Modern Pterosaur – Page 25 – Please join us: Investigate reports of modern living pterosaurs.

January 23, 2012February 4, 2012

Omens and The Alchemist

Warning: Don’t read the end of this posting if you are about to read The Alchemist, for it gives away the ending of that story.

I’m usually wary of signs or omens, at least when the person interpreting them may be subject to personal subjective influences. But sometimes coincidences can at least be interesting. Such is the case with the following two facts regarding an allegorical novel by the Brazilizan author Paulo Coelho: The Alchemist.

Jonathan Whitcomb, author of Live Pterosaurs in America, is a volunteer editor for Wikipedia, one of many thousands of writers who try to keep that online giant well oiled and up to date. He recently noticed that the page on The Alchemist gave that book credit for sixty-five million copies sold worldwide. He researched it and found the actual number was twenty-three million, so he corrected the Wikipedia mistake.

Well, by coincidence (or by an omen, if you like the story of The Alchemist) sixty-five million is highly relevant to those who pursue modern pterosaurs, or to those who write about eyewitness encounters with the “flying dinosaurs” or “pterodactyls.” Sixty-five million is the number of years that many biologists mention regarding the most recent time when the last pterosaurs lived on earth.

The second fact is in regards to the story itself, in The Alchemist. The traveling boy goes all the way from southern Spain to the Pyramids of Egypt, taking a long time to do so. When he gets there, he does not find the treasure he sought but is given a clue to return to his own country. There, in his own land, he finds a treasure.

Regarding the explorers who sought living pterosaurs in Papua New Guinea, years ago, they failed to get any clear view of a living pterosaur there but returned home to the United States to discover many eyewitnesses of modern pterosaurs in their own country. Some of the American explorers have even seen modern pterosaurs in the USA. Just like the shepherd boy in The Alchemist, those Americans returned home to find a treasure “buried,” so to speak, where they never imagined it.

Wikipedia off by 42 Million

Apparently not all mistakes on Wikipedia are minor. The allegorical novel The Alchemist, by the Brazilian author Paulo Coelho, has sold twenty-three million copies worldwide, not sixty-five million, as was recently proclaimed on Wikipedia. It exaggerated by forty-two million.

I have heard that Wikipedia is sometimes off with numbers but this is an extreme example of how far off it can be.

January 10, 2012February 4, 2012

Three Books by Independent Authors

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. I don’t claim complete objectiveness in evaluating these three publications, as evidenced by the ad below, but I would like to present these books in some degree of comparison in some ways.

Each of these three nonfiction books contain eyewitness sighting reports of modern living pterosaurs, but there are significant differences in style and emphasis. I’ll do my best to explain.

Big Bird

Published February 1, 2007, Ken Gerhard’s book has too many English mistakes for my liking. If I recall correctly, for it’s been awhile since I’ve read Big Bird, there is also at least one sentence that was chopped off, with the second half missing, perhaps between pages, I don’t recall exactly. I also found a technical mistake that put into question, however slightly, the accuracy of the book as a whole. With that in mind, Big Bird has reports in Texas that may not be available from other sources, for Gerhard has traveled around and interviewed people who have seen what they believe were modern pterosaurs.

Live Pterosaurs in America — third edition

Published November 2, 2011, Jonathan Whitcomb’s book is likely the most extensive in eyewitnesses sightings across the U.S.A., and at 154 pages is more substantial than the other two books. His objectiveness has occasionally been brought into question by critics who bring up the religion question, to be precise the Creationist connection, but for those who have read both his books in their most recent editions, he is seen to be not a Young Earth Creationist in the usual sense, for he does not believe in a 6,000 universe or even a 6,000 year old earth.

Bird From Hell — second edition

Published April 21, 2011, McIsaac’s book may not be entirely about sightings of pterosaurs. I admit that I have not read the book in its entirety, however. But the “Look Inside” feature of Amazon has given me a peek into this nonficion book, and I like what I see. It probably has only a fraction of the number of sightings as Live Pterosaurs in America, but the old traditions of native Americans give this book a special flavor. Modern pterosaurs are supported by not only recent sightings in North America but by old traditions of American Indians. Like Big Bird, this book probably has reports that are not available from any other original source. But this book is only about cryptids in British Columbia, Canada.

Conclusion

For those new to this fascinating field of cryptozoology, I recomment purchasing all three books on Amazon.com, for you will probably get free shipping in the bargain.

From the Amazon page on the second edition of this book comes this review:

“I couldn’t put this book down. It is absolutely fascinating to read about eyewitness accounts of the people who have seen these creatures. To learn about these testimonies from such an open minded perspective is refreshing in the extreme! The way that our school systems and scientists alike are indoctrinated is sad. There is so much money out there being used for research, if only they would use it for good. I highly recommend this book to anyone! People should know the truth about what is going on. No one ever hears anything about this unless they conduct extremely specific internet searches, even then, information is minimal. Jonathan Whitcomb needs to write more books!”

January 2, 2012January 2, 2012

Recent Tracks in Mexico

A large number of potential pterosaur tracks, apparently recently formed by one or more animals, has been reported around northeastern Mexico, although the exact location is secret. It is speculative to say that they are pterosaur tracks, even though indirect eyewitness testimony suggests they may be from a strange flying creature that has frightened at least a few Mexicans in recent years, in this general area.

The more recent observations, by a man who wishes to be anonymous at present, were one or two years ago, in a remote area that may be close to the border with southwest Texas.

Not all fossilized pterosaur tracks clearly show toe indentations, and the recently reported tracks evidently do not show any such marks at all. This is hardly conclusive in dismissing the apparent footprints as being irrelevant to any modern pterosaur, however. Some extant pterosaur in North America may be able to make a track without indenting the soil with toes.

Pterosaur Tracks in Mexico, Maybe

. . . the footprints in this remote area of Mexico were not all clear impressions; in fact, most of them were more scuff marks . . . They were separated by 15-20 yards where there was no evidence of any creature on the ground. This might be dismissed if the marks were few in number, but the man walked for a long distance, following the intermittent footprints.