[Revision: fourth edition became available late in October of 2014. That fourth edition is expanded and improved and recommended over earlier editions.]
The third edition of Searching for Ropens will get a new name when it is published before the end of this year [revised: fourth edition became available on createspace.com in October of 2014 and on Amazon in early November]: Searching for Ropens and Finding God, obviously not the usual cryptozoology genre. It will have many sighting reports from various parts of the world, including the United States, perhaps even competing with Live Pterosaurs in America in that narrow field.
Like previous editions of Searching for Ropens, the first few chapters of the third edition will take readers on expeditions in Papua New Guinea, with American explorers interviewing native eyewitnesses and a few lucky Americans witnessing the amazing ropen light.
Here is an excerpt from the upcoming third edition of the nonfiction book:
From an eyewitness in Virginia:
“I wonder if the creature thought I was food of some sort (a fish, I imagine) splashing in the darkness and once it was close enough, it hesitated because I did not look like its regular dinner. Or perhaps it hesitated, seeing that only a part of me was above water and not knowing how much more of me there could have been hidden beneath the surface, it couldn’t be sure it could carry me off.
“I have really been pondering lately that perhaps my insurmountable, paralyzing fear may actually have saved my life (or at least my eyes or limbs) because I wonder if when I didn’t move, it perceived me to be making a stand. And any animal that thought it could make a stand to that gigantic thing would be more trouble than it was worth for a meal. . . .
I replied:
“I agree with your insight regarding holding your position when you felt paralyzed with fear. I feel sure that it was the best thing that you could have done in the awkward circumstances of the moment. . . .
“I really don’t know if any modern large pterosaurs can lift great loads with their feet alone. I know of a few reports in which a bird or mud hens or some other waterfowl was picked up in the pterosaur’s mouth. But we should not take too much stock in the proclamations of paleontologists, for the fossils of these wonderful flying creatures are rare compared with all the many ones that were not fossilized, leaving no trace, or at least no fossil that has yet been discovered. In addition, there is more than one species still living, as strange as that may sound to many people of Western cultures. We still have much to learn. . . .
“How would you rate your certainty regarding the lack of feathers (absolutely no feathers, probably no feathers, or unsure)?”
The eyewitness replied:
“. . . I don’t like to say with 100% certainty anything at all. But I feel comfortable saying that I am 95% or more sure that it was featherless. I really studied those herons when they were in my back yard and their feathers were always so obvious even in silhouette not to mention time I spent looking at pictures online as well. There were definitely no obvious feathers on the animal. Plus, I think feathers would have made a ‘whoosh’ sound quieter than it was IF there was any whoosh at all. Owls are big birds with feathers but they are so quiet when they fly.”
.
Sketch of the “Gitmo Pterosaur” by the eyewitness Patty Carson
.
Sketch of two “pterodactyls” observed at Guantanamo Bay, by a U. S. Marine
###
Ropens (living pterosaurs)
Duane Hodgkinson . . . was stationed near Finschhafen . . . New Guinea. . . . [The two American soldiers] 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.”
The new nonfiction book is sub-titled “Walking by faith and working with people of other faiths, in a quest for the discovery of modern living pterosaurs.” The main title for this third edition, by Whitcomb, is Searching for Ropens and Finding God.
.
One Reply to ““Pterodactyl” Sightings in the new Book”
Comments are closed.