Cheesman | Live Pterosaur

December 17, 2019

Ropen Bioluminescence

By the nonfiction author Jonathan Whitcomb

Last week I uploaded to Youtube a video on the strange flying lights that have long been seen in Papua New Guinea, observed by both PNG natives and Westerners.

Ropen Bioluminescence

You can watch this short video (3 min, 20 sec), so rather than list what’s in it, I’ll go into more details about these flying lights by answering three questions that are based upon comments people have sent me over the years.

Question #1:

Could they be airplane lights?

Answer:

A physicist did a deep analysis of the two lights videotaped in 2006 by the explorer Paul Nation and found that they could not be lights from airplanes; they were a completely different kind of light.

In addition, the respected biologist Evelyn Chessman, early in the 20th century, observed many of the lights from a distance, in the dark of night, and that was long before planes commonly flew over New Guinea, even in daylight. In fact, those lights had a mountain range behind them, meaning they were flying quite low, and they were only slightly above the tops of the trees in that jungle.

Even in modern times, people do not see many airplanes flying, at the same time, at night just above the treetops, where there is no airport.

Question #2:

Could they be fireflies?

Answer:

Evelyn Cheesman was an entomologist (specializing in the study of insects). If there had been any possibility that she had observed fireflies, she would have mentioned it in that part of her book The Two Roads of Papua (published in 1935).

Keep in mind that she took note that the lights were brighter than a common flash light (“electric torch”), after she took into account the distance between her and those flying lights. Also, the flash duration was much longer than firefly flashes: Each light was on for between four and five seconds.

Question #3:

Why believe that the flying lights are the bioluminescence of pterosaurs?

Answer:

From the second ropen expedition of 2004 on Umboi Island, we know many details from interviews with two natives: Jonathan Ragu and Jonah Jim. Garth Guessman took detailed notes and later gave a copy of the interview forms to me, Jonathan Whitcomb.

Two things stand out together in the reports from those two eyewitnesses:

A large flying creature was glowing
The silhouette sketch chosen was for the Sordes pilosus

The above silhouette sketch was one of 34 images (of birds, bats, and pterosaurs) on one page of paper used by the two cryptozoologists David Woetzel and Garth Guessman on Umboi Island in 2004. Both Jonah Jim and Jonathan Ragu chose this one, silhouette #13, for the shape of the large glowing flying creature observed.

Neither man was aware of the choice of the other man when the selections were made. To the best of my knowledge, of the natives interviewed during that expedition, none of the other eyewitnesses had nearly as clear a view as those two had, neither were they able to give nearly so sure an indication for the ropen’s body shape. The large number of images shown to those two natives (34) makes it highly unlikely that they had both independently chosen #13 at random.

By the way, the Sordes pilosus known by paleontologists from fossils is (or was) a Rhamphorhynchoid, a long-tailed pterosaur.

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A British biologist sees ropen lights

She later wrote about the mystery in her book The Two Roads of Papua (published in 1935)

Videos about living pterosaurs

On the Youtube channel Protect Animal Life you can watch dozens of videos on these amazing flying creatures.

Living pterosaurs in newspapers

Last night, I uploaded a new video to Youtube, “Living Pterosaurs – in newspapers” and present it as an introduction to such newspaper articles. I believe it makes a good start in answering questions about such news publications, yet I hope to produce one or more additional videos about apparent extant “pterodactyls” in newspapers.

Ropen lights

Another report of flying lights has surfaced, this one from a wilderness area of Oregon. It seems that the mysterious lights that have been reported to fly over the Yakima River in the state of Washington—those are also seen to fly over a river in Oregon, reported by two cryptozoologists from the Portland area.

Flying Dinosaur

This is a short Youtube video featuring two eyewitnesses of modern pterosaurs: Harriet Sconce and Duane Hodgkinson.

