Hodgkinson | Live Pterosaur

September 14, 2011December 8, 2011

Hodgkinson’s Sighting in Perspective: Waking From Noise

How does Duane Hodgkinson’s 1944 sighting of a “pterodactyl” relate to flying lights on Umboi Island? Seven years after my first interviews with this World War II veteran, I still marvel at the value of his testimony; but that value is best understood when the sighting is taken in perspective. Look at the other reports of living pterosaurs in the southwest Pacific. Those sightings that give us the most information about the appearance of ropens are usually daylight encounters, when details of form and feathers are most apparent. So how do a few eyewitnesses see nocturnal pterosaurs in daylight?

Hennessy Sighting of “Prehistoric” Flying Creature

He described the “prehistoric” flying creature that he saw on Bougainville Island, New Guinea: long tail, no sign of feathers, head “disproportionately large compared to the body.” His choice of identification sketches (survey examination) resulted in a head sketch very similar to the one chosen by Hodgkinson. They probably observed the same species of pterosaur.

But how do these two daylight sightings of apparent pterosaurs relate to a nocturnal flying creature on Umboi Island? Let’s consider why Hodgkinson and Hennessy saw what they saw in daylight; what did those two sightings have in common? Hodgkinson and his army buddy were startled by a wild pig running through the clearing they were in; immediately the giant “pterodactyl” flew up from wherever it had been (out of view before that pig crashed through the bush), so could it have been startled out of sleep? About a quarter of a century later, on Bougainville Island, New Guinea, the truck Hennessy was riding in was probably roaring along that mountain road; the “prehistoric” flying creature then flew overhead, so could it have been startled out of sleep? Both creatures could have been nocturnal, sleeping through most daylight hours undisturbed.

1994 Sighting at Lake Pung

When seven boys hiked up to that crater lake on Umboi Island, in daylight, the wonder of that view of the lake may have caused them to yell out loud in teenage delight. Very soon after they had arrived at Pung, the giant ropen flew over the surface of the lake, terrifying the boys. Was it a coincidence that the flying creature known to be nocturnal flew in daylight, very soon after seven teenagers had arrived at that lake? I think not: Boys will make noise. Surely the noise of Gideon, Wesley, Mesa, and the others, was what awakened the ropen, not a thirst to get a drink of lake water at the precise time (halfway through a good day’s sleep) seven adolescent humans happened to arrive.

When I interviewed Gideon Koro, Wesley Koro, and Mesa Agustin, on Umboi Island in 2004, I never thought to ask them if they and their four friends had made any noise when they had arrived at Lake Pung; but it now seems obvious.

Live Pterodactyl

“Eskin Kuhn . . . in Cuba in 1971, saw two long-tailed ‘pterodactyls’ in clear daylight, at close range . . .” That does not necessarily mean that the two flying creatures were not nocturnal. Like other daylight sightings of “pterodactyls” or apparent pterosaurs, this sighting in the day could have been from an unusual daylight disturbance, rather than a usual daylight flying habit.

About one year ago I saw a large owl, in daylight, fly over a freeway in Long Beach, California. Large owls are still nocturnal, notwithstanding some of them sometimes fly a little in daylight.

Lake Pung – a crater lake on Umboi (Would you not shout for joy if you were a teenager who had just hiked up to this wonderful place?)

August 13, 2011

Online Resources for Pterosaur and Pterodactyl

Do a Google search with “pterodactyl” and see how many pages come up with one of the following:

Music
“A dormant volcano deep with the Turkish forest”
“enjoyment and practice of creating art”
Foul language and “comics”
A video game
“Enchanted Learning Software”

“Pterodactyl” is even the name for a particular series of opening moves in the ancient game of chess. I have one recommendation, for those who are interesting in the possibility of living pterosaurs in modern times (maybe save yourself a Google search):

Pterodactyl

This YouTube video features my friend and associate Garth Guessman and the World War II veteran Duane Hodgkinson. My friend interviewed the old veteran a few years ago, and the videotaped interview I put up on YouTube. Here is part of what I wrote about Hodgkinson’s encounter, quoted from the second edition of my book Searching for Ropens:

Hodgkinson was interviewed in person by Garth Guessman (another American ropen investigator) in June of 2005, and he revealed more details about the sighting . . . [It] occurred at about noon, west of Finschhafen . . . The creature, which Hodgkinson first assumed was a bird, flew up from the edge of the clearing and, as it circled, fifty to one hundred feet above the men, presented a “perfect side view” of itself—obviously no bird.

Now if you do a Google search with “pterosaur” the irrelevancies will be much fewer than with “pterodactyl.” Still, here is my recommendation:

Pterosaur

This home page has been recently revised: It is now much more informative, attractive, and inviting. Sub-topics include the following:

Paul Nation’s Indava Expedition

The two lights in that video were strange indeed: not car headlights, not flashlights, not camp fires, not meteors, in fact nothing ordinary. On the other hand, eyewitnesses describe a giant flying creature.

Psychologist Sees a Pterosaur (a brief overview)

An eyewitness of a long-tailed living pterosaur on the island of Bougainville, New Guinea, in 1971 . . .

Kongamato of Africa

“The boy was walking from one mud-brick hut to another, one night in 1988 . . . he noticed something on the roof of his uncle’s hut. A creature was perched on the edge of the roof, lit up by the nearby porth light. The winged creature appeared to be four-to-five feet tall, olive brown, and leathery with no feathers . . .”

Living Pterosaurs and Dragons

“The Marfa Lights of southwest Texas have been compared with the flying lights of Papua New Guinea and with the Wawanar legend near southwest New Britain Island. . . .”

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.

_________________________________________________________________

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.

February 12, 2010April 7, 2010

Giant “Pterodactyl” of 1944

Popular Youtube Video

The Youtube video “Ropen-Pterodactyl American Eyewitness” has had over 275,000 views, but far more astonishing is the view that Duane Hodgkinson had of the giant flying creature he saw near the city of Finschhafen, New Guinea, during a lull in fighting with the Japanese military (World War II).

I have interviewed Duane several times since mid-2004. The Youtube video, however, I edited from footage recorded by Garth Guessman (a living-pterosaur investigator associate of mine), who visited the old veteran in Montana in 2005. Many who view the online video are impressed with the credibility of the eyewitness.

Hodgkinson Sighting, in Summary

He and his army buddy had stopped on a trail, just west of the coastal city of Finschhafen, in 1944. Something took off into the air; Hogkinson assumed, at first, it was a bird. But he soon realized that the size was all wrong: about the wingspan of a small private airplane. The tail he later estimated to be at least ten or fifteen feet long. But what caught his attention was an appendage coming out the back of the head; it reminded him of the “pterodactyl” in the Alley Oop newspaper cartoon strip.