A recent survey of biology professors in large universities in the western United States turned up something interesting. Even though less than 2% of the professors responded to the questions about living pterosaurs in Papua New Guinea, the average confidence those few professors gave to the possibility of living pterosaurs was 1.5%.
So why is it so interesting that biology professors would rate the probability at 1.5%? Those who responded were ignorant of the research and expeditions in Papua New Guinea. If they had been knowledgeable, they might have given it a much higher rating.
Sighting Reports Analyzed
Recently analysis was done on eyewitness accounts of pterosaur sightings, even though some of the persons involved called the flying creatures “pterodactyls.” The purpose of the work was to get a handle on how much the influence of time had on the memories of the eyewitnesses.
It turned out that those who had reported their sightings many years afterwards had no major problem with memory influencing their accounts of long tails. Those who reported long tails soon after their sightings were just as common as those who took years to report their sightings.
With head crests, it was different, at least to some degree. There may have been some eyewitnesses who had some problem with memory over the years. But even in that subject of head crests not all eyewitnesses had a problem with memory. Eskin Kuhn in particular was a big exception. He drew a good sketch of the two “pterodactyls” he had seen in Cuba in 1971. What makes this interesting is that he drew the sketch within just minutes of the sighting, and it shows a big head crest.
“Rhamphorhynchus” Sighting by a Professor
This professor in western Florida may not be a biology professor, but whatever he teaches in a classroom he learned something from the school of life experiences this past November. Here are some of his own words.
Today, I was blessed with a sight that will never be forgotton. It was 11:45 A.M. today, solid grey dim overcast- about 60 degrees out-Wednesday November 14 2012- Crestview, Florida
Sitting at table with back door open when a Huge rhamphorhynchus like flying entity blatently grabbed my attention, It was flying west to northeast close enough it could’ve been shot down. . .
Had an estimated wingspan of 8-12 feet and a tail as long as its torso with a large bulb or lump at the tail very diamond shaped, no feathers
Scientific Analysis of Sighting Reports
To be sure, very few Rhamphorhynchoid fossils include a head crest, but that structure in not entirely unknown on “basal” long-tailed pterosaurs. Many modern pterosaurs, according to many eyewitnesses worldwide, have both horn-like (or cone-like) head crests and long tails.
Science and Marfa Lights of Texas
What should science predict for nocturnal group-hunters that have had a successful hunt on a particular night? Would they not try again the next night? Is it not likely that they might go to the same area at about the same time, on the next night? Of course. According to the post “A Scientific Look at Marfa Lights,” (April 8, 2011) on the blog Live Pterosaur, this relates to data gathered by the scientist James Bunnell and published in his book Hunting Marfa Lights.
Pterosaur Sightings in Papua New Guinea
After he and his buddy walked into a clearing, they were amazed as a large creature flew up into the air. The men soon realized that it was no bird that started to circle the clearing. It had a tail “at least ten to fifteen feet long,” (book Searching for Ropens, 2007) and a long appendage at the back of its head: apparently, a live pterosaur.
A pterosaur sighting need not be in a remote tropical rain forest. According to a recent analysis, by cryptozoologist Jonathan Whitcomb, of 128 sighting reports, 75% of the reported encounters with apparent pterosaurs were in the United States of America, and 5% were in Papua New Guinea. This does not mean that many more of the flying creatures live in the USA; many more Americans have easy access to the internet and email, and are proficient in English, compared with third-world countries like Papua New Guinea.
Long Tails Wipe Away the Competition
The same analysis reveals how much long-tailed pterosaurs seem to dominate reports. Of those eyewitnesses who reported a long tail or the lack thereof, the ratio was 95% to 5% in favor of long tails, suggesting most of the creatures are basal, or Rhamphorhynchoid, pterosaurs. This is not restricted to any particular part of the world, but is common worldwide.
Sighting in Spain, 2007 (“a long thin tail”)
Firstly, I assure you I am NOT LYING- I’ve got literally no interest in making something like this up. Apart from the two people with me at the time, I haven’t mentioned this to anyone . . . simply because I realise it sounds odd, and can’t be bothered to have to defend myself on this. . . .
