Live Pterosaur - Part 35

January 27, 2015

Pennsylvania Pterosaurs

forested area around the Susqauehanna River in PA

Does a species of ropen live in Pennsylvania or at least pass through that state on occasion? We need to keep these sighting reports in context, for other eyewitnesses have seen similar featherless flying creatures in surrounding states of the USA, including Ohio and Virginia.

We also need to keep in mind the concept that when one eyewitness reports to me a sighting (of an apparent pterosaur) in a particular area, there were quite likely other eyewitnesses who had similar sightings but never contacted me, for various reasons.

Here are some dates and locations of sightings:

2006 (mid-summer): Southwest Greensburg, PA
2011-June: southern Susquehanna County, PA
2014-June-14: Penn Hills (outside of Pittsburgh)

Encounter Near Pittsburgh (mid-June, 2014)

Today I witnessed a flying creature I’ve never seen in my life. I was riding passenger seat in Penn Hills (outside of Pittsburgh), PA. It was around [noon], very hot during this time. At first glance, I thought it was a hawk because of its bottom claws and wingspan. But the closer we got, the more I could see that it didn’t have feathers. It just [looked] like latex skin, there was a layer of hair but it wasn’t feathers. . . . But the STRANGEST PART had to be the tail; it had like a ball on the end. And the way it flew was like nothing I ever seen . . . like swimming in the air but maintained the same height and speed but it appeared like it was moving in slow motion at the same time.

Sighting near Marietta, Ohio

In June of 2014, I got an email from a lady who had witnessed an apparent pterosaur in a rural area of Ohio:

Several years ago when I was in college I briefly saw what looked like two of them flying close together while I was driving. . . . I thought I was crazy for a minute, like I was seeing things . . . but I don’t know of any birds that look like that that are featherless, that large, and grey. . . . I was happy to be inside my car.

Sighting in Virginia

In May 2005, in Midlothian, Virginia, . . . a giant bird glided down from a tree, no flapping of wings, probably 35 feet across. It looked exactly like a pterodactyl, and I have told very few people about it since it sounds like I have gone crazy. . . . Later at the same time period on Braddock Rd in N.VA there was a sighting also. It was enormous, and I am so glad to find I am not alone in this [kind of] sighting!

Potential for bioluminescent ropen in Pennsylvania

The following is from an email I, Jonathan Whitcomb, received from an eyewitness:

Last Sunday night (December 11, 2011), I was outside and I looked up and saw a moving orange light. At first I thought it was a meteor, but then I looked right at it and saw it wasn’t moving in a straight line. When I looked right at it, I could see it was zigzagging . . . Also, I thought it appeared to have wings that were flapping, although it was so dark I couldn’t tell for sure. If it did have wings, the wings weren’t glowing. The light only lasted about two seconds. . . . quite high up. It appeared to be somewhere near Robinson Lake (near mile marker 208 along I-81 in Pennsylvania).

West branch of the Susquehanna River, Clinton County, Pennsylvania

###

A flying creature in Pennsylvania

I saw something flying from east to west, about 700 feet north of where I was (in our cow pasture, in southern Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania). It looked black, and I couldn’t see any feathers on it, although I couldn’t be sure it didn’t have feathers. . . . I saw a similar-looking flying creature flying over Lenoxville, and that one did seem to have a flange at the end of the tail — at least, there was some kind of bulge at the end of the tail . . .

A Real Pterosaur in Pennsylvania

The wing span appeared to be at least six feet . . . you could clearly make out a long “horn” or “cone” type protrusion coming out of the back of its skull, which was at the end of an elongated neck . . . This “bird” also seemed to have a long tail . . . As it was almost directly over us we all agreed we couldn’t see feathers anywhere and my student Carrie said “It looks like pterodactyl . . . doesn’t it?”

Universal Pterosaur Extinction, or not

How could Darwin have imagined that small populations of nocturnal pterosaurs are scattered across the planet? They rarely congregate anywhere and appear to humans in daylight only on occasion.

Jonathan Whitcomb—paleontologist or cryptozoologist?

One critical point here, unappreciated by some paleontologists, is that those eyewitnesses come from various countries and have different backgrounds and beliefs, including differing religious beliefs. Why is that critical? Significant similarities in the descriptions include featherless appearances, a cone-like appendage at the back of the head, and a long tail, sometimes described with a “diamond” at tail-end.

