Live Pterosaur - Part 33

April 22, 2015

Pterosaur Expedition in Papua New Guinea

On Saturday, April 18, 2015, two American explorers returned from Papua New Guinea, after searching for living pterosaurs on a tropical island where the creatures were previously reported. At last, after eleven expeditions in 21 years, we have a ground-breaking success: Both Americans saw, in daylight, a huge apparent living pterosaur.

Typical village huts in Papua New Guinea

Seek and ye Shall Find . . . Modern Pterosaurs

The following are expeditions in which at least one American has traveled to Papua New Guinea to search for modern pterosaurs or at least to interview native eyewitnesses of those flying creatures or to make a television show with an apparently similar purpose:

1994 – led by Carl Baugh and James Blume (with Paul Nation)
1996 – led by Carl Baugh and James Blume
2001 – led by an anonymous American explorer
2002 – led by Paul Nation (with Nathanael Nation)
2004 – led by Jonathan Whitcomb (with Luke Paina and Mark Kau)
2004 – led by David Woetzel and Garth Guessman (with Jacob Kepas)
2006 – led by Paul Nation and Jacob Kepas (assisted by James Blume)
2007 – led by Paul Nation (probably again helped by James Blume)
2007 – Destination Truth (TV show) expedition led by Joshua Gates
2009 – Monsterquest (TV show) expedition, with Garth Guessman
2015 – led by two Americans (details to be revealed)

Only on the recent expedition in early 2015 did an American observe the form and features of a probable pterosaur flying overhead (#11). In fact, two Americans saw the creature in daylight. It’s been a long 21 years.

That’s not to say all ten of the previous expeditions in Papua New Guinea were failures, with no sighting at all of any living pterosaur. In #7, Paul Nation saw and videotaped flying lights that a physicist later found to be anything but common, and two natives observed, in daylight, what appeared to be a huge winged creature sleeping on a cliff. On at least seven of those ten previous expeditions strange flying lights were observed (#2, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10), lights which investigators believe are bioluminescent pterosaurs. In addition, hardly any of those ten previous expeditions failed to obtain an interview with one or more eyewitnesses of an apparent pterosaur or at least a flying light.

Early-2015 Expedition in Papua New Guinea

One of the two American explorers has allowed his name to be used in publications about this expedition: Milt Marcy of Portland, Oregon. He had previously been on an expedition in Africa, searching for a sauropod dinosaur. A third American was involved in the recent expedition in Papua New Guinea, but he had to return to the United States earlier than the other two.

Marcy I interviewed by phone, on April 21, 2015, and he frankly told me that he could not be 100% certain that the large flying creature he observed was a pterosaur. He did agree with my assessment that it was more than 50% likely to have been a pterosaur.

The other American (who will probably soon give permission for his name to be revealed) gave me no indication of any doubt. When he responded to Marcy’s yell, the other eyewitness looked up and saw a huge flying creature with leathery wings. It was not flapping like a Flying Fox fruit bat but was gliding or soaring.

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Pterosaurs in Papua New Guinea

Pterosaurs Still Living is here to document, then analyze, eyewitness accounts of living pterosaurs or pterosaur-like creatures and to support expeditions and investigations to obtain relevant evidence.

Papua New Guinea Pterosaur

. . . a large creature flew up into the air. The men soon realized that it was no bird that started to circle the clearing. It had a tail “at least ten to fifteen feet long”

Pterosaur Sighting by Scott Norman

The animal I saw had an 8-10 foot wing span, the wings were bat-like in shape, the inside had that wavy type of look. The body was about 5-6 feet in length, the neck about 1-2 feet in length, the head was about four feet in length . . .

Two Expeditions in 2004

I led the first of the two pterosaur expeditions on Umboi Island in 2004, but I would like to comment first on the second expedition: the Woetzel-Guessman exploration of that tropical island in Papua New Guinea.

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Searching for Ropens and Finding God – “The Bible of modern pterosaurs”

From an Amazon reader comment:

This is a fascinating chronological and eyewitness account of finding “Ropens” (pterosaurs), written by Jonathan D. Whitcomb, who has spent many years with his associates (Garth Guessman and David Woetzel) to track down these creatures. The “ropen” is a flying prehistoric reptile such as the pterosaurs, such as the Pteranodon or the Rhamphorhyncus. Whitcomb tracks down sightings of these creatures in places like Umboi Island, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Europe, Cuba, Mexico and even in the U.S. . . .

If you’re interested in cryptozoology and wonder if dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures exist today, this is an excellent book for you to read. I found it to be a fascinating read.

April 11, 2015

Living Pterosaurs in Virginia

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

If apparent pterosaurs observed in Virginia are not the same species as the flying creature called “Gitmo Pterosaur” or “American Hammerhead Ropen,” it may at least be a closely-related species. I recently got another report from Virginia: a sighting just a few days ago in Richmond.