I’ll get to the point- last summer, some friends and I drove from England (where I live) to Benecassim (in East Spain-near los desert del palmas I think) for a music festival. One night, whilst sitting on the ground by the tents (a fair way from the noise and commotion of the festival), I saw what I at first assumed was an owl gliding over the campsite (I assumed that because it was night time, and obviously no other birds would be out-bar things like nightjars-which this was not!) – it passed right over us, probably about 30-40ft high, and as I watched it, I realised it was definitely no owl I’d ever seen before. It was the colour of suede/sand, looked like the same sort of texture as suede (i.e no feathers), had a long thin tail, and didn’t flap once. . . .
Sudan, Africa, 1988 (“Its tail . . . was very long”)
In Sudan, the classic house is one level, made of mud bricks and walls, 3-5 rooms . . . each room being a separate unit, but connected by a roofless hallway that leads to the patios.
One evening in July of 1988, we had some guest over . . . the guest were in the living room which was @ one end of the house, and my aunt was in the kitchen preparing the tea and cookies, which was @ the far end on the other side of the house. She asked me to bring the tray of tea, cookies, sugar & spoons to the guest. So I took the tray walked through the open hallway and proceeded to the living room.
When I got to the patio, I noticed something on the roof of my uncle’s room. Mind u it was night time but the patio has one of those long cylinder like light bulbs that light up the whole patio & the roof is only 10 feet or less from the ground. I was standing by the bathroom, about 10 feet away from it. It was perched about 5 feet from the light bulb. I seen it very clearly and got a good look @ it.
It was very large, about 4 or 5 feet in height . . . no feathers . . . leathery looking. It had a large long, wide beak & the classic appendage (the long bone looking thing sticking out the back of its head). it was perched on the edge of the roof . . . Its tail looked like a lions tail; it was very long & had a bushy or hairy tip.
Pterodactyl Sighting in Canada (“ long, skinny, pointed tail”)
. . . In Brampton, Ontario, Canada, while driving to work . . . with my mother at about 8:00 a.m. EST, my mother and I saw a strange bird-like creature flying low and close to the car about 20 feet away from us. . . . exactly like a miniature pterodactyl like you see in the movies like Jurassic Park . . . The only difference is that it was much smaller, having a wingspan of about four feet.
It was gray and did not appear to have any feathers . . . It had a long, skinny, pointed tail extended straight behind it that had sort of a diamond shape at the tip. It also had a long neck extended out in front of it as it flew.
Two Pterodactyls in Cuba
The U. S. Marine Eskin C. Kuhn observed two similar flying creatures, at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 1971. He sketched what he had seen, within minutes of the encounter, giving us details of the appearance of those two ”pterodactyls.”
Sketch by the eyewitness Eskin Kuhn (Cuba, 1971)
Worldwide Sightings of Pterosaurs
The pilot put the plane into a dive to avoid a collision with what he at first assumed was another airplane. As it passed, it became obvious that it was no plane.
Pterodactyl Sightings not From a Fish
But why should modern creatures conform precisely, in a few arbitrarily-chosen details, to those that we know from fossils? How absurd!
Many states of the U.S.A. have eyewitnesses of flying pterodactyls, more properly called “pterosaurs.” Lately Georgia has been a hot spot state for sightings, to be precise in Towns County and in Loganville.
Other areas in Georgia where people have seen the flying creatures in recent years include the towns of Canton, Lithonia, and Franklin, and a highway between Winder and Athens.
Sighting in Franklin, Georgia
A lady and her two sons were driving on Highway 27, at about 8:15 am, on July 18, 2012, when they saw a “flyin dinosaur.” After yelling at her boys to look at it, she heard confirmation from her older son: It was a pterodactyl. As it glided across the road, they could see that it had a long tail.
Sighting in Northern Georgia
In Towns County, northern Georgia, David Schroder has had two sightings within the past few years. His July 2010 encounter was with two flying creatures with wingspans possibly as great at twenty feet. The man’s wife also witnessed them.
“They had a tail of sorts, it looked like it was maybe 1/4 the length of the body and 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.”
