1997 Sighting of a giant flying creature at Perth
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. (Jonathan Whitcomb)
Jonathan Whitcomb, was a
forensic videographer, before
his 2004 expedition in Papua
New Guinea and before he was
a non-fiction-book writer.
Through amazing accounts in the words of the eyewitnesses, learn about living pterosaurs from this cryptozoology book