Civil War photo | Live Pterosaur

March 27, 2017May 30, 2017

Book About the Pteranodon Photograph

apparent photos of modern pterosaurs - The left photo might be genuine; the right one is a hoax

Before getting into the new book, Modern Pterosaurs, about the Ptp photograph, let’s consider the hoax image that has caused confusion: The Freakylinks photo.

Glen Kuban, a critic of living-pterosaur investigators for years, made a mistake regarding Ptp in his long online publication “Living Pterodactyls.” (He also made many other errors in that page, so it will not here be linked to.) As recently as March 26, 2017, one paragraph includes, “Alas, the photo has since been exposed as a hoax—a promotional stunt for a Fox television series.” Alas, that paragraph is next to a small image of Ptp, the photograph that is NOT associated with that television series (Freakylinks) [that it, Ptp was NOT created by that TV production company].

Compare the two photos side-by-side:

Figure-1: Ptp is on the left; the television-show hoax is on the right

If Kuban had included the correct image (Haxan Films photo for Freakylinks), he would have been correct when he said, “exposed as a hoax.” Unfortunately, he put the following text under the Ptp photo: “widely acknowledged as a hoax.” How many persons could have been misled by that statement in the web page “Living Pterodactyls!” Of course, it would have been better if Kuban had researched those two images before displaying Ptp with a caption that included “hoax.”

Apparently the Haxan Films photo was a Civil War reenactment kind of staging, in imitation of the older Ptp photo. Look at the way the soldier in front, in both photos, places his left foot. Also notice that the other “soldiers,” in the hoax photo, stand right behind the “animal,” similar to the Ptp photo. That is highly unlikely to be a coincidence, extremely likely to be this: In around the year 2000, persons associated with Haxan Films created their hoax photo in imitation of the older one. Notice also how vague the animal looks in the hoax photo on the right.

Modern Pterosaurs Cryptozoology Book

In addition to direct evidences of authenticity, in the Ptp photograph, we also have indirect evidences. Consider the following, taken from page 100 in the book Modern Pterosaurs:

One day, early in 2017, I realized it would be unlikely for a large animal to die in a perfect place for it to be photographed. How much more likely for the animal to have died in the underbrush or in the woods than in a small clearing, an ideal place for photography!

I looked for a drag mark and there it was, running from around the lower right of the photo to near the end of that beak. That drag mark is exactly what we should find in a photo of a large animal that was dragged out from underbrush to a clearing where the whole thing could be photographed well.

Figure-2: Mark on the ground: apparently where the animal had been dragged

Notice the drag mark on the ground in Figure-2. Apparently the creature had fallen somewhere else, quite possibly among bushes or trees, and needed to be moved into a better place for photography.

Also notice the small tree that was broken down. This is most likely from one of the men stepping on it, breaking it down to the ground so that they could drag the “monster” onto the spot where we now see it.

Of course those two evidences do not, in themselves, prove that Pteranodons lived in the 19th century, yet they do support the other evidences uncovered by the scientist Clifford Paiva: evidences that a real animal was photographed alongside real men, and that this was before about the year 1870.

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Pteranodon photograph of the Civil War

The dead flying creature seen in the “Pteranodon photograph,” (Ptp) although it may be called a “pterodactyl” by some Americans and a “ropen” by others, could be a pterodactyloid pterosaur, possibly without the long tail that ropens are seen to have.

Photographie d’un ptérosaure moderne

La photographie plus ancienne est appelée “Ptp”. Celui de droite a été réalisé pour une émission de télévision. La similitude a causé de la confusion. Certaines personnes ont pensé que Ptp est un canular.

The old Pteranodon photograph

Answering skeptical comments and criticisms of a direct interpretation of a photograph that some persons report remembering from the middle of the 20th century, long before Photoshop digital imaging processing was generally available.

Pterosaur photo in Civil War

The pterosaur-image in the Ptp photo has enough evidence of authenticity to justify closer examinations. But critics appear to be so biased in favor of universal extinctions of all species of pterosaurs that they will not look where they should: at the image of the apparent pterosaur itself.

Pterodactyl in Civil War photo

. . . a scientist (Clifford Paiva, a physicist) has found a number of evidences for the authenticity of the image of the apparent Pteranodon in the older Ptp photo.

The beginning of what may be the most exciting discovery in the history of science

Modern Pterosaurs – nonfiction adventure in an astonishing scientific discovery

February 11, 2017November 6, 2018

More Evidence for the “Civil War Pterodactyl Photo”

Ptp photograph of an apparent modern pterosaur - pixel-width sizes of belt buckles and buttons were measured

By Jonathan D. Whitcomb, expert on sighting reports of apparent modern pterosaurs

Update: On November 4, 2018, I began apologizing for a mistake that I had made, for I failed to patiently wait for evidence of adequate provenance for this apparent 19th-century “photograph.” I even published a book whose content was largely related to this Ptp image. I am sorry for any and all problems that this may have caused.

I still fully support the many eyewitness testimonies, the great majority of which were of encounters in the 20th and 21st centuries. I only withdraw my support for this (Ptp) image.

