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Flying Creatures in Southern California

By Jonathan Whitcomb

Over the past 19 years, I’ve written hundreds of blog posts about eyewitness reports of apparent modern pterosaurs. Some of those posts had many details on particular sightings, sometimes even a whole report on only one sighting. For now, consider a larger number of encounters but without going into much detail for any particular one: “pterodactyl” (or “dragon”) sightings in Southern California.

After that, we’ll get into *confirmation bias and how it may relate to research into these eyewitness accounts of apparent non-extinct pterodactyls (*one of many types of cognitive biases).

Los Angeles River winds near east side of Griffith Park in Southern California - photo by DB's travels

The Los Angeles River, east of Griffith Park (“dragons” seen)

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The following accounts come from “Declaration on Eyewitness Reports of Apparent Living Pterosaurs” (online pdf), but these are only a fraction of the reports from California:

1) Altadena – late 1960’s – wingspan of . . . “length of a bus”

2) Anaheim – Jan 31, 2018 – “about 25 to 30 foot wingspan”

3) Hacienda Heights – about 1991 – “teeth showing out of its beak”

4) Lakewood – June 19, 2012 – “dragon-pterodactyl” [It was close to the eyewitness and this was in clear daylight.]

5) Long Beach – 2017 – “reminded me of a dragon”

6) Long Beach – August of 2017 – no feathers and a long tail

7) Long Beach – March of 2011 – “dragon . . . pterosaur” near Cherry and 15th Street [Note: Long Beach is near Lakewood.]

8) Los Angeles – March 3, 2013 – three dragons flying east of Griffith Park [Note: This was very close to the Los Angeles River]

9) Los Angeles – May 13, 2013 – east of Griffith Park – “NOT a bird” [Note: This was seen by a different eyewitness from #8 above]

10) Los Angeles – Mar 24, 2018, about 2:30 p.m. – living pterosaur near Griffith Park [See also #8 and #9 above]

11) Los Angeles – abt yr-2000 – south of U.S.C.; “diamond-end tail”

12) Pico Rivera – about 2006 – “like a bat and had a very long tail”

13) Riverside area (Lake Hills -probably in 2012 – very long tail and a head crest [Worldwide, a long tail is often reported for apparent pterosaurs, but a minority of these animals do not have a long tail]

14) Santa Ana area – 1989 – no feathers; triangular structure at tail end [Many sightings are in Orange County, California.]

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Living Pterosaurs and Confirmation Bias

It’s almost universal with adult humans: the tendency to accept, or at least to consider, information that confirms what we already believe and reject what seems to threaten what we already believe. That’s confirmation bias.

On page 119 of my book Searching for Ropens and Finding God (fourth edition), I wrote, “. . . bias is not restricted to the thinking of those who hold a religious philosophy different from ones own, although this concept seems to have been overlooked by some critics of our investigations.”

Let’s look into a small part of a gigantic online post written by a man who is probably the world’s most prolific writer for attacking the idea that not all species of pterosaurs are extinct. I won’t link to that post but call it KGBi, the “Bi” meaning bias.

He’s been expanding that page for 16 years now, from 2004 until December 5, 2020. The present version has 40,676 words, and mentions my name 493 times. Put that in context: KGBi is more than four times longer than many short stories, and many books do not contain as many words as this online post.

It seems that the critic’s writings on KGBi must be partially motivated by something like a subconscious desire to disprove doubts in his own mind about what he is proclaiming. Why else would he spend so much of his life on this project? It’s surely not to convince the Western world that all pterosaurs have been extinct for a long time. We’ve already been taught that since early childhood.

This man seems to have fallen into three cognitive biases, including confirmation bias. When he was confronted by the idea that he had fallen into a confirmation bias, he responded by writing a new section in KGBi, one about confirmation bias. But he framed it to imply that those who disagreed with him were falling into that bias.

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Living pterodactyls and confirmation bias

When we encounter a new idea seemingly related to something we already have an opinion on, we might fall into a confirmation bias. What’s that? It’s a tendency to process and analyze information in a way that confirms our previous ideas or convictions.

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Apparent modern pterosaurs

. . . these giant long-tailed flying creatures are not confined to the southwest Pacific: They are seen in the contiguous United States of America.

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Pterodactyl sightings in press releases

Belief in “prehistoric” flying creatures in Papua New Guinea relates to culture more than to religion, according to nonfiction author Jonathan Whitcomb, of Murray, Utah.

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Pterodactyl or dragon sightings in California

Some of the names used by eyewitnesses include ‘flying dinosaur’ and ‘prehistoric bird’ and ‘dinosaur bird,’ although the correct technical name for them is ‘pterosaur.’

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Confirmation bias and modern pterosaurs

This skeptic [unnamed in this post] has made many mistakes, and appears, to me, to have fallen into both confirmation bias and belief perseverance.

