I recall part of a comment from a critic, some years ago, ridiculing the credibility of eyewitnesses who “misidentify” birds or bats at night. But he was only tossing out a generalization, assuming that all reported sightings (those encounters that serious invesigators publicize) all fit neatly into his mental image of a dark landscape where people imagine that birds and bats are pterosaurs. Science thrives on details of human experience, so let’s examine particular sightings.

Rhamphorhynchoid Pterosaur in Sudan, Africa

In this sighting, the eyewitness could see details, for the flying creature was close and it was lit by a nearby porch light.

The boy was walking from one mud-brick hut to another, one night in 1988, carrying a tray of food for family members. . . . The boy froze as the creature stretched its wings and hopped right over his head, causing him to drop the metal tray of dishes.

Driving Near Kenton, Ohio

In the third edition of my book Live Pterosaurs in America, I mentioned a sighting near Kenton, Ohio.

At 11:15 p.m., she was driving near Kenton, Ohio, on Route 309. With clear sky and a still-full moon, the landscape was brightly lit. A creature swooped down—an obvious “pterodactyl”—gliding gracefully over the hood of her car. She watched it fly into some dense underbrush of trees. . . . “I could see almost the bones in its wings but I did NOT see feathers at all. None. . . . it was bright out . . . because of the full moon being high in the sky.”

Nocturnal Pterosaurs in San Diego

In this sighting in San Diego, California, the two flying creatures (witnessed by two men) were probably lit from both top and bottom: from the moon and from the city lights (although the eyewitness who reported the encounter to me mentioned only the lighting from the moon).

From the west came this dark object in the sky. It was right over us about, I say, 40 yards [high]. As it got closer we both yelled, “What the hell is that?” It looked like a huge bird. It was gliding . . . I began yelling at it . . .

That was a large flying creature at low altitude, perhaps coming within 140 feet of the eyewitnesses. The lighting was adequate for the two eyewitnesses to see the details that were later given to me.

“I was at my friend’s house. Well it was a really clear night, because it had rained the day before. We were standing in the street and I couldn’t keep my eyes off the stars, they were really bright. Then from the west came this dark object in the sky. It was right over us about, I say, 40 yards [high]. As it got closer we both yelled, “What the hell is that?” It looked like a huge bird. It was gliding . . . I was stuck looking at it the entire time. I began yelling at it, then it turned around and it stood still in the air. It was flapping its wings while it was there. Then outta nowhere here came another one. It was waiting for it; as it got close to the other one, they both went east.”

From looking at all his emails, I believe that “outta nowhere here came another one” is a figure of speech and that the second creature flew from the direction of the ocean like the first one had.

I later talked with the eyewitness by phone, verifying his credibility (I found nothing in his words or manner of speaking that would suggest the possibility of a hoax). He varied in his estimate of the flying height: thirty yards instead of forty yards. The tail was long and straight. With one of the flying creatures, he noticed a movement that he interpreted as evidence for the animal’s breathing. I asked the man to send me the other eyewitness’s phone number, if his friend would agreed to be interviewed.

This account is consistent with the concept that modern pterosaurs are mostly nocturnal, generally flying at night much more than in daylight. Why are some sightings during the day? They are probably the exceptions, suggesting that the animals can sometimes be disturbed from a daytime sleep, and a severe disturbance may cause a nocturnal flying creature to take flight in daylight, when humans are much more likely to notice them. (Only once do I recall seeing a wild owl. It was flying over a freeway near Long Beach, California, in daylight. Most owls are nocturnal, but people rarely notice and recognize them in the dark.)

If anyone else has seen an apparent pterosaur in the San Diego area, please contact me, Jonathan Whitcomb.

Books about live pterosaurs in North America

It seems we now have three nonfiction books about extant pterosaurs in North America, so let’s take a look at some basic facts (before I insert an ad for my own book). These paperback books are Big Bird (by Ken Gerhard), Live Pterosaurs in America (by Jonathan Whitcomb, third edition), and Bird From Hell (by Gerald McIsaac, second edition).

