Before getting into details about that kind of supposed misidentification, what about Marfa Lights? The common rebuff, “car headlights,” comes from either ignorance of careful observations and scientific work on CE-III mystery lights around Marfa, Texas, or from just plain careless thinking. When that type of light flys around southwest Texas, and it is examined carefully (through photographs or video from cameras set up by the scientist James Bunnell), it is found to be very unlike any car headlights, even when the night-mirage phenomena is taken into account.

About Marfa Lights, I see two ways to relate the word “misidentification.” Many visitors at the Marfa Lights Viewing Park see car headlights and assume they see “Marfa Lights,” and critics of the idea that anything strange exists near Marfa, Texas, think that any reference to any strange light there must be misidentified car headlights. The critics are also guilty of misidentification.

Misidentification or Live Pterosaurs?

In that post, Hodgkinson and Hennessy make the case for a living pterosaur, with little, if any, chance for misidentification.

So what do critics mention about eyewitnesses? They mostly mention theoretical sightings or two or three that are more than a hundred years old. What a problem! Critics often ignore critical witnesses, those whose credibility has attracted cryptozoologists who interview them. So why do critics mostly ignore those important eyewitnesses? What other explanation but the obvious? They do not have any reasonable reply to the testimonies of Duane Hodgkinson and Brian Hennessy . . .

Pterosaurs Alive Today

Darren Naish has said that “sightings of pterosaur-like animals that have been reported appear to be a combination of hoaxes and misidentification of large birds and bats.” On that web page, however, he said nothing about Hodgkinson or Hennessy or any of the other eyewitnesses who have enlivened the living-pterosaur investigations since the 1990′s. His evaluation is nothing like a scientific examination; it is more like the simplistic verbage of common politics, with “a combination of” signaling to the more-wise reader that Naish has nothing particular to prove his point about the nonexistence of modern living pterosaurs.

The New Zealand Flying Slasher

Across the New Zealand, North Islands farmland and countryside, there have been for almost a century tales from farmers and hunters, of a horrid winged beast, with long sharp fangs lining its narrow, beak-like jaws. Its eyes gleam in the night, where it can be seen flying overhead, shillouted in the moon. Farmers despise it because it tears chunks from their cattle in the nightime. It is called The Flying Slasher.

One commenter remarked, “The ‘pterosaur’ of NZ is probably a megabats (like flying fox etc).” One of the problems with that conjecture is that the Flying Fox fruit bat eats fruit, not chunks of flesh from cattle.

Another commenter remarked, “I have a feeling it may be the hast eagle that was once thought to be extinct.” The problem with that conjecture is that the post refers to “a very dangerous flying reptile, with . . . abnormally long, razor-like teeth.” The Haast’s Eagle was a feathered bird, not a reptile, and it had no teeth. Whether extinct or not, the Haast’s Eagle really was an eagle, not a reptile with teeth.

From the Introduction in the cryptozoology book Live Pterosaurs in America (second edition):

“Those who’ve been shocked at the sight of a flying creature that “should” be extinct—those eyewitnesses, more numerous than most Americans would guess, need no longer be afraid that everyone will think them crazy, and no longer need they feel alone. Those of us who’ve listened to the American eyewitnesses, we who have interviewed them, we now believe. So, if you will, consider the experiences of these ordinary persons (I’ve interviewed most of them myself) and accept whatever enlightenment you may.”

This book might make a few Americans uneasy to walk alone at night; my intention, however, is not to frighten but to enlighten as many readers as possible to know about live-pterosaur investigations. Those who’ve been shocked at the sight of a flying creature that “should” be extinct—those eyewitnesses, more numerous than most Americans would guess, need no longer be afraid that everyone will think them crazy, and no longer need they feel alone. Those of us who’ve listened to the American eyewitnesses, we who have interviewed them, we now believe. So, if you will, consider the experiences of these ordinary persons (I’ve interviewed most of them myself) and accept whatever enlightenment you may.

.