I’m not positive about what [I] and my 16 year old son saw flying across a major road in Richmond, VA, a couple of days ago at dusk. What I do know is, it was something we have never [seen] before. Its wing span was massive! It looked to be about 10 feet across and its tail was long with a triangle point! We were so flabbergasted looking at it that I nearly crashed! I have been constantly watching the sky to see it again. My son swears he saw a dragon AND I’m not sure what to believe I saw. It almost did look like a dragon or pterodactyl of some sort. Its quite mind boggling and baffling but amazing all at the same time!!

Here’s what I told this eyewitness (by email):

Thank you for reporting the sighting.

From what you described, you and your son probably saw a ropen. My associates and I believe this kind of flying creature is indeed a modern pterosaur. Some eyewitnesses call it a “pterodactyl” and there’s nothing much wrong with calling it that. Other people who have seen it call it a “dragon,” which is what everybody would have called it in earlier history. Yes, they are very non-extinct, very much alive, although they are somewhat uncommon and they usually come out only at night.

May I ask some questions?

1) Did you or your son notice any detail on its head?

2) How far away were you from it, at the closest distance?

3) Did you take notice of what time it was?

Thank you. Jonathan Whitcomb

Here are the answers:

Thank you for responding. We couldn’t see the head and according to my son
he said it was approximately 600 ft away. The sun had set and it was
starting to get dark. I will say it was almost 8 pm.

That flying creature seems to resemble the “Gitmo Pterosaur” of Cuba:

Perosaur Sketch by Eskin Kuhn — Kuhn saw two pterosaurs in Cuba, in 1971

Call a Ropen What it is

I’ve come to feel we need to use the word ropen when an eyewitness observed a long tail with a flange or “diamond” or “triangle” structure at tail end. Of course we are still living within the realm of cryptozoology (as of early April, 2015), not yet having a live creature in a zoo or a recently deceased body to examine in a scientific laboratory. But people around the world continue to report seeing a flying creature whose description suggests a large Rhamphorhynchoid (long-tailed) pterosaur. Some eyewitnesses of ropens live in Virginia.

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Virginia Pterosaurs

I have not before nor since ever been so petrified in my life. . . . I felt incapable of moving my legs. I just stood there, facing it until it literally got about 20 to 30 feet away and it “stopped” and hovered mid-air.

Recent Pterosaur Sightings

Ricky Kearns, of Point Pleasant, WV, and other members of his family witnessed a strange flying creature on the night of October 20, 2014, as they sat outside, gazing up at the sky.

Pterodactyl Sightings in State of Virginia

“. . . a couple of weeks ago [mid-2012], by myself I saw two flying. Then this Sunday in about the same place, my daughter and I saw one fairly close up, flying in the opposite direction. . . . The most obvious feature was the diamond or spade tipped tail, I have not found any creature that compares. . . .”

Pterosaurs Alive

The eyewitness was shocked to see that the creature had both a head crest (common in Pterodactyloids) and a long tail with a “diamond tip” (common in Rhamphorhynchoids). He saw a living pterosaur near the Maryland-Virginia border, in the 1980’s.

April 3, 2015April 3, 2015

Sense of Truth – Nonfiction Book

Gitmo Pterosaur of Guantanamo Bay Cuba, sighting in 1965

My paperback Sense of Truth should be published within the next two months or so. One chapter will be devoted to modern pterosaurs. The following are from the early-April version of the text.

From Introduction

Did a long-tailed flying dinosaur just glide over your house? Maybe. But you might not remain popular with your neighbors if you publicize the event. Telling them that pterosaurs have returned from extinction or that the next-door Chihuahua may become a snack to the local dragon—that may be a truth for which your neighbors are unprepared. . . .

This book is not an alethiometer, telling the possessor of that tool the truth even when that person tells lies, as in the film the Golden Compass. Tell the truth. As you live honestly, you may become an alethiometer yourself, reading the truth in the uncountable swarming statements that shout for attention. You can learn to distinguish truth from falsehood, at least some of the time, as you live the truth, to the best of your ability.

From Chapter Three – Modern Pterosaurs

Look at a box of mac ‘n cheese or frozen chicken nuggets, the ones with tasty shapes of dinosaurs. Notice that some of those shapes have wings, like what many of us call pterodactyls. Did you notice the word prehistoric on the box? Now notice what small children are taught.

We’ve been indoctrinated into the ancient extinctions of dinosaurs for generations, in Western cultures, even since (what my grandchildren would consider) ancient human history: before I was a child. Pterosaurs, those winged wonders, have been put into the same box as dinosaurs, and some of my critics have tried to shove me into that same box, head first.

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Live Pterosaurs in America – third edition – by Jonathan David Whitcomb

From the title page of the book:

How are sightings in the United States related to those in the southwest Pacific? How do some apparent nocturnal pterosaurs pertain to bats, and how are bats irrelevant? How could modern living pterosaurs have escaped scientific notice? These mysteries have slept in the dark, beyond the knowledge of almost all Americans, even beyond our wildest dreams (although the reality of some pterosaurs is a living nightmare to some bats). These mysteries have slept . . . until now.

