Pterodactyls
Are they still alive? Can reports of flying dragons be more than legends?
Pterosaurs Still Living
Pterosaur Extinction
Pterodactyls Still Living?
Why no Photo?
“Pterodactyl-like”
Does a Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur still live?
Introduction to Living Pterodactyls
(technically correct: “pterosaurs”)
Pterosaurs, the technically correct name for what
many call “pterodactyls,” are known by Western
scientists through their fossils. Textbooks and
children’s books declare that they all became
extinct many millions of years ago. (A common
phrase is “by 65 million years ago.”) But where is
the evidence for the extinction of all pterosaurs?
Why do so many publications proclaim their
ancient demise, yet fail to give any solid reason
for the belief that all members of all species died?
Are some pterodactyls still living? That idea is
controversial, to be sure, for where is the photo
to prove such a bold idea?
But wait a moment. What does photography have
to do with it? Where is photographic evidence
that every kind of pterodactyl became extinct
millions of years ago?
The fossils say nothing about extinction. Those
fossils only show that the creatures once lived.
A fossil tells us that one particular organism once
lived and died. Photographing and analyzing
fossils has nothing to do with extinction. So what
is this controversy about living pterodactyls?
The cryptozoology book Searching for Ropens
explains the widespread Western belief in
universal pterosaur extinction. It is not at all
complimentary to “standard models” but seems
to expose a superstitious nature within the
belief in “universal pterosaur extinction.” It
seems that human nature often causes bias
when a person’s philosophy is involved. The
book declares that Darwin’s General Theory of
Evolution is based on philosophical axioms or
assumptions.
The idea that all dinosaurs and pterosaurs
became extinct many millions of years ago may
have actually come from desires to shore up a
particular philosophy, namely atheism. That
idea is controversial, and how!
Do old legends of dragons come from encounters
with living pterosaurs? Many reports of living
pterosaurs could not all have been influenced by
old legends or by superstition. In modern times,
similar reports come from many eyewitnesses of
different cultural and language backgrounds:
Australians, North Americans, Europeans, and
natives of third-world countries.
What is the bioluminescence of the ropen? Does
it relate to old legends of fire-breathing dragons?
Many ancient peoples (& many modern natives)
would assume that a glow at night comes from
fire. Perhaps the legend of the "Wawanar" (a
legend of a flying dragon talked about in the
Pilio Island area south of West New Britain
Island in Papua New Guinea) comes from
sightings of the ropen, for "ropen" is the name
used on Umboi Island, just west of West New
Britain (natives call Umboi “Siassi”).
And is "duwas" another name (in another native
language) for the same flying creature (ropen)?
Perhaps this dragon is more than just a legend.
(By the way, “duah” is probably a distortion of
the word “duwas.”)
How do Mesozoic strata relate to live pterosaurs?
Circular reasoning results from trying to use the
“Mesozoic objection” as if it were evidence
against modern extant pterosaurs. Most fossils
have no direct way of being dated, without
extensive use of assumptions based on Darwin’s
General Theory of Evolution (GTE). And how
does all this relate to Creation versus Evolution?
That is a deep subject.
New Britain Island Sightings
According to one news report (use the link above
on “pterodactyl-like”), strange featherless flying
creatures fly over a valley in the center of New
Britain Island, Papua New Guinea. Those large
flying creatures have pointed head crests and
"leathery" skin. They were seen to fly, sometimes
in single file (according to Jon Whitcomb's book
Searching for Ropens), toward the coast, maybe
to catch fish. If the report is true, these would be
Pterodactyloids (short-tailed pterosaurs).
Umboi Island Sightings
Also, according Searching for Ropens, some of the
eyewitnesses report a creature described like a
long-tailed (Rhamphorhynchoid) pterosaur; some
witnesses have even seen a nocturnal ropen in
daylight. On Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea,
they call it “ropen,” but other tribes on other
islands have different names.
Ropens appear to eat fish or clams, but they're
said to have eaten more than just sea food: Many
years ago, Michael, an old man interviewed by
Whitcomb on Umboi Island, in 2004, saw it come
to a human grave and dig up the body of the
recently deceased man.
In 2004, Jonathan David Whitcomb, an American
forensic videographer visited Umboi Island and
interviewed many native eyewitnesses, including
Michael of Opai Village. Another man recounted
his sighting of a ropen as it flew low over the
surface of a reef at the southern part of Umboi,
apparently trying to catch fish by using its
bioluminescent glow.
David Moke eyewitness account
“David Moke and Peter Luke . . . were fishing,
using the local custom of attracting fish with a
‘diving torch.’”
World War II Veteran’s Sighting
Searching for Ropens has one chapter devoted to
the sighting report of an American World War II
veteran, Duane Hodgkinson. In 1944, he entered
a jungle clearing not far from Finschhafen, New
Guinea. A large "pterodactyl" flew into the air
and circled the clearing, giving a clear view of
its features. The veteran was interviewed in 2005,
by Garth Guessman, and still maintained that he
saw a “pterodactyl.” It's interesting to note that
the man is a flight instructor with over 13,000
hours of flight experience.
Perth Creature
Another chapter of the book Searching for Ropens
is devoted to a sighting by a married couple as
they were strolling along a highway near Perth,
Australia. According to the wife: . . . “we do
know that it was definitely a living creature . . .
I never believed these things existed until that
night.” . . .
The husband gave more details about the huge
apparent pterosaur: . . . “estimated the size to
be in excess of thirty foot, possibly as great as
fifty foot. My eyes told me it was nearer the
greater of these, my rational mind wants me to
believe the lesser, since either of these is astoun-
ding for a flying creature” . . .
2004 Expedition by Jonathan Whitcomb
Several chapters of the book are devoted to the
2004 expedition of the author, Jonathan David
Whitcomb. He left the mainland of Papua New
Guinea (city of Lae) with his interpreter. They
sailed to Umboi Island, where they searched for
ropens and later interviewed many native
eyewitnesses. But what kind of evidence is that?
(Aren’t natives superstitious?) The point is this:
Islanders who have seen the ropen do not recite
legends or superstitious stories; they simply tell
the investigators what they saw. On Umboi
Island, Whitcomb estimates hundreds of people
have seen the ropen. Although most of them have
only seen a distant fleeting view, a few have seen
it up close. These are the eyewitness testimonies
of a living creature whose description suggests a
Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur.
Could a fish-eating pterodactyl still
live on planet earth? How intriguing!
Giant Pterosaur observed near Irvine, California
Bioluminescence of modern pterosaurs
Dinosaurs Alongside Humans
In the spring of 2012, the cryptozoologist and
author Jonathan Whitcomb was interviewed
in Long Beach, California, for a Canadian
television talk show. Whitcomb has interviewed
many eyewitnesses of living pterosaurs. The
reports come from around the world.
Superstition and ropens?
Dragons and Pterosaurs
New Britain Creature
“Pterodactyl” sighting, in daylight, in
a wildlife sanctuary in California
Copyright 2004-2012 Jonathan Whitcomb
Two “pterodactyls” seen in SE Cuba