bioluminescent | Live Pterosaur

October 12, 2010April 7, 2011

Hunting Marfa Lights Book

I now refer to an Amazon.com book review that I wrote for Hunting Marfa Lights (book by James Bunnell, published by Lacey Publishing Company, December, 2009). For the complete review, see the Amazon page.

. . . Many eyewitness reports are included and examined. This includes about three of the reports in light of the possibility of night-mirages, which are demonstrated in pictures. And there are many pictures of the lights and the equipment and much else. This is a deep study.

. . . I did not expect Mr. Bunnell to have researched the ropen light of Papua New Guinea; that would have been extraordinary, beyond reasonable expectations. But I believe that most of the Marfa Lights are caused by animals related to the ropen (apparently a bioluminescent living pterosaur). I was delighted that much of the data in “Hunting Marfa Lights” supports the ropen-light interpretation (I expect he’ll be amused at my suggestion). Some natives in Papua New Guinea have reported something like the dripping of glowing material that falls from the large ropens as they glow during flight. The dynamic pulsating glow of ropens (also the brighter flashes and more than one brightness level) relates to some observations of Marfa Lights.

I did not expect the author to consider the revolutionary idea that the splitting of one Marfa Light into two (with a bright flash) was a ropen-partner turning on its bioluminescence while close to a glowing ropen. They would be coordinating a hunt, perhaps for the Big Brown Bat or for owls or other prey.

I did not expect him to consider that the reason Marfa Lights are rare (only a few event-nights per year in the Marfa area) are because flying bioluminescent creatures in Southwest Texas and Mexico cover a wide area. They search far and wide for easy prey at night, similar to other large predators that hunt on the ground.

I did not expect him to know about the many eyewitness testimonies of ropens in Papua New Guinea. But I was delighted with his thorough examination of much data, showing the difficulties in many other interpretations. It confirmed my belief in the ropen hypothesis, for no other hypothesis seems to match the detailed descriptions of some of these Marfa Lights.

Notwithstanding my opinions about Bunnell’s research and investigations, my last communication with him, in mid-2010, should be noted. At that time, the author of Hunting Marfa Lights found my hypothesis interesting (a number of bioluminescene flying predators), but he told me about several points that he felt did not fit it. I have since found explanations for his points, explanations that would allow for a bioluminescent-flying-predator interpretation. As of October 11, 2010, however, I have not given him those counter-suggestions.

A side note: Bioluminescence is more common with sea creatures than with land creatures, notwithstanding fire flies. But there is nothing unscientific about the possibility of large unclassified bioluminescent flying creatures.

June 28, 2010February 22, 2011

Lively topics on living pterosaurs

Once in a while let’s consider some of the best articles on living pterosaurs, those especially deserving attention.

Why so few eyewitnesses?

I’ve lived more than half a century in Southern California, but I have never seen a mountain lion in the wild. It’s not that I’ve never walked through a wilderness area; mountain lions keep hidden, most of the time. But a few Southern Californians do see them.

At the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, in Southern California, near Irvine, in the summer of 2007, a man was driving north from the university, with the ponds on his right. From the marshy area on his left a very strange flying creature flew across the road, right in front of him, flying into the sanctuary.

American eyewitnesses (1400) of pterosaurs

I have learned, over the years that I have promoted attention to the eyewitness evidences, that some vocal critics are overly anxious to discredit all those who promote the idea of living pterosaurs. I welcome comments on the eyewitness evidence itself, rather than weaknesses (real or wrongly-supposed) of the interviewers and investigators.

Marfa Lights and Min Mins (and ropens)

Come with me to Victoria, Australia, along Salisbury Road in Mt. Macedon. Notice, as we enter an open window, that Mr. Fred Silcock is sleeping in the easy chair by the fireplace. Now search for a thin brown book on the bookshelf. That’s the one; the spine says “The Min Min Light F.F. Silcock”. Notice the drawing of a glowing barn owl on the cover.

