Some of the strangest missing-persons cases may relate to a few individual animals of one species of ropen in North America, according to what I have read so far in the book Missing 411 Western United States & Canada, by David Paulides.
Please keep in mind that I have read nothing that even hints that Mr. Paulides has considered the possibility of large modern pterosaurs in regard to any disappearance of any missing person. I take full responsibility for the following model, and the evidences, so far, are circumstantial, for such attacks in the forty-eight contiguous states of the USA.
Model of a Ropen Attack (Theoretical)
When a person is alone in a wilderness area in the United States, a large hungry ropen may attack, subduing the human by a mist or vapor that is debilitating when inhaled by prey. This may explain why human victims, when found alive, are asleep or unconscious or in a state that rescuers may describe as “confused” or “disoriented.”
The ropen may grab the person by the coat or pants or shirt or even by the shoes. That is why the body or living person found by rescuers has such clothing missing. It also explains why such clothing is found in other locations and why the pants are sometimes found inside out. The victim falls out of the clothing sometimes but not always.
The ropen flies away with the human victim but not high above the ground. Why not high? It would take more energy and time to ascend high above the ground. This explains why tracking dogs sometimes cannot find a scent and when they do track, it’s only for a limited distance, for the victim may have had limited contact with bushes or even the ground, during the low-level flight.
This low-level flight also explains why people nearby do not see the victim being carried away, for the abduction is obscured by trees or vegetation or by the hills surrounding the creeks or creek beds that ropens use for navigation.
When a body or living victim is found by rescuers, scratches may be found on the person. Those are from the claws or talons of the ropen. When scratches are absent, the victim was fortunate the creature had been holding onto the clothing only or the shoes only.
Falling out of clothing/shoes also explains why living victims may be found in bushes like berry bushes: The fall was cushioned by the vegetation. Remember it’s low-level flight.
This model also explains why children, even toddlers less than three years old, are often found miles away from where they disappeared. Two-year-olds do not climb high mountains and hike many miles across barriers like a river or a fence or a steep cliff. They are carried over all those obstacles through the air.
.
Some ropens are large enough to be dangerous to people
.
Sketch by the eyewitness Patty Carson: a flying creature seen in Eastern Cuba
###
The case of missing-child Garrett Bardsley has barely enough evidence to even mention in regard to potential attacks from a North American ropen. But even if only one child can be saved from being a victim, it will be worth all the efforts we can muster.
Missing Persons – Coast to Coast
David Paulides was interviewed on Coast-to-Coast on May 18, 2014
. . . it brings to mind native accounts from Papua New Guinea, but this is far closer to home, in British Columbia, Canada. For many years, there have been reports of people being attacked in Africa and in Papua New Guinea. I have only recently noticed this news about flying creatures attacking people in British Columbia at night.
.