Pterodactyls in San Diego

According to one of the two eyewitnesses of the large flying creatures, they had long tails and wingspans around 20-30 feet, as they flew only about a hundred feet above San Diego, California, in November of 2011. The tails were long and straight.

Hoax Potential and Pterosaur Wingspan

It appears perfectly harmonious with the idea that at least most modern species experience growth throughout lifespan, with extremely large individuals being rare. The degree of rarity should be much greater than shown, for the largest modern pterosaurs should be noticed by eyewitnesses much more frequently than smaller ones; small pterosaurs can easily be ignored, for they often are not noticed as anything unusual enough to cause eyewitnesses to take a closer look and see that it is no bird.

The Alchemist (a different kind of relationship between the two books)

Before Januaruy 17, 2012, the Wikipedia page on The Alchemist said, “It has sold more than 65 million copies in more than 150 countries.” On that day, Jonathan Whitcomb, a volunteer Wikipedia editor and author of the nonfiction book Live Pterosaurs in America, noticed that figure on book sales of The Alchemist. He had just finished reading the book, delighting in its message and delivery, but the “65 million” reminded him of two things.

The back cover of the English paperback that Whitcomb had just read referred to the number of copies sold of all the books by Paulo Coelho, not just The Alchemist. It was “more than 65 million copies in 150 countries.” It looked like too much for a coincidence . . .

Sixty-Five Million

Coelho’s own web page reveals that twenty-one million copies had been sold worldwide. I believe that the back cover of the paperback I had read was correct, that the “sixty-five million” was the total number of sales of all Coelho’s novels (not just this one short novel) up until that paperback printing of the English version of The Alchemist (a few years ago). . . .

On rare occasions I edit Wikipedia pages, and on January 17, 2012, I edited The Alchemist page, to correct that mistake. So why think of it? To most ordinary persons, who will never sell any millions of anything or be famous for anything, twenty-one million seems practically the same as sixty-five million. The problem lies in casual thinking: Too many of us rely on others to think for us, and we do so too often, too much, and in matters too important.

Yesterday my friend and associate Garth Guessman called me about the nonfiction book Bird From Hell, by Gerald McIsaac, now in the second edition; I had never heard of it. It seems we now have three nonfiction books about extant pterosaurs in North America, so let’s take a look at some basic facts (before I insert an ad for my own book). These paperback books are Big Bird (by Ken Gerhard), Live Pterosaurs in America (by Jonathan Whitcomb, third edition), and Bird From Hell (by Gerald McIsaac, second edition). The first comparison surprised me.

Basic Exposure Online

This test was done by using a Google search with each book’s title in quotes, followed by the surname of the author. Gerhard’s book seems to have much better exposure on the internet, compared with the other two, and it seems to have little to do with the “Big Bird” of Sesame Street.

1. Big Bird                            295,000
2. Bird From Hell                     25,300
3. Live Pterosaurs in America   20,200

This has little, if any, relevance to the books themselves, just how broadly they are covered online.

Amazon sales ranking on January 9, 2012

These were sampled early in the day. A one-day ranking has limited relevance if books are selling reasonably well recently, but none of these three have sold on Amazon recently. This Amazon number refers to ranking, not to number of copies sold, unfortunately (author’s want a low score here, like in golf). McIsaac’s book has not sold on Amazon.com (paperback version) in many days, perhaps many weeks. I would keep in mind that earlier editions can take sales away from the latest editions of a book; I have noticed this with my book. If this were taken into account, Live Pterosaurs in America (with three editions) would probably be the best-selling of these three, on Amazon.

1. Big Bird #1,051,985
2. Live Pterosaurs in America #1,120,918
3. Bird From Hell  #4,802,158

Number of Pages

My book is the clear winner here.

