For the past eleven years, I (Jonathan Whitcomb) have interviewed eyewitnesses of apparent pterosaurs from various areas of the world. Many of those whom I have questioned report a flying creature resembling what my associates and I call ropens.
Let’s consider some of the recent reports that have come in.
West Virginia, 2015 (apparent bioluminescence)
An eyewitness sent me an email about a sighting he had early on May 18, 2015, near Blue Lick Road, in Harrison County, West Virginia.
. . . this past Monday morning around 4ish we seen what appeared to [be] a ufo but then we realized it was alive. It had wings [and] was glowing green, extremely bright. It flew maybe 150 to 200 ft above us . . .
It had a tail . . . the wings are in a pyramid shape, I’m talking about both wings as it glided over us, from the head to where they went in the body, from the top of the wings, meaning the head, down to the body was like a pyramid. The whole body was glowing . . .
Nicaragua, about 2009
I found your web page and would like to share with you a sighting of a bird that happened more than 5 years ago. It was a rainy day and for some reason from the patio deck I looked up and saw the only bird flying. I can recall its shape as a big M with long neck and tail. I called my wife and she also was amazed for the looks of the animal. Even though it was high in the sky, it seemed to be big and featherless.
Louisiana, 2014
I seen one for myself. Last year, living in Metairie (suburbs of
New Orleans, LA), while at a friends BBQ. . . . I am CERTAIN of what I saw. The beasts size was as big as a small plane. It circled around my area a couple of times . . . I also noticed the slick skin . . . This was no silent drone glider plane. I know what I saw and one friend saw it too.
Virginia, 2015
I’m not positive about what [I] and my 16 year old son saw flying across a major road in Richmond, VA, a couple of days ago at dusk. What I do know is, it was something we have never saw before. Its wing span was massive! It looked to be about 10 feet across and its tail was long with a triangle point! We were so flabbergasted looking at it that I nearly crashed!
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Ropen sketched by the eyewitness Patty Carson (sighting in Cuba, circa 1965)
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. . . an alleged relict pterosaur that has been reported from the jungles . . . a large, featherless flying creature with a long tail. It is reported to glow at night, in a way suggesting the animal controls the light . . .
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. . . .
Before you dismiss the concept of a modern pterosaur (in particular, of a long-tailed featherless Rhamphorhynchoid), consider the many eyewitness testimonies of those flying creatures. . . . We have reports of modern pterosaurs in other parts of the world including the United States: California, Washington State, Oregon, Arizona, Utah, Maine, Ohio, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and other states.
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.
In addition, the two ropen expeditions of 2004 brought to light the long tail of this huge flying creature. The native Gideon Koro told the American cryptozoologist Jonathan Whitcomb that the creature that he and his six friends saw had a tail that was seven meters long (twenty-three feet).
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