Reply to Skeptics | Live Pterosaur

May 12, 2011August 2, 2011

Kongamato and Ropen Compared

Let’s begin by being precise. I do not insinuate that in Africa all sightings with the label “kongamato” are of the same species of pterosaur or even any kind of pterosaur; the same applies to the label “ropen.” But specific sighting reports have similar details, namely this: a large or giant size, a long tail with a Rhamphorhynchoid-like structure at the end, and a lack of feathers. Sightings involving those details—those I believe to have come from sightings of living pterosaurs.

Before we begin, however, we need to clear up a misunderstanding about an implied association with “science-fiction movies and old cartoons such as The Flintstones.” Dale Drinnon has mentioned this, in commenting on another post, as if it damages the credibility of sightings, notwithstanding he did not mention any particular sighting. But he does not seem to appreciate or realize that specific sightings are by eyewitnesses who have probably never seen any science fiction movie or Flintstones cartoons in their entire lives: The boy who saw the flying creature in Sudan, Africa, for example. And what about all the native eyewitnesses that were interviewed in the two expeditions on Umboi Island, in 2004 (I led the first expedition)? I asked Gideon Koro if he had ever seen a picture of a ropen in any book at his school; he thought about it for a second or two and then replied, “No.” Yet his description of the ropen flying over Lake Pung in daylight corresponds to details in the sighting reports by Westerners such as Duane Hodgkinson and Brian Hennessy.

Let’s examine details in Gideon Koro’s sighting report. I interviewed him in person, on Umboi Island, in 2004. He and his six friends had hiked up to the crater lake, arriving there in the middle of the day. The creature flew over the lake, just meters over the surface, with no reasonable possibility that the boys could have seen a common bird or bat and misidentified it.

No feathers—Gideon was positive about that
Tail seven meters long—He thought about it for a few seconds before giving me his estimate
Mouth “like a crocodile”

Now let’s examine details in the Sudan, Africa, sighting report. By email, this man reported to me his 1988 encounter, which I now summarize (adapted from a post on the blog Live Pterodactyl):

While walking from one mud-brick hut to another, one night, the boy noticed something on the roof of a nearby hut. Lit up by the patio light, perched on the edge of the roof, the creature appeared to be four-to-five feet tall, olive brown, and leathery (no feathers). A “long bone looking thing” stuck out the back of its head; its long tail somehow reminded the boy of a tail of a lion (I suspect there was hair at the end of the tail).

The boy froze as the creature stretched its wings and hopped toward another roof, passing a few feet over the boy’s head. He dropped the metal tray of dishes that he had been carrying and the creature flew away. The eyewitness was sure about the head crest and the long tail.

Science Fiction Movies and the Flintstones are Irrelevant

Eyewitnesses who have never seen a movie or television are not influenced by science fiction movies and TV cartoons, but there is more. Those Americans and Australians who have seen movies and cartoons are not necessarily influenced in any way that would cause them to report sighting details that were distorted by those media experiences. How many media experiences do Westerners have that involve people being shot by guns! Yet we do not dismiss eyewitnesses from testifying in court, in a shooting case, just because they had seen gun fights in movies and on television.

Another problem shoots down this science-fiction-movies-and-Flintstones insinuation. Why are no details given? Why not mention details about portrayals of pterosaurs in media? Why not mention details in particular eyewitness reports? Why try to shoot down a large long-tailed pterosaur by blowing smoke at the poor flying creature?

Kongamato Pterodactyl

Namibia, Africa, Pterosaur (sighting in the Spring of 2011)

“The wings span was about double the distance of beak-tip to end-of-tail. I cannot remember details of the tail, but thought that two legs and a strange looking longer tail or appendix were visible, parallel to one another . . . he estimated the flying creature had a wingspan about half of that of the airplanes he sees flying overhead . . .”

May 9, 2011February 6, 2015

Dinosaur Bird

long-tailed pterosaur seen by U.S. Marine in Cuba

Of course “dinosaur bird” is incorrect in a scientific sense, for a pterosaur is neither dinosaur nor bird. But an eyewitness like Patty Carson probably said something similar when she, as a child who had just seen a live pterosaur in Cuba, reported her encounter to her family. In more recent years, a man in Richmond, Virginia, reported a “dinosaur bird” after he looked through a telescope; of course any critic can insinuate that the man had been drinking before he looked through that telescope, but critics probably said something similar about Galileo, after he looked through his telescope and then talked about four moons circling Jupiter.

