Here are excerpts from the testimony of a married couple who were living in Perth, Australia at the time
of their sighting.
According to the wife:
In December, 1997 my husband and I both sighted a huge creature flying over a
densely populated area, while we were out walking one night in Perth, Western Australia on the coastline around 10:30 pm. . . .
. . it had a ruddy reddish brown leathery skin; (we could see its underneath as it flew over us at about 300 ft up; the glow from
all the ground lighting made that possible), it had a long tail and a wingspan that we estimated at between 30-50 feet across. . .
. [correlates with Gideon Koro's account]
The creature . . . just flew in the direction from North to South parallel to the
coastline about 1/2 mile inland.
This creature was huge and never in my life have I ever seen anything that remotely resembled
it until I found a page on Pterosaurs . . .
. . . My husband works in a scientific field and he observed it and took in much
more about it than I . . . .
We watched this creature glide on down the coastline until it was just a little dot on the horizon
in the distance, which was about 5 minutes. . . .
. . . we both swear to God that we saw it . . .
. . someone
else must have seen it surely, but are just not coming forward because of ridicule, which I can well understand having gone through
that myself. . . . [This lady was ridiculed for maintaining her account.]
. . . What we saw did not appear to have a
long neck, at least we could not see it from the angle . . . yes, we believe it did have a tail, and don't believe they were feet,
but actually a tail. . . .
. . . It was gliding across the night sky, flying quite low, without a sound. . . .
According
to the husband:
We had been walking in the evening and had just crested a hill and were on the down slope along a major thorough-fare.
In the distance I perceived an object in the sky. At this point it was rather indistinct and wondering what it might be I watched
it as it approached. Soon I was able to determine that it was some sort of flying creature, and my first thought was that it must
be some very large bird. . . .
Within a minute or so it had reached our position and was about 250 or 300 feet above us and
slightly inland. The area was moderately well lit and I saw that it seemed to be a light reddish-tan color. It did not
appear to be covered with feathers but had a leathery texture. Soon after it passed us it flew over a more brightly lit sports area
which highlighted even more the leathery appearance also bringing more detail to view. The wings were the most definite
leathery feature, they were shaped in a triangular arch, similar to a very elongated shark fin, The body also still appeared leathery,
though textured as though possibly covered with fine hair or small scales, the distance preventing any
finer observation other than that it was slightly different texture than the wings. The shape of the body was a streamlined torpedo
shape, slightly broadest at the chest and tapering slightly back to the hip, then tapering more quickly after the hips to a moderately
thin tail which was slightly longer than the body. At the hips the legs appeared to be tucked in close to the body not allowing for
easy discernment of their shape other than as a slightly different darker mass against the body. The head was close to the body, though
whether from a short neck or from having its head drawn in in the manner of some long necked water fowl I cannot say.
The creature,
during the time we observed it was mostly gliding, there was some wing movement as in a hawk or other bird controlling its flight
path, but did not flap as a sparrow or other small bird. Whether the creature was predominately a glider, or simply taking advantage
or the many air currents near the ocean to rest in flight I also do not know. . .
. . . I feel no compulsion to convert non-believers
or debate with skeptics.
(The names of these two Australians from Perth are withheld at their request. The wife underwent
extreme ridicule after making this story public. She says that she will never again go to any cryptozoology forum web site.)
For
more information, read the
book (
Searching for Ropens, second edition, 2007, ISBN-13: 978-1595941534), by Jonathan Whitcomb.
I have interviewed these two . . . and find their testimonies highly credible. (Whitcomb)
Jonathan Whitcomb, C.C.V., is
a forensic videographer, and
is certified by the American
Guild of Court Videographers.
Part of a sketch in the dirt: ropen seen by Gideon Koro and his friends at Lake Pung, Umboi Is.