Pterosaur in Kansas

“My friend and I were talking and I mentioned that I had seen an extremely large bird that resembled a pterodactyl some years ago . . . I could not believe my eyes as I immediately thought of a prehistoric bird when I saw it. . . . a wing-span of 16-20 feet.”

This eyewitness used the word “bird,” apparently thinking that pterodactyls are prehistoric birds. But when asked about the possibility of feathers, she said, “It did not appear to have feathers.”

Pterosaur in Arkansas

“It was probably 1982 when me and my older brother were sitting in our carport [in Texarkana, Arkansas] It was getting dark but there was plenty of light in the sky when we saw what we believe to be a pterodactyle [pterosaur]. The wingspan seemed to be about 25’ to 30’ ft wide. . . . an awesome sight to see.”

Question: Was there any sign of feathers or . . . was it leathery or naked skin?
Answer: We did not see any signs of feathers, just sharp edged wings, the sharp pointed beak, and the sharp pointed crest on its head.

Question: Did it have any tail? [long-tailed flying cryptids are my specialty]
Answer: We did not see any tail. I have looked at my dinosaur book and the picture of the pteranodon looked like what we saw.

_____________________________________________________________________________

From readers of first edition of non-fiction book Live Pterosaurs in America (note 2nd ed.):

“[The] new book arrived today! . . . a wonderful job!!! . . . more sightings than they can dispute (21 states!!!) . . . a descriptive and engaging ongoing investigation . . .” Susan Wooten, South Carolina.

“This seems to be the author’s second book on the subject, and this one is worth the effort. He has focused on the accounts of witnesses who saw something, and that adds credibility. The writing is easy to read and he adds comments and analysis . . . more useful. . . .” Red Rabbit, Cleveland, Ohio. [Five stars for the first edition]

“The problem with science is that we think we know it all and that is far from reality. This book shows courage to continue the search. If you have an interest in cryptozoology you should read this.” Dale Reeder, PA.

“This book is a great book! This book contains a lot of sightings and information on living pterosaurs. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in living pterosaurs.” [from Amazon-anonymous child] A Kid’s Review [Five stars for the first edition]

The man and his grandmother saw the large apparently smooth-skinned creature, on July 15, 2004, flying about a hundred feet above an Arby’s restuarant in St. Louis. . . . it did not have the long crest on top; the creature’s head and body was very similar like Rhamphorhynchus. . . . it did have the diamond-shaped tail end.

Q: How wide would you estimate its wings were?

A: [It’s] hard to be precise, but I say around twenty feet; it could have been a bit wider though . . . an impressive wingspan. . . .

The second edition of the nonfiction cryptozoology book, Live Pterosaurs in America, will be published around the middle of the Fall (2010). At 35% longer, it will include a new chapter: “Marfa Lights of Texas.”

The revised book will have more detailed analysis of critics’ reasoning, proving the validity of the concept of living pterosaurs. But perhaps most noticeable will be the additional sightings: astonishing encounters.

Sightings of Marfa Lights in Texas

. . . there is a separate and unique light phenomenon in the area of the Chianati mountain range that I can not explain. Balls of light sitting in a chico bush . . . One I really enjoyed watching moved straight up a cliff face and then rested on top of the mountain changing from bright yellow to a dim red . . .

Marfa Lights of Texas

The flying (and sometimes dancing) lights of Marfa, Texas, only show themselves a few times a year, in contrast to the counterfeit “strange” lights caused by headlights of cars on a nearby highway. But if those lights are caused by the same general kind of creature as the ropen of Papua New Guinea (large or giant featherless flying creature with a long tail) . . .

Addendum

Late in November, 2010, was published the second edition of the cryptozoology book Live Pterosaurs in America, with one chapter devoted to the mystery of the Marfa Lights and the interpretation of ropen-like bioluminescent flying predators. This extraordinary possibility of living pterosaurs in southwest Texas makes serious scientific investigations worth the effort, even if the bioluminescent predator is eventually found to be only a bird or a bat.

