Tag: kongamato

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Kongamato and Ropen

The kongamato of Africa has been compared with the ropen of Papua New Guinea, in that similarly-described flying creatures have been associated with grave robbery. But what’s in a name? Apparent pterosaurs have various names in various countries of the world; in the United States, we sometimes hear “pterodactyl” and “dinosaur bird.” Regardless of the label an eyewitness attaches to a flying creature, let’s examine some of those encounters, worldwide, especially the kongamato and the ropen.

Kongamato of Africa

According to Wikipedia:

The Kongamato has been seen by African natives and European explorers for some time, and almost all of the accounts say it is a reddish blackish creature resembling a pterosaur. Some other people have come back with large, deep wounds that they claim to be from the Kongamato. Eyewitness accounts say the creature has teeth, leathery wings, a beak, and claws. Some British scientists and explorers have shown natives drawings of pterosaurs, and the natives were said to have a terrified reaction.

According to an account in Sudan, Africa, (I communicated with the eyewitness by email):

Walking from one mud-brick hut to another [carrying a tray of food], early one night in 1988, the boy noticed something on the roof of a nearby hut. . . .  perched on the edge of the roof, the creature appeared to be four-to-five feet tall, olive brown, and leathery (no feathers). A “long bone looking thing” stuck out the back of its head, and its long tail somehow resembled that of a lion. . . . the creature stretched its wings and hopped toward another roof, passing a few feet over the boy’s head. He dropped the metal tray with dishes and the creature flew away.

Living Pterosaurs in Africa: Similar to the Ropen?

What about the “flying snake” of Namibia? According to research done by the British cryptozoologist Richard Muirhead, one of these creatures “swooped down” from a cave near Kirris West . . . It left a trace of something on the ground and a burning smell.

Ropen of Papua New Guinea

In 2004 . . . Jonathan Whitcomb, a U.S. forensic videographer, interviewed Gideon on the remote island of Umboi in Papua New Guinea. He confirmed the reliability of the young man’s testimony that he saw a giant pterosaur-like creature when he was with several other boys years ago. There is nothing in the recent interview that would suggest any dishonesty or gross errors in what this young man reported to Whitcomb.

Living Pterosaurs in the Philippines

“. . . what he called a “pterodactyl,” in fact two flying together, when he was a boy in the city of Pagbilao, Quezon Province (not to be confused with Quezon City). . . . they have long tails about 3 to 4 meters long . . .it is not a bird: They don’t have any feathers. . . . “I saw them clearly: the SHAPE, their BAT-LIKE WINGS, a LONG NECK and . . . I dunno if it is a horn behind their heads. They have a long beak. . . . They don’t have any feathers . . .”

Pterodactyl in Ontario

by Kevin Meixner

In Brampton, Ontario, Canada, while driving to work [in the morning] . . . my mother and I saw a strange bird-like creature flying low and close to the car about 20 feet away from us. . . .  it didn’t look like any kind of bird I have ever seen before. . . . to my astonishment as it turned it looked exactly like a miniature pterodactyl like you see in the movies like Jurassic Park or on The Flintstones cartoons. The only difference is that it was much smaller, having a wingspan of about four feet. It was gray and did not appear to have any feathers. . . . It had a long, skinny, pointed tail extended straight behind it that had sort of a diamond shape at the tip.

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Pterosaurs or Stingrays in Africa?

Stingrays are related to sharks and some live in fresh water. An apparently fresh conjecture about the origin, in Africa, of the word “Kongamato,” however, has little relevance to most reports of living pterosaurs. The idea that a species of large stingray may have been the origin of the African word for “overturner or boats” may have some merit, but the origin of the word “Kongamato” is irrelevant.

Regardless of what caused natives, long ago, to name this frightening creature, many reports of apparent pterosaurs in Africa involve featherless creatures flying over land, not jumping out of water, as a stingray may do on occasion. Although some modern pterosaurs appear to live close to water (even catching fish on reefs, as is the case with the ropen of Papua New Guinea) the sighting reports themselves, when details are noted, eliminate any reasonable possibility that what was seen was a stingray.

Living Pterosaurs in Africa

But what about the “flying snake” of Namibia? According to research done by the British cryptozoologist Richard Muirhead, one of these creatures “swooped down” from a cave near Kirris West, in 1942, (sixty miles east of Keetmanshoop, south-west Namibia.) It left a trace of something on the ground and a burning smell.

Pterodactyl in Sudan, Africa

The boy noticed something on the roof of a nearby hut. Lit up by the patio light, perched on the edge of the roof, the creature appeared to be four-to-five feet tall, olive brown, and leathery (no feathers). A “long bone looking thing” stuck out the back of its head, and its long tail somehow resembled that of a lion. The boy froze as the creature stretched its wings and hopped toward another roof, passing a few feet over the boy’s head. He dropped the metal tray with dishes and the creature flew away.

Regardless of the origin of the word “Kongamato,” (from a stringray or a pterosaur) the modern meaning, in Western countries, involves concepts related to a modern pterosaur.

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Living Pterosaurs in Africa: Similar to the Ropen?

The Kongamato, according to Wikipedia, is said to reside in Western Zambia, Angola and Congo (Africa). According to In Witchbound Africa (non-fiction book by F. Melland), this very dangerous creature flies along certain rivers, attacking small boats, at times, hence the name that means “breaker of boats.” Although the wingspan seems smaller than the ropen of Papua New Guinea (four to seven feet), some pterosaur-like creatures in P.N.G. have been described as about that size, especially the kor of the Manus Island area (northern P.N.G.).

But what about the “flying snake” of Namibia? According to research done by the British cryptozoologist Richard Muirhead, one of these creatures “swooped down” from a cave near Kirris West, in 1942, (sixty miles east of Keetmanshoop, south-west Namibia.) It left a trace of something on the ground and a burning smell. Could that burning smell be related to the cause of death of a fisherman who was killed by a kor (northern Papua New Guinea, 1960’s)? The man died three days after being attacked by the pterosaur-like animal; his body was not just torn: It was also burned. In at least one other area of Papua New Guinea, the creatures are said to drip a liquid that can burn human skin.