A few months ago, the Houston Chronicle dismissed the possibility that any “dinosaur” is now flying in Texas, ending their newspaper article with, “I encourage Mr. Whitcomb to come to Marfa and spend six months there before he says anything more about dinosaurs.” The problem with that “encouragement” is simple: My press release that sparked the Houston Chronicle article said nothing about dinosaurs; it mentioned the possibility that Marfa Lights are caused by bioluminescent flying predators and that maybe those creatures are like the ropen of Papua New Guinea, which is believed by some to be a live pterosaur.

I don’t bemoan the popularity of “dinosaur bird” in place of “pterosaur,” for the correct word is hard to spell, as is “psychologist” (which is what some critics insinuate is needed for those of us who choose to promote the politically incorrect belief in live pterosaurs). I do regret that few newspapers publish anything that might seem to threaten official Western dogma about dinosaur and pterosaur extinction, what I call “universal extinctions.” I also regret that some skeptics resort to using the word “dinosaur” to ridicule those who promote the uncommon concept that some pterosaurs still live on this planet, however uncommon (and probably mostly nocturnal) those flying creatures may be.

Regardless of whether an eyewitness called a flying creature “dinosaur bird” or “pterodactyl” or “ropen,” the description the person gives of what was observed—that should determine how we interpret what was observed. Ridicule and official dogma should not be given first priority in evaluating sighting reports of live pterosaurs.

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Radiometric Dating of Recent Dinosaur Bones – Censored

Why Censor by Deletion

Of course we can be grateful that a dissenting scientist, in modern Western societies, is not put under house arrest for the rest of his life, like Galileo. But the Paleochronology group is in fact a group, and if they had made some serious error in their presentation, why not just point out the problem at the top and bottom of the online report? Why make it appear like nobody had even given a lecture about carbon-14 dating of dinosaur fossils?

Dinosaur Birds, by any Other Name

Pterosaurs have been called “dinosaur birds” by some Americans, although “pterodactyl” is also common. From what we have learned from many fossils, those flying creatures used to be common. Not any more. But according to certain eyewitnesses, they are not extinct. According to certain cryptozoologists, they are alive but uncommon.

May 2, 2011July 18, 2013

Hornbill Birds and a Live Pterosaur

In a recent post, “Ropens, Pterosaurian Sightings And Manta Rays,” a skeptic of the possibility of living pterosaurs gave half a sentence to the subject of Hornbill birds as the cause of sighting reports of live pterosaurs (misidentification conjecture). The problem with that suggestion? Details in the sighting reports bear no resemblance to anything like a Hornbill.

Before getting into the appearance of hornbill birds, note the post on pterosaur bioluminescence, a response to the skeptics post on ropens and Manra rays.

I found a serious problem with the reasoning of that critic. What if it is true that “‘Spook lights’ otherwise occur world-wide without any connection to supposed pterosaurian sightings?” Does that really mean that we should dismiss all eyewitness accounts of apparent bioluminescent pterosaurs? That is what the critic believes. But when somebody, many years ago, decided to name a particular Ford automobile a “Mustang,” did that make all Mustang horses nonexistant? . . .

During my 2004 expedition on Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea, I interviewed many eyewitnesses. . . . I also interviewed Jonah Jim, and he witnessed, one night, a giant flying creature that was glowing as it flew nearly over his head. . . . two other American cryptozoologists [interviewed] . . . Jonathan Ragu [who had seen a glowing pterosaur flying in another part of Umboi Island].