1. Live Pterosaurs in America  154 pages
2. Bird From Hell  124 pages
3. Big Bird  108 pages

Publication Date

1. Live Pterosaurs in America – Nov 2, 2011
2. Bird From Hell – April 21, 2011
3. Big Bird – February 1, 2007

Present Sale Price on Amazon (on January 9, 2012)

This is the sales price, not the suggested retail price (SRP). Authors have limited control here, if any. Names are abbreviated.

1. LPA – $9.82
2. BFH – $11.04
3. BB – $11.75

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Ad

From two of the unsolicited recommendations for this cryptozoology book:

“I couldn’t put this book down. It is absolutely fascinating to read about eyewitness accounts of the people who have seen these creatures. To learn about these testimonies from such an open minded perspective is refreshing in the extreme! . . . Jonathan Whitcomb needs to write more books!” (From StrangeDream, second edition; review published on Amazon on Oct 11, 2011)

“This seems to be the author’s second book on the subject, and this one is worth the effort. He has focused on the accounts of witnesses who saw something, and that adds credibility. The writing is easy to read and he adds comments and analysis to make it all more useful. Mostly, the author lets the sightings speak for themselves, which is good. A worthwhile book.” (From Red Rabbit, first edition; review published on Amazon on Nov 26, 2010)

The above images were analyzed by the missile defense physicist Cliff Paiva, of BSM Research Associates. Paiva seems to have no doubt that these two glowing objects are closely related, even if they are large bioluminescent flying creatures not yet classified in Western science. One video was recorded in Florida; the other,  in Mexico. And these are only two sightings.

Yakima Lights

Many flashes were parallel to the river. . . . there were many fish . . . Prime hunting grounds for fish-eating birds. Only these things fish at night with bioluminescence. At first I thought I was just seeing shooting stars, but they were all parallel to the river and close to the horizon. Next I noticed that when the cloud cover came in, I could still see the flashes. They were under the cloud cover.

Sightings of large glowing flying creatures—those have also been reported, in modern times, in widely diverse areas: Papua New Guinea, Los Angeles County, California; the Caribbean Sea; and in England.

Cheesman Lights and Marfa Lights

On the surface, it might seem better to tie the Cheesman lights to the ropen light of Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea, for all those lights, as individual lights, seem to last for only about five or six seconds or so, and individual CE-III Marfa Lights may last much longer. But the indava lights (seen just a couple of mountain ranges or so south of where Cheesman was) sometimes do glow longer than a few seconds.

I have noticed many Youtube videos that require attention: various flying lights, mostly without the vidoegrapher or uploader being aware of the possibility of bioluminescent flying creatures.

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Cryptozoology Book

Regain your faith in the human potential for courage by reading of eyewitnesses who bravely tell their experiences and cryptozoologists who explore sighting areas and interview those who have seen live pterosaurs. How did this escape the notice of American scientists? If you walk away from this book, how will you know?

Part of his description (black flying creature, about the size of a hawk or eagle, with no head showing) brought to my mind a Frigate bird; but that oceanic bird is not normally seen in that area of Montana, and it does not have anything like a cone or horn coming out of the back of its head.

Sighting in Southern Montana

This may not be related, as the flying creature was much larger: wingspan perhaps twenty feet. But the one in southern Montana was also black.

. . . “the largest flying creature I’ve ever seen,” at the Cooney Reservoir in Southern Montana, on Friday, September 4, 2009. . . . Several preliminary signs indicate that this is a genuine sighting, unlikely a hoax. . . . Early [at] night, it flew over them: about 50 feet high; the eyewitness estimated the wingspan: 20 feet. “We could hear the sound of the wings flapping.” Two other eyewitnesses may have seen something similar at different times in the area . . .

Flathead Lake, Montana, Pterosaur Hoax?

Although the above two reports appear to have been honest accounts of actual flying creatures, the following appears to have been a hoax, a video on Youtube.

