Pterosaur or Pterodactyl Sightings

one out of six of these men is left-handed - precise statistically

By Jonathan Whitcomb

Featherless flying reptiles appear to live across the globe, shocking and sometimes frightening eyewitnesses of these apparent modern pterosaurs. The animals are also called “pterodactyls” or even “flying dinosaurs” or “dinosaur birds”.

If it has a long tail, it is called “ropen”, but in some areas of Africa this reptile-creature is known as “kongamato”. In old times, even centuries ago, it was called “dragon”, and in fact some eyewitnesses still use that word, even in the United States.

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Photograph of an apparent modern pterosaur in the 19th century

middle of Ptp: six soldiers and huge pterodactyl

The “Civil War” pterodactyl photo “Ptp” now appears significant

Recent eyewitness reports of apparent non-extinct “pterodactyls” may now be taken into context with a new assessment of an old photo called “Ptp”. The above image is the main portion of that photo, showing six apparent Union Civil War soldiers and what looks like some kind of gigantic Pteranodon.

The following are some of the main points recently discovered on these men, and other aspects of the image support the conclusions. By the way, the uniforms and equipment were not from the Civil War but later in the 19th century, probably between about 1866 and 1880:

1) Each of the six men seems to be a common soldier (not officer)

2) The belt buckles are not oval but rectangular

3) Each of the six men has a pistol holster

4) One of the men is left handed, shown by the left-handed holster

5) Unlike with a typical group of Civil War reenactors, not one of the men in Ptp is clean-shaven, although they generally have some variety in their beards and mustaches

6) Each man holds a rifle but not one is in anything like a firing position

7) The general body build is neither thin nor heavyset

8) The lighting of the clothing is reasonable and consistent

9) Their stances together are neither regimented nor very informal

10) The man in front of the creature was very likely photographed in that position: closer to the camera when compared with the other men

What is the conclusion? Those six men were very likely to have been photographed as they appear and WITH the apparent pterosaur. Was it a biological creature or just a model of one? That is another question, but it was very likely to have been a physical object, NOT a drawing or painting or digital model.

By the way, that one left-handed pistol holster, along with other factors, practically proves that those men were not actors pretending to be soldiers living in the 19th century. They were surely what they appear to be: men who had lived together at some time between about 1866 and 1880.

one out of six of these men is left-handed - precise statistically

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The 19th century photo in context with recent sightings

One of the objections made by some critics is in a question like this: “Why is there no clear photograph of a modern pterodactyl?” The Ptp photo answers that question: This image was, in its original form, more likely than not, obtained through photographing six men standing next to an actual modern pterosaur.

Some of the sightings of these flying creatures in the 20th and 21st centuries are consistent, at least in some aspects, with the flying creature seen in Ptp. In fact, some of the reports suggest a size even greater than the “monster” in that 19th century photo.

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Reports of Pterodactyl Sightings in the United States

I realized this was no ordinary bird but appeared more like a featherless reptile. I watched as it flew above the water and into the other leg of the pond and out of sight.

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Press releases on living pterosaurs

As of mid-2022, at least 21 press releases are available online regarding eyewitness sightings of apparent living pterosaurs.

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Civil War pterodactyl photo

First, look at the general appearance of those six men. Of course they have individual differences, but look at the similarities. . . .

Those are NOT images of soldiers cut from various photos and then pasted together. Those men appear to have lived together, eaten together, and spent time together. In other words, they were also photographed together.

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Pterodactyl sighting – report it here

Contact form for starting email communication – you can be anonymous

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Pterosaurs or pterodactyl around the world

At least three scientific papers have been published on the subject of modern pterosaurs. In addition, many nonfiction books have been written on these flying creatures, as well as over a thousand web pages and blog posts . . .

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Featherless flying reptile

Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaurs are well known from fossils: long-tailed, with a particular head-neck-spine conformity unlike the average Pterodactyloid. . . . modern versions of those long-tailed pterosaurs can be almost any size, and that means a few are huge: bigger than fossils yet discovered.

