Papua New Guinea Sighting – Page 3

September 8, 2014January 3, 2019

Ropen “Extinction” on Wikipedia

By the investigative journalist Jonathan Whitcomb

The “ropen” page on Wikipedia, at one time, had many paragraphs, delighting some cryptozoologists but annoying some skeptics. One biology professor in Minnesota, in particular, detested the many web pages he saw that supported belief in modern living pterosaurs, including the long-tailed ropen. It may have been a coincidence, but when he wrote his own blog post, ridiculing me about my writings about the ropen—that was about the time that the “ropen” page became extinct on Wikipedia. With limited warning, it was deleted, with the excuse that it did not provide enough mainstream opinion about the flying cryptid.

Why did no biologist or paleontologist seem to make any “ropen” statement on Wikipedia? Who knows? I tried to quote the words of one paleontologist Dr. David Martill, to save the Wikipedia page from deletion, but one self-appointed editor, with not enough patience to look deeply, deleted my quotation. It was unfair, but I could not spare more hours of work to submit text that could again be deleted within five minutes.

The “Ropen” page was censored through deletion on Wikipedia

I don’t think Dr. Martill (the pterosaur fossil expert) had anything to do with deleting the Wikipedia page; whether of not the biology professor in Minnesota caused the censoring, directly or indirectly, I don’t know. But since the man in Minnesota railed against the countless web pages that I, Jonathan Whitcomb, have written on the subject of modern pterosaurs, I now submit the following as evidence that I am not the “only” source of information about ropens. None of the following three pages were written by me:

Ropen of Papua New Guinea

I don’t believe this page is perfectly accurate in all details. The wingspan estimate given by Duane Hodgkinson was actually about twenty-nine feet rather than twenty feet, for it was similar to the size of a Piper Tri-Pacer. Also, I do not believe that “demon flyer” is the literal meaning of the word “ropen.”

Unknown-Explorers – Ropen

I also see problems with some details on this page, including the wingspan estimates and confusion about “ropen” and “duah.” Different names of flying creatures, among natives having hundreds of different village languages, is hardly evidence that different species of animals are being described. Some ropens are small and older ones are larger. “Duah” surely is a mistake by a Western explorer, many years ago; the correct name is “duwas.”

Ropen on Destination Truth

This actually has little text. It does mention extinction being avoided by this “pterodactyl”-like creature. The page has links to Destination Truth pages on cryptids like the Orang Pendek, Ogopogo, and Swamp Ape.

Critics and Bulverism

The British author and philosopher C. S. Lewis used the word “bulverism” for the habit some people fell into to avoid actual reasoning on topics. A person may dismiss an opposing idea by explaining why the opponent is “so silly.” Some critics of modern-pterosaur investigations find fault with imagined motivations of me and my associates, using that bulverism to avoid the real issue of whether or not all species of pterosaurs became extinct. Why not, instead, just discuss the subject?

UPDATE: January 3, 2019

As of January 2, 2019, there is still no page on the English Wikipedia named “ropen.” On the other hand, it does have a page titled Kongamoto, which is about a cryptid in Africa that seems to resemble the ropen of Papua New Guinea. Wikipedia also has a page on the winged cryptid Orang-bati, which is reported to fly in Indonesia.

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Ropen made extinct on Wikipedia

. . . his blog post may have contributed to the extinction of that page on Wikipedia, however (“There are no living pterosaurs and ‘ropen’ is a stupid fantasy”). It seems likely that one or more of his students or one or more of the readers of his post were involved.

Ropen Q & A – Modern Pterosaur

I just got an email from a reader of my digital nonfiction book Live Pterosaurs in Australia and in Papua New Guinea. The man’s questions deserve answers but for everybody, not just this one reader.

June 4, 2014June 4, 2014

Which Book is for You?

related to living pterosaurs, covers of six nonfiction books

Modern pterosaurs, live “pterodactyls,” nonfiction flying dragons—those are heavy concepts, too heavy to be carried only by blog posts or forum discussions. We need a nonfiction book, indeed at least one or two books, to lift us out of the doldrums of extinction indoctrination. But which is best for you?

Let’s now examine what’s available, in paperback, hardcover, and Kindle digital formats, first noting the various genres and cross-genres related to nonfiction cryptozoology. Not every book is included here, for such a review (if done in depth) would almost demand a small book of its own. I now summarize and include those books I know best and that are most relevant to sightings of modern pterosaurs, by alphabetical order of the titles. Be aware that I have written three nonfictions (in seven editions) on this subject, and am probably the most prolific author on modern pterosaurs, yet I will try to be objective, even though three of these six books I wrote myself.

