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Ropen Song on Youtube

Jonathan Whitcomb sings the ropen song - sea coast of Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea

By the ropen expert Jonathan Whitcomb

Yesterday, I uploaded another ropen video to Youtube: “Ropen Song – I’d never find you in a zoo.” I wrote the song especially for this mini-documentary about these nocturnal flying creatures, yet it will not be the last time I write a song about the ropen. This was the first time I ever sang for a Youtube video.

Here are the lines, not counting repetitions:

There’s an old world awaiting
Just north of Aubussi
It is Papua New Guinea
Predating history

I looked for you on Umboi
To see if you were you
For I thought I’d never find you in a zoo

You’re not a magic dragon
But you do live by the sea
On a far-off jungle island
In a land called Siassi

Jonathan Whitcomb sings the ropen song - sea coast of Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea

From the video “Ropen Song – I’d never find you in a zoo”

The first part of this song is a spoof on “I’ll never find another you” by the Seekers, of Australia (a top hit in the 1960’s). After the song, I explain why the skeptical attack against the ropen, related to the combination of the head crest and the Rhamphorhynchoid-like tail, is completely invalid and for more than one reason.

Watch the video here:

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Do ropens have hair?

Why talk about hair on modern pterosaurs, or apparent living pterosaurs, now? I recently saw part of a video on Youtube, a highly critical attack against the possibility that such flying creatures exist. My video is a response to the idea that the ropen is not a real animal because it is reported to have no hair. Watch the video to get an introduction to my response . . .

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Declaration on the Ropen

A minority of the overall sightings have been of featherless flying creatures that seemed to have been less like the ropen and more like the pterosaurs known from fossils as Pterodactyloids. This “Declaration on the Ropen,” however, is about the ones that are more like Rhamphorhynchoids, those pterosaurs with longer tails.

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Living pterosaurs in newspapers

That point of view of a typical newspaper reader means that news professionals generally take a skeptical view when writing about people who report observing large featherless flying creatures. That kind of skepticism comes out in the article, even should many eyewitnesses report such sightings in the same state or city. That is not just theoretical, for the state of North Carolina is an example, as is the city of Raleigh.

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Should we fear living pterosaurs?

I suggest people be careful about wild animals in general, including apparent pterosaurs. We have much to learn about these flying creatures, and some of them, at least, may be dangerous.

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Recent Sightings of Apparent Living Pterodactyls

  • Connecticut
  • Minnesota
  • Ohio

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Video “Living Pterosaurs” on Youtube

Jonathan Whitcomb on left; two living pterodactyls on right - thumbnail for Youtube video "Living Pterosaurs"

By the independent investigative journalist Jonathan Whitcomb

This morning I uploaded what I think is the best-yet video on my Youtube channel Protect Animal Life : “Living Pterosaurs — Part 1” (more similar videos will be coming). In this one, I appear for the camera, proving I am a real person and not just some vague anonymous voice on the internet.

Here are the ropen-hunting explorers shown:

  • Paul Nation
  • Jonathan Whitcomb
  • David Woetzel
  • Garth Guessman
  • Luke Paina

I call this video a brief introduction to living-pterosaur investigations, yet it’s longer than the great majority of videos I had previously uploaded to this channel: almost seven minutes long. I put it into the playlist “Pterodactyls in the Tropics.”

It begins with a brief overview of what was accomplished in the late-20th-century expeditions on Umboi Island. It then covers a bit of what we did in the two expeditions of 2004, including my interviews of Gideon, Wesley, Mesa, and Michael: Three clear daylight sightings and one ropen-light sighting at night. Excerpts of the interviews are shown.

Watch this video above: “Living Pterosaurs – Part 1”

One video clip included is hard to find elsewhere: My face-to-the-camera account in 2005, just months after my expedition, brief as it may be.

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Paranormal living pterosaur video

. . . this paranormal music video is an entertaining way of informing viewers of a sighting of an apparent living pterosaur in Sudan, Africa, and comparing it to an encounter in Cuba . . .

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Mini-documentary on pterosaur sightings

Almost immediately after hearing about her passing (Patty Carson), I began creating a Youtube video on her sighting at Guantanamo Bay. It took more than two weeks of work to complete “The Girl who saw a Flying Dinosaur.”

