Eyewitnesses of the ropen

David Moke (seen above with his two sons), of Opai Village, Umboi Island, was shocked at the bright flash lighting up the reef where he was fishing one night. Investigators believe that the light came from the giant bioluminescent pterosaur-like ropen. For years, villagers of Umboi Island have seen the ropen light flying to or from the larger mountains, in particular Mount Bel. Some describe the light as lasting only about five seconds. They say that only one light is seen at a time, and not only natives see it: Westerners have seen the ropen light. Gideon Koro related how he was terrified at the sight of the giant ropen that flew over Lake Pung (around 1994). He and his friends were only children (or in their early teens) when they had climbed up to the crater lake on Siasi (Umboi) Island, Papua New Guinea. Three American explorers (Jonathan Whitcomb, Garth Guessman, and David Woetzel) interviewed Jonah Jim regarding his ropen sighting. He saw more than the glow: He saw the pterosaur-shape and long tail. Jonah Jim was shown, by Guessman and Woetzel, a page of silhouettes of birds, bats, and pterosaurs. One of those thirty-four images was chosen by that islander: the silhouette of the Sordes Pilosus, a Rhamphorhynchoid  (long-tailed) pterosaur. Another native on Umboi Island, Jonathan Ragu, was also interviewed in detail by Woetzel and Guessman. That islander also chose the silhouette of the Sordes Pilosus. Those two natives were not aware of each other’s choices, but they both chose the same sketch, for what they had seen. During the Whitcomb-Paina expedition of 2004, Mark Kau (of Gomlongon Village) and Luke Paina witnessed the ropen light as it flew for a few seconds of glowing, with Mount Bel in the background. Before writing his scientific paper “Reports of Living Pterosaurs in the Southwest Pacific,” Whitcomb gathered statistics on the directions of flight and the times of night, for the ropen-light sightings. He determined that it was more common for the light to go toward the coast early at night and to return inland later. This correlates with what natives told the American explorers: The glowing ropen flies out to the reefs for food and later flies back to the mountains.
“How greatly have eyewitnesses on Umboi Island helped in our investigations of apparent nocturnal Rhamphorhynchoid  pterosaurs in Papua New Guinea!”   Jonathan David Whitcomb
Leonard, of Opai Village, was interviewed by Woetzel and Guessman in 2004, in or near Opai, Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea. Leonard sees the glow of the ropen fly over his village once a month. Like the sighting by David Woetzel, only the glow was visible, without any clear shape or any features observed. (Opai is close to Gomlongon.) Although Whitcomb did not meet Leonard, he was able to interview a number of Umboi natives who had seen the ropen light. Like Leonard, they could not see much more than the light itself.
Umboi Island Eyewitnesses
Pterosaurs Still Living
Guessman and Woetzel had a fine view of Lake Pung when they camped on Mount Tolo in 2004. Sometimes the ropen flies over this crater lake.
Lab Lab is on the east coast of Umboi Island; here a cargo-passenger ship stops once a week. At Lab Lab, a government official once saw the flying ropen light. (Umboi Official Sees Ropen Light)
Before Woetzel and Guessman had arrived at the crater lake, Woetzel had a sighting of the ropen light, as it flew towards that lake: Pung.
Copyright  2006-2019  Jonathan David Whitcomb
ver-015

