Flying Creature Like a Dinosaur Bird

It seems that some eyewitnesses of modern pterosaurs have another problem besides risking their reputations by telling others about what they saw: How do you spell “pterosaur?” Some eyewitnesses may search on Google with “flying creature” or “dinosaur bird.” That is unfortunate, for those searches, with those words, will bring up many irrelevant pages, not likely pages of the cryptozoology researchers who have specialized in modern living pterosaurs.

[Please note: I tried “Dinosaur Bird” with Google early in the morning of August 9, 2010; other than the page you are now reading, nothing else came up, on the first 10 pages of Google, relevant to living pterosaur cryptozoological investigations.]

I would like to suggest some pages that are most informative and interesting and relevant to the research that has been going on for the past 6-12 years.

Are Reports of Living Pterosaurs Anecdotes?

“A short account of a particular incident”—that is one definition of “anecdote.” But the connotation includes more than “short,” for “anecdote” is the word more appropriate when an event is witnessed by only one or a few and the report is second hand at best. Regarding eyewitness accounts of living pterosaurs, I have found that ”anecdote” has been eliminated as a valid word for some of the reports.

American Ghost Lights

. . . Some of these owls can turn on a glow on their underside. In fact, the whiteness of some of their feathers is explained by this intrinsic glowing capability: White feathers allow light to pass through.

So how do glowing owls relate to reports of live pterodactyls? In Papua New Guinea, the ropen is seen usually from a distance at night. How is it seen? It glows, sometimes brightly, as it flies. How can anyone conclude that it is a pterosaur? When it is seen up close, it is seen to be one.

Monsterquest “Flying Monsters” Television Episode

. . . the MonsterQuest expedition on New Britain Island, in early 2009, was not itself a serious living-pterosaur investigation . . . video footage from previous expeditions was shown with little mention of those expeditions. Nevertheless, this episode introduced many Americans to the possibility of extant pterosaurs. In that sense, it was a success.

For those using a search engine like Google, I suggest using “modern pterosaur” or something similar (like “living pterosaur”) rather than “dinosaur bird.”