long tail | Live Pterosaur

February 22, 2011February 22, 2011

Recent Reports, Sightings in North America

New York State Pterosaur

I recently interviewed a man who was informed of a sighting of a live pterosaur on Long Island, New York (this is indirect, for I have not interviewed the eyewitness himself).

The creature was referred to in terms like “dinosaur-flying-reptile.” The sighting was at a long stretch of beach, perhaps Lido Beach, on Long Island. A number of eyewitnesses saw it soaring above the beach, and one or more observers tried to take photos of it. People thought, at first, that it might be a kite, but it soon became apparent that it was not moving like a kite, and it had no string attached.

The creature’s wingspan, tip-to-tip, was around seven to ten feet. The head had a long beak and something “pointy” at the back of the head. It was a clear day.

Dallas, Texas, Live Pterosaur Sighting

Two persons were positive that what they had witnessed flying overhead one night was a ropen or pterosaur. At first, they thought it was just a huge bird, but soon concluded that it was too big to be a bird. The wingspan was about twenty feet. Said one of the eyewitnesses, “I am very much a believer that they do still exist.”

Pterosaur in British Columbia, Canada

A lady in British Columbia saw what she thinks was a ropen. She told me, “I don’t know what else it could have been. . . . I understand that the Ropen is nocturnal but I saw this creature during the day about 2:30 pm so maybe i’m wrong . . .”

The creature was larger than any bird the eyewitness had ever before seen. It had a long tail “with something on the end of it just like the Ropen. Then I couldn’t believe my eyes when I looked at the wings and they weren’t feathers, they were like huge bat wings.”

June 22, 2010December 8, 2011

Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur in South Carolina

The strange creature flew gracefully over the highway, right in front of the car Susan Wooten was driving to Florence, South Carolina. Other drivers stopped their cars on the side of the road (in the general area of Bishopville) but Susan drove on, for she was following a friend and did not want to be separated from her. But what a creature it was!

According to this eyewitness, “It looked as big as any car, and had NO feathers, not like a huge crane or egret. . . . it swooped down over the highway and back up gracefully over the pines.” Years later, she learned of my investigations and reported her sighting. I have since interviewed her several times by email and she has convinced me that she saw basically what she described. I believe it was similar to the ropen of Papua New Guinea: a giant Rhamphornynchoid pterosaur.

Large long-tailed pterosaurs do not seem to be confined to South Carolina, however. I have also interviewed an eyewitness of two similar creatures in Georgia. They appeared to be of the same species, (but not necessarily the same species as the South Carolina pterosaur) seen on different mornings, and both were large, but they were not the same size; that is how the eyewitness concluded that there were two. Contrary to other descriptions of long-tailed pterosaurs, however, these two had rather fat tails and rather fat flanges at the end of their tails.

More about the South Carolina Pterosaur Sighting

More about Pterosaurs in Georgia

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Learn much more about the South Carolina sighting by Susan Wooten. But this cryptozoology book is packed with many more sightings, eyewitness encounters from across the United States: California, New Mexico, Texas, Florida, Georgia, New York, Wisconsin, Ohio, and many more states.

“The problem with science is that we think we know it all and that is far from reality. This book shows courage to continue the search. If you have an interest in cryptozoology you should read this.” Dale Reeder, Pennsylvania

For many weeks [first edition], this has been the best-selling nonfiction book (Amazon.com) about living pterosaurs. It is in pure cryptozoology genre, unlike some books about modern living pterosaurs and dinosaurs, with exciting observations by shocked eyewitnesses. Find out for yourself why many Americans are awakening to the knowledge that these creatures still fly, not just in remote jungles but right here in the United States.

[The third edition of this nonfiction cryptozoology book was published in November of 2011]

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Long Beach Child Care Services (California daycare, licensed)

March 29, 2010January 10, 2017

“Fiery flying serpent” (small) or giant bioluminescent Rhamphornynchoid pterosaur?