Glowing Ropen

Let’s compare the words of four witnesses: three natives on Umboi Island and one British biologist on the mainland of New Guinea. Each describes flying lights: on two sides of Umboi and on the mainland to the west of Umboi.

August 12, 2016

Ropen Sightings – Importance of Eyewitness Testimony

reef area off the coast of Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea

How grateful I am for those who bravely step forward and report what they have encountered! Americans and other Westerners have a special challenge, for it’s difficult to say that you’ve seen a living pterosaur, whether you call it pterodactyl, ropen, dinosaur bird, or dragon. It’s difficult to report what you saw because it’s easy for skeptics to carelessly dismiss the account and declare that you are either insane or a liar.

It’s not that all or most scientists consider a modern pterosaur absolutely impossible. I’ve encountered the words of a number of critics of our investigations in cryptozoology, over the past thirteen years, and a common ending to the more-lengthy of their blog posts or online articles is something like this:

Even if one species of pterosaur is found to be still living, it would not disprove our standard models of science, and it would not prove that the earth is young.

In other words, they’re trying to protect something.

Improper Approach to Eyewitness Testimonies

Let’s confine ourselves to reports of modern pterosaurs in general, even though the great majority of sightings are probably of ropens, the featherless flying creatures my associates and I believe are Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaurs.

Beware of generalizing to protect an old assumption. How easily can a skeptic declare that eyewitnesses see common birds or common bats but imagine pterosaurs! How easily that skeptic may criticize a cryptozoologist for being so gullible as to believe that the eyewitness saw an actual pterosaur! How easily might people be influenced by a skeptic who has a diploma in paleontology and who ridicules a cryptozoologist! The most common form of criticism we have encountered is a very brief rejection notice, sometimes without any reference to any particular sighting. Some persons just want to protect the old dogma of what I call universal extinction, the assumption of the demise of all pterosaurs by many millions of years ago.

Not all paleontologists, professional or amateur, always generalize in criticizing modern sightings of pterosaurs. Sometimes a paleontologist will write a long article that appears to be formed primarily to discredit the idea that any pterosaurs are still living. The lengthy article may give examples of sightings, yet the ones mentioned are hardly the most credible ones. It reminds me of the classic straw-man argument: Quickly construct a man made of straw the then tear him to pieces, proclaiming that you have won an important battle.

I don’t mean that all paleontologists who have written lengthy criticisms of living-pterosaur investigations have always been constructing complete straw-men to knock down. They may give reasonable causes to reject certain accounts or reports but the ones they have chosen appear to be the least credible ones, not the reports most commonly written about by me and my associates. In other words, they go through our gym lockers, or a locker of one of our friends, pulling out the most ugly pieces of clothing, and then proclaiming that we are unworthy to run in the race (regardless of how well we look in the clothing we are now wearing). That is improper.

Web Site by Glen J. Kuban

“Living Pterodactyls” is copyrighted 2004-2013, although much of it seems outdated: To me, in mid-2016, it appears little different from what it was like quite a few years ago, at least in regard to the essentials. This is a very long online article, about thirty paragraphs, highly critical of the possibility that any pterosaur has survived into the present day. Yet look at what Mr. Kuban inserts at the bottom, at the very end of his very lengthy article that was put together to discourage any belief in the possibility of modern pterosaurs, for that ending seems to be playing a different tune:

If living pterosaurs were someday confirmed, it would be a wonderful scientific discovery, but do nothing to undermine mainstream geology.

In other words, he’s trying to protect something.

So with all those thirty paragraphs, how many specific sighting reports or accounts are actually mentioned?

Railway-tunnel account of 1856
Flying light reported by American Carl Baugh (1990’s)
Gideon drawing a sketch in the dirt, Umboi Island (2004)
Flying light reported by David Woetzel (2004)
Female missionary pilot, Umboi Island (mid-1980’s)
Shooting a giant pterodactyl in Arizona (late 1800’s)

He does mention many generalities about sightings, but the above six appear to be the only specific ones by particular eyewitnesses in particular locations.