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Pterodactyl or “flying dinosaurs”

Questions and answers on these living pterosaurs

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Photo of a pterodactyl

The following image (Ptp) may have originated from a genuine photograph in the 19th century, although it was very unlikely to have been during the American Civil War, which ended in 1865.

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Civil War photo Ptp

Objections that critics have made on this apparent pterodactyl and some insightful answers and refutations to those skeptical remarks.

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Flying reptile in Utah

A newspaper article was published in Salt Lake City, about a century ago, reporting a huge flying creature described as half-bird and half-reptile. How big was it? The image coming with that article showed a dragon flying off with a horse in its mouth.

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Flying Dinosaur in “Civil War” Photo

middle of Ptp: six soldiers and huge pterodactyl

By Jonathan Whitcomb

Of course we mean the flying creature “pterosaur”, commonly called “pterodactyl”, when we here mention “flying dinosaur”.

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the complete image of Ptp with huge pterodactylPtp: the apparently old photo that has been controversial for years

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In the last few weeks, I have been taking another look into the credibility of Ptp, what some people call the “Civil War pterodactyl photo.” Just in the last few days, I have seen a new significance in an observation made by Tom Payne some time ago: One of those six apparent Civil War soldiers is left handed. I looked for myself and found that the other five are right handed. How do we know that? It’s in the pistol holsters: One is on the left side; the other five, the right. We’ll get into that later.

Tom Payne discovered an important point about a pterodactyl photo

The canoe builder Tom Payne discovered the left-handed holster

By the way, the six men in Ptp were definitely NOT photographed during the American Civil War: Their rectangular belt buckles and pistol holsters make that plain. But it may have been a few years after that war, when some American soldiers did look like the men in Ptp, with rectangular belt buckles and pistol holsters.

left-handed soldier supports this as being from 19th century

Pistol holster of the left-handed soldier in Ptp

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The main objection to Ptp in recent years

Before diving into that left-handed holster, consider the principal apparent refutation of Ptp during the past four years, the main objection to its authenticity: an online article that I call “CWP”.

Before we proceed with the CWP declarations, be aware that at least three production firms were involved in the creation of the Freakylinks TV episode “Coelacanth This!”, which aired in the year 2000: Haxan Films, Freakylinks, and E=MC2 Digital. For simplicity, when referring to their combined work in producing that episode, I call them HFE, although how they worked together, combining their specialized activities, might have been complex in some details.

The present point on CWP and Ptp is this: What one executive or director remembers about what happened, in one detail, in the creation of that episode two decades ago—that does not necessarily closely relate to what actually happened, if that person was not directly involved in that detail of work done by the relevant firm.

To be more plain: E=MC2 Digital is credited in the CWP article with the image which could be called the “Civil War Pteranodon photo” in the TV episode, but the persons mentioned in CWP were not, apparently, in E=MC2 Digital itself.

I wish I could briefly explain this, but the reality is more complex than one would be led to believe by CWP. Here is an important point that we will get to later: The “Civil War Pteranodon photo” seen in Freakylinks episode “Coelacanth This!” is almost the same as Ptp yet is slightly different. In other words, strictly speaking, Ptp is NOT in that episode: “Ptp” is the whole image, and the bottom is missing in that TV episode.

(Remember that “HFE” refers to all three companies together.)

head of the apparent pterodactyl and it is HUGE

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Declarations or Points in CWP

The CWP article makes, or seems to imply, four claims:

1. The six men in Ptp were photographed by HFE and that photo was used by E=MC2 Digital. Keep in mind that CWP is unclear about which members of HFE were involved with those six men. Who found them? Who got costumes for them? Who photographed them? Who knows?

2. E=MC2 Digital should be given credit for a digital model or drawing of a pterosaur, which we now see in Ptp, but be aware that this is the opinion of the author of CWP.

