Sighting (summer of 2012) in New York
A few weeks ago, my Facebook group “Living Pterosaurs of the World” had a comment from an eyewitness of a “pterodactyl” in New York City. (By the way, this FB group is larger than average and fairly active.)
“I saw something that I almost couldn’t believe and the pictures of pterodactyls are the only thing that comes close to what I saw last week. I live in NYC not in California. Me and my cousin both saw it at 6:30 pm in the clear bright sky it came very very close. We were both in shock.”
Jonathan David Whitcomb: Did it have a tail?
“I dont remember a tail but the wings weren’t widely spread out and it seemed to just hover in the sky. It swooped down really close then pulled back, hovered, and then went up and over the house next door. It was grey in color and had a strange shaped head like the pterodactyl pictures. Its stomach was hanging low. All I could think was dragon. I don’t remember seeing a tail.”
Buffalo, New York (2007)
In Live Pterosaurs in America (third edition of my nonfiction book), I wrote of a report I had received from another eyewitness in New York state:
Also in the Northeast (east of Buffalo, New York), a “pterodactyl” was seen. I received this email in mid-2007, just weeks after the sighting:
“ . . . my friend and I were canoeing in the creek accessed from my back yard, when we sighted a very strange creature that we had both thought to be a prehistoric bird. Immediately, I thought ‘pterodactyl.’ It was a greyish color with no apparent feathers. I remember the wing span and the head shape but I don’t recall the tail end.
“It was only visible for a few moments before it disappeared into the tree line. It coasted in movement; I don’t recall the wings flapping. It was off into the distance, so size is difficult to determine. I would estimate the wing span to be six feet. . . .”
Camden, Maine (2001)
[also from the book LPA] . . . a creature with “leathery” wings was reported to have flown over a residential neighborhood. The wingspan was estimated at twenty-four feet, but this estimate was not from a wild guess: The creature flew just above the roof of a house.
Little Known Pterodactyl Sightings
“I heard a loud whooshing noise moving in the air to my right. I saw a huge pterodactyl. It circled my house six times and once it turned its head and looked at me. By the sixth time, it was somewhat lower.” [Rhode Island]
i swear to god that i saw one where i live in maine. it flew above my head and its wingspan was huge. i have seen herring and they are by far smaller than this thing. i watched it till it flew past the trees. the wings were pretty bony and in the air it looks smooth… no feathers. the thing just glided… and i could see its feet. i mentioned it to my mother and to a friend months later, but i don’t think anyone would believe me… it seems too far out. it would be my second sighting of a creature that i couldn’t explain. i have seen eagles and falcons-i had owned 11 birds at one point…
the first creature i saw was with my friend. we saw this deer horse looking thing with huge almond shaped black eyes and a tail like a squirrel’s that was bushy and frayed. it was short in height but the length was longer then the front end of an 88 chevy cavalier. we almost hit the thing. you know how horses you can sometimes see the veins in their faces-like the bumps… it was like this thing too. its nose was black and much bigger than a deers. i know what a moose, caribou, horse, and deer look like and it certainly was not any of them.
people make a mockery and don’t believe people’s accounts. who do i tell that i saw a possible pterosaur or petrodactyl? and who would believe me? i have no reason to lie… i hate attention as it is and not a social person. i work and have to be social for that and that is the extent that i will go, other than that i have nothing to gain. science and living creatures have always fascinated me. i feel blessed in a way that i was given the opportunity to witness unexplainable things. i thought about staking out the thing soon after i saw it-but what do people do if it were true? they would kill it or interrupt its natural way of life or kill it because they ‘fear’ whatever. so wasteful.