Eskin Kuhn drew this sketch one of the two pterosaurs he saw flying in Cuba

If my memory of a few Old Testament scriptures serves me correctly, I just realized something about comparing the “fiery flying serpent” of the Bible with the ropen of Papua New Guinea. Whatever the species of snake-like animal that terrorized the people of Moses long ago (I believe it was a Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur), it may be a different species than what has terrorized natives of Umboi Island in more recent years. Where in the Old Testament does it mention anything about a giant size?

The subject comes up because of this post on the Bible and Modern Pterosaurs blog: New View on the Fiery Flying Serpent. The ancient Israelites were terrorized because of the venom of this creature (something like a flying snake), not because of the size. (The giant size of the Galapagos Tortoise comes to mind, although this might not be directly related to the giant size of the ropen of Umboi.) Nevertheless, the combination of brilliant bioluminescence and winged flight ties together these two interpretations, this meaning of ancient scriptures and modern eyewitness testimonies.

For those interested less in biology and more in scriptural significance (quote from The Bible and Modern Pterosaurs):

“Another problem with the snake interpretation strikes me to the heart. What is the usual symbolism here? Who does the snake usually represent in the Old and New Testament? Satan, of course. Does it seem likely that a true serpent would be used to symbolize Jesus Christ? If the “fiery flying serpent” were a snake, Moses would have killed one of them and dragged the dead snake on the ground, to symbolize God’s victory over Satan. He would not have given the Israelites the symbol for Satan, to look up to a common snake for healing or salvation.”

For those interested in flying glowing lights in Papua New Guinea: Pterosaur Interpretation of Cheesman Sightings

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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 your own copy of this nonfiction book Live Pterosaurs in America. It explains the true nature of the controversay: not “science versus religion” but one philosophy versus another (in book appendix); nevertheless, this is a cryptozoology book, not a religious book. (Photo on the left is of the cover of the first edition. The book is now in its third edition, greatly expanded from the original.)

January 16, 2010August 29, 2019

Texas, Marion County sighting, about 1995

I just received a sighting report from a man who was about eight years old when he saw a “featherless flying animal” near Jefferson, Texas. Several details suggest that this is no hoax: a genuine sighting.

He estimated the wingspan at 4 1/2 to 5 feet with a long tail that had a “diamond type shape” at the end [Update: See other posts on the ropen]. The creature had leathery skin rather than any hair or feathers. One unusual feature was a series of highly contrasted stripes on the animal’s topside (back); the underside (stomach), however, had a much more neutral coloring. It had a “long mouth/beak” with teeth. It was flying only about eight feet above the ground, making a noisy flapping. Nothing obstructed the boy’s view of the creature.

The boy was alone at the time. The creature left before the boy’s mother came outside; she told him “it was just a bird and it was my imagination.” I believe the boy’s version of what happened, for several aspects of his report are supported by other eyewitness testimonies for other sightings in the U.S.

More: Boy sees pterosaur in Texas [Yes, this eyewitness has confirmed his good credibility]

UPDATE (August 29, 2019)

By the ropen expert Jonathan Whitcomb

Since I wrote the above post early in 2010, I have received many sighting reports from Texas: apparent living pterosaurs. A significant number of them appear to have been encounters with ropens.

From sighting reports across the United States, I have found that only a small percentage of them include any indication of teeth in the flying creatures. Most eyewitnesses were too far away to see such a detail, or the animals were flying with their mouths closed. Yet the detail of teeth does occasionally come up in the accounts that eyewitnesses give to me.

You can report your sighting in confidence

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Flying predator in Texas

Although Whitcomb admits that Marfa Lights may come from an unknown bioluminescent bird or bat, he says, “It is more likely than not from a creature similar to the ropen of Papua New Guinea, and my associates and I are sure about the ropen: It is a pterosaur.”

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Ropen sightings in the United States

Of all the sighting reports, of apparent living pterosaurs, that I have received since the year 2003, the great majority have been from the eyewitnesses themselves. Most of those reports have been emails from the persons who encountered those flying creatures and found me from my online publications.

Featherless flying animal

In the late summer of 2008, I received an email from an eyewitness in Georgia, a lady who at first was anonymous in my publications (in 2012, she allowed her name to be revealed).