Be aware that Brian Switek wrote a long *criticism of living-pterosaur investigations, mentioning the following:

“Glen Kuban has also posted a thorough summary . . .”

In other words, Mr. Switek appears to assume that Kuban’s article makes a valid case against living pterosaurs. I have found it to be far from that. “Living Pterodactyls?” avoids the numerous credible eyewitness accounts and is significantly outdated. Switek is correct in the use of the word “thorough” only in the sense that it is very lengthy and keeps to the objective of discouraging people from believing in modern pterosaurs.

After spending over 10,000 hours, over the past thirteen years, on sightings of modern pterosaurs, I have concluded that the number of persons worldwide who have, in their lifetimes, had some kind of encounter with a living pterosaur—that is probably between 7 million and 128 million persons. What about Kuban? Writing one long article to discourage people from believing in those animals, and including only six accounts of such encounters, apparently the least credible—that is far from the best approach to eyewitness testimonies. I am sorry that Mr. Kuban has not deleted that outdated and misleading page.

*The Switek article, “Don’t Get Strung Along by the Ropen Myth,” was published on the Smithsonian site in 2010, and it also has significant weaknesses.

Proper Approach to Eyewitness Testimonies

Why not listen to the eyewitnesses themselves, especially those who reports are more credible? The following are a few of many who can be found by searching online:

Patty Carson (Guantanamo Bay, Cuba)
Eskin Kuhn ” ” “
Duane Hodgkinson (near Finschhafen, New Guinea)
Brian Hennessy (Bougainville Island, New Guinea)
Evelyn Cheesman (flying lights in New Guinea)
Steven Cottingham (flying light on Umboi Island)
David Woetzel ” ” ” ” “
Joshua Gates (flying light in Papua New Guinea)
Jonah Jim (native of Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea)
Gideon Koro (Umboi Island)
Mesa Agustin ” “
Wesley Koro ” “

Note that some of the above refer to sightings of one or more flying lights, which my associates and I believe are the bioluminescence of living pterosaurs, especially ropens.

Evelyn Cheesman was a British biologist who often explored in New Guinea or other areas of the south Pacific. She witnessed some strange flying lights on the mainland of New Guinea (what is now probably in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea). We believe that these were from flying creatures related to the ropen of Umboi Island, perhaps even the same species. She was convinced that the lights were not from any human agency.

Steven Cottingham was a government official, responsible for Umboi Island around the early 1970’s. He witnessed a flying light at Lab Lab, Umboi Island, a light that we have no doubt was also from a bioluminescent ropen.

The coast of Umboi Island, PNG (photo by Jonathan Whitcomb)

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Cryptozoology book Searching for Ropens and Finding God, fourth edition

Please support this research by purchasing your own copy of the above nonfiction paperback. The following is only a partial listing, a small fraction of the locations mentioned in this large paperback, places where these featherless flying creatures have been seen and reported (taken from the first part of the index of the book):

Africa (many)
Alabama, USA
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Antwerp, Ohio
Anza Borrego Desert Park, California
Appalachian Mountains (eastern USA)
Arizona
Arkansas
Arot Village, Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea
Asheville, North Carolina
Athens, Georgia, USA
Atlanta, Georgia
Auburn, Maine
Auckland, New Zealand
Austin, Texas
Australia (many)
Bad Axe, Michigan
Benicassim, Spain
Big Island of Hawaii
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, England
Bitoi Village, Papua New Guinea
Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Brisbane, Australia
British Columbia, Canada
Bunsil Station, Umboi Island, PNG
Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
. . . . .

You can purchase this cryptozoology book on Amazon.

