Jonathan Whitcomb – Page 3 – Dinosaur Birds

September 26, 2014

Ropens in North America

Whether called “dinosaur bird” or “prehistoric bird” or “pterodactyl,” by an eyewitness, a modern pterosaur with long tail is called by cryptozoologists “ropen.” Let’s consider three of the lesser-known sightings first, then two better-publicized ones.

California (around Riverside/Corona border)

Hello my name is _____ I believe I have seen a ropen in Lake Hills, Southern California. It was larger than most hawks. The ropen had a very long tail and its head had a large crest. I estimate the wing span between 10 and 15 feet in length however it may have been smaller or larger.

California (Orange County; sighting in 1989)

The 405 freeway was congested, as usual. Sitting in the back seat on the right side . . . I looked up again at traffic and there was no change. Some movement further up in the air caught my attention. My jaw dropped. Soaring in the sky without flapping its wings was a flying creature. It may have been about 500 feet from our car, about 12 stories high. Its wingspan seemed to be about 8-12 feet. Its color was a dark brown, like a chocolate candy bar. The legs did not seem very long and it had a tail about the length of its body from the torso to the top of its head. Its beak seemed to be about the length of its torso and it was mostly flat and a little pointy at the end. There were no feathers or plumage, but its skin was not smooth – it looked like rough leather. At the end of its tail was triangular, almost like a cartoonish devil’s tail. . . . After about 10 seconds, I excitedly yelled to my mom, who was sitting in front of me, that there was a dinosaur flying around outside. She replied with an “Oh wow! That’s nice!” without bothering to look out the window.

Louisiana

I remember seeing one when I was a kid in Louisiana I thought it was a demon or the devil bat like leathery wings peach to light brown in color fairly large wing span and the spade/diamond shaped tail I knew it wasn’t a bird then I remember the first time I saw a pteradactyl in a book and I was like so that’s what I saw but how? starting to think there are plenty of them alive around the world still.

pond at San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary

Wildlife sanctuary in Southern California, where a large ropen was reported to fly

Now for a couple better-known sighting reports of ropens.

California (Los Angeles)

This morning at about 6am I saw three “dragons” flying over the 5-North freeway between Griffith Park and Glendale. They appeared to be several feet long, with a head:body:tail ratio that was certainly not that of a bird. Their wings were long, angular and pointed and their tails had triangular points. They appeared light in color – white, gray or light green. They were flying southeast in a triangular formation. I definitely saw them, but was driving so I could not stop and watch where they went.

Cuba (around 1965)

I was in Guantanamo Naval Base in 1965 and I saw one too, near the shipyards. . . . I was around six years old. My brother George was with me, but he was only around four. We were walking down near the boat yards, headed home. . . . There were some stagnant pools here and there, a few inches deep in the area. We were walking through that scrub area, and suddenly it sat up, as if it had been eating something or resting.

The head and upper part of its body, about a third of the wings at the joint (tips still held down) showed. . . . right in front of us about thirty feet away. All of us froze for about five seconds, then it leaned to its left and took off with a fwap fwap fwap sound, in a big hurry . . .

It did have a tail and it had a diamond shaped tip . . . The skin was a leathery, brownish reddish color. It had little teeth, a LOT of them. The eye was smallish and dark. [Eyewitness Patty Carson]

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“I saw a Prehistoric Bird”

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 . . .

Ropen

Like eyewitnesses in Australia, some of the eyewitnesses in the United States label the flying creature “pterodactyl.” Most of these flying creatures have long tails, and many of those long tails are seen to have a vane or flange at the end. This appears to relate to the Rhamphorhynchoid tail flange that is known from fossils of some pterosaurs.

July 7, 2014

Is the Ropen Just a Myth?

This ropen was seen by Patty Carson, who drew this sketch of the large pterosaur she encountered at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

This sketch was drawn by the eyewitness Patty Carson, who stands by her testimony

Smithsonian-Online Assaults Modern-Pterosaur Concept

Brian Switek wrote “Don’t Get Strung Along by the ‘Ropen’ Myth,” dated August 16, 2010, in its publication as a Smithsonian blog post. He said, “Sadly, some people still get duped by the fantastic claims espoused by ‘professional monster hunters.'”

He correctly points out weaknesses in a newspaper article by Terrence Aym (the flawed “Dinosaur Found Alive: Two Species Recorded in Papua New Guinea”), which was published four days before Switek’s post was published. I suspect Switek could have written a much better post if he had spent more time researching and reading what the ropen explorers have written. The content of his post suggests he assumed the worse for my associates, although he mentions by name only Jim Blume and David Woetzel. Unfortunately he got carried away after lambasting Aym’s article. He would have done better with more than four days, to allow time to learn the truth about many years of investigations into modern reports of apparent pterosaurs.