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Video on living pterosaurs in Hawaii

I just uploaded a video to Youtube: “Do Pterodactyls Live in Hawaii?” on my new channel Protect Animal Life.

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The ropen – a “flying dinosaur”

I have direct eyewitness reports, of apparent living pterosaurs, from five continents, accumulated over the past 15 years, and the great majority of them are credible accounts of long-tailed pterosaurs . . . some kind of large Rhamphorhynchoid.

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“Pterodactyls in the Tropics”

A playlist on the Youtube channel Protect Animal Life

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Videos on Living Pterosaurs

This is about new mini-documentaries I’ve recently uploaded to Youtube on my channel Protect Animal Life. Although many of the sighting reports of apparent modern pterosaurs suggest the nocturnal long-tailed ropen, none of the short videos, at least as of June 1, 2019, has the word ‘ropen’ in the title.

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How to Videotape the Ropen with a Drone

"How to film a ropen" - a mechanical drone follows a pterosaur in a semi-circle

By the nonfiction cryptozoology author Jonathan Whitcomb

Introduction

I assume at least two explorers are at a major crater lake on Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea, probably one of these lakes:

  • Pung
  • Malangpot
  • Bono

I also assume that the explorers have obtained the needed permission, from local village leadership, to be there. I also assume the you know and understand the following:

Looking for the ropen

I also assume that you know how to fly a drone well and are prepared to videotape (film) a flying bird, or at least one of the explorers has those skills. If not, learn and practice until at least one of you is proficient. Before getting to your crater-lake location on Umboi Island, I recommend practicing filming birds that are in flight.

A Few Simple Ideas for Filming a Ropen

Get the drone ready before making noise that could awaken a ropen. As the procedure progresses in circling the lake and yelling, be ready to launch the drone. Whether you launch before a sighting begins or not is your decision.

If a ropen flies over the lake, fly to get on one side of it, if possible. In other words, avoid getting directly in front of it or directly behind it, if you can.

helicopter drone and a living pterosaur

One way to film a ropen with a drone

If the drone gets closer to the ropen than you had planned, be prepared for the possibility that the animal may turn to approach the drone. It may be best, if they are very close to each other, to turn to get onto the tail side of the ropen, like World War II fighter pilots did in dog fighting.

How to film a ropen

One way to avoid allowing the ropen to catch the drone

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Final Message From Jonathan Whitcomb

Those are just some general suggestions for consideration. I take no responsibility for how any operates a drone and I take no responsibility for what happens should one or more persons attempt to film or photograph any ropen or any other flying creature.

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How to Find the Ropen of Umboi

This is about how to get close enough to a ropen, on Umboi Island, (and under reasonable conditions) to be able to get reasonable photos and video footage of this featherless flying creature.

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Pterosaurs still living in the southwest Pacific

Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea, is not the only place in the southwest Pacific where people see pterosaurs or pterosaur-like flying creatures . . . with a long tail and no sign of any feathers.

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Filming with a drone

Several techniques for videotaping with a drone

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Ropen humor

Everything you wanted to know about non-extinct pterodactyls but you were afraid to admit that you’d seen one

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Non-extinct pterosaurs

In about 2004, two eyewitnesses saw an apparent pterosaur in Kerman, which is about 15 miles west of Fresno, California. The following is a small portion of an email I received from one of those eyewitnesses.

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Ropen pterodactyl

In the United States, it is called “flying creature” or “pterodactyl” or “dinosaur bird” or “prehistoric bird.” Sometimes it’s called “pterosaur” or “ropen.”

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Pterosaurs in Papua New Guinea

Pterodactyl Kills Fisherman

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Ropen expeditions

Woetzel and Guessman and their interpreter Jacob Kepas flew to the southern coast of Umboi, where they soon took a banana boat around the eastern coast. The first part of their exploring was on the northern side of the island, but for now I will cover just one of their discoveries: the clam-eating of the ropen.

