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.
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 mother was driving with her two sons, on a highway around Franklin, Georgia, on July 18, 2012, when they were shocked to see a “flying dinosaur.” It was low enough that the woman was sure that it was not just a large bird. Her older son called it a “pterodactyl.”
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.
Another Pterosaur Sighting in Georgia (the same encounter as above)
(Question): Did it have a tail? (Answer): Yes it it had a tail, a long one.
(Question): Was the creature flapping its wings or just gliding? (Answer): It was just gliding across [the] road . . .
Pterodactyl Sightings While Driving
A considerable portion of pterosaur sightings occur while driving.
From the Cryptozoology Book Live Pterosaurs in America
Late in the summer of 2008, I received an email from a lady who lives in Winder, Georgia. She seems to have had the rare privilege of observing two pterosaurs, apparently different individuals of the same species, on two different days. . . .
. . . an animal suddenly flew from the right, just over the front of her car. Although alone, she yelled, “What the — what — what is that?”
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. She later sent me some sketches (she is a professional artist but has not given me permission to publish the sketches), one of them showing a thick almost-heart-shape at the end of the tail . . .
Highway near Winder, Georgia
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Live Pterosaurs in America by Jonathan Whitcomb (third edition)
FIVE STARS
From the Live Pterosaurs in America Amazon book review “Oddly Fascinating” by stevie:
This is an updated review of the book and I am changing my rating to 5 stars. 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. . . .
Admittedly, my main interest in the subject is based in romanticism. However, it is apparent that these pterosaur stories will not go away. . . . I always find myself fascinated by the subject. . . .
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. . . .
If you are interested in reading about this subject, this is definitely the book to get….because there are almost none other out there. All levity aside, this author has really done a lot of work researching this issue. . . .
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.
How often has a Frigate bird impersonated a pterodactyl (AKA “pterosaur”)! One man searched through hours of video footage from a trip he had made to Central America, for he thought he might have caught a pterosaur on video. He and his cryptozoogist friend were excited to see the results of his search, until they found that it was just a Frigate bird.
A video on Youtube has had many views by people who hope to see images of living pterosaurs; but that particular video was a recording of you-know-what. How sad that so many viewers have made this mistake!
We need to be aware that not all Frigate birds have white on their throats or chests. But the forked tail differs in appearance from the Rhamphorhynchoid flange (or tail vane) that is seen on the end of tails of modern long-tailed pterosaurs (what some call “pterodactyls”).
To help eyewitnesses avoid misidentification, here are some images of Frigate birds:
Another Oklahoma Pterosaur Sighting
I’m a truck driver and I was headed eastbound . . . about 30 to 40 miles west of Oklahoma city [in daylight] . . . when I saw something I had never seen before, flying southward in front of me . . .