Jonathan David Whitcomb (formerly of Long Beach, California; now living in Murray, Utah) is an author of four nonfiction cryptozoology books, each one of which has eyewitness reports of living pterosaurs:
- Searching for Ropens (three editions)
- Live Pterosaurs in America (three editions)
- Live Pterosaurs in Australia and in Papua New Guinea (free online pdf)
- Modern Pterosaurs (published April 2, 2017)
He led the first of the two ropen expeditions of 2004, on Umboi Island, interviewing Gideon Koro, Wesley Koro, Mesa Augustin, and Jonah Jim; each of those four eyewitnesses had encountered the ropen and observed its form and features, including the long tail.
Whitcomb was consulted by both Destination Truth and Monsterquest, before their expeditions in Papua New Guinea. He has been on news talk radio shows and was interviewed for a Canadian television talk show.
He also wrote a scientific paper for a peer-reviewed journal of science (“Reports of Living Pterosaurs in the Southwest Pacific”).