Pterosaur Eyewitness

The American Duane Hodgkinson and the Australian Brian Hennessy have something in common: They have seen, in daylight, in Papua New Guinea, a huge long-tailed featherless flying creature. In the blog Live Pterosaurs, “Hodgkinson-Hennessy Ropen,” we read:

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. . . .

As I mentioned in my scientific paper (in The Creation Research Society Quarterly, Volume 45, Number 3, “Reports of Living Pterosaurs in the Southwest Pacific”), 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.

I have interviewed both of these eyewitnesses, finding both of them to be highly credible. Nothing in either the substance of their testimonies or in the way they communicated with me gave any hint of any hoax or any reasonable possibility of any misidentification error.

Pterosaurs are sometimes called “dinosaur birds,” even though they are neither dinosaurs nor birds.

The palaeontologist Darren Naish wrote a web page disparaging the idea that any pterosaur could be presently living. The dinosaur expert said ” . . . the fact that there are no indications from the fossil record that pterosaurs survived beyond the end of the Cretaceous . . .” What does that mean? The Cretaceous, according to standard-model geology (which itself is disputed by many living-pterosaur investigators), is the most recent part of the Mesozoic era, ending 65 million years ago. But “survived beyond” is the key point of interest, and major problems have been buried beneath layers of apparent reason; let’s dig them up these layers of the “Mesozoic objection.”

Many living-pterosaur critics make the same oversight as Darren Naish, for this typical response appears, on the surface, to be scientific: “No pterosaur fossil has been found above the Mesozoic.” The problem lies in the unstated assumption that fossils can be used to determine what kinds of organisms can be presently living. Whatever strengths and weaknesses may lie in layers of reasoning in the world of standard-model geology, that geology was never constructed to explain what organisms can or cannot live presently. An attempt to use that geology as a foundation for what can live now—that would cause all fossils to be crushed into useless powder by the weight of all the many forms of life we now see on this earth.

Does fossil evidence of a microbe prove that no microbe of that general type could be presently living? No. Does fossil evidence of a fish prove that no fish of that general type could be presently living? No. Does fossil evidence of a pterosaur prove that no pterosaur of that general type could be presently living? No. The idea of universal extinctions of dinosaurs and pterosaurs—that is an idea drilled into us by indoctrination, whenever any mention is made of a dinosaur or pterosaur. And in a society that harbors an unending indoctrination of universal pterosaur-extinctions, the breadth of ignorance caused by that indoctrination cannot be used as scientific evidence for pterosaur extinction. It matters not how many indoctrinated professors believe in the fantasy.

More Resources:

Extinction and Fossils

Mesozoic Objection and live pterosaurs

Look at the eyewitnesses. They’re from Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, the Philippines, the United States, Great Britain, Sudan, and many other countries around the world. What do you see? Common (and sometimes uncommon) persons of many occupations, languages, and beliefs. They seem to have nothing in common except that they have seen a pterosaur or pterosaur-like creature and they have spoken to someone about what they have seen.

Consider Papua New Guinea. For Umboi Island, eyewitnesses have included an Australian who served in a government position there, a native government leader, many common villagers, and a visiting cryptozoogist. For other areas of P.N.G., they have included an Australian psychologist, American expedition members of a television true-life adventure series, an American World War II soldier, a British entomoligist (biologist), missionaries, a non-missionary visiting a mission, many common villagers, a minister, and a visiting cryptozoologist.

Consider other areas of the Southwest Pacific. Eyewitnesses have included an Australian scientist and his wife, an Australian farm boy, a real estate agent, school-aged children, a pilot and co-pilot of a small plane, sailors on an American military ship, and common villagers.

Consider the United States. Eyewitnesses have included an attorney, a business owner, a hospital lab employee, an artist working for a silkscreening company, farmers, a fireman, teenagers, school-aged children, elementary school teachers, an ambulance driver, a minister, a plane pilot, and several cryptozoologists.

The eyewitnesses are as varied as we would expect of persons who each just happened to be in the right place at the right time, to witness a living creature rare enough and usually-reclusive enough to remain undiscovered by Western science.

More Resources:

Australian eyewitness: the psychologist Brian Hennessy

Analysis of two interviews of Gideon Koro on Umboi Island: How many ropens?

I began investigating eyewitness sightings of “pterodactyls” in 2003, one year before my expedition in Papua New Guinea. But even before my expedition, I began receiving reports from Americans, reports of apparent living pterosaurs in the United States.

Feel free to report on this blog whatever you wish to report about whatever you have experienced. Whatever ridicule or doubt that you have previously received is now past; I will consider your report with an open mind, although I cannot promise to always keep all comments untouched, for several reasons (I will not allow ridicule of any eyewitness or dirty language, for example).