Eyewitnesses use various words and phrases for the featherless flying creatures observed. Consider the following list:
- prehistoric bird
- dinosaur bird
- flying dinosaur
- dragon
- pterodactyl
- flying creature
In Papua New Guinea, we also encounter various names:
- ropen
- duwas
- kundua
- wawanar
- indava
- kor
The following brief excerpts from sighting reports include what words were used for the creatures observed, although none of these use the exact phrase “prehistoric bird.”
California (“Taradactyl”)
I have been haunted for close to 20 years by what I saw in the desert. I have never told anyone due to the fact that I was afraid I would be thought nuts. . . . I caught the sight of it with the corner of my eye and looked up, it was soaring along the side of a plateau not far from us. We knew what it looked like. In fact I remember saying ‘Oh . . . ! That looks just like a Taradactyl.’
England (“dragon”)
The sky was clear and I was watching the stars when something caught my eye. It was a glowing object which seemed to open up to what I thought looked like a dragon. I was too shocked to tell my father as we were waiting for my mother to finish and I never told anyone about this until I met . . . my now husband.
Georgia (“pterydactyl”)
The path it took was up and then swooping down, as if it were dive-bombing my car. As it crossed my path, in front and slightly above me, I saw it had a head that was curved, like a hammer; the head had a crest on the top that was solid, not feathery at all . . . The tail was long, had a ridge that ran along the underside, and ended in a thick, heart-shaped pad. . . . I called a buddy whom I knew was up . . . at that hour. . . . I flat out told him I’d seen a pterydactyl.
Kentucky (large bird)
Today I opened my back door around 4:30 pm. to smoke a cigarette and I noticed a large bird in the sky flying above me. I thought it seemed strange because I seen a tail with a spade like end also the wing span was a lot larger than any bird I have ever seen around here. The wings did not flutter rapidly each wing stroke was steady and powerful. The bird seemed to have a set destination as well cause it did not waste any time moving through the sky.
Papua New Guinea (prehistoric creature)
The creature I saw one early morning in Bougainville is etched in my memory. . . . I can still hear that slow flapping sound in the stillness of an early tropical morn, on the road from Panguna down to loloho on Bougainville Island in 1971. . . . When I looked up, trying to see what was making this sound, i saw a very unusual creature. Firstly, it was very big . . . It certainly looked prehistoric, in that it did not look like any other bird that I have seen before or since. Why prehistoric? Well, maybe my memory has been influenced by the intervening years, but I recall seeing this creature with a longish narrow tail . . . no feathers in sight . . .
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Sketch drawn by the eyewitness Eskin Kuhn (Gitmo, Cuba)
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Pterosaur Sightings in the USA
Can we determine whether or not modern pterosaurs migrate in North America? What exactly is migration? The dictionary definition refers to travel from one country or region to another. We think of birds that migrate hundreds of miles. Here’s a catch with pterosaurs—they are not even acknowledged as presently existing, according to standard Western biology. How can a biologist be expected to put a collar on the neck of an animal that is not supposed to exist?
[In] July of 2010, My wife and I were sitting outside when motion from above the tree tops to our left caught my attention; it’s very hard to explain how I felt at that moment. We were looking at two extremely large birds flying together and heading north . . . I can only guess to be 15-20′ wing spans and the motion of their wings as they flew was very slow. The head was long and ended in a point; wings ended in a point and appeared to be featherless . . .
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