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Ropen – Featherless Flying Creature

It’s not [so shocking] that one man reported two featherless flying creatures that should not be living within the past 65 million years. The most shocking truth is this: Every day, at least one person somewhere in the world has some kind of encounter with a living pterosaur. After communicating with eyewitnesses from around the world, over the past thirteen years, and spending over 10,000 hours on this investigation, I have come to believe that these encounters happen every day.

Bioluminescent Ropen

American cryptozoology author Jonathan Whitcomb believes the ropen of Umboi is related to the “Gitmo Pterosaur” of Cuba.

Cryptozoology Book – Dinosaur Birds

“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.” [book review: Live Pterosaurs in America]

Bioluminescent Pterosaurs

. . . several pages from the book “The Two Roads of Papua,” by Evelyn Cheesman . . . I was delighted that Muirhead found this book, for it gives details of E.C.’s observations and deliberations on the strange lights near the village of Mondo. [probably related to] “ropen light,” similar to the lights seen on Umboi Island.

April 28, 2012April 28, 2012

Ropen Bioluminescence or Coincidence?

crater mountain in Papua New Guinea - "Mount Sual"

Mount Sual (Umboi Island), where the ropen light sometimes flies

For years, I have advocated multiple species of pterosaurs living in various parts of the world. Even for glowing lights in Papua New Guinea, multiple species may be involved, even when only two mountain ranges separate them. But for now, let’s consider why one species seems to be responsible for flying lights in two areas of that tropical country.

Evelyn Cheeseman

The British biologist and explorer Lucy Evelyn Cheesman was the first woman ever hired as a curator at the Regent’s Park Zoo, in London. She traveled in the south Pacific prior to World War II, discovering a number of new species of small creatures and writing several books. But the discovery she made near Mondo, on the mainland of New Guinea, would support cryptozoological investigations many decades later.

In her book The Two Roads of Papua (1935 – London: Jarrolds), she described the flying lights:

While at Mondo I witnessed a most curious phenomenon which I could not understand; nor could I later hit upon any satisfactory explanation for it.

[One night] I spent much in time leaning over the veranda, and gazing across at the . . . jumbled hills against a purple sky. When suddenly I saw a flash of light somewhere below the horizon. It was rather a slow flash, and might have been made with an electric torch [flashlight] by someone with a finger on the switch to prolong it perhaps four seconds. . . . in a moment it came again, and this time I counted; yes about four or five seconds . . . flashes continued at intervals.

Many lights appeared like the first one, and they were strung out in a horizontal line for quite a distance, just below the top of a mountain ridge. The natives would not answer Cheesman’s questions about them so she relied on her own powers of reasoning.

But after careful observations and careful pondering, she gave up trying to explain the phenomenon. It could not have been from many natives with flashlights: The flying lights were slightly above the tree canopy, and even if natives had access to many flashlights, why would they use them in that fashion, on a long horizontal line? She became convinced that the lights were not from any human origin. But what were they?

English biologist Lucy Evelyn Cheesman

Lucy Evelyn Cheesman, biologist

First 2004 Ropen Expedition

When I explored part of Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea, in 2004, I had no knowledge of Cheesman’s observations seven decades earlier. I was following up on the findings of other cryptozoologists, including Paul Nation (who had instructed me in how to conduct my expedition). I interviewed native eyewitnesses of the flying light and eyewitnesses of a large flying creature they call “ropen.” Natives think of them as the same thing, and my findings verified that idea.

I interviewed David Moke, a village leader, who told me about his encounter with a bright light that appeared over his head while he was fishing one night, months earlier, over a reef off the southern coast of Umboi Island. The brilliant light lasted about “five seconds.”

About a week later, I talked with another native. William Gima told me about the bright light that lit up Aupwel Village, a few weeks earlier, on the northern side of Umboi. That light lasted about “five seconds.”

Second 2004 Ropen Expedition

A few weeks after I completed my expedition, two other American cryptozoologists were exploring Umboi: Garth Guessman and David Woetzel. Many of their interviews were with islanders I had not met, in villages I had not visited.

