Gitmo Rhamphorhynchoid

The Gitmo (Guantanamo Bay military base) had modern Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaurs, at least a few decades ago, so the Caribbean may still host such a “flying dinosaur.” I use that non-technical phrase in this post, for those flying creatures, because Patty Carson probably used that phrase or one like it when she told her father, the base commander, about her terrifying experience in 1965, when she and her younger brother saw it.

In my last post, I had assumed that there were more than two children who were eyewitnesses in 1965, but I have since learned that there were only two. We cannot depend of the second child, however, because he was only four at the time and now has no memory of the experience. If I understand correctly, however, the two years difference in age may not be the primary factor in memory, for Patty Carson, who was six years old at the time, has always had a better memory the average and she seems to have indicated that her memory is better than her brothers (Whitcomb phone interview, May 4, 2011).

I have also learned that Carson, later in childhood or adolescence, was inquisitive and sharp and recognized one or more images of pterosaurs at the Smithsonian, when her father worked in Washington D.C.

Flying Dinosaur Still Flies in Cuba

I have recently learned that Eskin Kuhn is not the only eyewitness of a large long-tailed pterosaur (Rhamphorhynchoid) at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. On May 4, 2011, I interviewed, by phone, Patty Carson, who now lives in Southern California but who witnessed a “flying dinosaur” at Guantanamo Bay, in 1965. Although she was only a child at the time, she immediately told her family about the frightening encounter, and although her family disbelieved her at the time, her testimony of the appearance of that flying creature now verifies the plausibility of Kuhn’s 1971 sighting. Patty verified that the sketch drawn by Kuhn is very similar to what she had seen in 1965.

More Support for a Rhamphorhynchoid Pterosaur in Cuba

A problem keeps popping up in my investigation of reports of living pterosaurs. Eyewitness usually report to me a sighting where nobody else has ever before reported one. Lake Pung on Umboi Island in Papua New Guinea is an exception, as is a secret location in North America. But now a new report supports a previous sighting report. Patty Carson, of California, has reported to me her encounter with a large pterosaur that popped up in some scrub brush on the Guantanamo Bay military installation, many years ago.

Her sighting confirms the credibility of the eyewitness Eskin Kuhn, who long ago reported his 1971 encounter. But Patty saw a similar creature in 1965, when she was just a child.