fiery flying serpent – The Bible and Modern Pterosaurs

January 18, 2018

Online-Radio Interview With Dave Scott (Spaced Out Radio)

By (imperfect) living-pterosaur expert Jonathan D. Whitcomb

Late on the night of January 16, 2018, (9:00-11:45 p.m. Pacific time) I, Jonathan Whitcomb, was interviewed by Dave Scott on Spaced Out Radio (online radio broadcasting from British Columbia, Canada). One of my associates phoned me, the next day, unhappy with my neglect: For one thing, I had said nothing about the importance of the Ark of Genesis in living-pterosaur investigations. I am sorry for my imperfections, and I now plan to correct that neglect with the following steps, and possibly with more:

I’ll be prepared to mention the Ark in future talk-show interviews
I’ll mention the Biblical perspective more in my writings, incl. on Flood-of-Genesis (dot-com)
I’ll write at least one book emphasizing the Ark’s importance regarding living-pterosaurs

At the beginning of this interview on Spaced Out Radio, Mr. Scott referred to me as a man of faith. I hope that I, imperfect as I am, will live up to that. Near the beginning of the discussion, I mentioned my Evolutionary Boundary simulation many years ago, although I may not have mentioned the name of it. To be brief, it showed me that Darwin’s concept of survival of the fittest actually makes his concept of evolution impossible: Small simple forms of life cannot evolve into larger complex forms of life BECAUSE of natural selection.

Replica of the Ark of Noah, in the Netherlands

Biblical Ark and Modern Pterosaurs

Let’s keep this short and simple. The primary foundation for belief in scriptures, and belief in the literal ark of Noah, is in faith. That does not mean blind faith, believing without any reason to believe, but it can mean taking one or two steps onto the path ahead, even when the light does not yet quite reach that far.

The Ark we read about in Genesis was constructed to protect basic forms of life that would not have survived without protection. Birds and pterosaurs could have flown above the flood waters for a time, of course, but they would not generally have been able to survive long without a place to rest. I believe a number of species of pterosaurs were kept on the Ark, as well as a number of dinosaurs.

Why do I believe in modern-day living pterosaurs? Because many persons, from many cultures and backgrounds and from many areas of the planet, have seen those flying creatures.

(The photo shown above is not to be confused with the Ark replica in Kentucky.)

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Spaced-Out Radio interview of Jonathan Whitcomb

(audio) Host Dave Scott and guest (JW) discuss living pterosaurs

Ark Encounter in Kentucky

Ark Encounter features a full-size Noah’s Ark, built according to the dimensions given in the Bible. Spanning 510 feet long, 85 feet wide, and 51 feet high, this modern engineering marvel amazes visitors . . .

Where Living Pterosaurs Have Been Reported

Africa
Australia
Canada
England
Papua New Guinea
United States of America
and many other countries worldwide

Reply to a Newspaper Article in North Carolina

The News & Observer published an article, earlier this week, about a sighting by Cynthia Lee and about my ideas on non-extinct “pterodactyls,” including pterosaur sightings in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Texas and Living Pterosaurs

They only appear a few times each year, but they always come back. Sometimes a ball of light seems to split into two, with a separation and eventual reunion [Marfa Lights]

Replica of Noah’s Ark

Asked how Johan’s Ark compares with the Ark Encounter project planned for Kentucky, Zovath said that while both arks are built to biblical measurements, the Ark Encounter project addresses the shipbuilding processes Noah likely used. Huibers utilized steel barges welded together and then covered with wood, and he also modified the design to accommodate a more “free-flowing” crowd.

Living Pterosaurs – a proclamation

The second part of PLP goes into more details, regarding encounters with apparent extant pterosaurs, compared with DLP, and there is limited overlapping of what sightings are covered. Here in PLP are more of the earlier reports that I, Jonathan Whitcomb, received in my earlier years of my investigation.

May 31, 2016

Connection of Bioluminescence and Pterosaurs

Gitmo Pterosaur of Cuba - eyewitness and artist Patty Carson

One little post cannot do justice to all the cryptozoological evidence for the bioluminescence of at least some species of pterosaur that still live on this wonderful planet of life. Non-extinct glow-in-the-dark pterodactyls? With too much evidence to fit into one blog post? And am I, Jonathan Whitcomb, declaring that more than one species of pterosaur is now living? Precisely.

If we had space here, we could get into how we know this bioluminescence is intrinsic (rather than a glow beyond the control of the animal possessing it). Ropen bioluminescence is under at least some control, and the large flying creature that glows as it flies over Umboi Island, in Papua New Guinea, appears to decide when to turn on that glow. It lasts for only a few seconds and appears, in this particular species, to never vary in that length of a flash: five to six seconds.