The school teacher of Arot Village, Gibson Kuvurio, told the Americans about the ropen light:

When ropen flies, its body glows maybe around five or six seconds, but the light never glows beyond this time.

Coincidence or Bioluminescence?

Many observations of flying lights that last 4-6 seconds—those are not likely by coincidence, especially when some areas of Papua New Guinea have reports of large nocturnal flying creatures that glow as they fly. This phenomenon deserves serious scientific study, not just by cryptozoologists but by biologists.

Indava and Ropen of Umboi Island

Evelyn Cheesman appeared to have no thought about pterosaurs when she observed the strange glowing objects that flew near the top of a mountain ridge.

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Live Pterosaurs in America — third edition of nonfiction cryptozoology book

From the chapter “Marfa Lights of Texas”

His account of the strange lights of Marfa [Texas] got me thinking. Some accounts, not quite like James’s observations, involve “dancing” behavior. But if the lights are made by ropen-like animals, why would they move like that? Of course ropens in Texas might be hunting bats, but how could dancing help them catch bats? Insects! Of course lights attract insects. After two ropens have glowed in one area long enough to concentrate insects, they separate for awhile to allow the bats to feel safe in catching those insects. Soon the ropens return to catch the bats.

August 24, 2011August 24, 2011

Ropen Sighting by Cottingham

An email interview in 2007 is hardly news now, but this account of a sighting of a possible pterosaur has not previously been covered on this blog.

The Australian Steven Cottingham was the government’s Officer-In-Charge (Kiap) of Umboi and surrounding islands, and he lived on Umboi Island for one and a half years (natives call this island “Siassi,” although that word is also used for the group of islands that include “Big Siassi”).

His first email included:

My sighting occurred at night near Lab Lab on the southern tip of Umboi. The light lasted for four to five seconds, and until reading your reports now, have never been able to explain the sighting. The natives I was with simply said it was a spirit light!

I asked him a few questions:

Thank you, Steven

Thank you for telling me about your sighting. May I ask some questions?

1) Do you recall the time of night?

2) What direction was the light traveling (or was it stationary)?

3) Was there any color to the light or was it just white?

He answered:

1) Approximately 7 pm. I had been out fishing off the reef.

2) Horizontal, across the top of the Coconut palms. It was moving slowly and in a wavelike motion. It was too high and covered too much distance to be a person walking with a lantern, but I checked at daybreak to see if there was a walking track on a hill behind the coconut palms. There was nothing at that height. The coconuts were on flat ground.

3) Yes, dull orange. Not as round as the moon, but bigger than what a Coleman lantern would be.

I suspected that the “wavelike motion” related to wing flapping, but I asked him an open question: “Was the wavelike motion from side-to-side or up-and-down?” He answered, “Rhythmic, gentle UP-AND-DOWN as the light flowed in the direction of left to right.” This confirmed the possibility that he had observed a flying creature.

Cottingham in Context

A sighting by the biologist Evelyn Cheesman, a few decades before Cottingham’s sighting, is described in one of her books:

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 . . .”

Cheesman’s sighting was on the mainland of what is now Papua New Guinea, west of Umboi Island.

Notice that the government official said, “The light lasted for four to five seconds,” and the biologist said that the flashes lasted “about four or five seconds.” That is very close to what natives on Umboi Island have said about how long the ropen light lasts.

On a different note of the same composition:

Are Live Pterodactyls Only Misidentified?

“Some skeptics have suggested that this flying creature is just a misidentified bird. One or two skeptics have even suggested it is just a Manta Ray or Singray, for those fishes, at times, can jump out of the water and might appear to fly.

“There are major problems with a gliding-fish interpretation, however. One skeptic said a little about two sightings in New Guinea: the Hodgkinson sighting of 1944 and the Hennessy sighting of 1971. Details were entirely absent in this critic’s writing, however. Neither sighting could have been from any fish.”