Science and Clear Thinking

“The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane.” I believe Nikola Tesla was thinking clearly when he said that. I also believe that we need clear thinking in the scientists of today, at least as much as in the time of Tesla. It appears to me difficult to define, although its opposite appears easy to expose. Perhaps we should be grateful for extremes that help us to distinguish between foggy and clear thinking. I suggest a couple of examples.

Glowing Orbs of the Mekong River

What attracts hundreds of thousands of spectators, every October, to Nong Kai Province? The Naga Fireballs of Southeast Asia have attracted crowds for many years, and these strange glowing orbs have been seen emerging from the Mekong River for centuries.

. . . We know that some insects glow and some insects emerge from rivers to fly away. This may be a large bioluminescent insect.

Cryptozoology Book Live Pterosaurs in America

“The world’s greatest expert on chickens—that’s a fox. The details of that expertise culminate in picking bones, executed differently than, but for the same purpose as, the work of a fossil expert: to make a living. The hope differs: The paleontologist searches for ancient bones somehow protected from the destructive forces of time; the fox, for fresh meat, somehow unprotected by the farmer for a time. Interminable dogmatism keeps both of them searching: one for death anciently; the other, death soon-to-be.”

April 15, 2010December 8, 2011

River lights of Thailand and Laos

On the Mekong River, the border between Laos and Thailand, a festival attracts thousands of visitors each October. Many people see red glowing objects emerge from the water’s surface, as the mysterious orbs float up and up, only to evaporate or vanish, perhaps a hundred feet or so above the river. This eerie appearance of the Naga Lights has been repeated for centuries. Explanations abound, each with at least one problem.

Giant bioluminescent insects, tracer bullets from military rifles, mystical eggs from a giant snake, methane gas that burns below and above water—each of these explanations has problems. Perhaps most palatable to scientists would be a large insect, for the Mayfly emerges in mass from the surface of rivers and the firefly glows. But a problem seems to emerge with this question: Why would insects emerge from the water like Mayflies, glow like fireflies, and then disperse and stop glowing before they showed signs of mating behavior? Yet other explanations have worse problems.

Tracer bullets never slowly emerge from a river to gently float up over the surface. Mystical eggs of giant snakes never mystify scientists. Methane gas that ignites underwater, floats to the surface, and floats away peacefully in the air (still burning in the form of a ball)—that is hardly a standard demonstration in a chemistry-lab classroom.

I am a living-pterosaur investigator; I encourage researching and searching. I have seen accumulating eyewitness evidence (yes, cryptozoological, not yet zoological) for bioluminescence in modern pterosaurs. Nevertheless, I dare not suggest that baby pterosaurs hatch from underwater eggs. No, I am afraid that the Naga Fireballs of the Mekong River are probably large insects.

Yet the point remains that many insects have probably not yet been classified by Western science, some of them may be bioluminescent, and there is nothing unscientific about the existence of an unclassified bioluminescent non-insect. Of course “modern living bioluminescent Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur” is shocking, but that is what many eyewitness testimonies have proven to me over the past few years.

April 13, 2010December 8, 2011

American ghost lights — what are they?

The Gurdon Light (Arkansas), the Chapel Hill Light (Tennessee), the Cohoke Light (Virginia), the Gonzales Light (Louisiana), the Hornet Light (Missouri)–Each has a legend of a headless ghost with a lantern; other places have similar lights with similar legends. What are these strange lights? Let’s find out with a fictional court interrogation of Mr. Gurdon Light (GL) (but the mystery lights themselves are nonfiction).

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Prosecution: Mr. GL, do you live in Gurdon, Arkansas?

GL: In that neighborhood, yeah.

Prosecution: Have you ever been around Chapel Hill, Tennessee?

GL: No, sir. But I have relatives there.

Prosecution: Have you ever been in Gonzales, Louisiana, or in Missouri, or in Virginia?

GL: No, sir. Funny thing you should ask; I have relatives in them places, too.

Prosecution: To get to the point, some time ago you scared some people in Gurdon.

GL: Sorry, sir. I meant no harm.

Prosecution: Did you know that they thought they’d seen a ghost?

GL: Heck, I aint no ghost. I didn’t even see ’em ’til they started a-hollerin’.

