Does anyone have a newspaper article to share? It could be an old one, but please, not the nineteenth-century ones about the pterosaur breaking out of a tunnel in Europe or the cowboys who shot one in Arizona; we need more recent accounts.
Newspaper Articles – Live Pterosaur Media Center
The Houston Chronicle, by circulation the ninth largest newspaper in the United States, pulled away the welcome mat to “flying dinosaurs” that might want to fly over southwest Texas; it emphasized Whitcomb’s lack of credentials and experience. But “What’s going on in Marfa?” (December 19, 2010 issue) was elicited by the press release “Unmasking a Flying Predator in Texas,” which was written by Whitcomb after he had received, over several years, eyewitness reports of apparent living pterosaurs in Texas, from citizens of Texas. The Houston Chronicle writer failed to mention that.
This Houston Chronicle article deserves attention, although I had previously written about it briefly on this blog (Dinosaur Bird post). Before getting into details, I emphasize that I am grateful that “What’s going on in Marfa” was published by that newspaper, for it may have given at least a few readers the opportunity to consider the possibility of modern living pterosaurs, or at least to know that some people take it seriously.
Unfortunately, the staff writer for the Houston Chronicle, Claudia Feldman, did not take my cryptozoological hypothesis seriously. She asked me about my education and about my ideas about Marfa Lights, but appeared to set aside the sightings that make up the foundation of my investigations. Considering the politics of major news media, this should not be surprising. Any idea contrary to the beliefs of the great majority of newspaper readers—that is rarely taken seriously unless ample or obvious evidence appears in other news reports. What media writer would want to take a serious risk of censure? The idea that glowing pterosaurs live in Texas—that can too easily appear too paranormal to most news writers. That said, I feel that Feldman made a serious error in neglecting the many eyewitness accounts, reports from citizens of Texas who have encountered apparent pterosaurs; I have interviewed some of them myself, and have found them to be credible.
Front Page News – Live Pterosaur
The Antwerp Bee-Argus was more kind to the possibility of live pterosaurs. The August 5, 2009, issue of this weekly newspaper in Ohio gave the subject the front page, unfortunately misspelling “pterosaur” in the title, but giving an open-minded approach to a strange sighting by a local man.
Few major newspapers have published eyewitnesses accounts of apparent living-pterosaurs, at least in recent years. As reported in the Antwerp Bee-Argus, they “have been thought by many scientists to have gone extinct many millions of years ago,” that is, the pterosaurs, not yet major newspapers.