The first image shows us that the camera is just above the surface of a lake, perhaps as high as ten feet or more above the lake but unlikely over a hundred feet . . . The ninth image gives me the impression that I am looking slightly down at the flying creature; I notice one of the hind legs . . . now is seen above its right wing, and the main part of the head is below the left wing. I have tried to imagine some way that I could be looking up at this flying creature, in this image; my mind rebels against the thought.

The Hoax Potential and Pterosaur Wingspan

The peak, ten sightings, is at wingspan estimates between 3.25 feet and 6.25 feet. On the surface, this appears to clearly refute any possibility of a major hoax-influence, for why would hoaxers give such small “estimates” for the wingspan? Looking a little deeper, if hoaxers were trying to convince people that they had seen Rhamphorhynchoids, smaller wingspans would be more in harmony with fossils of those long-tailed pterosaurs. But looking even closer, we see something else.

Look at the raw data for the left and middle of the graph (wingspan in feet):

2 2 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 6 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 9 10 10 10 11 11 12 12 12.5 13 13 13 13 15 16 16 17 17 17 18 — According to standard ideas in paleontology (and that is mostly what is mentioned in Western media when it is mentioned at all), only a small percentage of Rhamphorhynchoids attained wingspans over eight feet. But the data on wingspan estimates does not show any sharp decline above six feet, more of a gentle downward slope (fewer eyewitness estimates) into sizes much larger than standard ideas about Rhamphorhynchoid fossil wingspans. If a significant number of hoaxers made some of these fifty-seven estimates, and a significant number of those hoaxers were trying to portray Rhamphorhynchoids, there would have been a steeper decline above seven feet. But in fact, 26% of reports involved wingspans estimated at 9-13 feet, completely out of line for this particular hoax conjecture.

Another Hoax Potential

Consider the most likely cause for someone to play a hoax. A jokester would likely want to shock somebody. What would be most shocking? Would it not be a huge wingspan? But if hoaxers were involved in this way, the data would not show a rather smooth transition from small wingspans into the giant ones. From a significant hoax factor of this kind, we would expect to see a peak at around 15-25 feet (around f, g, and h, on the above graph); but that is not at all what the data shows.

Pterosaur Wingspan, Recent Statistics, Absence of Hoaxes

But first we review this perspective: A number of species of pterosaurs (more than two) live in many areas of this planet, with at least most of them being at least mostly nocturnal and with some of them being witnessed by people in counties in which universal dinosaur and pterosaur extinction is taken for granted. These species include both Pterodactyloids and Rhamphorhynchoids.

Source of Data

I obtained the 98 reports from years of interviewing and research, accepting data from those reports that had both reasonable non-hoax credibility and reasonable potential for coming from actual sightings of living pterosaurs. In about two-thirds of those reports, I was at least somewhat involved; often I was the only interviewer. One example can be mentioned here:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Pterosaur Sighting

“It was several years ago . . . approximately 5:00 A.M. . . . almost sure it was summer . . . in Philly. [My friend] was dropping me off, and parked. . . . . . about six blocks away . . . we saw something that made our jaws drop. We were like ‘what the h* is that thing?’ This thing didn’t seem to fly quickly. [Its] wingspan was huge. We’d figured at least 20 feet or so. It wasn’t flapping real hard like a sparrow or pigeon does. It almost seemed to sail. It came from the South, and appeared to be heading west [towards the Delaware River].” (From the nonfiction cryptozoology book Live Pterosaurs in America – third edition)

 

A few weeks ago, I received an email from a lady who was a passenger in a car one night; both driver and passenger saw a glowing creature as the strange thing flew by. Afterwards she did some research and told me, “I have found that a pterosaur is identical to what we saw.” She has not yet told me any details about her research nor what image she may have seen that looked like what was encountered; but it is sufficient to consider that it was a possible American ropen. The sighting was in Pennsylvania, and I believe it involved bioluminescence.