Early in December, 2010, a press release about the Marfa Lights, “Unmasking a Flying Predator in Texas,” spread across the United States, mostly through online news sites. For some readers, this was their first exposure to the possibility of bioluminescent pterosaurs (AKA “pterodactyls”) flying over southwest Texas at night. That press release deals with the specifics of a particular kind of mystery-light sighting: splittings and re-mergings of flying lights, and the potential for bioluminescence in huning bats that catch insects.

Marfa Lights Explanation

When residents of Marfa, Texas, and those in surrounding areas . . . have observed the more mysterious flying lights—many observations over the decades—they recognize an intelligence in the “dances.” A light sometimes will split into two lights and the two will slowly separate for quite a distance, eventually turning back as they approach each other, like in a square dance . . .

__________________________________________________________________________

From Chapter Six of the second edition of the cryptozoology book Live Pterosaurs in America:

“Mr. Bunnell the scientist, has lived around Marfa, Texas, for much of his life. In his youth, he had assumed that somebody had already done the research and had explained what caused Marfa Lights, for people had seen them for countless years; how surprising when he found that nobody had come up with a convincing explanation! (James Bunnell, apparently, knew nothing about ropens in New Guinea; he considered only Marfa Lights interpretations involving light-sources non-living. I communicated with him by emails, early in 2010.)”

Read about this amazing new cryptozoological interpretation of the Marfa Lights of Texas.

__________________________________________________________________________

Second edition of Live Pterosaurs in America, nonfiction cryptozoology book by Jonathan David Whitcomb

Published by Createspace, November 20, 2010

146 pages, with an extensive index for researchers

ISBN-13:  9781456341350

“Scott Norman did not believe he would see a living pterosaur, as he sat alone, taking his turn watching the night sky. A bird is what his friends had probably seen. But at 2:00 a.m., less than forty feet away, what flew over the shed was no bird. The head alone was about four feet long; the head crest, two feet long, like that of a Pteranodon.”

Lipinia cheesmanae (Parker, 1940) – a skink (lizard);
Platymantis cheesmanae (Parker, 1940) – a direct-breeding frog;
Litoria cheesmani (Tyler, 1964) – a treefrog;
Barygenys cheesmanae (Parker, 1936) – a microhylid frog;
Cophixalus cheesmanae (Parker, 1934) – a microhylid frog.

Her name was probably never associated with cryptozoology until Richard Muirhead (a British cryptozoologist) looked through an old copy of the book The Two Roads of Papua (by Cheesman, published in 1935). Muirhead recognized the significance of the strange lights that Cheesman observed in the jungle on the mainland of New Guinea: apparently ropen lights. Consider what has been written on other web pages and blog posts.

Modern Pterosaurs — “Evelyn Cheesman, Biologist and Eyewitness”

Modern living pterosaurs were the last organisms that she would have dreamed could be living deep in the mainland of New Guinea in the 1930′s; her specialty was small insects, not giant cryptids. But those strange lights just above the forest canopy—they appeared to defy any common explanation.

Live Pterosaur — “Indava and Ropen of Papua New Guinea”

The British entomologist would surely have been interested in the explanation of “large flying animal” if the local villagers had said anything; but they were reluctant to talk about the lights. Nevertheless, Cheeman wrote about the mystery in her book, The Two Roads of Papua (published in 1935).

Another resource: Science and Clear Thinking (reg. critics of living-pterosaurs perspectives)

South Carolina Pterosaur

Susan Wooten, of Greenville, South Carolina, was driving from Greenville to Florence (about 1989) when she saw a giant creature glide over the highway. . . . “It looked as big as any car, and had NO feathers, not like a huge crane or egret. . . . it swooped down over the highway and back up gracefully over the pines.” . . . a remote swampy area.