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Were dragons pterosaurs?

Many ancient historians tell of winged serpents, or pterosaurs, inhabiting the swamp lands and deserts near Egypt.

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Flying creatures like pterodactyls

How big do pterosaurs get? Wingspans vary widely, from analysis of the 128 sighting reports that were examined in detail near the end of 2012: from less than two feet on up to about forty-six feet.

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Living pterosaurs and cognitive biases

Scientific skepticism can be useful, when a scientist is criticized on a particular point. It can sometimes allow him or her to make a needed correction and improve the original idea. But when extreme bias exists in either that scientist or the one doing the criticism, problems arise.

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Ropen or pterodactyl in the southwest Pacific

A Youtube video on the channel “Protect Animal Life”

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Apparent Genuine Photo of a Pterodactyl

head of an apparent modern pterosaur in the Ptp image

The link below takes you to a post ending with “a small sapling tree may have been broken down to allow a real object to be dragged into the clearing . . .” (That post explains why the apparent soldiers were NOT Civil War reenactors, at least not standard reenactors: Uniforms and equipment and body build differ too greatly from the norm.) [regarding a potential modern pterosaur]

Civil War Photo of a Pterodactyl

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The following image (Ptp) may have originated from a genuine photograph in the 19th century, although it was very unlikely to have been during the American Civil War, which ended in 1865. Although digital manipulation is highly likely to have been made on the original photo, in recent decades, we now have evidences that the “monster” in Ptp may have been a real animal.

(Keep in mind that this image does not show a perspective that would allow us to see whether or not the apparent pterosaur had a long tail.]

Ptp image - an apparent modern pterosaur or pterodactyl

Ptp image of a possibly genuine modern pterosaur

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Why the apparent flying creature may have been a real object

For the moment, set aside the controversial idea that the apparent flying creature in the Ptp image was a genuine pterosaur that was legitimately photographed. Let’s first examine the idea that the thing was a real object that was in that clearing: that the thing was tangible, spread across the ground in that clearing, when the original photo was recorded.

If evidence shows that it was a physical object, rather than only a digitally created non-real object, then we can look deeper into what that strange-looking thing might have been.

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evidence on the ground: it was dragged into the clearing

Test yourself with the above image

Do you notice anything that may be relevant in the above portion of Ptp? The great majority of people who look at the overall image probably never notice that important evidence, unless it is pointed out to them.

Here’s a clue: Two pieces of evidence suggest where that apparent creature came from, and neither of them relate to the wing. After you’ve looked for those two things, refer to two images at the bottom of this post and see how you did.

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six soldiers in the Ptp image, with a code for each one

The belt buckles of four of the above men were measured and show that “FS” was standing slightly closer to the camera compared with the other three, when the photograph was recorded. In addition, that man in front has his boot resting on the end of the beak of that thing, and that beak casts a shadow on that beak. Those details are evidence that the apparent flying creature was a real object, whether or not it was a modern pterosaur or only a model of one.

The apparent flying creature WAS a real object

The above evidences show that it was indeed a physical thing instead of a digitally-created object. (But see also the two images at the bottom of this post, each of which is consistent with the concept that the object was real.)

Could that object be a non-extinct pterosaur?

Other blog posts and Youtube videos support the concept that this was indeed a modern “pterodactyl” (although the technically correct word for such a featherless flying creature is “pterosaur”). To be brief, we here look at just some of the relevant details.

Those six men were photographed together with that object, but the photo was not taken during the American Civil War, which ended in 1865. The belt buckles and pistol holsters of these common (not officer) soldiers show that the original photo was very likely recorded between 1866 and 1880.

Evidence for an earlier period of photographic recording suggests that it is unlikely that is was after about 1880, when techniques in photography allowed for much quicker recordings. The man with his boot on that beak had, apparently, a block of wood or a branch underneath, helping him to keep very still for the number of seconds required for the photo to be taken.

But how could any group of persons have constructed a model of a pterosaur at that time, when knowledge of such flying creatures was so primitive compared with later in the 20th century and in the 21st century?

It is most likely that this was a real modern pterosaur. The photographer may have insisted that the men drag it out of the underbrush, for it would have been too dark or too obscured to take the shot there. That fits with the drag mark, showing where it was dragged from, and the broken-down little tree, which would have been in the way if they had let it stand.

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Check yourself with the two images below:

drag mark shows how the thing was dragged into the clearing

See the drag mark on the ground, leading from the lower right to near the end of the beak of that apparent flying creature. This is evidence that the thing was dragged into this clearing, probably to have it photographed.

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small tree was broken down to allow dragging of the thing

This little sapling tree appears to have been broken near the ground and bent over, probably so that the flying creature could be dragged into the clearing so that it could be photographed.