3. The first try in making a fake “Civil War Pteranodon photo” (AP) failed. One problem was said to be this: They forgot to get release signatures from the soldier-actors. Another problem was the poor quality of the fake “pterodactyl”, which looked unconvincing in the final “photo”. CWP declares that the image of Ptp was a second hoax photo, so that the men photographed could sign release forms. [But claim #3 has MANY problems.]

4. CWP says or implies that the episode itself proves the origin of Ptp.

Let’s begin with the fourth point: It has recently been proven WRONG.

middle of Ptp: six soldiers and huge pterodactylPart of Ptp: with the bottom and top areas missing

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CWP point #4 (the episode is the source)

Ptp appears, at first glance, to be in four places in that episode. In one Youtube video of “Coelacanth This!”, it seems to be in the following places (minutes and seconds from the beginning of the video):

30:06-30:10
30:21-30:27
30:56-31:07
42:04-42:09

A close inspection, however, reveals that nowhere in those clips does the complete image of Ptp appear. That means that nobody could have taken a still image from that episode and inserted it into an online page or Youtube video in a way that shows the entire image of Ptp, even if that person combined two or more images from that episode.

In other words, the complete images of Ptp found online in recent years did not come from that episode. In addition, the simple existence of that episode, with partial versions of Ptp, is not evidence for CWP’s origin-idea on Ptp.

The author of the CWP article seems to have been unaware of his own assumptions, thinking perhaps that the images of Ptp found online in recent years somehow originated with that TV episode.

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CWP point #3 (two fake “Civil War” photos)

Tom Payne says he saw Ptp many years before 2000Tom Payne

Tom Payne sent me an email in January of 2017, when he was 67 years old, and told me that he had seen Ptp in a publication when he was young. About how young was he? These are his words: “I have a degree in computer science. I can tell you that technology wasn’t available to modify a photo like this before about 1980.”

In other words, according to his testimony, Ptp existed long before any episode of Freakylinks, probably decades earlier. Keep in mind that he is only one of a number of persons who have told me that they had seen Ptp long before the beginning of the 21st century, generally around the 1960’s or 1970’s.

Considering an online statement from E=MC2 Digital, I state this: If Ptp existed before the Freakylinks episodes, and some members of the three firms of HFE were aware of that image, then any request to construct a fake photo that looked like Ptp could have been answered with something like, “why not use that image itself?”

The first response to that question could have been something like, “We don’t have permission to use a copyrighted image and we don’t have talent releases from those six men.” Note especially the last part of that answer.

If one person in HFE later learned that the image (what we now call “Ptp”) was in some print publication before the year 1923, then they could feel it was safe regarding copyright: It would be in the public domain. But there could have been another issue.

A talent release for a photo differs from copyright issues. If somebody in HFE found a publication with that [Ptp] image, but it was from the middle of the 20th century, a talent release could have appeared, at least on the surface, to be a major obstacle: Could one of those six men still be living?

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Which “Civil War pterodactyl photo” came first?

As of October 4, 2022, I have not been 100% convinced that Ptp existed before the year 2000, yet I am well over 50% sure of it. I feel that it is possible that the people who say they saw it many decades ago could have mistaken it for a similar old photo that was published in a book or magazine around the middle of the 20th century. I say “possible”, but I doubt that.

The apparent pterosaur photo labeled “AP” (for “advance publicity”) is a hoax, with hardly anyone doubting that. The following is one of the actors, who is too heavyset to be a reasonable imitation of an American Civil War soldier:

actor portraying Civil War soldier, but he is too heavyset

NOT from Ptp but from the AP fake photo

The author of CWP seems to assume that the AP photo was the first one handled by Freakylinks and that Ptp came later. Where is the evidence for that? The two men mentioned in CWP show no signs that they were personally involved in the creation of either image, although I would not be surprised if they had at least some part in creating AP.

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CWP point #2 (E=MC2 Digital made the pterodactyl or paid for it)

Should E=MC2 Digital be given credit for a digital model or drawing of the apparent pterosaur we see in Ptp? Where then is the evidence that they have ever taken credit for it? The author of CWP may assume that the name of that firm in the credits of that episode is enough. Why assume that?