Now to the appearance of the Hornbill bird:

[Photo by Lip Kee; Hornbill bird in Malasia]

The skeptic mentions both the 1944 sighting by Duane Hodgkinson and the 1971 sighting by Brian Hennessy. Look at the above photograph and consider the following descriptions of the flying creature seen by Hodgkinson (DH) and Hennessy (BH):

DH: No feathers observed (BH said, “Not a feather in sight”)
DH: Tail at least 10-15 feet long (BH said it was a long thin tail)
Both said: Long pointed head crest coming out the back of the head
DH: Wingspan similar to that of a Piper Tri-Pacer airplane
BH said the beak and head were one structure
Both said it was dark (not colored)

Now consider the sketch approved by Hodgkinson himself:

In the two sketches shown side-by-side, below, the head-sketch approved by Brian Hennessy is similar (top is Hennessy’s approval in the sketches below):

Look at another photo of a Hornbill bird (below):

[Another photograph by Lip Kee; a Hornbill bird in Malasia]

There’s a different angle, and an apparently darker color, but there are still many significant problems with trying to tie this into the Hodgkinson and Hennessy sightings. The above Hornbill has obvious primary feathers. The beak and head are clearly distinguished; it’s hard to imagine how they could be more distinguished from each other in this photo. The tail is not long-thin. And there is nothing like a long thin horn like appendage coming out the back of the head, pointed towards the trunk of the body.

Hodgkinson and his army buddy were in a small clearing, in 1944, when the “pterodactyl” the size of a Piper Tri-Pacer flew up into the air (obviously a short distance away for the men and flying creature were together in that small clearing). That alone, the description of a wingspan close to thirty feet when seen about a hundred feet away, can eliminate the Hornbill explanation. All the other differences are a confirmation that Hodgkinson saw nothing like a Hornbill.

So the skeptic is mistaken about Hodgkinson and Hennessy mistaking a Hornbill bird for a pterosaur. But what about other eyewitnesses, unnamed by the skeptic? What about the detailed survey form used in interviews conducted by Guessman and Woetzel on Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea, in 2004, in which the Sordes pilosus Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur was chosen by eyewitnesses Jonah Jim and Jonathan Ragu? The skeptic seems fond of generalities rather than relevant details.

silhouette-sketches-1-med — silhouettes of birds, bats, and pterosaurs

The Sordes pilosus, #13, was chosen, by both Jonah Jim and Jonathan Ragu, from among the many choices shown above.

Those islanders, who were eyewitnesses of the ropen, could have chosen one of the bird silhouettes, if they had actually seen a bird. Compare this image on the left, of the Sordes pilosus Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur, with the previous photographs of Hornbill birds. That bird appears completely different. How easy it would have been for the eyewitnesses to have chosen one of those bird-images, but they did not. They saw something very different from any bird, for the ropen of Umboi Island differs greatly from any bird or bat.

What about the details in the testimony by the eyewitness Gideon Koro, whom I interviewed in 2004? He and his six friends were terrified at the giant ropen that flew over Lake Pung. He described a creature with a tail that was “seven meter” long, a creature with no feathers but a mouth “like a crocodile.” Those seven teenagers did not run home in terror because they had seen a common bird flying over a lake.

In addition, the Hornbill (to the best of my knowledge) does not glow brightly as it flies at night. It also does not dig up the body of an adult human and carry that native’s body up to a mountain to feed on human flesh. No, the Hornbill is not the same thing as the ropen, also known as “indava,” “seklo-bali,” “kor,” and “duwas.” Modern living pterosaurs are not birds.

Manta Rays or Modern Pterosaurs?

He mentions “broad diamond-shaped wings,” as if eyewitnesses have reported that feature. I don’t recall even one eyewitness using the word “diamond” when referring to wings. Many sighting reports (in which a tail is mentioned) include the word “diamond” or “triangle” (or a similar word) when referring to the END OF THE TAIL. That in itself eliminates the Manta ray fish from consideration.

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Cover, back and front, of Live Pterosaurs in America - nonfiction book

From the Introduction in the nonfiction cryptozoology book Live Pterosaurs in America (third edition):

During those years of expeditions in the southwest Pacific, reports in our own country became impossible to ignore; I received many emails from eyewitnesses across the United States, and the reports kept coming in. Pterosaur-like creatures are not all confined to the tropics. As we began to listen to those Americans, we noticed report-similarities: long tails (often) and apparent bioluminescence (sometimes). We began to believe.

April 30, 2011July 18, 2013

Pterosaur Bioluminescence and “Red Herrings”

Recently, a cryptozoologist critical to the possibility of a live pterosaur dismissed all potential sightings of bioluminescent pterosaurs as marsh gas or “spook lights.” He referred to all potential sightings of bioluminescent pterosaurs as “red herrings.” It was actually only a brief aside on a blog post titled “Ropens, Pterosaurian Sightings And Manta Rays,” but that critic seems to have neglected the necessary research, for the case for glowing pterosaurs, living in this modern age, actually appears significant.