Reply to the Smithsonian Post in Searching for Ropens and Finding God

He says nothing about me or my associates Garth Guessman and Paul Nation, but does mention David Woetzel and Jim Blume, and he portrays them negatively; I therefore must reply to Mr. Switek. . . . The Smithsonian online post—”Don’t Get Strung Along by the ‘Ropen’ Myth”—covers a community-cesspool of mistakes . . . although it appears it was inadvertent, so we need not condemn the writer. . . .

. . . In his childhood, Switek hoped that explorers who searched for living dinosaurs in the tropics would be successful. As he grew older, he became disenchanted by their lack of apparent discovery. He mentions no names there but states that the supporters of the concept of extant dinosaurs were “hucksters.” He also mentions “young-earth creationists” who oppose “orthodox science.” I suggest Mr. Switek, in his youth, gave up hope too easily. Reality is much deeper.

Frigate Bird Misidentification

I applaud writers for pointing out the problem of people mistaking Frigate birds for what they thought were modern pterosaurs or “dinosaur birds.” Mr. Switek was correct in pointing out that error, that embarrassing error, in Aym’s newspaper article. But the blog post written four days later, by Switek, (“Don’t Get Strung Along by the ‘Ropen’ Myth”) is also full of error, not the same kind of glaring blunder as in the newspaper article but still serious error: countless eyewitnesses have seen apparent living pterosaurs, with many encounters defying any reasonable misidentification conjecture. For one thing, my book Searching for Ropens and Finding God is full of such reports that were from flying creatures very unlike any Frigate bird. For those unwilling to read through the 353 pages of that nonfiction book, I have published over a thousand blog posts on the subject of modern pterosaurs. I suggest this is a much deeper subject than Mr. Switek has imagined.

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Don’t Get Strung Along by the Smithsonian Myth About Ropens

This is a reply to “Don’t Get Strung Along by the ‘Ropen’ Myth.” The Smithsonian’s blog post supports what I call a “myth” regarding the total extinction of all varieties of pterosaurs. Regardless of how many have become extinct, some still survive.

Searching for Flying Dragons

My life changed from those two weeks on that remote tropical island. I, Jonathan Whitcomb, am no longer a forensic videographer. I am now an author, a writer of nonfiction about living pterosaurs.

August 22, 2013August 23, 2013

Explanation for Marfa Lights

Before beginning this explanation, let’s be clear on this point: The author of Hunting Marfa Lights, James Bunnell, said nothing about the following theory in his book. I informed him of part of my theory early in 2010, after the publication of his Hunting Marfa Lights. He found some problems with that narrow aspect of my concept, for it did not explain all types of mysterious lights that Bunnell had investigated.

The general theory, on the other hand, I believe holds up very well to his objections, regardless of the narrow part that does not explain all the aspects of the Mystery Lights that are seen occasionally near Marfa, Texas. The following is a brief outline of my general theory: Bioluminescent Flying Creatures (BFC).

Since our communications in 2010, I have had no more contact with Mr. Bunnell, but I have occasionally revisited my Marfa Lights theory, and still find it the best explanation for the CE-II and CE-III “Mystery Lights” that he describes in his book.

Bioluminescent Flying Predator (BFP) Theory for Marfa Lights

Introduction

1) This explains CE-II and CE-III mystery lights, as defined by Bunnell in HML.

2) BFP may relate also to some CE-I and CE-IV, but they’re not examined here.

Sightings of Pterosaur-Like Creatures

3) Eyewitnesses in Texas have reported apparent living pterosaurs for decades.

4) People in other areas of North America have also reported those creatures.

5) Some sightings in North America have been of glowing flying creatures.

6) Some flying creatures have reportedly chased cars at night.

Humboldt Squid in the Pacific Ocean

7) The large Humboldt squid hunts intelligently as a group

8) This squid uses bioluminescence in hunting fish

CE-III’s Explained (flying lights)

9) “Depth and complexity” are better explained by biology than by geology.

10) Flying against the wind can be done by a flying creature.

11) Bioluminescent flying creatures could fly 2-400 feet high.

12) Changing color is common with bioluminescence.

13) Helping a lost man at night is possible for an intelligent creature.

14) A group of BFP’s could hunt in one area for only one or two nights.

15) A group of BFP’s could return to the same area after a few weeks.

16) A group of BFP’s would take advantage of warmer weather.

17) Two BFP’s could fly apart and then rejoin to attract bats: ambush tactic.

CE-II’s Explained (stationary lights)

18) A juvenile BFP could remain in one place, waiting for a parent to return.

19) An adult BFP could wait for another BFP to come help in hunting bats.

20) A BFP could be stationary while it eats a bat.

