Sightings – Page 5 – Modern Pterosaur

April 17, 2015

The Van Meter Flying Creature

nonfiction book cover "The Van Meter Visitor"

Yesterday I noticed a post by a skeptic who wrote about the legend of the Van Meter creature of 1903, a reportedly winged monster that frightened citizens in a small town in Iowa. (Actually, it appears there was more than one of the creatures.) I will not mention the pen name of the skeptic here, but she had previously written about me, assuming that I had been deceiving people about the ropen or living pterosaurs. She grouped me with those whom she proclaims are “deceiving people to undermine science.”

So perhaps I am not without bias when I first encounter any post by this woman, but I took notice that she again attacked the possibility of a modern pterosaur. Let’s look deeper than this outspoken skeptic appears to have looked. We’ll consider how bioluminescence might explain the strange reports from a century ago.

If the town of Van Meter, Iowa, stood alone with a series of sightings in the early 20th century, what about recent sightings? What about reported encounters with pterosaur-like animals in recent times, in the neighboring states of Wisconsin and Missouri? I doubt that Van Meter really stands alone.

Please consider what I wrote on page 31 of the third edition of my nonfiction book Live Pterosaurs in America:

Later I received an email from a man in Wisconsin.

” . . . wanted to tell someone about a sighting I had back in the late 1970’s or early 1980’s. I grew up on a farm and picked cucumbers to make money as a kid. All of my sisters and brother did also. Anyways one late afternoon, I had just brought out the tractor to pick up the bags of cucumbers when I noticed a strange looking bird in the sky. . . . it looked like something straight out of the dinosaurs era. It scared the . . . out of me right away. I knew it was not a sand hill crane, which we have a few hundred migrating thru. What stood out was the long pointed head and the fact that there was a very long tail between the legs and with a ball shaped on the end of it. . . .”

On page 228 of the fourth edition of Searching for Ropens and Finding God, I wrote about a sighting in Missouri:

On the afternoon of January 2, 2013, a U.S. Marine, who is stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, saw something strange overhead. He told me, “I could not believe my eyes. It appeared to be several feet long, and had a very large wing span, perhaps 10 feet or more. It was gliding for the most part . . .”

It had a long head with a “cone protruding from behind its head.” He also told me it had “a very long tail with what I can only describe as a diamond shape at the end.”

In spite of the protest of one skeptic, the Van Meter flying creatures may have been nocturnal pterosaurs, related to others that have been reported more recently across the United States. If it’s not the same species, it may still be related, and bioluminescence may be the correct explanation for its glow.

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Bioluminescent Flying Creatures in America

“It was late in the evening almost dark . . . I was walking from my car to my house [in Sun Valley] and something in the sky caught my eye. My girlfriend also looked up and right away said is that a bat . . . What caught my eye was the bright radiation like light coming from the belly of this Pterodactyl looking animal . . .”

Van Meter Creature

“The Van Meter Visitor” is a large paperback with 238 pages, on a subject whose main points could easily be summed up in a medium-length article, if no photos or sketches were included. This book has a generous selection of photos and other images, many of which are directly or indirectly related to the winged creature.

Van Meter Visitor – The Book

I don’t recommend The Van Meter Visitor for those who are ignorant of live-pterosaur investigations, for this book may keep those readers ignorant of the best explanation for the strange winged creature seen in Van Meter, Iowa, in 1903. But this book may nevertheless be useful for the reader open to the possibility that the authors of this paranormal book are themselves ignorant of the plausibility of live pterosaurs.

Fourth edition of Searching for Ropens and Finding God

From the back cover:

“Settle into a comfortable chair and prepare for what may become the most unsettling scientific discovery since Copernicus and Galileo.”

April 8, 2015

Nonfiction Books That Mention Non-Extinct Pterosaurs

Not all books that include a sighting of an apparent living pterosaur are in the cryptozoology genre. Let’s begin with a translation of an ancient writing by the Jewish historian Josephus, who lived almost 2,000 years ago.

The New Complete Works of Josephus, translated by William Whiston

But Moses . . . did not march by river, but by land, where he gave a wonderful demonstration of his wisdom; for when the ground was difficult to be passed over, because of the multitude of serpents (which it produces in vast numbers, and, indeed, is singular in some of those productions, which other countries do not breed, and yet such as are worse than others in power and mischief, and an unusual fierceness of sight, some of which ascend out of the ground unseen, and also fly in the air, and so come upon men at unawares, and do them a mischief).

By the way, the above account of Moses encountering flying serpents has no direct relationship with the fiery flying serpents mentioned in the Old Testament. Josephus is here telling us about a time before Moses was a prophet to the Israelites, when Moses was leading an Egyptian army to battle. Still, it could have been the same species of pterosaur, a Rhamphorhynchoid (long-tailed) pterosaur.