As I write this, on October 5, 2022, I admit that I may be mistaken. Perhaps E=MC2 Digital obtained permission from some artist or scientific organization, regarding the use of a detailed drawing of a dead Pteranodon, or some similar pterosaur. But since I’ve found no evidence of that in my online searching, I’ll now dive into another possibility, one supported by direct eyewitness experience rather than second-hand or third-hand accounts or only by assumptions.

Take the case that Tom Payne and other persons are correct: that they did see Ptp in some publication in the middle of the 20th century. Why not look for evidence in the image itself?

By the way, could HFE have created a physical model of the pterosaur seen in Ptp? That has been shot down. (Of course the AP fake pterodactyl was a physical model, poorly constructed by some standards, but keep in mind that this was for one episode of a TV show, nothing like a big-budget film.) The apparent pterosaur in Ptp, on the other hand, is much too detailed biologically. Even the neck alone shows evidence of authenticity with a detailed muscular structure.

central part of image of Ptp, the "Civil War" pterodactyl

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Evidences that the apparent pterosaur was a real object

If this was a real object like a genuine pterosaur or a detailed model of one, could not the overall image of Ptp have evidence of that? First consider the case for the real “pterodactyl”, a biological flying creature.

If those six men shot down that animal and it fell from the sky, what would we expect? It could have fallen into the middle of a clearing or onto a tree or underbrush or into a lake or pond.

If they found it alive in a tree or in the underbrush, they might have shot it there. But it’s unlikely that it fell conveniently into the middle of a clearing where it could be photographed without any need to move it.

apparent evidence that the pterodactyl was not a digital model

Drag mark on the ground, indicating where it was dragged from

The bottom of Ptp is not shown in the episode “Coelacanth This!” Why should it be? It looks irrelevant: dirt and grass. But there’s more to it.

If it had been a real animal photographed in the second half of the 19th century, the photographer would have insisted that it be dragged into a clearing where it could be photographed with adequate light.

The green arrows above show the apparent direction that this thing was dragged. Let’s dig deeper.

If that drag mark was made by the end of the beak of the animal, why does the line in the soil not end up right where we see the end of that beak? We have an answer.

The dragging of the beak across the ground would have caused the head to be twisted. In the final positioning of the animal, the men would have turned the head back to its natural position, giving a better view of it for photographing.

The men could also have made adjustments to the wings, spreading them out. During those adjustments, the end of the beak could have ended up a bit away from where it was last dragged across the ground.

If this apparent pterosaur was a real object, the drag mark does make sense. It makes no sense in the case for a digital model or drawing except to say that the line in the soil was just a coincidence.

drag mark in dirt near broken down sapling tree

Broken down little sapling tree (blue arrow)

Not all forest clearings are 100% clear. What if a little tree stood in the middle of this particular clearing? Look again at the drag mark. Why does that nearby plant appear to have been broken down, like one of those men stepped on it? That unfortunate little sapling was standing exactly in the way, apparently. Could it be a coincidence, next to that other coincidence? It’s unlikely, and there is much more.

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CWP point #1 (Evidences those men lived in the 19th century)

Let’s keep looking into the case for the apparent pterosaur being an actual pterosaur. If the animal was real, those six men were very likely real; likewise, if those men were photographed, in the 19th century, next to an apparent pterosaur then it was very likely a real pterosaur. We now examine the men closely.

six men closer together (by a huge pterodactyl)

A contraction of Ptp, showing the men closer to each other

First notice the general build. These men look better fed than many common Union soldiers during the American Civil War. Yet not one of these six is as heavyset as many Civil-War reenactors who actually lived from about the middle of the 20th century to the present.

Keep in mind that if these six men ate together and lived together, they would likely appear just like we see in this image: six men who are individuals with differing in personalities yet having things in common. Notice the many similarities: beard styles are not identical but are consistent; uniforms and equipment are very similar, including the belt buckles and holsters; and we see similarities in the way they stand and hold their rifles: Not one rifle is held close to horizontally.