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Pterodactyl may be real in this photo

Were they Civil War reenactors of the 20th or 21st centuries? No, that is very unlikely. Why? They would have had oval belt buckles, for actors portraying common soldiers on the Union side of the Civil War have oval belt buckles, almost without any exception . . .

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Pterodactyl sightings

Sightings of modern pterosaurs in Mexico, the United States, and Cuba—these are featured in this mini-documentary on encounters eyewitnesses have had with living “pterodactyls”.

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Evidence of a modern pterosaur

In one account (not first hand) some natives in Papua New Guinea had captured a creature that was thought to be a ropen. That animal was kept for some time, in a cage, for it would have been dangerous for the local natives if it had been released.

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Live pterosaurs in the United States

At least two species of pterosaurs have survived, uncommon, not so much rare as widely, thinly distributed. Nocturnal pterosaurs have always lived among us, but hidden by something. . . .

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Ropen or pterodactyl videotaped in North Carolina

. . . flying over the city of Raleigh, North Carolina, two ropens showed themselves in clear daylight and were videotaped by Cynthia Lee . . . Magnifying and slowing down the video footage, we can see that these two flying creatures have a different wing flapping style than at least most birds.

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Modern pterosaur with a long tail

How common is a long tail on a modern pterosaur! Of the 128 more-credible sighting reports compiled at the end of 2012, 41% reported a long tail.

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Youtube videos on modern pterodactyls

“Giant Pterodactyl in California” is one of the videos featured on the Youtube channel “Protect Animal Life”.

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Videos on Modern Dragons or Pterosaurs

By the nonfiction cryptozoology author Jonathan Whitcomb

Let’s look at some of the videos available on the Youtube channel Protect Animal Life:

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Counter Culture of the Ropen

This music video introduces the idea that some persons in Western nations are starting to embrace a culture of belief in modern living pterosaurs. No previous video on Protect Animal Life is like this one:

  • sky scrapers with gigantic billboards with images of ropens
  • art gallery with people looking at similar images: modern pterosaurs
  • an animated robot with a sketch of a ropen on it, etc.

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young woman painting black ropen on a canvas

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Test Yourself on Modern Pterosaurs – quiz #1

How much do you know about eyewitness sighting reports of apparent living pterosaurs (“dinosaur birds” or “pterodactyls”)? Test yourself with these nine questions about these amazing featherless flying creatures.

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Pterosaur Sightings in South Carolina

For many years ordinary persons in South Carolina have reported extraordinary featherless flying creatures, some of them huge: apparent living pterosaurs. Some American eyewitnesses call this kind of animal “pterodactyl” or “flying dinosaur”.

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A Confession About a Pterodactyl

Jonathan Whitcomb confesses that in about 1969 he disbelieved an eyewitness of an apparent “pterodactyl” that a high school student reported had flown up into the mountains north of Altadena and Pasadena, California. Decades later, Whitcomb was researching similar sightings and called the lady. Now he believed her.

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Ropen of Papua New Guinea

See for yourself the fear on the face of the native young man Mesa Augustin. Hear what his friend, Gideon Koro, says about the huge ropen that flew over Lake Pung and terrified the boys who had hiked up there just to have fun. The boys ran home in great fear.

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Living Pterosaurs – in newspapers

The world’s most prolific writer on sightings of non-extinct “pterodactyls”—Jonathan Whitcomb—gives you an introduction to newspaper articles about these shocking flying creatures.

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Impeach Ropen? Kicked off Wikipedia

This first episode of DRAGONET shows the ropen being kicked off of the English version of Wikipedia in 2014 (‘impeached’ is not the best word for being eliminated from Wikipedia). Do you remember the TV series “Dragnet?” This is different . . . OK, maybe the beginning appears almost the same.

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Videos on Modern Pterosaurs

As of February 23, 2020, the Youtube channel Protect Animal Life had 44 videos, all but one of them mostly about eyewitness reports of apparent non-extinct pterosaurs . . .

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Pterodactyl Caught on Camera

Three videos on this Youtube playlist, each one about the same pterosaur sighting on New Britain Island in Papua New Guinea in 2015

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Featherless flying creature

The press release “Unmasking a Flying Predator in Texas,” suggests the mysterious flying lights sometimes seen around Marfa, Texas, may be related to the nocturnal ropen of Papua New Guinea.

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Modern dragons or pterodactyls

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?

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The cryptid called “ropen”

This video is mostly about the ropen of Papua New Guinea, although it has other names: seklo-bali, kor, indava, and wawanar.

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The Youtube video “Dragons and Pterosaurs”

Long ago, people called these large frightening creatures “dragons.” In more recent generations, people are more likely to call them “pterodactyls” or “flying dinosaurs.”