Folk Lore and Folk Stories of Wales, by Marie Trevelyan and E. Sidney Hartland

The woods around Penllyne Castle, Glamorgan, had the reputation of being frequented by winged serpents, and these were the terror of old and young like. An aged inhabitant of Penllyne . . . said that in his boyhood the winged serpents were described as very beautiful. . . . Some of them had crests sparkling with all the colours of the rainbow. . . . His father and uncle had killed some of them, for they were “as bad as foxes for poultry.”

The first publication date of the above book (1909) suggests those winged creatures could have been killed off, in that part of Wales, before the middle of the nineteenth century. In fact, the “aged inhabitant” may have lived in that area in the early years of that century, and his father and uncle even much earlier, and he gave no indication he had seen the creatures himself: that species of “winged serpent” may have become extinct by early in the nineteenth century.

Unexplained! by Jerome Clark

At 3:55 a.m. on September 14, 1982, James Thompson, an ambulance technician, was driving along Highway 100 four miles east of Los Fresnos, Texas. . . . He suddenly spotted a “large birdlike object” pass low over the highway 150 feet in front of him. . . . “It had a black, or grayish, rough texture. It wasn’t feathers. I’m quite sure it was a hide-type covering.” . . . its wingspan was five to six feet.

Books Specializing in Modern Pterosaurs

I mention the above nonfiction books to emphasize that I am not the only author that writes about apparent encounters with modern living pterosaurs.

My three nonfiction books about these amazing flying creatures are:

Searching for Ropens and Finding God (in 4th edition)
Live Pterosaurs in America (in 3rd edition)
Live Pterosaurs in Australia and in Papua New Guinea (free pdf)

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Fourth Edition of Ropen Book

“He has lived and worked in some very remote areas [of the Congo in Africa], and has had several encounters with different cryptids. He says that the existence of pterosaur-like creatures is common knowledge among the locals of a certain area where he was working.”

Sense of Truth – Nonfiction Book

Look at a box of mac ‘n cheese or frozen chicken nuggets, the ones with tasty shapes of dinosaurs. Notice that some of those shapes have wings, like what many of us call pterodactyls. Did you notice the word prehistoric on the box? Now notice what small children are taught.

Two Amazing Nonfiction Books

Why would we work so hard, for so long, with so many opportunities to fabricate pterosaur sightings in so many remote jungles, and then admit that we never saw any clear form of a pterosaur? It is because we intend not to deceive but to enlighten.

Fiery Flying Serpent of Old Testament

. . . a modern Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur, possibly related to the long-tailed nocturnal creatures now seen in various areas of the world. A small portion of modern encounters with these creatures is reported to have caused human deaths in Papua New Guinea and in British Columbia . . .

Three Books on Modern Pterosaurs

Three nonfiction cryptozoology books on modern pterosaurs in North America are now available on Amazon. The three authors, Ken Gerhard, Jonathan Whitcomb, and Gerald McIsaac, have independently written their books, with no apparent collaboration between them.

January 21, 2015

Ropen Attacks

sketch of pterosaur seen by Patty Carson in Cuba in 1965

I recently received an eyewitness report from a man who was one of many children, many years ago, who had seen a giant flying creature in Canada. Please consider some of what this anonymous eyewitness reports, and believe what you will about the possibility that these children saw a large ropen.

Gigantic flying creature in Canada

I also saw a “giant” pterodactyl! Actually most of the senior students of our public school saw it too. This was back in about 1960 when I was 12 years old. . . . Since I am now almost 67 yrs old, I would like to find anyone else who might have seen one too.

Year: … 1960-1961
Date: … sometime in the fall.
Location:… Kitchener, Ontario, Canada,
Address:… King Edward Public School,

It was a dull and rainy fall morning. The rain had just stopped so we kids were forced to go outside during our morning recess. . . . it was cold and wet and a low hanging fog hovered about 20 feet above the ground.

Us guys started a ball game, but quickly gave up because the ball kept disappearing into the overhead fog . . . So, we decided to quit and just wait for the bell.

Suddenly, we heard screams . . . We looked up the field at the girls and the ones farthest away from us were pointing into the overhead fog bank and screaming. Then the girls below them started screaming and pointing into the fog. . . .

I was curious, as were all the other boys, so we positioned ourselves under the fog, hoping we would get to see whatever it was they were screaming at. I can still remember me bracing my legs apart, so as not to lose my balance as I looked up into a grey cloud.

Suddenly, It appeared! . . . An airplane-sized black bird was silently gliding just at the bottom of the fog bank. It must have been that low, so it could see where it was going by looking at the ground. It appeared to be only maybe 20 feet over my head and I could see it as clear as a bell.