Searching for Ropens and Finding God – fourth edition, published in October of 2014 – 360 pages – nonfiction – by the American cryptozoologist Jonathan David Whitcomb

January 22, 2015

Lights in Mississippi Deer Camera Images

deer at night is in light - Possible bioluminescence in a flying predator?

I have no clear estimate for the probability that strange lights in deer camera photos, from the state of Mississippi, are from bioluminescent ropens, to the best of my knowledge as of early January 22, 2015. The honesty-credibility of the couple who own the property in Jackson County, Mississippi, however, demands that I present to you what I do know about the ropen possibility.

Credibility of Rainer and Edith Shattles

Both husband and wife appeared to me to be highly credible, as I watched (on Youtube) the television news examination of their deer camera photos. Neither of them appeared to have any interest in promoting the concept of ET’s from another planet. In fact, Mr. Shattles suggested the possibility that the light may have come from a government drone, although he showed little conviction for that speculation. The point, however, is clear: neither Rainer nor Edith appeared to have any motivation for playing any hoax.

Criticism and speculation of a hoax

From what I have seen, critics dismiss these game-camera photos as worthless for giving credence to extra-terrestrial aliens shining lights on earthly deer in Jackson County, Mississippi. But those critics fail to realize that the two persons who present these photos have not suggested the lights come from any beings from any other planet. They simply show us what their game camera photographed one night in February of 2014.

Sighting by Garth Guessman in Papua New Guinea

Consider the following, from page 317 of the fourth edition of Searching for Ropens and Finding God, regarding the Monsterquest expedition on New Britain Island, Papua New Guinea, in which my friend and associate Garth Guessman participated:

After returning from the expedition, Guessman gave me many details. The hike exhausted all of them, so they welcomed sleep on that first night . . . with one exception. My friend knew the importance of nightly observations—he had been searching for ropens on Umboi Island in 2004—so he stayed up while everybody else went to bed. When he suggested they watch the sky, they told him they were there to make a show, not to conduct a scientific investigation.

While the others slept, Guessman saw a highly directional light that illuminated clouds. In daylight, no campfire was seen where that light had appeared, yet the other members of the team gave little attention to my friend’s report. That’s hardly surprising, for they were there to make a show and none of them had seen any strange light while they slept.

The point of that sighting of a strange light on New Britain Island is this: Something caused that directional light, and maybe, just maybe, it was a bioluminescent pterosaur, perhaps even a ropen. If so, why could not the directional light in the game camera photo from Jackson County, Mississippi, have also been from a similar flying creature?

Directional light seems to center on a deer (Jackson County, Mississippi, Feb-2014)

###

Deer camera photos in Mississippi

Multiple Deer cam images from the 150 acres that Rainer and Edith Shattles call home in the Cumbest Bluff area of Jackson County show at least one UFO . . .

Ropen Attacks

“I also saw a ‘giant’ pterodactyl! Actually most of the senior students of our public school saw it too. This was back in about 1960 when I was 12 years old. . . . Since I am now almost 67 yrs old, I would like to find anyone else who might have seen one too.”

Bioluminescence of the ropen

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.

Umboi Island government official sees ropen light

At about 7:00 p.m., after fishing off the reef, Cottingham saw the glow: a light moving horizontally “across the top of the coconut palms.” The object’s slow wavelike motion was unlike any other light he had ever seen.

Ropen Lights in Southern California?

The ghost lights first came to the public attention in the “early” 1900’s, when John D. Spreckels [born in 1853] began construction on the impossible San Diego and Arizona Railways, through the treacherous Carrizo Gorge. . . . on moonless nights the camps were plagued by mysterious hovering balls of colored light. At least one worker was driven mad by fear.

Ropen sighting in Mississippi

“I was in Meridian, Mississippi [about 2001]. I was outside . . . around 9 pm . . . It’s a full moon . . . when I turned my head to look to the right, I caught this shadow of a figure floating over the top of my sisters apartment building. . . . The wing span had to be 25 ft across and from head to toe at least the same. I was yelling and screaming for my brother-in-law or nephews to look . . .”

January 21, 2015

Flying Creatures and Missing Persons

medium-large front cover of book by David Paulides "Missing 411"

People go missing for a number of reasons. The following relates to some of the strangest cases, with an explanation that may shock many and appear unbelievable to others.