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Addendum:

In Hunting Marfa Lights, by James Bunnell, the CE category of Mystery Lights (Chemical-Electromagnetic) has four types, two of which are now explained by quoting from the book:

Subtype II: Stationary — balls of light that turn on and off and sometimes multiply

Subtype III: Traveling — Same as Type II but they travel cross-country above desert foliage and below background mesas

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Living Nightmare: Attack in the Dead of Winter

Remember your worst nightmare? Were you glad to wake up? Be grateful. In the early morning hours of February 23, 2010, a few miles or so southwest of Marfa, Texas, the victims were terrified by what awakened them.

Marfa Lights in Texas

Many of the mysterious lights around Marfa, Texas, are the bioluminescent glow of flying predators, perhaps related to the nocturnal ropen of Papua New Guinea.

Marfa Light, How Bright!

Some birds can fly 37 miles per hour, but most do not fly that fast, at least not for long. Barn owls are not known for flying straight for many miles, even if one of them could keep up a pace of 37 mph. But the ropen of Papua New Guinea is said to fly “faster than birds but slower than airplanes.”

August 3, 2013

Indava of Papua New Guinea

Cheesman Sightings

The British biologist Evelyn Cheesman discovered a number of species of small creatures in the southwest Pacific, during her expeditions in the first half of the twentieth century. Her skills in observation and reasoning, however, were insufficient to explain strange lights she observed in a tropical rain forest deep in what now is called the “mainland of Papua New Guinea.”

One night, as she sat on the veranda of the house where she was staying in Mondo, she gazed out at some distant mountain ridges. There was no storm or major cloud formation in her area but there were three distant storms, mostly too distant to hear any thunder.

A brief light caught her attention. After it went out, another appeared, a little distance away from the first one. She estimated the flash duration: four to five seconds. They were nothing like lightning.

In her book The Two Roads of Papua, Cheesman said, “by no possibility could there be human beings out there using flash-lamps [flash lights] at intervals.” She eventually gave up on discovering the cause of the lights, but other explorers, a few decades later, would find an astonishing explanation.

Ropen and Indava of Papua New Guinea

In 1994 and 1996, the American Biblical creationist Carl Baugh and the Baptist missionary James Blume visited islands in Papua New Guinea, including Umboi Island, interviewing eyewitnesses of strange flying lights and a large flying creature that some natives call “ropen.” They believed that natives were seeing the glow of bioluminescent pterosaurs.

In 2002, Paul Nation, as associate of Baugh’s, explored on Umboi Island and interviewed natives. He was followed by three other Americans in two separate expeditions in 2004. The strange flying lights attributed to the ropen were observed by some of those American explorers on Umboi Island, but not all of them. Nevertheless, much was learned from the two expeditions of 2004, adding to the knowledge obtained from the previous expeditions.

The ropen of Umboi Island, however, is not the only flying light attributed to large flying creatures of the night in Papua New Guinea. We also have the indava.

Paul Nation’s 2006 Expedition

Many miles south of where Evelyn Cheesman had long ago observed strange lights—that’s where Paul Nation videotaped two strange lights that were on a ridge above him. That night in 2006, Paul recorded many seconds of video. He brought back the footage to the United States during the Thanksgiving season.

I was very grateful to interview Paul Nation, in his home in Granbury, Texas, soon after that expedition. I made a digital copy of his video footage of those two lights and took it back with me to California, where the missile defense physicist Cliff Paiva analyzed it over a period of several weeks.

The lights were found to be dimmer at their centers, an unusual characteristic that eliminated car headlights, flashlights, camp fires, and airplane lights, even if any of those should be present (which they were not).

Paiva also eliminated meteors, even though it was already obvious they the two lights sitting on the top of that ridge were not meteors. What the scientist could not eliminate was bioluminescence from large creatures.

In this area deep in the mainland of Papua New Guinea, south of where Cheesman saw strange lights, the natives call the flying lights “indava.” They ascribe the lights to large flying creatures. In the past, the indavas would sometimes raid the village of Tawa and carry off a pig or a child. The villagers learned to make loud noises when they heard the creatures approaching, frightening the indavas and keeping them at bay. The village of Tawa had been free from those raids for some time when Paul Nation arrived in 2006.

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Paul Nation and Another Expedition

Paul Nation . . . is looking for funding for another expedition deep on the mainland of Papua New Guinea . . . it will be his third indava search in this particular mountainous jungle area.

Indava Pterosaur

On the mainland of Papua New Guinea, lives a colony of creatures unclassified by science but known to the villagers as “indava.” They are said to fly to the coast to feed at night . . . a long flight for a meal . . .

Pterosaur Sightings

In Cuba, Georgia, North Carolina, Hawaii, and elsewhere

Pterosaur Sightings in Hawaii

I would estimate the wingspan to approximately 6 feet and it was very dark in color. I saw it in Kona and was completely astonished when looking at it because it was completely unlike anything else I have ever seen and it looked like nothing else I can explain other than a pterydactyl [pterodactyl].