Big Bird

The reports in this book are mostly from Texas, and some of them are really interesting. The lack of editing, however, is displeasing to some readers, including me, at least for some pages. I gave it three stars on Amazon, partly because of the imperfections in basic written English. With that said, some of the reports are unavailable in other cryptozoological sources, for the author has interviewed at least some of the eyewitnesses himself. The author seems to have been careless about the accuracy of some of the data, although this is probably a limited problem. If you like to read about strange flying cryptids that hide from biology professors, this book may please you, especially if you live in Texas.

The author seems to assume a standard-model perspective regarding evolution, if you’re interested.

Bird From Hell (second edition)

Keep in mind that a third edition of Bird From Hell has many more pages than the second edition that I have read. Like Big Bird, this book needs professional English editing yet contains accounts not easily obtained in other books or other sources. If you are a cryptozoology fan living in or near British Columbia, Canada, this nonfiction I highly recommend, but I suspect the third edition may be improved, so buy that one.

Yet even for those who would be interested in reports of living pterosaurs in Canada, be aware: In the second edition, much of the content is about other cryptids, non-flying creatures, NOT possible pterosaurs. Now beware: Anybody who considers exploring in British Columbia, searching for any cryptid—that persons needs to read this book (or the third edition) before traveling to that part of Canada, for the dangers need to be known and understood. Especially, do not wander around at night in northern British Columbia, without much preparation and advanced warnings; the devil bird by itself is dangerous enough. Here’s the link to the THIRD edition: Bird From Hell

This author also seems to assume a standard-model perspective for evolution.

Chronicles of Dinosauria

This Biblical young-earth-creation (YEC)/cryptozoology cross-genre nonfiction is popular with those holding to particular beliefs in the Bible (recent origins of life and recent creation of everything in the universe). How popular? It’s not a best-seller in a broad sense, but of the 51 Amazon reader reviews, as of June 3, 2014, 49 gave it five stars out of five and the other two gave it four stars, and those are not just from friends and relatives who are biased in their praise.

Of those 51 reviews, mine was the longest, and I gave the book five stars. The author is one of my associates, as both of us explored the same remote tropical island in Papua New Guinea, searching for ropens, which we believe are living pterosaurs. So how am I unbiased in my praise? I wrote my review for Chronicles of Dinosauria soon after the publication of my most-recent nonfiction, Searching for Ropens and Finding God, and those two books compete with each other, although to only a limited degree. The point? My long review might persuade one or two readers to buy Woetzel’s book instead of my book: I am was not writing that five-star review out of bias in favor of a book written by my associate.

Setting aside the YEC genre for a moment, how does Chronicles of Dinosauria rate as a nonfiction modern-pterosaur book? Alas, it competes poorly in that sense, with only a few pages relating to those featherless flying creatures. This book really is mostly about modern dinosaurs and how they relate to faith in the Bible.

Live Pterosaurs in America (third edition)

I consider this a nonfiction in pure cryptozoology genre, even with two pages (in the appendix) dealing with concepts of origin philosophies. If you want a book only about cryptozoology and only about sightings of apparent pterosaurs in the 48 contiguous states of the USA, this is for you. The only serious competition in that narrow sense would be from the third edition of Searching for Ropens and Finding God, which has a 100-page chapter about sighting in the USA. By the way, sighting-report overlapping is minimal between these two books.

What else can I say except to quote from the Introduction?

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.

Live Pterosaurs in Australia and in Papua New Guinea

This Kindle digital book could be compared to Big Bird and Bird From Hell, in the sense that it deals with potential modern pterosaurs in one part of the world, yet it actually resembles Live Pterosaurs in America in more respects; that’s not surprising, since I’m the author of both “Live Pterosaurs” books.

This is not a simple digest from an earlier version of Searching for Ropens, although much of the information is contained in those earlier print books; but if you have read any edition of Searching for Ropens, you will find much of the expedition accounts redundant.

This is for those who have not read any version of the longer print book, readers who would like a short digital book for a low cost: a quick introduction to non-extinct pterosaurs in the southwest Pacific.

Searching for Ropens and Finding God (third edition)

I recently got a Facebook message from a lady who had learned how much another lady had enjoyed my most recent book, Searching for Ropens and Finding God. The second lady said that it was the best book she had ever read . . . then I got to the next part of the sentence: the best book that was written by me. Oh well, I can still dream.

I strongly feel this is indeed the best book I have ever written, but let’s keep to the facts.

It is my longest book, with 353 printed pages
It is the biggest nonfiction on living pterosaurs, that I know of
It has the worst sales record of any of my books, in the first few weeks after publication, at least in the American Amazon sales, but I see an explanation

I have not yet gotten noticed by the larger group of nonfiction readers, compared with those who have already read an earlier edition of Searching for Ropens. This third edition is a spiritual true-life adventure as much as a cryptozoology book. It can be enjoyed by those of different faiths, not just by those who hold similar beliefs as me and my associates. But as of the beginning of June, 2014, I just have not found a way to contact those many readers who would enjoy and benefic from this large book on a strange subject that most Americans have not even imagined: modern pterosaurs.

