In a Nutshell

Fossils experts know about the bones of pterodactyls, but can a cryptozoologist be an expert on modern pterodactyls? The nonfiction author Jonathan Whitcomb thinks it possible. He has responded to what he calls “attacks” from skeptics who object to his being given the title of “pterodactyl expert.” This particular cryptozoologist has interviewed eyewitnesses of strange flying creatures, many of which seem to be nocturnal, at least most of the time. Many of them have long tails and appear to be without any feathers.

Expert on “Pterodactyls”

But communicating with eyewitnesses—that in itself has helped me to learn how to get to the relevant truth about apparent pterosaurs that are observed by people around the world.

Attack on the Pterodactyl Expert

Where does he [“ape man”] get his concept of how much research I have done? How did I write over one thousand online pages (blog posts plus web pages)? How did I write two editions of one nonfiction book and three editions of another nonfiction book? How did I write a peer-reviewed scientific paper that was published in a journal of science?

How do we answer the question “Who can be a pterodactyl expert?” It depends on whether we refer to fossil bones or sighting of live pterodactyls. In the sense of the latter, Whitcomb seems qualified by his interviews with eyewitnesses; in the sense of the former, he seems unqualified, for he is no paleontologist.

When somebody reports a “big bird,” it’s not necessarily a bird, at least when it’s in Texas.

Big Bird Cryptozoology Book

Like many other writers on cryptozoology, Ken Gerhard has focused on outdated ideas regarding the names “ropen” and “duah,” without knowing or appreciating their relationship to the hundreds of languages spoken in Papua New Guinea. Regarding the word “ropen” in the Kovai language on Umboi Island, it surely does not come from any combination of words that separately mean “demon” and “flyer.”

From the cryptozoology book Live Pterosaurs in America (page 34 of third edition):

“I saw a featherless flying animal with a wingspan of about 4 1/2 to 5 feet and a long tail with a diamond type shape at the tip of it. No hair or feathers anywhere, just leathery reptile type skin . . . The animal had bumps down its back, feet with longish toes, and long black claws like an osprey has for grasping fish . . . a long mouth/beak full of long sharp teeth that somewhat protruded from the mouth like a crocodiles [mouth] when closed.

That sighting was in daylight, a sunny afternoon in Marion County, Texas, around 1995.

In Mexico, an eyewitness of recent tracks believes they might have been made by living pterosaurs. When questioned by the American cryptozoologist Jonathan Whitcomb, however, the man admitted that he knew little about pterosaur footprints: He believed that the large tracks were made by one or more large flying creatures that have terrorized a few Mexican citizens in these remote areas, perhaps within 200-300 miles of the border with Texas; he suspects those flying creatures are pterosaurs, for he had once seen an apparent pterosaur. Some Mexicans consider the flying animals to be dangerous monsters, regardless of how scientists or cryptozoologists might classify them.

Recent Pterosaur Footprints

The man firmly believes it was a large flying creature . . . The impressions in the soil were one inch deep, and he could not make that deep of an impression, even after jumping on the soil nearby; it must have been a heavy animal. One of the kinds of footprints was about 18 inches by about 20 inches . . . that is a large foot. During the excursion in which he recorded the following photos, there had been much rain just before the impressions were discovered.

Pterosaur in Cuba

This brings to mind the sightings at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in the 1965-1971 time frame.

We were walking down near the boat yards, headed home . . . There were some stagnant pools here and there . . . We were walking through that scrub area, and suddenly it [the “pterodactyl”] sat up, as if it had been eating something or resting. . . . right in front of us about thirty feet away. All of us froze for about five seconds, then it leaned to its left and took off with a fwap fwap fwap sound, in a big hurry, more of a scramble . . . and disappeared behind trees and terrain.

The flying creatures were named by the eyewitness “monkey-birds,” not from an appearance resembling any monkey or bird but from the strange sound they make. Their appearance more resembled some kind of a pterosaur.

Sighting of a Pterosaur or Bat-Like Creature

(Near Tacoma, WA) on many acres of mostly tree covered land . . . We have seen and heard a strange nocturnal, bat-like creature. This thing is huge, light grey, skin with no fur, feathers or scales . . . There were two of them together and they seemed fearless of me when they swooped down at me more than once and returned way up to the top of the highest trees.

Washington State Reports of Pterosaurs

Peter Beach, a professor of biology, at night witnessed what he suspects was a bioluminescent flying predator over the Yakima River in the state of Washington. Much of his account is in the nonfiction cryptozoology book “Live Pterosaurs in America.”

“One of the flashes took off from a big tree overhanging the river and made a kind of flashing coma turn. Many flashes were parallel to the river. . . . with bioluminescence. At first I thought I was just seeing shooting stars, but they were all parallel to the river and close to the horizon. Next I noticed that when the cloud cover came in, I could still see the flashes. They were under the cloud cover.” [report from Professor Beach]

Flying cryptids like giant pterosaurs have been spotted in various parts of Australia, including coastal areas and the outback. A common feature described by eyewitnesses is a long tail and an apparent absence of feathers.

Dragons or Pterosaurs in Australia

“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 long tail and a wingspan that we estimated at between 30-50 feet across . . . “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.”

Pterosaur Sightings in Australia

An email to the American cryptozoologist Jonathan Whitcomb:

Late in 2009, I received an email from a man in Victoria, Australia.

“Dear Jonathon, after many misgivings about going ‘public’ as it were, I have decided to contact you with my experience of sighting what I believe to have been a Pterodactyl.

“I live in Australia in the state of Victoria near the Dandenong Ranges about 25 klms east of Melbourne.

“I was standing outside about nine o’clock one night. It was full moon and very bright with a cloud bank to the south east extending to and over the Ranges. . . . I glanced to the south and [saw] . . . something flying that appeared to be at the height of light planes that fly around here . . . This thing was at least as large as a light plane, say a Cesna.  It was about 5 klms away and was lazily flapping it’s wings . . . It appeared to be lit up by the moonlight and shining as if it had no feathers. . . . I could see it quite clearly. . . . for about 5 mins whence it disappeared into the cloud bank.”