Over the past eleven years, I have received emails from eyewitnesses from five continents, not persons who have witnessed a pterosaur carry off somebody, not that. But ordinary persons who have seen extraordinary flying creatures that appear to be, strange as it may sound, modern pterosaurs.

A small portion of those reports relate to possible attacks or near attacks on humans, only a very small portion. Yet some reports of missing persons, compiled by the investigative journalist David Paulides, suggest a connection with unidentified flying creatures (UFC’s). Please be aware that these connections are only circumstantial, at least for the moment, that is, from what I have so far read in two books by David Paulides:

Missing 411 Western United States & Canada
Missing 411 The Devil’s in the Detail

Yet not all evidences of attacks from unidentified flying creatures are circumstantial:

Owl or Massive Bat in Salem, Oregon?

Later in this newspaper article, it refers to a statement by an animal behavior specialist:

” . . . either a barred owl or a great horned owl.”

I spoke with the victim by phone on January 21, 2015, and he told me he did not get a good look at the flying creature. He could not tell if it had a tail or not. What then is the relevance? A bird will sometimes defend an area around its nest, even dive bombing people who walk too close. It seems that large owls may go as far as tearing off a hat from a human head. So what is to prevent a hungry ropen from attacking a small human, when the ropen is large enough?

Data from two books by David Paulides

From the two missing-persons books (by Paulides) that I own, I have compiled data on the ages of those who have disappeared. Of the 386 missing persons (ages from early infancy to advanced old age), 12% were two-year-olds. That’s a very heavy share for those little ones who are between twenty-four and thirty-six months old. Children 2-8 years old make up 36% of all of these missing persons, which is also a big share, considering all the older children, teenagers, young adults, middle-aged, and senior citizens who live in the United States and Canada, compared with the number of little ones.

With that said, be aware that Mr. Paulides does not mention any flying-creature explanation for these disappearances. I take responsibility for that concept. But I believe that much of the data he has gathered suggests unidentified flying creatures are involved.

These cases mostly involve wilderness areas or places near wildernesses. So what’s so strange about people wandering off and getting lost? These cases are different. From the data I have gathered from Missing 411 Western United States & Canada, being carried away by large flying creatures is not so strange as it may first appear. For one thing, the younger the person is, the further away he or she is found, that is, when a living person or body is found. Two-year-olds are found furthest away from where they went missing. And finding a two-year-old fifteen miles away, in a cave no less, after a relatively short time missing—that is not from a toddler wandering away.

###

Garrett Bardsley Missing

The case of missing-child Garrett Bardsley has barely enough evidence to even mention [regarding] a North American ropen. But even if only one child can be saved from being a victim, it will be worth [it].

Dinosaurs of Acambaro

Julsrud at age sixty-nine was on the brink of making a discovery that may prove to be the greatest archaeological discovery ever made. . . . Sculpted in various colors of clay were figurines of dinosaurs, various races of people Eskimos, Asians, Africans, bearded Caucasians, Mongols, Polynesians, and objects that had cultural connections with the Egyptians, Sumerians as well as others.

Living Pterosaurs Video

This ~13 minute mini-documentary gives key points about a few of the key sighting reports of apparent pterosaurs, AKA “pterodactyl.”

Missing 411 Book

Missing-411 is the first comprehensive book about people who have disappeared in the wilds of North America. . . . people routinely get lost, some want to disappear but this story is about the unusual. Nobody has ever studied the archives for similarities, traits and geographical clusters of missing people, until now.

Ropen Attacks

I recently received an eyewitness report from a man who was one of many children, many years ago, who had seen a giant flying creature in Canada.

January 8, 2015

Passing of Duane Hodgkinson

I’m sad to report the passing of the World War II veteran Duane Neil Hodgkinson, who took his big flight home on September 19, 2014. Our condolences go to his family and friends. He will be missed.

I began communicating with Duane around the beginning of August, 2004, a few weeks before my expedition on Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea. He was always happy to tell us about his encounter with the “pterodactyl” that he and his army buddy saw in a small jungle clearing just west of Finschhafen. He helped me to find the courage I so desperately needed in 2004, the courage to travel alone to Papua New Guinea, where I would get the help I needed in searching for the ropen and interviewing natives.

Within the past twelve years or so, the testimony of Mr. Hodgkinson has been vindicated by reports from other eyewitnesses in the southwest Pacific, many others. For the moment, however, let’s concentrate on what this World War II veteran has given to us.