March 30, 2015March 30, 2015

Pterosaur Sighting by Scott Norman

Let’s consider the sighting by Scott Thomas Norman, as it’s a few days after his birthday (March 15, 1964) and a month after the anniversary of his death (February 29, 2008). His encounter deserves another look, in light of earlier sightings in Papua New Guinea and recent sightings in North America. The following is part of his record of his sighting one night in 2007 in California:

On the second night, I didn’t participate . . . until much later that evening . . .

He was skeptical about the pterosaur possibility, before his own encounter:

… our contact had a video of an animal that was supposed to be a pterosaur . . . Garth [Guessman], David [Woetzel], and some others believed it [was a pterosaur] . . . to me it was just a bird and I had some other people look at the video and they thought it was a bird also. . . . [I was] very skeptical and didn’t think we would see anything.

The other cryptozoologists went to bed early that night as Scott kept watch.

I stayed up till 4 a.m. Here’s the kicker, the skeptic between 1:30-2:30 a.m., probably closer to 2 a.m., has a sighting! . . .

The animal I saw had an 8-10 foot wing span, the wings were bat-like in shape, the inside had that wavy type of look. The body was about 5-6 feet in length, the neck about 1-2 feet in length, the head was about four feet in length, and the head was key for me: it has a crest that was about 2 feet in length, fit that of a pteranodon, don’t know how else to describe it. . . .

My sighting lasted 15 to 20 seconds, so I had a good look at the animal. My first impression of the animal was, this thing is big. Have no video or stills of it, I didn’t have my equipment out because I didn’t think I would see anything and even if I did I don’t think I would have been able to capture a clear picture of it. . . .

So that’s what I saw, something that I’ve never seen before, is it a pteranodon, I can’t say 100% until more research is done, or is something else, a bird that I just mistook, possibly, but not sure what to do about the head crest. Whatever this animal is, it was big, and that was my first thought, and it’s possible its wing span may have been even bigger . . .

It seems to me that Scott was allowing for the possibility that the wingspan may have been even more than ten feet. Thank you to the cryptozoologist Chad Arment for publishing Scott Norman’s account online.

Compared With Other Sightings of Apparent Pterosaurs

In the fourth edition of Searching for Ropens and Finding God, I reported an encounter around 1986 in New Jersey:

. . . what [we] saw was NO PELICAN. I would say the closest we were was about 25/30 [feet] . . . “The body was about six feet long (from tip of nose to tip of toes) . . . the head was at least three feet . . . the wings were very bat-like (stretched skin) and roughly sixteen feet+ total wing-span.

I really think it was a younger Pteranodon because the back of the head was only half the size of the ‘beak’ area.

Also in my book Searching for Ropens and Finding God, I reported a series of sightings on the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea:

The three American eyewitnesses had two things in common: They were helping or visiting a medical mission in the interior of New Britain, east of Umboi Island, and they saw one or more strange creatures that fly in daylight.

The ten sightings by these eyewitnesses were from 1989-1991, all in the same area. All saw a bill or beak-like mouth; none mentioned feathers. Two saw nothing like a tail; one saw what might have been a tail, but more likely were legs.

The lack of any long tail could suggest they could have been something like Pteranodons.

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Anniversary of Scott Norman’s Sighting

Today [July 19, 2013] is the six-year anniversary of the pterosaur sighting by the late cryptozoologist Scott Norman. His associates are grateful that he left us an objective report of his encounter soon after it happened, for he passed away less than a year later.

Scott Norman – Objective Eyewitness

The point of Scott Norman’s sighting involves what he was expecting: either a bird, something glowing, or nothing. He was surprised to see a large pterosaur-like flying creaure, and it was NOT glowing.

Modern Pterosaur in a Book

. . . many natives carry a common fear in the dark: a huge glowing creature flying in the night. Natives on Umboi Island call it ropen.

New Britain Creature

. . . the ten sightings, of pterodactyl-like creatures flying over the island of New Britain, were from April of 1989 through 1991. . . . The New Britain creatures are seen in the daylight and often fly two or three at a time, even in single file. They are said to glide without any wing flapping . . .

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Searching for Ropens and Finding God – a nonfiction cryptozoology book

From the title page of this paperback by cryptozoologist Jonathan Whitcomb:

A few Americans explored a few islands in the southwest Pacific, in brief expeditions scattered between 1993 and 2007, looking for a modern pterosaur. “Creationist” each man was labeled, yet many of those following them carried no religious purpose. The creatures have many names: seklo-bali, duwas, wawanar, indava, kor, kundua. In Papua New Guinea, natives in isolated communities speak in village languages numbering in the hundreds, yet many natives carry a common fear in the dark: a huge glowing creature flying in the night. Natives on Umboi Island call it ropen.