A number of other web pages include parts of Susan Wooten’s testimony of what she observed flying over the highway in South Carolina years ago. It’s important to consider related eyewitness accounts, for some critics have sought to simply dismiss this account as if it were an anomaly. But many Americans have reported similar creatures flying in many states of the United States, from California to Maine and from Washington state to Florida.

Also keep in mind that Ms. Wooten has been interviewed a number of times, over several years, and she is clear about her frame of mind when the sighting happened: She was not under the influence of anything that could have caused her to hallucinate. In addition, several other witnesses stopped their cars on the side of the highway right after the creature had flown overhead; that verifies that she was not alone in observing something very strange.

____________________________________________________________________________

Shocking? Perhaps, but it is true. Did you know that living pterosaurs have been reported in North America, even in the United States? Read the many eyewitness sighting reports;  buy the nonfiction cryptozoology book Live Pterosaurs in America, on Amazon or from the publisher. Your purchase shall help support this research.

One reader said, “I found this book very interesting. . . . The problem with science is that we think we know it all and that is far from reality. This book shows courage to continue the search. If you have an interest in cryptozoology you should read this.” (Dale Reeder, Pennsylvania)

This has been the number-one best-selling book, by far, on Amazon.com for nonfiction books about living pterosaurs. (late 2009 through mid-2010, compared with “Searching for Ropens,” “Dinosaurs, Dead or Alive,” and “Big Bird.”) Find out why by reading it yourself.

It includes many details not available on web pages, including much about Susan Wooten’s sighting in South Carolina.

An article in the Creation Research Society Quarterly (Volume 45, Number 3, “Reports of Living Pterosaurs in the Southwest Pacific”) states:

The first American to bring back video evidence for the bioluminescence of the ropen was Paul Nation, who explored near Tawa Village in late 2006. He saw a number of flying lights on several nights and videotaped, for about fifteen seconds, two lights that were on a ridge where there were no roads, cars, or campfires.

According to Wikipedia (English Wikipedia: “ropen”):

In late 2006, Paul Nation, of Texas, explored a remote mountainous area on the mainland of Papua New Guinea. He videotaped two lights that the local natives called ‘indava.’ Nation believed the lights were from the bioluminescence of creatures similar to the ropen of Umboi Island.

From Searching for Ropens (second edition, nonfiction book):

[We] “saw one yellow glow start from a small glow to a bright glow and then a second appearance start and increase in intensity. The second and higher up the mountain glow, flew up and over the ridge and out of sight. While the first glow went out. 10 pm saw a single yellow glow flying along the mountain ridge to the east of our location following the terrain up and down going south to north.”

From Live Pterosaurs in America (nonfiction book, published in 2009):

On the Papua New Guinea mainland, in 2006, Paul Nation and his associate, native minister Jacob Kepas, explored deep in the highland interior. One night, Paul videotaped two glowing objects at the top of a ridge. The natives attribute this kind of light to large flying creatures that used to carry away animals and children from their village.

More resources:

Giant Bat and ropen of Papua New Guinea

Problems with a bat interpretation (this blog site)

Paul Nation, the most active LP explorer (another blog on living pterosaurs)

The Nightmare

Remember your worst nightmare? Were you glad to wake up? Be grateful. In the early morning hours of February 23, 2010, a few miles or so southwest of Marfa, Texas, the victims were terrified by what awakened them. I am not the eyewitness, but a few days after this event, I interviewed my friend James, who had been driving through Southern Texas; he had stopped at the Marfa Lights viewing platform to see whatever he could.

James did not actually see the carnage. In fact, the attack I am about to describe might be only in my imagination; my critics could surely accuse me of dreaming. Indeed, my friend saw only strange lights, flying above the fields where countless spectators, for many years,  have observed the dancing Marfa Lights. But this night was different.

What could be worse than any nightmare? In the dead of night, you are awakened by what you fear most, glaring down at you. To humans, this monster should not even exist except in a dream. This one is real. Race out of your bedroom; it’s after you. Race out the front door; it follows. Search for a place to hide; it’s too late. You are exposed, surrounded by many monsters ready to feast. You have fallen into their trap. Your family is scattered, chased across the freezing countryside. You are alone. You are Eptesicus fuscus, a Big Brown Bat.

