Ropen Ideas Shot Down by a Smithsonian Blogger

Brian Switek was correct in one point: The news reporter Terrence Aym fell into a serious blunder in referring to an image of a common Frigate Bird as if it were a ropen or pterosaur. (But Switek’s blunders are so serious that I will not even link to his blog post.)

In Whitcomb’s book Live Pterosaurs in America, the “Mesozoic Objection” in regard to the extinction of pterosaurs is criticized as follows:

What about the “Mesozoic” objection? One critic declares that a lack of “post-Mesozoic remains” (no fossils in “less-ancient” rock strata) proves a pterosaur could not live in modern times. But a subtle form of circular reasoning lies buried within this declaration about fossil rocks.

When a creature thought to have lived only in the Mesozoic time period is found in an undated stratum, what happens? That stratum is then labeled “Mesozoic.” So if a pterosaur fossil can cause it to be “ancient,” what can be reasonably concluded about an apparent lack of any pterosaur fossils in rocks not labeled “ancient?” Not a lack of modern pterosaurs. Standard-model labeling of strata relies a great deal on the axiom of ancient extinctions of certain organisms, and axioms are assumptions, not proven facts.

Pterosaur Extinction and Brian Switek

Switek seems to have entirely failed to comprehend what is entailed here. If the discovery of a modern living Coelacanth could have opened up the way for dating some Coelacanth fossils as being after the Mesozoic, the discovery of a modern living pterosaur could open up the way for dating some pterosaur fossils as also being more recent. This perspective was probably entirely overlooked by Switek.

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Third edition of the non-fiction cryptozoology book Live Pterosaurs in America, by Jonathan David Whitcomb, gives you details unavailable in online blogs: many eyewitness sighting reports in many states of the U.S.A.

From a review of the second edition (Amazon.com):

“This is an updated review of the book and I am changing my rating to 5 stars. This book has been on my shelf for almost a year now. I pick it up every now and then and a part of me becomes more impressed by the book every time. Yes, the skeptics will laugh at it, but I am a skeptic to. Admittedly, my main interest in the subject is based in romanticism. However, it is apparent that these pterosaur stories will not go away.” (book review by Stevie, Oct 23, 2011, second edition of the book)

Practical jokes combined with misidentifications account for most of the non-pterosaur reports of apparent pterosaurs. Dreams combined with insanity account for less, with less than 5% of the reports I have received. But the vast majority of the emails and phone calls that I receive show no sign of any of those four distractions, and that, over the past eight years, has made the case for living pterosaurs, for the probability that all of those many credible reports are non-pterosaurs is so slight that it is not worth considering.

Critics and skeptics, including even a couple of paleontologists, have failed to consider simple probability in evaluating the important reports. (In fact, they also fail to consider those reports themselves, preferring to shoot down old stories that appear to have been jokes.) What is an important report, and how does it relate to simple probability? Forget all obvious hoaxes; darkness by itself never enlightens. Modify the clever proclamation of Sherlock Holmes: “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” In the real world, real detectives rarely have the opportunity to distinguish, with proven certainty, between the impossible and the highly improbable. I say, “When non-pterosaur explanations appear unlikely, consider a living pterosaur.”

When all “four distractions” appear unlikely in a particular sighting, I usually publicize that report, for it was probably an encounter with a modern living pterosaur. But the probability of one or more species of living pterosaurs—that increases with the accumulation of credible reports, according to simple probability. Even the position of vocal critics is worn down by the continuous rain of more-credible reports, like the millionaire who would increase his chances of winning a lottery by purchasing a million tickets; even if the most celebrated sightings are only barely-possible pterosaurs, accumulation increases that possibility: Hodgkinson-1944 plus Carson-1965 plus Hennessy -1971 plus Kuhn-1971 plus Wooten-1989 plus others.

Getting back to the hoax possibility, it is practically eliminated when an eyewitness has endured years of skepticism or even ridicule, with nothing to gain by holding onto a live-pterosaur report. Examples abound: Duane Hodgkinson’s sighting in New Guinea, Eskin Kuhn’s sighting in Cuba, an Australian couple’s sighting in Perth, Susan Wooten’s sighting in South Carolina, and others less publicized. We now need to admit the obvious: When hoaxes, misidentifications, dreams, and insanity have been eliminated, what is left, strange as that may seem to critics, is a living pterosaur.

A Hoax Does Not Explain Pterosaur Sightings

When Hennessy reported his experience, in 2006, he was a professional psychologist. I believe that he still is. But why would he agree to have his real name be used in cryptozoology literature, if he was playing a hoax? It would likely come back to haunt him in his profession.

Glen Kuban and Pterosaur Extinction

“Do nothing to refute mainstream geology” are the words of Glen Kuban. This phrase, however, is a clue that he is actually protecting a philosophy, for science, by its nature, is expected to bring about changes in opinion about what weused to think: changes.

Refutation of the Pterosaur Hoax Idea

Interviewing eyewitnesses of apparent living pterosaurs [for eight years] I know that a hoax (or a number of hoaxes) could not have produced the answers they have given me. While writing my book (“Live Pterosaurs in America . . . ), I saw that the data accumulated from descriptions of apparent pterosaurs in the United States showed characteristics not to be expected from a hoax or hoaxes.