The first thing I noticed was obviously its size. I was directly under one wing and it was much wider than myself and a group of my buddies put together. . . . I would estimate “one” wing to be 20 feet in length. Then I noticed a good 3 foot long pointed beak and a shorter 2 footish bump on the back of its head which was not as pointed as its beak.

Do ropens ever attack people?

Unfortunately, yes, although human victims are much more rare than the fish, birds, and bats that are usually hunted by these flying creatures.

I have seen reports, not first hand, of large flying creatures killing people on the mainland of Papua New Guinea. In villages around the cities of Lae and Finschhafen, adult humans have been carried away, apparently, although news like that rarely gets into any Western newspapers. In the remote village of Tawa, many years ago, a number of indavas used to attack natives, sometimes carrying away a child or a pig, according to Paul Nation.

In the United States and Canada, we have indirect and not-so-indirect evidence that unidentified flying creatures (UFC) sometimes attack people and may be the cause of a considerable percentage of the most mysterious cases for missing persons.

In particular, when you visit a wilderness area in North America, try not to be alone for long, and keep an eye on what may be flying overhead. Enjoy the scenery, of course, just don’t let yourself get carried away.

Ropen of eastern Cuba, mid-20th century (sketch by Patty Carson)

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Can Ropens Hide in Caves?

Last month, I learned about multi-eyewitness sightings of flying lights in the northwestern United States, lights that the observers believe are bioluminescent pterosaurs, possibly ropens. Its seems these lights fly over at least two rivers in this part of the country and near one particular river the lights enter and exit nearby caves.

Ropens are pterosaurs

The men soon realized that it was no bird that started to circle the clearing. It had a tail “at least ten to fifteen feet long.”

Three native eyewitnesses of the ropen

Last week’s “Flying Monsters” episode of MonsterQuest had major problems. For one thing, the producers included almost no detail on the eyewitness sightings.

Ropen – a living pterosaur?

How often we’ve been taught that all dinosaurs and pterosaurs became extinct millions of years ago, as if that were proven! But what if some are still living?

Credibility of native eyewitnesses

“Note that these islanders [of Umboi know about] . . . the bat we call “Flying Fox.” That nocturnal featherless flying animal is common on that island. The Flying Fox holds no fear for the native. In fact, it’s an ingredient in a soup they relish.

Bioluminescent ropen of Papua New Guinea

American cryptozoology author Jonathan Whitcomb believes the ropen of Umboi is related to the “Gitmo Pterosaur” of Cuba.

About the flying ropen

Brian Hennessy saw a “prehistoric” flying creature on Bougainville Island, in 1971. About twenty-three years later, the Umboi Island native Gideon Koro saw a similar creature, many miles to the west of Hennessy’s ropen sighting.

Destination Truth Ropen Episode

Just before Eric Wing and Neil [Mandt] interviewed me in their Hollywood office, I had received news that Paul [Nation] had videotaped some ropen lights (also called indava lights: the first video footage of its kind that would enter the United States).

A modern live pterosaur

What is this flying creature called “ropen?” Countless eyewitnesses, in many countries across the planet, have pondered what it was they had seen. But ropens continue to fly overhead, continuing to shock humans who had assumed that all pterosaurs had become extinct millions of years ago.

Flying Fox Bat Versus Ropen

Up until the late 20th Century, the flying fox explanation was used to dismiss reports of large flying creatures in Papua New Guinea, nocturnal creatures that some people called pterodactyls.

Attack in the Dead of Winter – Nightmare

Remember your worst nightmare? Were you glad to wake up? Be grateful. In the early morning hours of February 23, 2010, a few miles or so southwest of Marfa, Texas, the victims were terrified by what awakened them. I am not the eyewitness . . . I interviewed my friend James, who had been driving through Southern Texas . . .

Searching for Ropens and Finding God (nonfiction)

During those fourteen months of failure to get a ropen’s photograph, I did get many precious sighting reports from across the United States.

El Ropen de Papúa Nueva Guinea

El “ropen” es un cryptid de Papúa Nueva Guinea. Algunos investigadores creen que es un pterosauro que vive.

Jonathan Whitcomb’s Ropen Research

I have admired Jonathan Whitcomb’s Ropen / Pterosaur research for many years. I have posted a few of Jonathan’s offerings from recent years, which includes an article he wrote for Phantoms & Monsters.

Flying Dinosaurs—Alive?

Do you believe in the possibility that long-tailed featherless flying creatures, much larger than any fruit bat, live in the jungles of Papua New Guinea? Your belief depends a great deal on where you lived your childhood: in a village like Gomlongon on Umboi Island or in a western country like the United States.