Griffith Park Dragons?

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This past Monday morning I read an email I received from a woman who encountered three “dragons” flying over the I-5 freeway, just northeast of downtown Los Angeles, on Sunday morning, March 3rd. (I will call this anonymous eyewitness “CGP”)

This morning at about 6 am [later clarified to be within five minutes of 6:10 a.m.]  I saw three “dragons” flying over the 5-North freeway between Griffith Park and Glendale. They appeared to be several feet long, with a head:body:tail ratio that was certainly not that of a bird. Their wings were long, angular and pointed and their tails had triangular points. . . . I definitely saw them, but was driving so I could not stop and watch where they went.

I considered non-ropen possibilities but by Thursday the report appeared to me to have indeed come from an encounter with three ropens. A number of factors seemed to counter a hoax possibility and misidentification of birds was shot down by her choice from a silhouette page of birds, bats, and pterosaurs. It was the same page used by Guessman and Woetzel on Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea, in 2004.

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silhouette page of 34 images of bats, birds, and pterosaurs, used by Guessman and Woetzel on their 2004 expedition on Umboi Island

Silhouette test page: mostly pterosaurs, with some birds and bats

She chose #13 (Sordes Pilosus), the same image chosen by two important eyewitnesses on Umboi Island: Jonathan Ragu and Jonah Jim. I was not shocked, however, for although I have not yet seen one of these wonderful flying creatures myself, I have encountered many reports of others who have encountered them in Southern California. Descriptions do relate to the ropen of Papua New Guinea.

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sketch of the form of the Sordes Pilosus - a Rhamphorhynchoid (long-tailed) pterosaur

Sordes Pilosus – a “basal” Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur supposed to be extinct for about 140 million years – was chosen as the creature seen by an anonymous eyewitness in Southern California (March 3, 2013) and by two natives on Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea

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When I asked her about neck length, she replied:

Yes, that was another thing that tipped me off that they were not birds. They each had a distinct neck between body and head, that was more narrow and clearly visible.

She did not notice any glow from the three flying creatures, but the sky had already begun to brighten (it was just before dawn). Other eyewitnesses in California have testified of observing glowing creatures that fly at night, which supports the idea that at least some apparent pterosaurs in California are bioluminescent.

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Dragon Hunting in Southern California

Some persons might wonder if the woman could drive safely and ask if she had been high on something. Whitcomb asked her how high the creatures were flying above the I-5 and wondered if they had long necks.

Ropen or Pterosaur Sightings

Hodgkinson continues to give a powerful testimony of his 1944 encounter with a huge flying creature that is an obvious live pterosaur, notwithstanding the Western dogma about universal extinction.

Bioluminescence in Pterosaurs

Guessman interviewed Jonathan Ragu, of Mararamu Village, who saw a ropen in July of 2004, when he and his daughter were at a beach. Between 7:30 and 8:00 p.m., with a crescent moon and good visibility, it flew away from the northwest coast of Umboi Island, heading toward Tolokiwa Island . . . Glowing brightly . . . from the head and trailing edges of the wings, it flew fast, at tree-top level.