In other words, the appearance of the men seen in Ptp suggests they were being photographed together in the second half of the 19th century, after the Civil War had ended, rather than with six random actors who were trying to portray such men.

Also keep in mind that six men posing for a photo for a TV show would not likely be given detailed leadership from a professional director. It would have been nothing like filming for a movie.

Look at them again. Compare the build of those six with photos of Civil War reenactors (recent decades). Don’t the six men of Ptp look like they could have been eating together for many months? That is much too precise a detail for six random actors being photographed for a TV show. In addition, these are definitely NOT Civil War reenactors, for the combination of rectangular belt buckles and pistol holsters (with every one of them) show they were not reenactors being photographed in the year 2000.

middle of Ptp: six soldiers and huge pterodactyl

My associates and I believe they were photographed in the 19th century but after the Civil War ended (rectangular belt buckles and the pistol holsters). Common Union soldiers, not officers or sergeants, during the Civil War had neither of those. This is more like Northern men living in the South during the Reconstruction era.

Consider what would be expected of six men in the second half of the 19th century regarding handedness. According to statistics, two possibilities are very likely: One out of six is left-handed or none are left-handed.

one out of six of these men is left-handed - precise statistically

Statistical evidence: They were photographed in the 19th century

Now examine the pistol holsters of these six men: five have right-handed holsters and one has a left-handed one. This would be expected if these men had been photographed in the second half of the 19th century, but there’s a problem with the year-2000 hypothesis, the idea that these men were photographed in the year 2000 for that TV episode.

If one or more of the three firms of HFE (including E=MC2 Digital) had hired actors and provided uniforms for them, the costume company would not have given them pistol holsters with the precise ratio of handedness as would be expected for 19th century apparent Civil War soldiers. That would have been WAY too precise. On top of that, it seems unlikely that the costume company would have had even one left-handed holster, even if it had been requested.

And it gets worse for the case of year-2000 photography.

As best as I can tell from watching the episode “Coelacanth This!”, the script was written with the idea that a large, dangerous flying creature had lived during the conflict of the American Civil War. This is a basic part of the story. So why are the men seen in Ptp NOT dressed like Civil War soldiers? The CWP article dismisses this as just a mistake by the costume company.

The problem with that assumption is this: If the costume company was so careless, how could they be so accurate in portraying 19th century men, with the precise statistically-correct portrayal of one left-handed man and five right-handed men? (The costume company would probably not have had even one left-handed holster.)

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The “Civil War” Pterosaur

Apparently the strongest objection to the authenticity of the original version of the Ptp “pterodactyl photo” is a web page titled “The Civil War Pterosaur”, which I label “CWP”.

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Pterodactyl sighting in North Carolina

On April 5, 2019, I uploaded to Youtube an 11-minute video on eleven sightings of apparent pterosaurs in North Carolina. Those are just some of the eyewitness reports that I have received from that state.

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A Challenge for the Ptp “Civil War” Pterodactyl Photo and an Answer

After going over key areas of that article, on September, 26, 2022, and examining the episode itself, I made a discovery: Assuming I have not made a serious error, the author of the CWP article himself has not watched that episode with an eye to an important point that he seems to have tried to make in CWP . . .

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Apparent Genuine Photo of a Pterodactyl

Although digital manipulation is highly likely to have been made on the original photo, in recent decades, we now have evidences that the “monster” in Ptp may have been a real animal.

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Non-extinct flying dinosaurs

I am a scientist, and I have discovered that the great majority of eyewitness sighting reports of extant pterosaurs are neither misidentifications nor hoaxes; part of my conclusion is based upon the data from eyewitness estimates of wingspan.

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Pterodactyl Caught on Camera in North Carolina

A few years ago, flying over the city of Raleigh, North Carolina, two ropens showed themselves in clear daylight and were videotaped by Cynthia Lee, as she was on a bus that was pulling away in the opposite direction.