I have stopped publication (print-on-demand) of my book Modern Pterosaurs because of this “problem,” or whatever people want to call it. That book was mostly about this apparently old photo. I take responsibility for my own mistakes; I blame nobody else.

I am going ahead with publication of another book, The Girl who saw a Flying Dinosaur, for it is about eyewitness encounters with these flying creatures (nothing about Ptp). In addition, my other books about modern living pterosaurs should not be in any way related to this error of judgment of mine, regarding Ptp. Those other nonfiction books do not mention Ptp.

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[Original post on Live Pterosaur]

Background

On January 14, 2017, Clifford Paiva (physicist) and I agreed that this photograph (now labeled “Ptp”) contains a genuine photographic image of a modern pterosaur. Criticisms by skeptics have been answered, and we found additional evidence for the veracity of this photo.

Paiva has done a detailed analysis of the image. He found that the shadow under the boot of one soldier (he’s now known as “FS” for front-soldier) is consistent with shadows under and on the animal. Paiva also found details in the head, neck, and shoulder of the animal, details that closely correlate with the anatomy of the Pteranodon. Please be aware that we do not declare that this animal must have been of some species of Pteranodon, but we point out that it appears to be at least similar to that type of pterosaur.

In recent weeks, we have found other evidence that supports the theory that this photograph is what it appears to be, that six men were standing, in the 19th century, next to the body of the recently-deceased animal that is shown. I have pointed out the apparent drag-mark on the ground, showing the direction from which the body was dragged; Paiva then pointed out the very small tree that appears to have been broken down to allow the animal to be dragged to the place where it was photographed. We do not proclaim that none of the body of the animal was lifted when it was moved, but it does appear that some dragging took place.

Introduction to Belt-Buckles and Buttons

Over the past few weeks, I have come to better appreciate the importance of the animal shown in Ptp, the details in the soldiers being much less important. But on February 10, 2017, I decided to test the idea that the six men were standing as they appeared to have stood, for some skeptics have suggested ideas related to digital image manipulation of those human figures. Apparently those skeptics were thinking that if the soldiers were not what they appeared to be, the animal shown could be dismissed as well.

One soldier caught my attention: the man with his boot on the beak of the apparent Pteranodon. If this is a genuine photograph of six men, the one appearing in front would be closer to the camera. I then decided to measure the widths of belt buckles on those men in Ptp. Belt buckles appeared to be much better than other details of the men’s bodies and clothing, for they’re much more likely to have been of the same size. I later decided to also measure buttons.

Distances of the Apparent Civil War Soldiers From the Camera

The five soldiers standing behind the apparent pterosaur were named for “back-soldier,” and the man in front for “front-soldier.” The following shows what was measured:

BS1 belt-buckle and button
BS2 ” ” ” “
BS3 (nothing)
BS4 belt-buckle
BS5 belt-buckle and button
FS ” ” ” “

I magnified the original image until the pixels could be counted on the belt buckles. The man BS3 is turned to one side, so I did not try to measure anything on him. Here are the results for buckle width in pixels:

BS1: 8
BS2: 9
BS4: 10
BS5: 9
FS: 11

Notice that the man who appears to have been closer to the camera has the greatest pixel-width of his belt buckle. That is consistent with the idea that he was actually standing a bit closer to the camera than were the other men.

It could be argued that FS has his hip turned, because of one foot being raised higher than the other: That alone could easily make his buckle at least one pixel wider. But notice soldier BS4: his buckle is turned in the same way, yet the pixel count is smaller than for FS. And look at the count for BS1: 3 pixels smaller than for FS. The twisting of the buckle on FS might make a difference of up to two pixels when compared with BS1, but not likely three pixels.

A skeptic may declare that those differences are small. Consider this: Compared with the distance from the camera to the animal shown, the differences involving the soldiers is also small. For the image to be genuine, you would expect FS to have only a slightly wider belt buckle pixel-width, and that is exactly what we find.

I then measured pixel widths of buttons, finding this:

BS1: 3
BS2: 3
BS5: 3
FS: 4

Buttons are consistent with belt buckles, supporting the idea that the men were actually standing as they appear to be, with one soldier measurably closer to the camera than the other men are from the camera.

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Old photo of a pterosaur was declared genuine (but no more)

“Support Removed for Ptp Photograph”

Civil War “dinosaur” photo

Years ago, a scientist in California began noticing details in a photograph, clues that the image of an apparent modern pterosaur was genuine. On January 14, 2017, I spoke with Clifford Paiva (a physicist) by phone. We agreed that the photo (now labeled “Ptp”) has a genuine photographic image of a modern pterosaur.

The Girl who saw a Flying Dinosaur

Nonfiction book for readers 8-14 years old (by Whitcomb)

Scientific Paper on Living Pterosaurs

The peer-reviewed Creation Research Society Quarterly (CRSQ), Volume 45, Number 3, contains the article “Reports of Living Pterosaurs in the Southwest Pacific,” by Jonathan D. Whitcomb.

Modern Pterosaurs – this book has been removed from publication

From the first chapter of this nonfiction book:

In the summer of 2014, a well-known biology professor at a Midwestern university wrote a scathing blog post about my online writings concerning apparent modern pterosaurs. It included ridiculing the lack of photos of the creatures on my web pages. Whatever pages he had seen, it appears he failed to notice the ones that examined the photo now called Ptp.