Marfa Lights, Strange Predators, and Bats

I dare not now describe to you, in detail, this attacker . . . not yet; it requires an introduction that includes the behavior of Marfa Lights. How they fly gives us no direct clue to the appearance of what causes them (yes, I believe they are physical things that glow). But the apparent dancing of those lights, their complex interactions with each other—that shows us they are more than just lights, and the glow and the motions may serve a purpose.

Why would one of the lights seem to divide in two? After dividing, the two lights separate, flying away from each other. They then turn back and fly towards each other, to the place where they divided. This pattern has repeated itself for years. But why? No explanation that involves inanimate objects seems even close to adequate. (I have spoken with a scientist who has investigated Marfa Lights for years and he is still puzzled by them.)

According to Sherlock Holmes, when the impossible has been eliminated, whatever is left, however improbable, is the answer. Marfa residents instinctively recognize an intelligence behind the dancing behavior. Don’t sing their lyrics of ghosts or demons, even if the human residents are serious about spooks (which is doubtful) and even if they want the mystery solved (most of them don’t). But we who have seen videos and read and heard descriptions of the light-splittings, separations, and reunions—we must recognize, for the sake of reason, what is left: intelligent direction of those dancing lights. Instead of dancing ghosts or demons, let’s try a different song in the same key.

UFO’s fall flat. No intelligent aliens would fly just above the bushes south of Marfa, Texas, every few weeks or so, for years beyond number; the bushes are not that interesting. The lights do suggest something like giant fireflies, but if giant insects existed they would not dance around in mating rituals every few months throughout the year. It seems that this leads us along another dirt road that ends in the same impassable canyon. Intelligent researchers have been swamped by swarms of explanations, but Marfa Lights appear to act intelligently, and one explanation after another has been shot down by lack of reasons for the lights’ behavior. Let’s walk down a different dirt road, one that may lead to a bat cave in a hill south of Marfa.

How do these lights relate to bats? The Big Brown Bat eats insects, including, at times, those that fly around at night. What attracts many flying insects? A street light (rare in a cattle-grazing landscape) or a farmhouse porch light. What about Marfa Lights? They do, at times, stay in one place for a time. I do not imply that bats who can sense insects in the dark would approach a large flying creature that is glowing; Big Brown Bats, far from rare, may be too smart to be pinned onto an endangered-species list. The relationship between lights that dance and bats that hunt insects is a bit more complicated. But these two species do relate.

When two lights separate, over a field south of Marfa, they may leave a concentration of flying insects in that area. Be careful, Mr. Big Brown. Those two large glowing creatures have flown away, I know, and your instincts tell you to go for those bugs there. But notice that those two lights (with you in the middle) are no longer becoming dimmer; they are now becoming brighter. Don’t gorge yourself for too long, little furry fellow; make it a snack to go. In the open air, you have many avenues of escape; I recommend you avoid two particular directions.

This dancing pattern of Marfa Lights (one light appearing to divide and separate and then the two turning back to approach each other) can thus be explained. The strange beginning of the dance is now clear: One not-yet-glowing predator chooses a glowing partner and then turns on his own glow as the two separate. They were always two objects but it appeared to us that one light had divided into two.

But what nocturnal flying predator glows brighter than a thousand fireflies? Let’s consider that night of February 23rd and ask a different question. Why was that night different?

James did not see a light splitting into two and separating, according to dance custom. Can you guess why? I would not expect Marfa Lights to dance on this night, for the temperature had dropped, far below freezing: no insects. So what would you do if you were a hungry flying glowing predator, for the dance is over and the refreshments table is bare? Take your friends out to eat.

Perhaps my friend was fortunate not to have seen the Marfa Lights up close on that night. In the dark, outside the dance hall, it was ugly. On that night, they were not flying around the bushes on the plain just south of the viewing platform; James watched them flying over the hills many miles away.