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Flying Dinosaurs in Papua New Guinea

From 1994 through 2009, about nine Americans have intermittently (and usually two or three at a time) visited remote islands of Papua New Guinea, searching for flying creatures: living pterosaurs.

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Pterodactyl Sighting in Texas

Alex Salinas was looking out across a field in Weslaco, Texas, in around the year 1998, when he saw something flying towards him. . . . With a leathery appearance, it had a long tail and a bone-like head crest.

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Press Releases on Modern Pterodactyls

drawing by American Patty Carson

By Jonathan Whitcomb

As of mid-2022, at least 21 press releases are available online regarding eyewitness sightings of apparent living pterosaurs. The following are but three of the news releases about these shocking flying creatures. (Note: Only small portions of the press releases are quoted here.)

Griffith Park Pterosaurs

Devin Rhodriquez was driving north on Interstate-5, near Griffith Park in Los Angeles, when she was startled to see something strange gliding over the freeway, unlike any bird, more like a “pterosaur.”

At 4:00 p.m. on Monday, May 13, 2013, the northbound freeway traffic near the Los Feliz exit was at about 30 m.p.h., allowing the eyewitness to observe a few details on what flew overhead. It appeared to fly 75-100 feet high, heading northeast slowly, towards Glendale . . .

[See the complete press release on this sighting in Southern California.]

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Eyewitness Reports of Apparent Living Pterosaurs in the United States

Statistical analysis on the number of reported sightings of flying creatures resembling living pterosaurs, by human populations in American states

MURRAY, Utah, Dec 28, 2017/LUAPT — A nonfiction-cryptozoology author has analyzed reports of non-extinct pterosaurs, commonly called “pterodactyls” or “flying dinosaurs,” and found how sightings relate to thirty-three states (and Washington D.C.) of the United States. Jonathan Whitcomb, of Murray, Utah, has been receiving emails, and an occasional phone call, over a period of 13 years, from eyewitnesses from five continents, and most reported sightings are in North America.

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Dragon Hunting in Southern California

On Sunday, March 3, 2013, a driver reported “three dragons flying over the 5-North freeway between Griffith Park and Glendale.” She sent an email, that evening, to the cryptozoology author Jonathan Whitcomb, of Long Beach, describing the “dragons” that had flown over her car at 6:10 a.m.: “Their tails had triangular points.”

[Note that this sighting is not the same as the one in that same area east of Griffith Park, for the other encounter was by a different freeway driver and on May 13 of that same year.]

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Contents of the LUAPT press releases

Four news reports on this site

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Not All Biology Professors Fight Modern Flying Dinosaurs

Recent poll of university professors of biology reveals slightly different opinions about the possibility of living pterosaurs

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Report a pterosaur sighting

Email communication with a cryptozoologist

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Live Pterosaur — Animal Discovery (nonprofit)

The word ropen comes from the Kovai language of Umboi Island in Papua New Guinea, although over the past fourteen years it has become known around the world as a word that refers to any modern flying creature that appears to an eyewitness to be a featherless long-tailed pterosaur.

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Pterodactyl Sightings in Videos

drawing by American Patty Carson

By investigative journalist Jonathan Whitcomb

(to report a sighting of a modern pterosaur)

As of September 28, 2020, my Youtube channel Protect Animal Life has 91 videos, 89 of them about sightings of modern “pterodactyls” (the correct word for these featherless flying creatures is pterosaur). I think I can understand some of the reasons many Westerners find it strange, at first glance: Some people believe that not all “flying dinosaurs” are extinct. Feel free to watch the following three videos:

after sunset with text "Pterosaur Sightings in South Carolina"

Pterosaur Sightings in South Carolina

As of September 28, 2020, this is the most popular video on this Youtube channel, in terms of number of views. The second sighting featured is by Susan Wooten, and here is part of what she testified about her encounter:

It looked as big as any car and had NO feathers.

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black Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur - silhouette

Pterosaur Sightings in 2020

Less than three minutes long, this mini-documentary featured only two sightings, but both of them are in the year 2020: in Manitoba, Canada, (not far from Lake Winnepeg) and in North Carolina.

