Pterosaur Eyewitness

How do Marfa Lights relate to biology, in particular to sightings of living pterosaurs? Not by a direct correlation, such as an eyewitness discerning wings while looking at a Marfa Light through a telescope, at least not yet. But there are indirect correlations.

While reading Hunting Marfa Lights (for the second time, it’s a great book), I was struck by an account of a flying “ML” (mystery light) that Mr. Bunnell witnessed in November of 2002. The light was flying where there was no road, and fast enough that it could not have been any vehicle off-road. He noticed that the light went out two or three times, remaining off for a few seconds at a time. What caught my attention was Bunnell’s impression (on page 67) of the reappearance of the light: It “would begin with a brilliant flash of light as if the ML was somehow recharged while in an off state.”

How telling! That reminded me of the light from the ropen of Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea, and the flying lights seen by the British biologist Evelyn Cheesman, on the mainland, west of Umboi. Those lights are very limited in how long they remain on, only a few seconds. We believe the flying creatures recharge their intrinsic bioluminescent capacity during the off-state; it could be the production of a secretion involved with the bioluminescence. (When I say “we,” I refer to my associates in cryptozoology, not Bunnell or Cheesman.)

Marfa Lights to Monstrous Heights

A newspaper reporter seemed to have rejected my opinion about Marfa Lights, because of my apparent lack of relevant scientific training, at least when compared with the education of Mr. Bunnell. She missed the point.

. . . since Ms Feldman has written an article, giving an obvious opinion (that Marfa Lights are not caused by bioluminescent flying predators), what scientific training has she had? Has she ever seen any Marfa Lights? Her indirect experience (interviewing those with certain experiences) do not cause us to question her opinions; why should my indirect experience (interviewing those with certain experiences) cause her to question my opinions? She seems to have missed the critical point that my position as a writer is similar to her position as a writer: We both interview persons, then write about what we have learned. The main difference may be this: I have years of experience researching reports of living pterosaurs and flying lights that are coorelated to some of those apparent pterosaurs (and a few months experience researching Marfa Lights); Ms Feldman has a few days of experience researching Marfa Lights.

Bioluminescent Pterosaurs in America

How critical is this to the possibility that Marfa Lights are caused by bioluminescent flying predators! Some eyewitnesses see living pterosaurs and a few see glowing pterosaurs.

. . . a lady who was on a cruise in the Caribbean, with family members. Her daughter brought her onto the deck one night, anxious for her to see what was flying over the sea. The mother . . . saw two apparent pterosaurs, glowing and flying back and forth . . .

Flying Under the Radar in Marfa, Texas

What is the best hiding place for what may be living pterosaurs near Marfa? It’s probably not the caves that are said to be scattered around the old volcanic landscape, nor the suspicions of ranchers who don’t like trespassers, nor the dark of night, nor low flights of the predators. What best hides possible pterosaurs near Marfa is Western dogma about dinosaurs and pterosaurs becoming extinct millions of years ago: universal extinction dogma.

According to Wikipedia, “Lucy Evelyn Cheesman (1881 – 1969) was a British entomologist and traveller” who was the first woman to be hired as a curator at the Regent’s Park Zoo (London, England). Her accomplishments in biological discovery, during her many travels around the world, extended beyond finding new species of insects. The following species were named in her honor:

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)

I have been communicating, by email, with a man who was born on Manus Island (northern Papua New Guinea). How thrilling it was to learn a new local name for the ropen! “Kor” they call the nocturnal glowing creature that flies over the sea, catching fish.

It seems to be at least closely related to pterosaur-like creatures in other areas of Papua New Guinea. Names include seklo-bali, duwas, indava, wawanar, and of course ropen. Among these, the only one that I do not yet have much information about is “wawanar;” all I was told (by a native sailor who is from Pilio Island and knows the legend) was that the wawanar is the dragon who owns the land and the sea.

Like other nocturnal glowing flying creatures in Papua New Guinea, the kor may be related to the Marfa Lights of Texas. It may also be related to the lights seen by the British biologist Evelyn Cheesman, on the mainland of New Guinea, in the 1930′s.

第二次世界大戦で、軍艦が島の洞穴を砲撃しました。