Pterosaur Eyewitness

The legend or tradition of the Oran-bati (of Indonesia) flying away with village children reminds me of what Paul Nation learned from the natives of Tawa Village, on the mainland of Papua New Guinea: At one time, indavas occasionally carried away a child or a pig.

Orang-Bati of Seram Island

The kor of the northern islands of Papua New Guinea have also been said to attack people, especially in the past. This nocturnal glowing creature is probably closely related to the ropen of Umboi Island, if it isn’t actually the same species. They are thought to be pterosaurs.

Pterosaurs around Singapore

Also west of Papua New Guinea, the “vegetarian pterosaurs” of Singapore fly, or at least are reported to have flown many years ago, according to an eyewitness who contacted me a few months ago.

My sighting occurred probably between the period 1958 – 1960 thereabouts when I was still a little kid. In those days we lived in a small village which was near a densely wooded area. Of course with the general development of Singapore to a metropolitan state it is today, the creatures, if they had propagated, would have [ventured] further south to the wilder regions to avoid civilisation (to ensure their survival).

Live Pterosaurs

Perhaps the first web site, or series of web pages, devoted to being used by the new media, “Live Pterosaurs” makes images and text available for unrestricted use by the media.

In a 2009 press release, the cryptozoologist Jonathan Whitcomb estimated that at least 1400 Americans have seen a living pterosaur between 1980 and 2008. After a number of cryptozoologists objected to the speculative nature of his estimate, Whitcomb maintained that sightings are far more common that the few news reports, in the late twentieth century, would suggest. . . .

Acknowledgements in a recent cryptozoology book includes, “I give special thanks to Duane Hodgkinson, whose unflinching testimony gave birth to modern living-pterosaur investigations. His account of the 1944 sighting on the mainland of Papua New Guinea helped inspire Carl Baugh’s first expedition of 1993. Ignoring previous ridicule from those who would not listen, Hodgkinson told us of his experience, helping prepare the way for many expeditions . . .”

The ahool of Indonesia, a flying cryptid, is described by Michael Newton in his cryptozoology book Hidden Animals:

. . . the Salak Mountains of western Java reportedly harbors a winged cryptid known as ahool, in imitation of its distinctive hunting cry. Witnesses describe the ahool as having a 12-ft wingspan, a coat of gray hair on a torso the size of a one-year-old child’s, and a round head resembling that of a monkey with large, dark eyes. It is a nocturnal hunter, armed with long claws on its flattened forearms . . .

With limited eyewitness evidence for this flying cryptid (be it a living pterosaur or otherwise), it may or may not be related to other flying cryptids in this part of the world.

Vegetarian Pterosaurs Near Singapore?

[The two pterosaurs were] circling some tall palm trees (those with small orange coloured fruits) and then helping themselves to the fruits. They were making cries which sounded like squawking in the process. They were large . . .

My sighting occurred probably between the period 1958 – 1960 thereabouts when I was still a little kid. In those days we lived in a small village which was near a densely wooded area. Of course with the general development of Singapore to a metropolitan state it is today, the creatures, if they had propagated, would have [ventured] further south to the wilder regions to avoid civilisation (to ensure their survival).

Flying Fox Fruit Bat

These large bats, common in many areas of the southwest Pacific, have been suggested as explanations for reports of living pterosaurs in Papua New Guinea; but most sighting reports of “pterodactyls” do not relate well to this idea, especially when the large flying creatures are described with very long tails. In addition, when a native sees something whose description strongly suggests a living pterosaurs, a fruit bat misidentification can be highly unlikely, in particular when that native is well aware of fruit bats (as most natives in these islands often are).

A few years ago, at an undisclosed location, several investigators saw many bats flying where flying lights were common. The bats appeared more numerous than the flying lights, and the cryptozoologists were sure of at least two kinds of nocturnal fliers. Since the lights are seen throughout the year, by the local land owner, I pondered why ropen-like creatures would be flashing so regularly. Catching-bats jumped out at me, far ahead of a mating-ritual explanation . . . pterosaurs eating bats. [quote from the cryptozoology book Live Pterosaurs in America]

With all the recent reports of apparent pterosaurs flying in North America, let’s turn aside for a moment and consider a small sampling of the amazing sightings of modern pterosaurs in the southwest Pacific. Some encounters are in Papua New Guinea, some in Australia, some over the sea; none of the sighting could reasonably be interpreted as coming from any misidentification of any flying fox fruit bat.