Here is part of what the eyewitness said in North Carolina:

I recently saw something that has blown my mind. After a week of people thinking I’m crazy . . . I have located your contact info . . . decided to write you in regards to a recent [sighting] in the foothills of North Carolina. I saw some type of flying creature in [the] sky on the evening of 8/28/2020. At first glance I thought it was a bat. As it got closer I assumed it was a drone. Then the creature turned in mid-air . . . expanding its wings as it [started] ascending higher. It was then that I realized . . . this was not a low-flying bat nor drone but something much larger.

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head of a ropen, long-tailed pterosaur

Ropen in South Carolina

A nocturnal flying creature sometimes is seen in daylight; why?

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Video on Pterosaur Sightings in South Carolina

I uploaded this short video to my Youtube channel Protect Animal Life on January 6, 2020, and it was doing better than average up until about August 26th of that year. From August 27-28, however, it skyrocketed . . .

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North Carolina Pterodactyl Sightings

For the past 16 years, I’ve been an independent investigative journalist, concentrating mostly on eyewitness reports of what many people call a ‘pterodactyl’ or ‘dinosaur bird’ or ‘dragon’.

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Pterosaur sightings

I don’t mean to imply that people should rely mainly on Youtube videos for information about living pterosaurs. You’ll learn much more from reading one or more of my nonfiction books on these amazing flying creatures. I also recommend online press releases about modern pterosaurs or one or more of the scientific papers that my associates and I have written.

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Pterodactyls in South Carolina

Look not to a biology professor at a university, if you should be one of the lucky ones who has seen an apparent living pterosaur in states like South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, or North Carolina (or any other state or country). Contact me to report the flying creature you encountered.

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Modern pterosaurs

A modern pterosaur!? How could it be? Extraordinary but true, huge flying creatures, with no feathers yet unlike any bat, live among us, although they mostly fly at night. In Papua New Guinea, on Umboi Island, the giant long-tailed pterosaur is called “ropen,” although it has other names elsewhere.

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Flying Dinosaurs

I’m a passionate investigator of reports of living pterosaurs throughout the world. I explored part of Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea, in 2004, interviewing many natives who had seen the ropen. [author Jonathan Whitcomb]

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Living Pterosaur Cryptozoology

Next year will be the 50th anniversary of two sightings of ropens: at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and on Bougainville Island, New Guinea, both in daylight in 1971.

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“Pterodactyls Alive in North Carolina” (Youtube video)

highlighting North Carolina

By the investigative journalist Jonathan Whitcomb

On April 5, 2019, I uploaded to Youtube an 11-minute video on eleven sightings of apparent pterosaurs in North Carolina. Those are just some of the eyewitness reports that I have received from that state.

 

Youtube video “Pterodactyls Alive in North Carolina”

Rather than just here repeat details from this mini-documentary, I’ll report some of what I learned from one other sighting report in North Carolina, one not covered in this video.

Pterosaur Sighting in Asheville, N.C.

On Jan 19th 2019 near downtown Asheville, NC in a neighborhood that borders the blue ridge parkway where I live. I was in my front yard playing with my almost 4 year old children on a clear day. My daughter pointed up to the sky and said, “look dad an airplane . . .”

I looked up and saw what appeared to be a small personal aircraft, then realized I heard no noise. It was moving fast and on a direct course, but I was able to move around the yard and track its movement . . .

I estimate that it was flying 250-300 feet above the ground level. If guessing, I would estimate the wing span to have been 15-20 feet. Because of the size alone I had convinced myself I was seeing a small aircraft.

Then I saw the wings flap several times after being stationary the other two minutes I witnessed it. I have lived in the area my entire life and have witnessed every kind of animal known to be here and more.

. . . being a father to small children and running my own business I do not have time to waste making up anything or bothering to tell people about anything like that. This was a very unique experience. I was able to discern it had a very large body that was long with huge wings that would flap at hinge points. I did not see any kind of feathers with its body looking smooth and (dark brown or black). . . .

