New Eyewitness Reports of Pterosaurs

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Pterosaur in Cuba

Yesterday, I spoke by phone with Tom Carson, the brother of eyewitness Patty Carson. His 1966 sighting sighting, about one year after Patty’s, seems to have been a smaller creature of the same species. This brother and sister never spoke with each other about their sightings until 2011, after I began interviewing Patty by emails and telephone, but each of them told their father about the creatures soon after the sightings.

Tom’s sighting lasted only about three seconds, and the dark grey-tan creature flew almost overhead, at maybe a hundred feet high, perhaps a little less. It appeared to have no feathers, with a moderate-length tail that seemed odd, like a “shaved dog tail.” The creature appeared to be larger than a pelican.

Pterosaur in New Jersey (email send to Jonathan Whitcomb)

“In the summer of 2009, I saw something that I didn’t quite understand, in the pinelands of New Jersey. . . . The following year, on the same stretch of highway, I definately saw something clearly and without doubt. . . . I saw a giant bat-like bird, dark brown without feathers, something prehistoric . . . a long thin head, a long tail, [and a] kind of leathery dark brown skin. The body seemed to be the size of a good-sized man; the wind span, maybe 12-15 feet across.”

Pterosaur in Idaho

After the man learned about web sites and research regarding living pterosaurs, he told me about his 1991 (or thereabouts) encounter.

I don’t recall the exact time of year. Early summer is my best guess, maybe May or June.  I was with a friend the same age and my parents. We were traveling in central Idaho and spent the night on the Snake River just outside Lewiston. My friend and I were sleeping outside and my parents in the back of the pickup with a camper shell. The moon was full or near full as I remember. I recall waking up during the night and seeing two large creatures flying in a circle above us. They were fairly high up, I would say at least 2-300 feet. The distance and wingspan are the two things hard to be certain of, as they could be higher and therefore larger or closer to the ground and smaller.

. . . As they circled, they crossed over the moon multiple times, and I was struck by the outline of the wings which seemed very bat-like to me. Certainly did not give the appearance of a feathered wing. . . . [The creatures] let out a shriek. Not high-pitched or extremely shrill, just a multi-tonal screech.

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