Email to Jonathan Whitcomb in August of 2004

[some punctuation added]

I tried calling today but this being Sunday I really didn’t expect an answer. Anyway, as I remember, it was in 1944 that I was stationed in Finschafen [often spelled Finschhafen], New Guinea, with the U.S. Military. While there, I made several trips into some of the surrounding native villages with a friend of mine and a native guide (provided by the Australian government.)

On this one particular trip we had the wonderful opportunity to witness a pterodactyl take off from the ground and then circle back overhead and to the side, giving us a perfect side view which clearly showed the long beak and appendage protruding from the back of its head (just like the ones that Fuzzy used to ride in the comic strip Ally Oop). It was a big one! I have a Piper Tri-Pacer airplane which has a wing spread of 26 feet [He later corrected that, for 29 feet is the wingspan of that airplane] and it appeared to be about that size.

The frequency of its wing flaps was estimated about 1 or 2 seconds. With each flap, we could hear a loud “swish, swish,” and the plants and brush immediately beneath its take off path were deflected by the down rush of air. I have not told many people about this as, of course, prehistoric creatures simply don’t exist! I did tell the owner of the company that manufactures the Pterodactyl ultra-light aircraft and to my surprise his only comment was, “Now tell me what you were drinking?” [Mr. Hodgkinson has never been a drinker.]

Duane Hodgkinson (1925-2014)

About the Piper Tri-Pacer comparison

In the above email, he mentioned owning a Piper Tri-Pacer. I assume this means he still owned it in mid-2004. As I understand, the PA-22 Piper Tri-Pacer was manufactured from 1950 to 1964. In his videotaped interview with Garth Guessman, in 2005, he said, “At that time, I owned a Piper Tri-Pacer.” I assume he was referring to that general time in his life, as a young man, not to the precise time he was serving in the armed forces in 1944.

The point, however, is the size, and that aircraft has a wingspan of about twenty-nine feet, far more than the wingspan of any bird or bat classified as extant by Western zoologists.

Guessman interviewed Hodgkinson in 2005

From a published scientific paper

I had a peer-reviewed scientific paper published in the journal Creation Research Society Quarterly: “Reports of Living Pterosaurs in the Southwest Pacific.” Here is a brief summary of some of what I there mentioned about the sighting by Mr. Hodgkinson:

In 2004 I interviewed Duane Hodgkinson, of Montana, by e-mail, survey form, and telephone. He was then videotaped by Guessman in 2005. . . .

The creature ran to their left, taking six to ten steps to get airborne and ascended at an angle of about 30 degrees (similar to an airplane taking off). It then disappeared over the dense brush but soon returned and flew over the clearing, presenting a “perfect side view” of its features before again flying out of view. . . .

The girth of the body at the chest was about 2 ft (0.6 m). He estimated the legs to be 3–4 ft (1–1.2 m) long. The top of the back was 5–6 ft (1.5–1.8 m) above the ground just before takeoff. Although he did not notice details of the tail, he estimated it was “at least” 10–15 ft (3–4.6 m) long.

[CRSQ, Volume 45, Number 3, Winter of 2009]

###

Sightings by Duane Hodgkinson and Eskin Kuhn

Hodgkinson was hiking up into the interior, away from Finschhafen, with an army buddy, when the two soldiers encountered the strange flying creature. In a jungle clearing with moderately high grass, a clearing about a hundred feet in diameter, the two men saw something at the far side, something astonishing.

Obituary of Duane Neil Hodgkinson

. . . passed away Friday, September 19, 2014, at Livingston Health and Rehabilitation Center. The family appreciates the personal care the staff provided during his stay.

Ropen definition

The above images relate to four sightings, two in Cuba and two in Papua New Guinea. Brian Hennessy saw a “prehistoric” flying creature on Bougainville Island, in 1971. About twenty-three years later, the Umboi Island native Gideon Koro saw a similar creature, many miles to the west of Hennessy’s ropen sighting.

Whitcomb interviewed by Dave Scott

“People between the United States—right now—towards South America, over in New Guinea believe that the pterodactyl is still alive and that they are breeding. . . . This is why tonight we’ve brought Jonathan Whitcomb aboard. He’s a cryptozoologist and he’s on the hunt for the pterodactyl.”