Schroder also has stated:
“To me, this is wonderful news, something that should be celebrated, and of course studied within the scientific community . . . I would think that even the slightest possibility of these birds still existing would make every paleontologist in the world as giddy as a school child, but it is avoided as though it were a plague. This amazes me to no limits. This is why I am attempting to aid in their discovery being accepted, because they are real.”
Pterosaur Sightings in Georgia, USA
Both birds had what I can only guess to be 15-20′ wing spans and the motion of their wings as they flew was very slow. The head was long and ended in a point, wings ended in a point and appeared to be featherless
She told me what made her yell out loud: It was the tail; she looked up at a “very long” tail that had a strange shape at the end.
The dark gray flying creature had a long tail but no neck was visible. The woman said, “I don’t remember seeing feets . . . just its long tail, wings, n kinda long face.” She was directed to many photos of Frigate birds, but she was sure that what she and her oldest son had seen was nothing like any of those birds.
Reports of living “pterodactyls” in Georgia, during the past seven years, probably relate to sightings of some flying creatures in South Carolina and Florida, according to author Jonathan Whitcomb, of California.
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Nonfiction cryptozoology book, third edition: Live Pterosaurs in America
From an Amazon.com book review of the second edition:
I remember stumbling on this subject (cryptozoology, living dinosaurs, extinct animals) in recent years. I always find myself fascinated by the subject. I remember hearing stories for the first time. . . .
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. This man is not a crank. He tries to weed out would be hoaxes and miss-identification. This is not a guy looking to create evidence to confirm his own beliefs. . . .
Now, if the creature exists, it could be more close to home than currently imagined. 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. . . .
If you are interested in reading about this subject, 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. He tries hard to make sure there are not other explanations for sightings. . . .
I do believe the author tried hard to deliver these stories and was very good at it. This is well written and very hard to put down.
Parts of two Amazon reviews of the latest third edition of the book:
“Opens Minds and Questions Indoctrination”
Whitcomb does a thorough job questioning indoctrination and the close-mindedness of the Western world. . . . mind-opening, to say the least. . . . The passion that Whitcomb and the pterosaur witnesses feel about these investigations make this book a great read and keep the pages turning. If you are prepared to question the indoctrination society has imposed on you since childhood, you are ready for Live Pterosaurs in America.
“Live Pterosaurs in America”
This book is one of the best books that I have ever read! . . . a very interesting and educational book . . . may change the way you see the world around you.
Suppose we take a fishing trip in a small boat, out on the sea. Suppose also that a large Manta ray fish jumps up out of the water, maybe even ten feet into the air. Do you send an email to a cryptozoologist, declaring that you have seen a live pterodactyl? Of course not. Who would?
That strange interpretation of pterodactyl sightings was suggested by a skeptic who believes that modern pterosaurs must be precisely like those known from fossils of creatures that lived in the past. But why should modern creatures conform precisely, in a few arbitrarily-chosen details, to those that we know from fossils? How absurd!
Many things count against the idea that people are seeing fish that jump out of the sea.