Eyewitnesses of the ropen

David Moke (seen above with his two sons), of Opai Village, Umboi Island, was shocked at the bright flash lighting up the reef where he was fishing one night. Investigators believe that the light came from the giant bioluminescent pterosaur-like ropen. For years, villagers of Umboi Island have seen the ropen light flying to or from the larger mountains, in particular Mount Bel. Some describe the light as lasting only about five seconds. They say that only one light is seen at a time, and not only natives see it: Westerners have seen the ropen light. Gideon Koro related how he was terrified at the sight of the giant ropen that flew over Lake Pung (around 1994). He and his friends were only children (or in their early teens) when they had climbed up to the crater lake on Siasi (Umboi) Island, Papua New Guinea. Three American explorers (Jonathan Whitcomb, Garth Guessman, and David Woetzel) interviewed Jonah Jim  regarding his ropen sighting. He saw more than the glow: He saw the pterosaur-shape and long tail. Jonah Jim was shown, by Guessman and Woetzel, a page of silhouettes of birds, bats, and pterosaurs. One of those thirty-four images was chosen by that islander: the silhouette of the Sordes Pilosus, a Rhamphorhynchoid (long-tailed) pterosaur. Another native on Umboi Island, Jonathan Ragu, was also interviewed in detail by Woetzel and Guessman. That islander also chose the silhouette of the Sordes Pilosus. Those two natives were not aware of each other’s choices, but they both chose the same sketch, for what they had seen. During the Whitcomb-Paina expedition of 2004, Mark Kau (of Gomlongon Village) and Luke Paina witnessed the ropen light as it flew for a few seconds of glowing, with Mount Bel in the background. Before writing his scientific paper “Reports of Living Pterosaurs in the Southwest Pacific,” Whitcomb gathered statistics on the directions of flight and the times of night, for the ropen-light sightings. He determined that it was more common for the light to go toward the coast early at night and to return inland later. This correlates with what natives told the American explorers: The glowing ropen flies out to the reefs for food and later flies back to the mountains.
“How greatly have eyewitnesses on Umboi Island helped in our investigations of apparent nocturnal Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaurs in Papua New Guinea!”   Jonathan David Whitcomb
Leonard, of Opai Village, was interviewed by Woetzel and Guessman in 2004, in or near Opai, Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea. Leonard sees the glow of the ropen fly over his village once a month. Like the sighting by David Woetzel, only the glow was visible, without any clear shape or any features observed. (Opai is close to Gomlongon.) Although Whitcomb did not meet Leonard, he was able to interview a number of Umboi natives who had seen the ropen light. Like Leonard, they could not see much more than the light itself.
Umboi Island Eyewitnesses
Pterosaurs Still Living
Guessman and Woetzel had a fine view of Lake Pung when they camped on Mount Tolo in 2004. Sometimes the ropen flies over this crater lake.
Lab Lab is on the east coast of Umboi Island; here a cargo-passenger ship stops once a week. At Lab Lab, a government official once saw the flying ropen light. (Umboi Official Sees Ropen Light)
Before Woetzel and Guessman had arrived at the crater lake, Woetzel had a sighting of the ropen light, as it flew towards that lake: Pung.
Copyright  2006-2019  Jonathan David Whitcomb
ver-015

Eyewitnesses of

the ropen

David Moke (seen above with his two sons), of Opai Village, Umboi Island, was shocked at the bright flash lighting up the reef where he was fishing one night. Investigators believe that the light came from the giant bioluminescent pterosaur-like ropen. For years, villagers of Umboi Island have seen the ropen light flying to or from the larger mountains, in particular Mount Bel. Some describe the light as lasting only about five seconds. They say that only one light is seen at a time, and not only natives see it: Westerners have seen the ropen light. Gideon Koro related how he was terrified at the sight of the giant ropen that flew over Lake Pung (around 1994). He and his friends were only children (or in their early teens) when they had climbed up to the crater lake on Siasi (Umboi) Island, Papua New Guinea. Three American explorers (Jonathan Whitcomb, Garth Guessman, and David Woetzel) interviewed Jonah Jim regarding his ropen sighting. He saw more than the glow: He saw the pterosaur-shape and long tail. Jonah Jim was shown, by Guessman and Woetzel, a page of silhouettes of birds, bats, and pterosaurs. One of those thirty-four images was chosen by that islander: the silhouette of the Sordes Pilosus, a Rhamphorhynchoid (long-tailed) pterosaur. Another native on Umboi Island, Jonathan Ragu, was also interviewed in detail by Woetzel and Guessman. That islander also chose the silhouette of the Sordes Pilosus. Those two natives were not aware of each other’s choices, but they both chose the same sketch, for what they had seen. During the Whitcomb-Paina expedition of 2004, Mark Kau (of Gomlongon Village) and Luke Paina witnessed the ropen light as it flew for a few seconds of glowing, with Mount Bel in the background. Before writing his scientific paper “Reports of Living Pterosaurs in the Southwest Pacific,” Whitcomb gathered statistics on the directions of flight and the times of night, for the ropen-light sightings. He determined that it was more common for the light to go toward the coast early at night and to return inland later. This correlates with what natives told the American explorers: The glowing ropen flies out to the reefs for food and later flies back to the mountains.
“How greatly have eyewitnesses on Umboi Island helped in our investigations of apparent nocturnal Rhamphorhynchoid  pterosaurs in Papua New Guinea!”   Jonathan David Whitcomb
Leonard, of Opai Village, was interviewed by Woetzel and Guessman in 2004, in or near Opai, Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea. Leonard sees the glow of the ropen fly over his village once a month. Like the sighting by David Woetzel, only the glow was visible, without any clear shape or any features observed. (Opai is close to Gomlongon.) Although Whitcomb did not meet Leonard, he was able to interview a number of Umboi natives who had seen the ropen light. Like Leonard, they could not see much more than the light itself.
Umboi Island Eyewitnesses
Pterosaurs Still Living
Guessman and Woetzel had a fine view of Lake Pung when they camped on Mount Tolo in 2004. Sometimes the ropen flies over this crater lake.
Lab Lab is on the east coast of Umboi Island; here a cargo-passenger ship stops once a week. At Lab Lab, a government official once saw the flying ropen light. (Umboi Official Sees Ropen Light)
Before Woetzel and Guessman had arrived at the crater lake, Woetzel had a sighting of the ropen light, as it flew towards that lake: Pung.
Copyright  2006-2019  Jonathan David Whitcomb
ver-015