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The Girl who saw a Flying Dinosaur (about the video)

Let’s begin with the good news: I uploaded a new video to Youtube yesterday, about the sighting at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in about the year 1965, and about how it relates to other sightings.

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Pterosaur sightings in St. Louis and in North Carolina

I saw something . . . HUGE above me in the sky. . . . It didn’t appear to have any feathers, and it had the tail with the diamond shape on the end.

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Ropen seen at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Patty Carson, I am sad to announce, passed away early in 2019. Her contributions to living-pterosaur investigations have been great, for she has spoken freely about many details that she observed in the flying creature she encountered in Cuba in about the year 1965, when she was a little girl. She also gave us a remarkable sketch, drawn from her memory of that ropen.

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Dragons of Los Angeles

She was driving north on the Interstate 5, just east of a golf course on the east side of Griffith Park, in Los Angeles, on Sunday, March 3, 2013. The flying creatures flew almost exactly over her car in the opposite direction. It was just minutes before sunrise, so the sky was no longer dark and she could see the undersides of the “dragons.” [Actually she saw three long-tailed living pterosaurs, also called “ropens.”]

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New ‘Flying Dinosaur’ Book

The Girl who saw a Flying Dinosaur

By the nonfiction author Jonathan David Whitcomb

The Girl who saw a Flying Dinosaur introduces young readers (about 8-14 years old) to an exciting new branch of cryptozoology: eyewitness reports of apparent living pterosaurs, and most of these flying creatures appear to be ropens. Here is but a brief summary of some of the book’s benefits for children and teens (this is NON-fiction):

  • Exciting encounters people have had with what they sincerely believe were actual “pterodactyls,” real animals, apparently living pterosaurs
  • Invites the reader to use critical reasoning and let’s him or her decide what to believe about each of these apparent non-extinct pterosaurs
  • Explains the three major interpretations for any particular sighting
  • In simple English, allows the eyewitnesses to tell us what they saw
  • Does NOT indoctrinate; says not what to think but HOW to think

Other Amazon sites having The Girl who saw a Flying Dinosaur:

French language

German

Spanish

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The Girl who saw a Flying Dinosaur

Eyewitness accounts are in The Girl who saw a Flying Dinosaur

Of course these cryptids are not literally dinosaurs—the correct word is pterosaur—but some eyewitnesses and others use the phrase “flying dinosaurs” for these featherless flying creatures. The girl mentioned in the title of this book is Patty Carson. As a small child, she probably used that phrase, or one like it, when she tried to tell her family what she had seen in some tall grass on the military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 1965.

The Girl who saw a Flying Dinosaur is a short nonfiction, just 56 pages, yet it can be delightful for readers between about the ages of eight and fourteen years. Give one as a gift for Christmas or as a birthday gift. Better yet, purchase a number of them and give them out to many children and teens. Your purchase will help support the author in his research and interviewing of eyewitnesses worldwide. The suggested retail price is only $7.80 (U.S.).

According to the author Patty Carson really did have a flying cryptid encounter many years ago in Cuba.

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Dinosaur Books for Children

Four books for young readers in general, including the short nonfiction The Girl who saw a Flying Dinosaur

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Is the New Book About Religion?

My new nonfiction is for middle-grade children and many (but not all) teenagers: The Girl who saw a Flying Dinosaur. This is a short cryptozoology book, not about religion but about eyewitness sightings of apparent living pterosaurs. It invites you to seek the truth behind what people around the world report observing.

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Gift Book for a Ten-Year-Old Girl

A few days ago, my new book became available on Amazon: The Girl who saw a Flying Dinosaur. I’m not saying that this paperback is the ideal gift for every 10-year-old girl who reads English, of course, but it’s a whole new approach to the “dinosaur bird,” and I wrote it for readers 8-14 years old or thereabouts.

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Is the ropen a modern pterosaur?

Questions and answers on the ropen

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