She also mentioned that the flying creature ”was not too terribly high off the ground” and that it was ”quite large and seemed to be lit or glowing. . . . It was one of the strangest things I have ever seen.” She is one of the few eyewitnesses who have reported both a form of an apparent living pterosaur and a glow coming from the creature: strange indeed.

Demon Flyer

That brings up the idea that “ropen” comes from two native words. A brief reflection makes that appear unlikely, for how could such a short word come from two words that mean “demon” and “flyer?” No, it is much more likely that the original meaning of the word was something like ”flyer.”

Strange Flying Creatures and Bulverism

“Bulverism” C. S. Lewis labeled the slick ploy of avoiding reasoning on a subject by pointing out the reason ones opponent is so silly. Do some criticisms of living-pterosaur investigations qualify as bulverism? I believe so.

Let us not make the mistake of some critics. When eyewitnesses report something strange, and the reports have similarities, we need not reject all the reports simply because they appear strange. In this wonderful world in which we live, some creatures appear strange, including some creatures that fly.

Combining “Strange” and “Like a Pterosaur”

If at least some modern pterosaurs have bioluminescence, why do we have so few sighting reports of glowing pterosaurs? Simply combine the two: uncommon modern pterosaurs and brief bioluminescent flashes. When two things are uncommon, the probability of observing both of them together is more rare. But there is more going on hear than just multiplying two improbabilities together. In our Western society, what would happen if somebody reported seeing a glowing pterodactyl? It would sound much too weird, like a fire breathing dragon or like a . . . well . . . a glowing pterodactyl. In Western countries like the United States, we would not expect many eyewitnesses to report a luminous pterosaur to a newspaper, and few newpapers would print that kind of thing; but if a nonfiction author wrote books about that kind of thing, then a few eyewitnesses would send him their reports. That is what has happened to me, since I started writing my books. And I pay attention.

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.

To be extinct, or not to be extinct, that is the question:
Whether it’s no bull or in the mind, pterosaur eyewitnesses suffer
The slings and arrows from outraged paleontologists

From a recent press release:

Extinct or not extinct, that is the question about pterosaurs

How rarely do we read anything about dinosaurs or pterosaurs without reference to extinction millions of years ago! But a controversial idea promoted by the American cryptozoologist Jonathan Whitcomb has caught the attention of the Houston Chronicle, a Smithsonian magazine blog, and a well-known paleontologist in England. Not everybody embraces living pterosaurs.

Indeed, from my eight years of investigating reports of living pterosaurs, I know that not everybody embraces living pterosuars.

“It Would Have Been Seen” if BigFoot Existed

Looking straight at their reasoning reveals the problem: “People who say they saw X could not have really seen X because if X existed then somebody would have seen X.”

Perhaps what some skeptics mean is more like this: “If X existed, newspapers would have it in their headlines before now” (with “X” representing any cryptid, including a living pterosaur). Well, this may be news to some skeptics, but if I recall correctly, as I was taking a plane from Papua New Guinea to Australia, after finishing my expedition in 2004, I was reading a newspaper that had a front page headline directing readers to an article about my findings and experiences (and my interpreter’s) from interviewing eyewitnesses of the ropen of Umboi Island. That newspaper was (and probably still is) one of the two largest in Papua New Guinea.

If critics are only interested in American newspapers that have headline stories that are favorable to the possibility of a living pterosaur, then read on:

Sightings in Antwerp, Ohio

The Antwerp Bee-Argus newspaper (Aug 5, 2009 issue) gave an account of two sightings over the Maumee River, Ohio: 2002 and 2003, both in the daylight heat of summer. (More detailed information is in my book Live Pterosaurs in America . . .

That newspaper article, I remember clearly, had a front-page headline about a modern-pterosaur sighting (with the article starting on the front page, as well). In addition, it was positive, not negative, about the possibility of a living pterosaur in Ohio.