January 16, 2017November 6, 2018

Old Photo of a Pterosaur Declared Genuine

More credible of the two apparent Civil War photos of a large pterosaur and some soldiers

By modern-pterosaur expert Jonathan David Whitcomb

Update on November 6, 2018: IMPORTANT

I have withdrawn my support for the Ptp photograph. It now seems obvious that one of the wings in that image is very close to what is seen on an animated pterosaur in one of the episodes of Walking with Dinosaurs.

I will let the origin post (below) stand as it is, for readers to learn whatever they can about how I may have fallen into such a big blunder. I now take full responsibility for my original decision to support this image before learning about its provenance.

I have ordered the halting of printing for one of my books, Modern Pterosaurs, because much of the content was about the Ptp image. Other books I still recommend for readers, however, for I still support the many eyewitness testimonies that are in those other publications.

Official Announcement of a Joint Declaration

On Saturday, January 14, 2017, the missile defense physicist Clifford Paiva and I communicated by phone and mutually agreed that the image herein labeled “Pteranodon Photograph” contains a genuine image of a modern pterosaur, regardless of the specific species or type of pterosaur that it may have been. This photo is not to be confused with the hoax-image said to have been created by an American film and television production company named “Haxan” (possibly a “Freaky Links” episode for Fox TV in 2001). The Haxan-photograph is indeed a hoax, probably influenced in its fabrication by the earlier photo that is now declared authentic.

Figure 1, below, is now offered as evidence for modern pterosaurs.

Genuine Image Called “Pteranodon Photograph”

Figure 1: photograph declared genuine by Paiva and Whitcomb (click on it for full size)

Contrast the above image with the one that is known to be a hoax, below:

Figure 2: Haxan hoax-photo, probably made in imitation of the other one

The Problem of Confusing the Two Photos

One of the problems I have seen in online discussions is this: People confuse the above two images. They are completely different pictures, although careless glances or poor memory can make people assume only one photograph is involved. Let’s look at one example:

One person on an online discussion group said that he (or she) showed “this picture” to his (or her) father, who is apparently a photography expert. The result was laughter and then the following review:

The soldiers are all older and somewhat overweight, they’re most likely re-enactors
Photographic prints did not have borders on them during the civil war. The damage
should go all the way to the edges

So what’s the problem with that criticism? The top of the discussion page gives a link to the image that is now labeled the “Pteranodon Photograph.” Yet a little further down is a comment that includes links related to the Haxan hoax. For a long time, the discussion appears to go on without hardly any person being aware: Two completely different photos are being discussed. The two criticisms mentioned, about soldiers being overweight and the print borders, apply to the hoax photo much better than to the “Pteranodon Photograph.” In fact, I see little doubt: The photography expert saw the Haxan photo, NOT the genuine one.

Declaration of Universal Pterosaur Extinction

We’ll call this “DUPE.” It’s not only assuming that all species of pterosaurs must have become extinct long ago; it’s declaring that idea as if it were a fact. The person who declares that all of them must have died out millions of years ago—that person then becomes part of the force that indoctrinates others into believing it. Here’s one example:

“. . . since they [dinosaurs] have not been seen in the past 65 million year or so, we are skeptical.”

Strange to tell, but for many years skeptics have criticized the living-pterosaur investigations, ridiculing me and my associates for not having any photographic evidence for extant pterosaurs, yet many skeptics have dismissed the Civil War photograph, mostly because the image obviously has, clearly in the middle, an apparent pterosaur.

Credit to Clifford Paiva

It has taken me (Jonathan Whitcomb) a number of years to come to the firm conclusion that the “Pteranodon Photograph” has a genuine image of a modern pterosaur. Yet this missile defense physicist has been declaring this case for years. Thank you, Cliff, for your wonderful work in this investigation. I hope that all of my friends can always be so patient with me and that I will be quicker to know the truth in the future and will not always require so much patience from others. We are indebted to Clifford Paiva.

Please be aware that Jonathan Whitcomb no longer supports this image

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Civil War pterosaur photograph

Let’s begin with what we know, practically for sure. The following image is from a television production, a staged performance that has been said to be an imitation of another, possibly much older, photograph.

Why Pterosaur Extinction may be Wrong

. . . Ropen lights (or indava lights) are not caused by fire, airplane lights, or meteors.”Analysis, by the physicist Clifford Paiva, regarding Paul Nation’s video footage . . .

Clifford Paiva Investigates Modern Pterosaurs

Many images from the research by this missile defense physicist—wonderful evidence!

Evidence of Modern Pterosaurs

Please join us: Investigate reports of modern living pterosaurs.

Modern Pterosaurs – verified by two scientists to have a genuine image of a real animal

From the final chapter of the book:

Making a simple hoax . . . needs no insertion of any soldier onto the background. Critics of Ptp, however, appear to be completely ignorant of that fact. They seem to assume that anything that gives any feeling of soldier-insertion destroys all confidence in the possibility that the animal is real. Nonsense!