southwest Pacific, reports in our own country became impossible to ignore; I received many emails from eyewitnesses across the United States, and the reports kept coming in. Pterosaur-like creatures are not all confined to the tropics. As we began to listen to those Americans, we noticed report-similarities: long tails (often) and apparent bioluminescence (sometimes). We began to believe.

Chapter Two – California Sightings

In the summer of 1891, southeast of Fresno, several eyewitnesses reported two featherless flying creatures with wingspans of fifteen feet. Reportedly reputable residents around Reedley described the two “dragons” for the newspaper: broad heads, long bills, and large eyes. “On the night of July 11 . . . their peculiar cries and the rustling of their mammoth wings were heard as late as 10 o’clock.”

Chapter Three – Other U.S. Sightings

. . . it is the eyewitnesses who see apparent living pterosaurs, and many of them, when they first noticed something flying, assumed “a bird.” The point? Eyewitnesses are not biased in favor of living pterosaurs, yet details of appearance caused them to conclude that they had seen pterosaurs: the diamond-shaped end-of-tail, or featherless-creature-with-headcrest. Nobody “wants to see” these pterosaur-features on what is first assumed to be a bird. The explanation? Maybe they really did see living pterosaurs.

Back cover of the third edition of Live Pterosaurs in America

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Another review, this one quite lengthy, comes from a WordPress blog post:

A Whole new Level of Weirdness

. . . it could be that Whitcomb’s writing style (generally readable, occasionally jars, perhaps a cultural thing) without all the usual journalistic fluff like “Ada was just putting the kettle on as sunshine played across the blinds…” — none of that in Whitcomb’s reports, just his questions asked and the answers rendered verbatim — does not really sell the witnesses. He is definitely sceptical of the testimony he receives, and shows critical thinking about testimony issues, and I must say is an intelligent bloke by the sound of his book. . . .

. . . why do I think Whitcomb’s book is worthwhile and interesting? Because while the individual cases are perhaps weak, he draws a good statistical case that something is going on from his tiny sample. Put simply, the physical traits of the pterosaurs described by the witnesses do not seem to reflect the Hollywood stereotype of the pterodactyl we all know. There are different types of creature which emerge from the data, and the majority have attributes which are surprising.

Cryptozoology Book on Pterosaur Sightings in USA

I couldn’t put this book down. It is absolutely fascinating to read about eyewitness accounts of the people who have seen these creatures. To learn about these testimonies from such an open minded perspective is refreshing in the extreme! . . . Jonathan Whitcomb needs to write more books!

Science and Pterosaur Sightings

Averaging the two types of tail descriptions, the first group is at 36.5% and the second is at 35%, which is practically the same. This strongly suggests that eyewitness do not suffer from any significant memory degradation regarding those two descriptions of the tail.

January 7, 2013September 18, 2014

Large Flying Creatures in Georgia

Pterosaur Observed in Northern Georgia

It now seems plausible that a species of ropen lives in Georgia. David Schroder has allowed me to reveal his real name. He told me, in part:

The first time I didn’t see it. I was laying in bed around 11:30 at night when I heard a loud sound that was kind of like a scream that was so loud and close . . .

Since then I have never thought too much about it until July of 2010. My wife and I were sitting outside when motion from above the tree tops to our left caught my attention . . . We were looking at two extremely large birds flying together . . . 15-20′ wingspans . . . appeared to be featherless. They had a tail of sorts . . .

[The tail] had something on the end that was a little bigger than the tail itself. The body of the birds looked to be a dark gray. They were close when they flew over . . .

Pterosaur Observed East of Atlanta

Sandra Paradise has allowed me to reveal her real name. We began email correspondance in 2008. In the mornings she drives east from her home in Winder to where she works in Athens, Georgia. She told me, in part:

. . . you don’t have to go to New Guinea. Far as I can tell, you can sit on a hill outside the town where I live in the mornings and see them. One sighting was at 7 in the morning, and one was at 9 am. Both days were overcast days, which I feel was very conducive to me seeing them . . . no sun in my eyes.

. . . I drive a commute that is roughly 25 miles long thru the woods . . . This 55 mph two-lane road is nothing but pasture, then woods, more pasture, then more woods . . .

On August 27 [2008] . . . I had driven less than ten miles from the house. I had come thru a section of pasture, entering into a section of thick woods, driving around a slight curve downhill . . .

. . . suddenly an animal flew out from my right. Alone in the car I shouted out loud “What the— what—-what IS THAT???” and it flew directly in front of my car, across the road. . . .

To break down the imagery: it was tan, a lighter brown, like the deer we have here, and as far as I could see was uniform in color. . . . the tail was very long with a shape on the end. Its wings were probably half-spread and I saw several dark thin horizontal bands across the belly.

. . . As it crossed my path, in front and slightly above me, I saw it had a head that was curved, like a hammer; the head had a crest on the top that was solid, not feathery at all . . .