Pterodactyl Expert

So what does all this boil down to? If all pterosaurs (AKA pterodactyls) are extinct, nobody whose experiences are confined to eyewitnesses can be an expert, even if he writes books on the subject, like Whitcomb has done. But if even just one of the eyewitnesses has actually seen a modern pterosaur, then Whitcomb is an expert, having interviewed perhaps more eyewitnesses than any other cryptozoologist. Of course with all that said, the existence of modern pterosaurs does not necessarily mean that all of his ideas are correct.

Attack the Interviewer or Attack Ignorance?

I suggest that we all examine the eyewitness reports rather than attack those who interview eyewitnesses. I suggest people avoid attacking investigators even when I myself am not the victim of the attacks.

Nonfiction cryptozoology book on reports of apparent pterosaurs flying in the United States of America (whether or not the author, Jonathan Whitc0mb, is a “pterodactyl expert,” let each reader decide)

Pterodactyl Attacks and Human Deaths

Chapter Eight, “Highway of Tears,” in Bird From Hell [nonfiction book by Gerald McIsaac] reveals, “Amnesty International estimates that since 1969, thirty-two women and girls, most of them Aboriginal, have disappeared along that highway.” [northern British Columbia] Nobody denies that some women and girls in this part of Canada are victims of abuse at home and that some of them hitchhike on this highway, making themselves vulnerable at night. But the general human population, at least the Native Americans, keep indoors at night to avoid the “devil bird,” and some eyewitnesses of that flying creature have been attacked by a flying creature, when those persons have stayed outside after sunset.

Modern Pterosaur Expert

Whitcomb has received many emails and occasional phone calls from ordinary persons who have seen extraordinary animals: apparent pterosaurs. On August 18, 2008, he received a phone call from a man in England, a plane pilot who recently had a near-collision with a large creature flying 6500 feet above the sea, 150 miles from Bali, Indonesia . . .

Although cryptozoologists have not previously thought of Gerald McIsaac as a pterosaur expert, his recent nonfiction book makes it clear that his has actively searched for the pterosaur-like flying creature that is called “devil bird” in this part of British Columbia. Modern-pterosaur experts and researchers should be interested in the progress of McIsaac’s searching and researching, for there is still much to be discovered in this wonderful world.

One of the eyewitnesses reported to me, by emails and a phone conversation, more details, although he did not often use the word “bird.” The tail was long and straight. Each wing was 10-15 feet long (making a wingspan about 20-30 feet long). Where color was discernable, on the belly, it was somewhat golden brown.

Pterosaurs in San Diego

The problem with notifying the news media, in this case, was that just three months previously somebody had played a practical joke. A statue in northern San Diego County was found to have a model “pterodactyl” fixed onto the top. This was carried in the news, becoming well-known in the San Diego area. What news reporter would thereafter give serious consideration to a report of two giant pterodactyls flying over the middle of San Diego?

 

Buy your own copy of this cryptozoology book on Amazon.com

Live Pterosaurs in America, third edition

This newest edition gives amazing eyewitness reports from across the forty-eight contiguous states of the USA: California, Texas, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Wisconsin, Kansas, and other states. Author: Jonathan Whitcomb.

Bird From Hell, Second Edition

This deals mainly with native American Indian traditions about strange cryptids in northern British Columbia, including a dangerous nocturnal flying creature that is said to have an arrow at the end of a long tail. But this book gives more than just stories: modern encounters with potentially (at least) man-eating flying creatures. Author: Gerald McIsaac.

Big Bird

No, not the Sesame Street character. Most, if not all, of the sightings of strange flying creatures are in Texas; the encounters are shocking. Author: Ken Gerhard.

Three Books by Independent Authors

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 . . .

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.

Modern Pterosaur Expert

After an expedition on a remote island of Papua New Guinea, and after having written over a thousand blog posts and web pages, and after interviewing countless eyewitnesses from various countries of the world, Jonathan Whitcomb is a pterosaur expert in the cryptozoological sense.

Flathead Lake, Montana, “Pterodactyl”

The first image shows us that the camera is just above the surface of a lake, perhaps as high as ten feet or more above the lake but unlikely over a hundred feet . . . The ninth image gives me the impression that I am looking slightly down at the flying creature; I notice one of the hind legs (kept straight back behind the rear of its body) now is seen above its right wing, and the main part of the head is below the left wing. I have tried to imagine some way that I could be looking up at this flying creature, in this image; my mind rebels against the thought. Of course it could be in a steep dive, but this seems inconsistent with the other images. It looks more like this photo, if it really is a photo, was taken far higher, way up in the air; but how did the camera get so high up in the air?

Objective Ministries Hoax

There never was such a “project” and there never was any plan for a “Fellowship Creation Science Museum . . .” A number of people had begun to catch on to the hoax by around 2005, and I (cryptozoologist Jonathan Whitcomb) became suspicious when my email inquiry was not answered. Years passed without any apparent progress in the planned “project” of “Objective Ministries.” It was suggested by one person that the photograph of “Dr. Richard Paley” is a doctored photo, perhaps modified using Photoshop.

No Hoax With Overall Reports of Pterosaurs

Most of the 98 sighting reports, from which the 57 with wingspan estimates were taken, suggest flying creatures that have long tails like Rhamphorhynchoids. That is where the idea comes from for the possibility that hoaxers may have tried to conjure up that type of pterosaur in their hoaxes. But the data shows something far different from what is commonly believed about Rhamphorhynchoids, for the size-estimates do not fall sharply at around five-to-seven-feet, but gradually decline at huge wingspans, far larger than what is standard-size for even the largest flying birds of modern times.