Altitude of Flight Wrong for Manta Rays
A Manta ray jumping out of the sea cannot attain any height above about ten feet or so. Here is a small sampling of sightings of what seem to be pterosaurs, flying higher than ten feet:
- Windhoek, Namibia – 2011 – altitude at least 600 feet (above land)
- Orange County, California – 1989 – altitude about 120 feet (above land)
- San Diego, California – 2011 – altitude about 90-120 feet (above land)
- Canada (near Detroit) - 2012 - altitude 20 feet (above land)
- Florida – 2002 – small pterosaur flew over a house
- Georgia (USA) – 2011 – two sightings, both above tree-top altitude
- Canton, Georgia – 1997 – about 1000 feet high
- Big Island of Hawaii – 2012 – about 100 feet high
- Big Island of Hawaii – 2008 – 60-100 feet above the two eyewitnesses
- Oahu, Hawaii – 1971 – about 100 feet high
- Idaho – 1991 – “at least” 200-300 feet high (above a forest)
- Hudson, Kansas – 2012 – it took to the air from trees (above-ground takeoff)
- Louisiana – 2012 – the creature went over some trees
- Meridian, Mississippi - about 2001 – creature flew over trees that were about 75 feet high
- New Jersey - 2009 – “it landed on the tree tops”
- Charlotte, North Carolina – 2009 – “[it flew] directly over the 3 story building I was standing next to”
- Sea between Australia and Indonesia – 2008 – seen from airplane: creature at altitude of 6500 feet
Location Unfriendly to Manta Rays
- Bougainville, New Guinea – 1971 – It flew over a mountain road
- Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea – 1994 – Ropen flew over an inland crater lake
- Mainland of Papua New Guinea – 2006 – Indava seen sleeping high on a mountain cliff
- Southern California – 1987 – flying over a desert
- Wisconsin – about 1980 – flying over a cucumber farm
- Winder, Georgia – 2008 – two sightings of two different creatures over farmlands
Behavior Unlike a Manta Ray
- Maryland-Virginia border – 1990 – flew over a river to perch in a tree
- Orange County, California – 2007 – giant flying creature was chasing birds
- Southern California – 2005 – giant flying creature was drinking from swimming pool
- San Antonio, Texas – 1986 – flying creature that swooped back and forth
- Antwerp, Ohio – 2003 – after flying over a bridge, it caught a sparrow in its mouth
Misidentifications are possibile in many aspects of life, not just in eyewitness sighting reports of extant pterosaurs. But the idea is ridiculous, that Manta rays jumping out of the sea cause people to cry “pterodactyl.” People are smarter than that.
More on Manta ray Misidentification
The example given by Drinnon, in his recent post, was a sighting in the Philippines. He said, “The Philippines sighting in specific lends itself to the Manta ray hypothesis most readily.” But when he wrote that article he had very limited information on it. Critical details then came forward, which showed clearly that the sighting was not of a Manta ray fish jumping out of the water.
Strange Ideas About Live Pterodactyls
The cryptozoologist Dale A. Drinnon has come up with some strange ideas to try to explain away accounts of live pterodactyls in Africa and in Papua New Guinea: stingrays, Manta rays, and Hornbill birds. But his ideas fail when details are taken into account.
Manta Rays or Modern Pterosaurs?
The critical point is that the man who witnessed the sighting of two apparent pterosaurs was in a CITY, not in a boat. And he saw two of the creatures flying together.
A British blogger, Chris Jensen Romer, after reading Whitcomb’s nonfiction book Live Pterosaurs in America, wrote:
And ultimately, I am afraid I still doubt it is true. However, I am more open to Pterosaurs in other parts of the world than I was before, and I am much more open to the possibility of live Pterosaurs. I actually find it hard to type those those three words together “possibility” + “live” + “pterosaurs”, so strong is my ingrained prejudice against the case. After all, during my dinosaur phase (aged 5-10 roughly) the one thing I knew absolutely was that they were all extinct.
This is the “normal” perspective in developed countries like the USA, where dinosaur extinction and pterosaur extinction is taught as if scientific fact. But as readers, and in this case a blog writer, become exposed to the idea of non-extinction of pterosaurs, some of them start to consider that possibility, even though it runs counter to their cultural beliefs.
But when we look at some of the eyewitness reports from the United States, we sometimes read that the eyewitnesses themselves have great difficulty believing that they saw what they saw. Some people even come to doubt their sanity, and not for any reason except that they saw something that they had been taught is impossible to see.
Weird Appearance of Live Pterosaurs
Whitcomb’s eyewitnesses don’t really convince me greatly, though they are at the heart of his case.
Actually, the book in question was not written mainly to convince skeptics that pterosaurs are still alive. It was written for the eyewitnesses themselves, so that they would know the big picture and not doubt their own sanity, although there were doubtless other purposes in its writing and publication.
Would you like to read a non-fiction cryptozoology book about modern “pterodactyls” in North America? You now have three choices, at least, and they are not at all similar in style or sighting locations or anything else, except in emphasizing the possibility of modern pterosaurs living in North America.
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Nonfiction book on modern living pterodactyls: “Live Pterosaurs in America,” third edition