Scientific Analysis of Paul Nation’s Video

. . . 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 of two indava lights observed near the top of a ridge deep inthe interior of the mainland of Papua New Guinea, late in 2006.

The guided missle cruiser USS Joett, years ago, had an encounter with what may have been a giant ropen one night, somewhere between the southwest Pacific and the Indian Ocean.

With a fellow cryptozoologist, some time ago, I interviewed a man who had been a sailor on the U.S.S. Jouett (guided missile cruiser), CG-29. He told us about the night when he was surprised by an excited shipmate who summoned him out of his bunk. Many sailors had just witnessed a giant “pterodactyl” that had flown directly over the ship.

Victoria, Australia Sighting

. . . near the Dandenong Ranges about 25 [kilometers] east of Melbourne. . . . around the late 1990′s . . . I saw . . . something flying that appeared to be at the height of light planes that fly around here . . . This thing was at least as large as . . . say a Cesna. . . . lazily flapping it’s wings . . . It appeared to be lit up by the moonlight and shining as if it had no feathers. Very strange . . .

Giant Living Pterodactyl in New Guinea

Duane Hodgkinson . . . was stationed near Finschhafen, in what was then called New Guinea. After he and his buddy walked into a clearing, they were amazed as 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,” (book Searching for Ropens, 2007) and a long appendage at the back of its head . . .

Jonathan David Whitcomb, a forensic videographer, interviewed Hodgkinson, in 2004, and found his testimony credible.

Even recent criciticms (for example, by the paleontologist Darren Naish) of living-pterosaur research sometimes includes the insinuation of misidentification regarding bats, especially the fruit bat called “flying fox.” A typical sighting of a large long-tailed pterosaur, however, differs greatly from a sighting of a Flying Fox fruit bat. For one thing, at least some critics fail to realize how many sightings of apparent pterosaurs are in locations where this Megabat does not live.

Georgia Pterosaur (from the cryptozoology book Live Pterosaurs in America)

The lady . . . had been trying to find someone who might help her verify the existence of the strange animals that she had seen twice in the past few weeks. . . . Her first sighting was at 7 a.m., the second, 9 a.m., with both mornings overcast. . . .

Fifteen miles of her commute is on a two-lane 55-mph road through woods alternating with pastures . . . on August 27, 2008. She had woken up early and could not get back to sleep, so she left her house at 6:45 a.m., with the sky still overcast from the last remnants of [a] storm. . . . She had driven less than ten miles, just leaving an area of pasture, entering an area of thick woods . . . when an animal suddenly flew from the right, just over the front of her car. Although alone, she yelled, “What the — what — what is that?” She was stunned.

. . . It was the tail; she looked up at a “very long” tail that had a strange shape at the end. . . . a thick almost-heart-shape at the end of the tail . . . “Dive-bombing my car,” is how she described the flight path, as it crossed the highway in front of and slightly above her. “Curved, like a hammer,” is how she described the head, which had a crest that she thought was “solid, not feathery at all.” . . . a smoothly curved head crest.

Obviously what the lady saw near Winder, Georgia, in the summer of 2008, was no Flying Fox fruit bat, even if that species of Megabat lived in Georgia, which it does not. So what about sightings in Papua New Guinea, where those bats live in great numbers?

Hodgkinson-Hennessy Ropen

The cryptid seen in New Guinea, by Duane Hodgkinson in 1944 and by Brian Hennessy in 1971, I have named “Hodgkinson-Hennessy Ropen.” Similarities between the descriptions given to me by these two eyewitnesses struck me as too much for coincidence. . . .

. . . these different lengths of head crest I believe fall within the range of eyewitness error. In other words, the creatures observed by these two men could very well have had the same length of head crest (relative to the size of the head) . . .  it seems likely that the species is the same for the 1944 and 1971 sightings.

Both Duane Hodgkinson and Brian Hennessy were struck by the long pterosaur tail . . .  in a manner of speaking, and Hodgkinson was close enough to make an estimate of tail-length: “at least ten or fifteen feet.” It was obviously not any Flying Fox fruit bat.

Eskin Kuhn Pterosaur Sighting

Her sighting [Patty Carson] confirms the credibility of the eyewitness Eskin Kuhn, who long ago reported his 1971 encounter. But Patty saw a similar creature in 1965 . . .

Kuhn sketched what he had seen, soon after his sighting (obviously no fruit bat):