Prosecution: But just one night earlier, in that same neighborhood, near the railroad tracks, you were involved in a killing weren’t you?

Defense Attorney: Objection: irrevelant.

Judge: Sustained.

Prosecution: You heard the previous testimony, about how you rushed at these people?

GL: It was an accident. I didn’t see ’em.

Prosecution: What exactly do you do for a living?

GL: Every night I look for food.

Prosecution: Why at night?

GL: It’s what my family’s always done. It’s all we know.

Prosecution: But not always totally in the dark, is it?

GL: No, sir. Sometimes I glow. It runs in the family.

Prosecution: Just how do you make yourself glow?

GL: Heck, I don’t know. It happens sometimes when I’m a-huntin’.

Prosecution: And what it is you hunt?

GL: Whatever I can catch. Sometimes I’m lucky to find a rat.

Prosecution: Did you know that your family is in some biology textbooks?

GL: I don’t read. I don’t know nothin’ about tax books. But my lawyer told me about one book.

Prosecution: What book was that?

GL: A Mr. Silcock in Australia wrote a book. It’s about my relatives there. They can glow, too . . .

Prosecution: But my question is about textbooks. Are you aware of any textbook that has anything about any member of your family glowing?

GL: No, sir. I don’t know nothin’ exceptin’ that one book in Australia.

Prosecution: Did you know that some of your relatives are behind bars?

GL: I heard about ’em, yeah. But it weren’t from the killin’s.

Prosecution: Thank you.

GL: In the killin’s, no people were hurt.

Prosecution: So all of your relatives are innocent?

GL: Yes, sir. Just huntin’.

Prosecution: Did you know that not one of your relatives has ever been seen to glow while behind bars?

GL: Funny thing you should ask. We often glow when we’re hungry. Behind bars, vittles are handy. So I was a-thinkin’ maybe they don’t glow ’cause they’re a-feedin’ good.

Prosecution: But are you aware that no scientist has ever said anything about you or your relatives glowing?

GL: Exceptin’ Mr. Silcock.

Prosecution: Getting back to the point, you flew at these poor terrified people, did you not?

GL: Flyin’s how we get around. I meant no harm.

Prosecution: One more thing: Did we get your name for the record, your official name?

GL: Tyto. Tyto Alba.

Prosecution: Do you have a nickname?

GL: Barney. Some folk call me “barn owl.”

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According to the Australian author Fred Silcock, some barn owls glow, sometimes. The strange bobbing lights are often called Min Min lights. It appears to be an intrinsic bioluminescence that may be triggered by hunger. At any rate, not all barn owls glow and those that do glow do so only sometimes. Some observations in Australia reveal one cause for the glow: Hungry owls can catch insects when rodents are scarce. Bioluminescence in some barn owls appears to be the cause of the whiteness of the underside feathers: More light passes through white feathers.

The Gurdon Light, Chapel Hill Light, Cohoke Light, Gonzales Light, and Hornet Light (and others) resemble the movement of a lantern being carried by someone who is searching for something. The light bobs up and down a bit and flies back and forth because a barn owl is searching for food. It may be rare enough that rodents have not developed any fear of it; insects are attracted to it.

How do glowing barn owls relate to modern living pterosaurs? When a strange light behaves like a hunting barn owl, it may be just that. But when it flies too fast and glows too brightly, it may be related to the ropen light of Papua New Guinea: It may be a bioluminescent pterosaur.

The Marfa Lights, of Texas, appear so different from many “ghost lights” that a ropen-light interpretation has been suggested, for they sometimes coordinate their glowing flights in what seems to be a complex hunting technique. And they flash too brightly and fly too fast to be barn owls. They do not suggest a headless ghost looking for its head, but a shrewd predator looking for bats: perhaps a predator with a head for hunting the Big Brown Bat, common in that part of Texas.

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book cover of Live Pterosaurs in America - second edition Did you know that living pterosaurs have been reported in North America, even in the United States? Read the many eyewitness sighting reports by purchasing a nonfiction book on Amazon or from the publisher—Live Pterosaurs in America.

This cryptozoology book has now been published in its third edition, greatly expanded from the original.