Bioluminescence and Marfa Lights

Many sea creatures have bioluminescence, but few flying creatures of the sky glow, at least according to what science textbooks tell us. The firefly is an exception. But what if the textbooks have overlooked a large flying creature that has been thought long extinct: a pterosaur? What if eyewitness accounts are correct about large glowing pterosaurs flying at night?

Pterosaur with glowing wing edges

A recent report, from a researcher and explorer, who has seen these nocturnal creatures himself, indicates one of the pterosaurs had a glow on the leading edge of the wings. One eyewitness described the bright glow from one wings. That light penetrated the other wing, detailing the inner structure of that wing for a moment. The eyewitness saw the semi-transparency of that wing. Amazing! The location is secret, but this secrecy may be temporary.

Marfa Lights and Min Mins

The puzzle cries for a solution; Mr. Hendricks and I agree. I respectfully disagree with his general assumption (something like an atmostpheric phenomenon, non-living). I credit him for his work, but credit the Marfa Lights to the flights of cryptids, notwithstanding they differ from flights of birds and bats. Why do they seem, at times, to dance? Why do two lights fly apart, then turn and fly back together? The dance sometimes appears complex but the purpose is simple. It’s just their technique: a way to catch bats.

Bioluminescence of Pterosaurs

(Note: popular scientific models in paleontology do not generally include speculation about bioluminescence or lack of it in pterosaurs represented by fossils, for bones do not have enough information)

Some eyewitnesses see glowing “pterodactyls” or a large or giant flying object that shines where large or giant pterosaurs have been seen to fly. . . . my associates and I believe the day will come when biology textbooks will include that subject. Future discoveries may reveal something about the biological chemistry involved, for it may differ from the bioluminescent of other organisms such as fireflies.

Texas Marfa Lights Mystery

. . . local residents have speculated about dancing devils or ghosts. Scientists have preferred something along the lines of ball lightning or earthlights, but all their scientific explanations have tripped over the resemblances to line dancing. . . . why do two lights horizontally separate for a long distance before coming back together?

All About Marfa Lights and Pterosaurs

They have been called dragons, fiery flying serpents, ropens, and pterosaurs. What about Marfa Lights? Those that fit into what Bunnell calls “CE-III” mystery lights characteristics—those lights behave like they were intelligent. Perhaps the old legends of crafty dragons are not 100% fictional.

Marfa Lights and Ropens

But eyewitnesses who have been brave enough to report a living pterosaur themselves live in various states of the U.S.A., including various parts of Texas and in New Mexico. Many of these sightings resemble those in  Papua New Guinea: feather-less flying creatures with head crests and long tails, and when long tails are seen, the end of the tail is often seen to have a structure suggesting the tail of a Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur.

Biology professor sees possible pterosaur

In my nonfiction book Live Pterosaurs in America, I mentioned the sighting by Professor Peter Beach, in the summer of 2007, near the Yakima River in the state of Washington. Consider part of what he wrote about it:

. . . we saw many . . . flashing lights. I would have assumed that [they] were fireflies but we [don’t] have them in Washington. One of the flashes took off from a big tree overhanging the river and made a kind of flashing coma turn. Many flashes were parallel to the river. . . . there were many fish . . . Prime hunting grounds for fish-eating birds. Only these things fish at night with bioluminescence. At first I thought I was just seeing shooting stars, but they were all parallel to the river and close to the horizon. Next I noticed that when the cloud cover came in, I could still see the flashes. They were under the cloud cover. Whatever they are, I suggest that they are at least unknown to science, night flying, bioluminescent, flying creatures . . .

About a year later (perhaps in the same area) the professor led another expedition, observing the flight of the bioluminescent flying creatures for three hours:

. . . there were two light [flashes] . . . about 50-100 ft., above the river. . . . followed by screeches from about a dozen or so agitated nighthawks in the general area. I think the Rhamphorhynchoids, if that is what they were, were feeding on the nighthawks as the nighthawks were feeding on the flying insects. Bats were also common, but they were fast, made sharp turns, and were relatively small . . .

I know of others who encountered strange flying lights over rivers in the United States, flights that were only just above the water. Even where fireflies live, these flying things are much larger and faster.

See “Pterosaurs Alive in America

See also “Cryptozoology, science, and pterosaurs”

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