Sandra Paradise's rought preliminary sketch of the flying creature seen east of Atlanta, Georgia in 2008

Preliminary head-sketch by the eyewitness Sandra Paradise

The descriptions of a long tail on a featherless flying creature—that reminds me of the ropen of Papua New Guinea and of pterosaur-like animals observed in other parts of the United States of America.

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Flying Creature Sightings in Georgia

Cooler weather does not mean pterosaur sightings come to a halt . . . for they continue.

Live Pterosaurs in Georgia

How marvelous that a live pterosaur has been seen in the state of Georgia! But Sandra Paradise has seen a long-tailed flying creature at least three times during the past four years.

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

Third edition, the latest version of Live Pterosaurs in America

From Amazon book reviews of the second edition:

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. Yes, the skeptics will laugh at it, but I am a skeptic too. . . .

Some people claim to have seen dinosaurs and pterodactyl like animals today and in the past?? I couldn’t get enough and their are so few books on the subject. I highly recommend this. You may find yourself almost believing in it, although that is not even the authors intent! Whitcomb painstakingly reviews every account for credibility and reason. . . .

Yes, it as a lot to take in. My first thought about these creatures was, “Well, I guess it could be possible because new guinea is very secluded and actually one of the few remaining lost worlds”. Whitcomb will have you suspending disbelief again as he shares his collection of personal accounts from Americans. . . .

. . . this is definitely the book to get . . . I like how the author is not out to prove every story in the book and takes great care to make sure he has the best ones. . . . the author tried hard to deliver these stories and was very good at it. This is well written and very hard to put down. [from stevie]

Another reader commented (for second edition):

I couldn’t put this book down. It is absolutely fascinating to read about eyewitness accounts of the people who have seen these creatures. To learn about these testimonies from such an open minded perspective is refreshing in the extreme! . . .

I highly recommend this book to anyone! People should know the truth about what is going on. No one ever hears anything about this unless they conduct extremely specific internet searches, even then, information is minimal. Jonathan Whitcomb needs to write more books! [from StrangeDream]

November 14, 2012

American “Dragon Pterodactyl”

Two of the more common words used to describe flying creatures that look like pterosaurs are “dragon” and “pterodactyl,” at least in the United States. But the details in the descriptions, not the labels chosen by eyewitnesses, determine how likely it is that a person has observed a live pterosaur.

The following is taken from the book Live Pterosaurs in America, third edition:

I cannot prove all the accounts were genuine, for they were recorded secondhand in the early 1890’s. I suggest that at least some eyewitnesses were telling the truth, regardless of the opinions of the news reporters of that time, and that at least some eyewitnesses may have seen a living pterosaur.

In the summer of 1891, southeast of Fresno, several eyewitnesses reported two featherless flying creatures with wingspans of fifteen feet . . . two “dragons” [described] for the newspaper: broad heads, long bills, and large eyes.

“On the night of July 11 . . . their peculiar cries and the rustling of their mammoth wings were heard as late as 10 o’clock.” Two nights later, the “monsters” were held responsible for attacking chickens, with “many of the hens being bitten in two and left partly devoured.” On the following week, a carriage of picnickers saw the creatures “plainly circling in the air.”

“Dragons” in Georgia, USA

The first two sightings in the Winder, Georgia, area have been covered in various blogs. We now consider the third sighting (perhaps not yet covered anywhere else).

It was around October of 2008, just weeks after the two better-known sightings near Winder. The eyewitness was again Sandra Paradise; here is part of her account, in her own words:

I was driving the same road, had just passed the point of my second sighting. Looking ahead and up a hill, I saw a flock of crows cross the road, from right to left, followed by—yep, you guessed it. The pterosaur was in perfect silhouette, wings outstretched, distinctive head in full view, pad on the tail. I drew level to the place they crossed . . . I slowed down and as I was looking the birds suddenly BURST from one of the trees! I figured that’s where it had landed, startling the birds.

I hit the brakes, pulled over hard and sat there with the camera I’d been carrying with me for months saying, “where ARE you??? WHERE ARE YOU???”

I waited and looked and stared for probably a good ten minutes . . . and I had to move on. the place where I was parked was the far back entry of a very small airport (and yes, I am very sure it was no plane I saw).

Sandra had to drive on. In that country, snooping around on private property might get you on the wrong side of a gun.

After her second sighting, she told me:

“The world is now totally different. I feel blessed that God has allowed me to see this creature that should not be here, and yet is, this strange dragon-like thing that lives somewhere in the woods in this redneck little town.”

car on a highway near Winder, Georgia - overcast clouds

Highway near Winder, Georgia

“Dragon Pterodactyl” Living in California

Except for its size, this flying creature resembles the ropen seen flying into the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Orange County, California, in 2007.

Pterosaur in Lakewood, California

A lady reported observing a “huge dragon pteradactal” that had been perched, at about noon on June 19, 2012, on a phone line or cable company wire over her backyard

Live Pterosaurs in Georgia

Sandra Paradise has seen a long-tailed flying creature at least three times during the past four years. She has recently agreed to come out of anonymity, and she has revealed details about the third and fourth sightings, with the last one somewhat uncertain.