Africa Sighting – Page 2 – Pterosaur Eyewitness

August 3, 2011

Long-tailed Pterosaur in Spain

Three years ago, I received a long email from an Englishman who had a sighting of a pterosaur in Spain, just a few months earlier. This flying creature may be related to the kongamato of Africa, or at least to some pterosaur-like creatures seen in Africa.

. . . I assure you I am NOT LYING- I’ve got literally no interest in making something like this up. Apart from the two people with me at the time, I haven’t mentioned this to anyone (bar yourself now), simply because I realise it sounds odd, and can’t be bothered to have to defend myself on this. However, I firmly believe that anyone seeing something generally considered unbelievable should mention it to people who are actively researching the field . . .

. . . last summer, some friends and I drove from England . . . to Benecassim (in East Spain—near los desert del palmas I think) for a music festival. One night, whilst sitting on the ground by the tents . . . I saw what I at first assumed was an owl gliding over the campsite (I assumed that because it was night time, and obviously no other birds would be out-bar things like nightjars-which this was not!) – it passed right over us, probably about 30-40ft high, and as I watched it, I realised it was definitely no owl I’d ever seen before. It was the colour of suede/sand, looked like the same sort of texture as suede (i.e no feathers), had a long thin tail, and didn’t flap once. I only saw it for a few seconds . . . it fairly quickly passed into the dark . . .

. . . wingspan I’d estimate to be only 2-3 feet tip to tip, and was gliding for the whole time I saw it. The impression I got was a lot more bat-like than bird, except it had a beak, and I realise that owls have flat faces, and bats obviously don’t have beaks.

The eyewitness could not tell whether or not the creature had a head crest, for it flew directly overhead. Several aspects of his report caused me to rate his account highly credible.

June 27, 2011June 27, 2011

Pterosaurs, Evolution, and Extinction

My associates and I, including Garth Guessman and David Woetzel, have no confidence in Darwin’s philosopohy of unlimited evolution. In fact, we actively point out weaknesses in that idea. We do not portray a modern living pterosaur as disproof, by itself, of the General Theory of Evolution (unlimited common ancestry); but I believe that it will become part of the evidence that will eventually make it obvious that Darwin’s basic concept was incorrect. The eventual official scientific discovery of modern living pterosaurs will be part of a larger picture of life on earth, a life that did not originate by accident.

My associates and I do not dispute the obvious cases of limited evolution, for example the outward changes that have resulted in many breeds of domesticated animals or the different shapes or sizes of beaks of finches. We do dispute molecules-to-man evolution.

Evolution, Religion, and Extinction of Pterosaurs

“An Evolutionary Boundary” involves simple math, for a biologically saturated environment . . . the population calculations are simple. . . . After about six months of calculations, using computer programs I wrote myself, the original population of organisms of 10e29 (the number having “1″ followed by twenty-nine zeros), after only a few generations, had only a minute fraction of viable candidates for macro-evolutionary change.

Extinguishing Pterosaur Extinction

Examine the Western textbooks in detail. Where do you find any reference to any human experience regarding the extinction of even one species of pterosaur? Such a human experience is completely lacking, and the objection that it is impossible for humans to have witnessed any extinction of any pterosaur—that objection is irrelevant: The assumption of universal pterosaur extinctions comes not from any human experience. The point? How foolish to dismiss all human experiences, from around the world, that contradict a dogma of Western textbooks!

Live Pterosaurs in New Mexico

“It had a 20-30 foot wingspan and was about the same length long. It had a long tail with [a] seeming spike at the end. Its head was very pterodactyl shape with a fluted back pointy head. It glided at about 700 feet . . . and [it landed] somewhere on the southern expanse of Magdalena Mountains.” [in New Mexico]

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.”

Kongamato Cryptid

The boy was walking from one mud-brick hut to another, one night in 1988, carrying a tray of food for family members. As he walked between the huts, he noticed something on the roof of his uncle’s hut. A creature was perched on the edge of the roof, lit up by the nearby porth light. The winged creature appeared to be four-to-five feet tall, olive brown, and leathery with no feathers. A “long bone looking thing” stuck out the back of its head . . .

Lack of Evidence for Extinction

Nothing in any scientific study or in any organized research of science has uncovered any evidence for the universal extinction of all species of pterosaurs. That idea is only a working assumption, regardless of fossils. On the other hand, the many eyewitnesses, from around the world, give evidence for several species of modern living pterosaurs, although most clear sightings involve a long tail like that of a Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur.

A common misunderstanding, even among paleontologists, is that fossils of pterosaurs can be taken as if evidence for universal extinction. In fact, fossils are evidence of life in the past, not extinctions. And no combination of fossils, however they have been dated and however reliable that dating, can ever prove the universal extinction of a group of unlimited numbers of species, such as pterosaurs. That is unscientific dogma.

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From readers of first edition of non-fiction cryptozoology book Live Pterosaurs in America (note this is now in the second edition, published late in 2010):

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

May 13, 2011

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.