I found a serious problem with the reasoning of that critic. What if it is true that “‘Spook lights’ otherwise occur world-wide without any connection to supposed pterosaurian sightings?” Does that really mean that we should dismiss all eyewitness accounts of apparent bioluminescent pterosaurs? That is what the critic believes. But when somebody, many years ago, decided to name a particular Ford automobile a “Mustang,” did that make all Mustang horses extinct? Perhaps that comparison is too imprecise, so I’ll take this one step at a time and be more precise.

During my 2004 expedition on Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea, I interviewed many eyewitnesses. Most of them did not see any clear form of the flying creature they call “ropen,” for the flying light is what most natives see on some nights. If that were all that ever happened with ropen investigations in Papua New Guinea, I might understand how the critic could dismiss those glowing objects as being irrelevant to sightings of apparent pterosaurs. But I also interviewed Jonah Jim, and he witnessed, one night, a giant flying creature that was glowing as it flew nearly over his head, and that eyewitness gave me a number of details.

What if there were some problem with that interview or with that eyewitness? Well, there is much more. A few weeks after I returned from my expedition, two other American cryptozoologists followed me to Umboi Island. They interviewed other eyewitnesses, many of whom had seen only the flying light. But Garth Guessman, of California, and David Woetzel, of New Hampshire, also interviewed native eyewitnesses, including Jonathan Ragu, who had seen the form of the flying creature.

In my book Searching for Ropens, I included details of this interview the Americans had with Ragu.

It flew away from the northwest coast of Umboi Island, heading toward Tolokiwa Island (northwest of Umboi). Glowing brightly red and white from the head and trailing edges of the wings, it flew fast, at tree-top level. . . . From thirty-four silhouettes of bats, birds, and pterosaurs, Ragu chose the Sordes pilosus, a Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur.

But that was not the end of interviews of native eyewitnesses of glowing pterosaurs. A few days later, Guessman and Woetzel hiked south, to the part of Umboi Island where I had been interviewing natives a few weeks earlier. They interviewed the same Jonah Jim that I had, only this time the thirty-four silhouettes of bats, birds and pterosaurs were included in the questioning. That native chose the same image as had been chosen by Jonathan Ragu: the Sordes pilosus.

There are other sightings of “glowing” pterosaurs in other areas of the world, but this should suffice for now. It seems that the critic has not read my book. But how deeply has he investigated, with online searches, the concept of modern bioluminescent pterosaurs? It appears that this critic has been too vague and too consistently vague regarding critical aspects of critical eyewitness testimonies. I don’t say that all “red herrings” are extinct; I do suggest that some species of pterosaurs are still alive.

Lucy Evelyn Cheesman sighting

Evelyn Cheesman, a British entomologist (1881-1969) known for her many years of collecting-expeditions in the South Pacific, was the first woman to be hired as a curator at Regent’s Park Zoo, in London.

Cheesman became puzzled, in the early 1930’s, by lights on a ridge near Mondo, New Guinea (the area is now part of what is called the “mainland” of Papua New Guinea). In her book, The Two Roads of Papua, she said that the flash lasted “about four or five seconds, but that flash had been a little distance away from the first. Flashes continued at intervals. . . . a most intriguing mystery; because by no possibility could there be human beings out there using flash-lamps at intervals . . .”

Two Glowing Pterosaurs in the Caribbean

On about the second day of their cruise, between about 1:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m., her daughter called her to come out to the balcony . . . “The minute I stepped onto the balcony, I knew exactly what she wanted me to see. Off in the distance were two very, very large, pink/orange flourescent birds flying behind each other. They looked like the flying dinosaurs, I forget what they are called. They would fly towards the ship, then back out to sea . . .”

Seklo-Bali Seen by Jacob Kepas

[From the book Searching for Ropens, 2nd ed] “Guessman interviewed Pastor Jacob Kepas, who was twelve years old when he saw what we believe was a ropen. One night, he heard a “whoosh” of wind and ran outside to see the [glowing] seklo-bali that had just flown over his village (on the mainland). The boy caught only a brief glimpse of the back of the wings and tail . . .”