With that said, here is a comment from one of the first readers, Racel Sopoco of Ontario, Canada:

Hi Jonathan,

I just finished your book. Came just in time as I had a week off to do nothing but travel to Papua New Guinea with you [through reading the book]! What an adventure you went on, you’re very brave. I enjoyed the book . . . your writing seems genuine and from the heart which is most important in my opinion. I could see the challenges you might face with a strictly science based audience so maybe writing an edition which mentions nothing but facts could help gain some support? Then again, it’s your book and you can’t please everyone. I suppose it depends on what you’re hoping to accomplish. I myself look to science to answer questions but I keep an open mind because if there’s one solid belief that I have, it is of how little we really know. Life is such a magical mystery, I just keep looking for clues and following my heart. . . .

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April 21, 2014May 14, 2014

Ropen Critic on Youtube

crude head sketches evaluated by Hodgkinson

Around September of 2013, the following comment appeared in response to the “Ropen-Pterodactyl American Eyewitness” Youtube video:

“Wow! The problem here is these creatures would have to live in populations in order to survive. They would be seen by lots of different people (not just wacky fundies) and would be well known to science. It is pathetic you people live in a fantasy. Join the rest of us in a place called…the real world.”

What did that skeptic mean by saying that these creatures “would be seen by lots of different people?” Garth Guessman and I created the video, and we could very well be labeled “fundies” by this critic, but the sighting was in 1944, years before we were born: Obviously, we did not see the creature reported in this video. Mr. Hodgkinson did not reveal anything about his religious beliefs in this video, so why assume he is a “fundy?” What did the skeptic mean? I suggest this critic was not thinking clearly and was also not thinking deeply.

In Searching for Ropens and Finding God, three estimates are given for the number of persons who have encountered a modern living pterosaur, worldwide, during the past fifty years. The lowest estimate involved encounters with obvious pterosaurs: 70 thousand; another estimate was 7 million; the third was 128 million eyewitness encounters. That last estimate (like the second one) refers to all actual encounters that humans have had with modern pterosaurs during the past fifty years, and that is a conservative estimate, although it’s critical to know one factor: Those were mostly encounters at night and the vast majority of them were with limited human visibility, so the persons did not recognize what had flown overhead, with few exceptions. Maybe less than 1% were aware that it was not a bird or bat that they had encountered in the dark.

Yet even the lowest estimate—70,000—seems quite enough to be labeled “lots of different people,” for these were worldwide sightings over a fifty year period, with eyewitnesses from various languages and religious beliefs. Did the skeptic assume that Hodgkinson’s sighting was the only sighting?

The critic gives no indication or suggestion that he has seen or read of any other eyewitness sighting report of an apparent pterosaur, so we are left to think this: He has only seen this one report. Why does he think that “lots of different people” have not seen anything similar? Has he interviewed every person who has ever lived on this planet?

And what did he mean by “the real world?” Consider our two expeditions in 2004, in which Garth Guessman and I (and several others) explored a jungle north of where Hodgkinson reported he encountered a huge flying creature? Is not Papua New Guinea part of the “real world?”

The following are excerpts from the nonfiction book Searching for Ropens and Finding God:

Science can thrive in examining relevant details, when we ponder possibilities. Of course we also need to think clearly. . . . we live in a big world, and we need to learn what people experience in the present; we need that more than we need to be bound by old ideas about imagined worldwide extinctions of numberless species of a general type, regardless of how comfortable our imaginations can make us feel temporarily. Listen to experiences of common people more often than the imaginations of professors.

. . . My experience, from 2003 to 2013, has shown me . . . [that] eyewitnesses have a variety of religious beliefs, and not all supporters of these investigations share the same faith.”

So what might we all agree upon, including the critic who says, “It is pathetic you people live in a fantasy?” Would we not all agree that in the Western world, when a few persons report a sighting of a living pterosaur and they create a video and upload it to Youtube, at least one person will ridicule it with words like those we have examined, words of this skeptic? We have all seen that, and even the skeptic would find it difficult to deny that he had ridiculed us. So what can we conclude? When a few persons report a pterosaur sighting in that way, it will be ridiculed. That is why, in the Western world, few persons report their sightings, and that is part of why this wonderful discovery has been delayed for so long in the United States and other Western countries.

Survey form given to Duane Hodgkinson, in which he chose the longest head crest

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The new nonfiction book Searching for Ropens and Finding God

From page 183:

The wings were somewhere between 15 and 20 feet wide and they covered the entire opening to the U-shaped inlet when they were open. The wings were bat shaped without feathers, the head’s silhouette looked like a point (again, could not see facial features as it had the moon behind it) like a head crest but what I was looking at more than anything else was its large, sharp talons.