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How to Find the Ropen of Umboi

Lake Pung on Umboi Island in Papua New Guinea

By the nonfiction-cryptozoology author Jonathan Whitcomb

Introduction

This is not about details in the form and features of the ropen or about why the sightings in general are not from misidentified birds or bats or about the scientific and philosophical ramifications from a discovery of a modern living Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur. This is about how to get close enough to a ropen, on Umboi Island, (and under reasonable conditions) to be able to get reasonable photos and video footage of this featherless flying creature.

I led a two-week expedition on Umboi (called by natives “Siasi”) late in the year 2004. I now abbreviate this expedition “WPEU” for Whitcomb-Paina expedition on Umboi (Luke Paina was my native assistant). A few weeks later, after my return to the United States, David Woetzel and Garth Guessman conducted their own expedition on Umboi (late in 2004); Jacob Kepas was their native interpreter. I now call this expedition “WGK.”

Lake Pung on Umboi Island in Papua New Guinea

Lake Pung on Umboi (crater lake), photo by G. Guessman

Be aware that no expedition on Umboi Island should be undertaken before receiving significant advice from at least one explorer who has been on that tropical island and who has successfully worked with local natives in hiking in the interior. The following ideas about searching for the ropen, or a number of the nocturnal animals, is not advice for going to Umboi Island or advice for how to conduct oneself after arriving there. I take no responsibility for any decisions any other person may make regarding going on any expedition.

Several expeditions on Umboi preceded my own, but their successes were almost entirely with interviewing native eyewitnesses. The native Rex Yapi Epa has been searching for the ropen on Umboi, with his expedition team, in recent months. As of the beginning of 2019, however, nobody has been able to provide the scientific community with any photo or video footage of a ropen on this remote jungle island, at least not to my present knowledge.

I now emphasize that any or all of the following pieces of advice may be dangerous to life and limb, for anyone who follows any of my advice. I take no responsibility for any result, or lack of result, related to the following.

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

Off the southern coast of Umboi Island (WPEU expedition, 2004)

I will not go into details about why I offer the following pieces of advice, although I may later publish another blog post with such explanations.

Search Possibility #1

Camp out near Lake Pung, either on  or near the shore or on the lookout point where Woetzel and Guessman camped in 2004. Some members of the expedition team will need to be there continuously for at least two weeks. This can get boring, so you might want to rotate this watch between members of your expedition team.

Every day, during those 14+ days near Lake Pung, get your cameras and video camcorders ready, including taking the lens caps off each lens and turning the power on for each device. Every day, go through the same routine, or keep to it as closely as reasonably possible:

Pick a spot on the shore of the lake, to begin the routine. Have every person present yell moderately loudly (not as loud as possible) for about 20-40 seconds, always keeping a watch for a ropen that might fly out of the jungle somewhere (anywhere).

Walk about a third of the way around the shore of Lake Pung, if possible. Repeat the 20-40 seconds of yelling. Walk a similar distance around the lake and repeat that, but each time, at each location, shout a little louder.

The above routine should be followed at least three times a day, with each yelling session starting at moderately loud and ending (at a different part of the lake shore) very loudly. Remember to keep the cameras completely ready to record at each time that the people shout.

Those three times should be something like this:

  1. About an hour after sunrise
  2. At about midday
  3. About two hours before sunset

If possible, don’t skip even one day with this routine, and keep it up for at least fourteen days.

For the next search possibility, I’ll write another blog post.

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Ropen

Some of the names for this creature [in Papua New Guinea] are as follows: seklo-bali, ropen, duwas, kor, wawanar.

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About Umboi Island

Jonathan Whitcomb answers many questions from a high school student who wanted to write a novel about the ropen of Umboi Island.

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What is a ropen?

The ropen is a modern Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur, the long-tailed type that is sometimes labeled “basal.”

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“Flying Dinosaur” book

It’s a short cryptozoology book about apparent living pterosaurs. Let’s begin with a list of some of the benefits available to young readers, for this is for kids and teenagers . . .

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Is the ropen a modern pterosaur?

What is this flying creature called “ropen?” Countless eyewitnesses, in many countries across the planet, have pondered what it was they had seen. But ropens continue to fly overhead, continuing to shock humans who had assumed that all pterosaurs had become extinct millions of years ago.

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Lake Pung on Umboi Island

The crater lake where seven native boys were terrified at the appearance of the huge ropen (at midday, late 1993 or early 1994)

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