I suggest that the glowing predators had found a small colony of Big Brown Bats in a cave. It may have taken only one predator to wake them from hibernation, but ten of the predators may have had a feast when the bats flew out the cave entrance. I also suggest there may be more than one reason for the predators to glow: On this night, insects were irrelevant, but perhaps, in their frenzy in the dark, the larger predators needed to avoid colliding with each other. Perhaps this is always part of the purpose for the glowing.

Glowing Barn Owls

So what is this predator? I still dare not mention the name, and forgive me for another aside, but consider another large flying predator; it glows rarely and usually dimly, but it also hunts little furry creatures. This predator, however, (brighter than hundreds of fireflies) would not dare glow near the bright lights that were swarming over the hills south of Marfa on February 23rd. Near those hills, on that night, you would not have found a glowing barn owl.

And you’ll not likely find Tyto Alba by looking up “bioluminescent” in the index of a biology textbook. You will find that word in a book by Fred Silcock of Victoria, Australia, and you will find a sketch of a glowing barn owl on the cover. The rare but documented glow of this bird is thoroughly explained in The Min Min Light, The Visitor Who Never Arrives.

Barn owls are common in many parts of the world, even though they rarely glow. Perhaps when in dire need, when furry food is scarce, does instinct kick in and bioluminescence turns on; perhaps oftener. It allows them to attract and catch insects, just enough to survive until the rodents return. Owls that glow in Australia are called “Min Mins.”

In the United States, we call them ghost lights: the Gurdon Light of Arkansas, the Ghost Light of Masters Knob (Tennessee), and the Hornet Light of Missouri, and others. Many fly down railroad tracks, weaving and bobbing as if somebody were searching for something by swinging a lantern from side to side. If the glow does not help an owl catch a rodent crossing the tracks, at least that bird will not collide with another.

Disbelieve in glowing nocturnal birds if you like. It’s not yet been proven, to my knowledge. But why then do barn owls have white feathers on their undersides?

Dancing Flying Predators: Pterosaurs?

In contrast, the bright glowing objects that fly over open fields south of Marfa glow too brightly for owls, it seems, and their complex dances (at least in warmer weather) appear too complex for bird brains. I can imagine two or three barn owls hunting together in a haphazard way, never ten of them with occasional coordinated dances.

To the point, I do know of a nocturnal flying predator that may be hunting bats around Marfa, Texas. Its glow, in Papua New Guinea, is legendary, although it has many names and is seen in other parts of the world. We call it “ropen.” That is why I, rather than Mr. Silcock or a bat expert, am writing this, and why this is published on a blog page of livingpterosaur.com rather than on savingbats.com.

I interview eyewitnesses of apparent living pterosaurs. That’s what I do. I’ve written two books on the subject, including Live Pterosaurs in America; there’s little room for details here. When somebody sees what appears to be a one of these creatures, whether in Sudan, Africa, or Bishopville, South Carolina, I receive an email. (The rarity of emails from Africa I attribute to rarity of computers there, not to rarity of creatures.)

I do not proclaim that a string of evidences prove that Marfa Lights are living pterosaurs; I merely point out that years of research (by experts perhaps more intelligent than me) have failed to explain these dances and other strange behaviors. And when the impossible has been eliminated, whatever is left, however improbable, is . . . well . . . living pterosaurs.

________________________________________________________________________

The cryptozoology book Live Pterosaurs in America has been the number-one best-selling book, on Amazon.com, for nonfictions about living pterosaurs. (late 2009 through mid-2010, compared with “Searching for Ropens,” “Dinosaurs, Dead or Alive,” and “Big Bird.”)

One reader has said, “I found this book very interesting. . . . The problem with science is that we think we know it all and that is far from reality. This book shows courage to continue the search. If you have an interest in cryptozoology you should read this.” (Dale Reeder, Pennsylvania) It’s in the genre of a nonfiction cryptozoology book.