Since we have room for only an introduction, we’ll begin with the ropen of the southwest Pacific. We’ll then touch on three related subjects:

Marfa Lights
“Fire-breathing” dragons
Fiery flying serpent (Bible)

Ropen of Papua New Guinea

The following is a videotaped interview I had with an old man in Opai Village, Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea, in 2004, during my expedition on that tropical island:

Michael, a native of Opai Village, tells Whitcomb about a grave robbery

From this testimony, it seems that a large bioluminescent scavenger lives on Umboi Island. Yet by itself this interview I had with this old native does not appear sufficient to convince many Western skeptics that the ropen is a gigantic bioluminescent pterosaur. After all, Michael did not see any wings on the animal but only a light associated with a grave robbery. We need to dig deeper.

I led the first of the two Umboi Island ropen expeditions of 2004. The majority of the natives I interviewed had seen only a flying light, not any form or features of the ropen. So why think that the flying light seen over this tropical island on some nights is a modern pterosaur? It’s not just the traditions about this flying creature. Some islanders have seen the shape and features of this animal.

A few eyewitnesses have seen the ropen at a closer range, including four natives whom I interviewed a few days before I finished my expedition on Umboi Island. I was delighted to return to the mainland of Papua New Guinea with videotaped interviews of three islanders who had seen the ropen clearly in daylight. I had no doubt that it was a large living pterosaur.

So what is the connection between a flying creature that appears to be, in daylight, a pterosaur and a flying light after sunset? A few eyewitnesses have seen both the glow and the pterosaur shape. Let’s consider the testimonies of two Umboi Island eyewitnesses: Jonah Jim and Jonathan Ragu.

Both of these men had witnessed a flying ropen, although the sightings were in different years (2001 and 2004) and in different parts of Umboi Island. Both Jonah Jim and Jonathan Ragu chose the Sordes pilosus when given a choice of dozens of silhouettes of birds, bats, and pterosaurs to choose from. Both men saw the shape and features of the ropen and also a glow coming from the animal’s body. These two sightings connect the flying light with an apparent pterosaur.

Marfa Lights in Texas

Not all mysterious lights appearing near Marfa, Texas, are car headlights on a highway. A few times each year the strangest lights appear, although they stay for only about one or two nights at a time. Why do they not generally appear for three or more nights in a row? After all, they keep coming back every few weeks throughout the year. They behave in a way strongly suggesting they are a group of bioluminescent flying predators and intelligent ones at that.

They hunt whatever they hunt in an area of desert at night for a night or two and then move on to another area of Texas or south to Mexico. The evidence is circumstantial—I’ve never heard of anyone catching one of the creatures—but nevertheless it is broad and deep, this circumstantial evidence.

By the way, many of the sightings of living pterosaurs in the United States are in Texas, and a small portion of those reports include descriptions of a glow coming from the flying creatures.

Fire-Breathing Dragons

Those cryptozoologists who have long studied eyewitness accounts of living pterosaurs—they generally believe that some of the old legends of fire-breathing dragons come from, or are inspired by, sightings of large bioluminescent pterosaurs in early human history.

Fiery Flying Serpent

We also believe that Old Testament references to fiery flying serpents are accounts of human interaction (however unpleasant) with long-tailed (Rhamphorhynchoid) pterosaurs that are bioluminescent.

The “Gitmo pterosaur” of eastern Cuba (sketch by an eyewitness)

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Glowing pterosaurs may attack farm animals

At around 10:30-11:30 p.m., the nearby farm animals became greatly disturbed, making alarming sounds, as if they were in danger. . . . That was about the time that 12-year-old Dallin Roberts saw something very strange in the sky. . . . He soon realized that it was a flying creature. Two things struck him as very odd, however: the enormous size and the glowing body of the flying animal.

Modern pterosaurs and the ropen

I, Jonathan Whitcomb, have received reports directly from eyewitnesses who report encountering living pterosaurs on five continents . . .

Long Tail of the Ropen

The Fiery Flying Serpent of the Bible may have been a long-tailed Rhamphorhynchoid [a “basal” pterosaur], related to the modern-day ropen.

Bioluminescent flying predators in Texas

“Reports of unusual lights east of Marfa extend back to the 1800s. . . . the author finds that while most of the observed lights in this area can be explained, about 3 percent are truly mysterious and of unknown origin.”

Live pterosaur book review

A number of the sightings suggest bioluminescence. I really did not expect that. Glow in the dark pterosaurs in the USA? It just gets weirder.

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July 11, 2015January 7, 2017

The Long Tail of the Ropen

The Fiery Flying Serpent of the Bible may have been a long-tailed Rhamphorhynchoid, related to the modern-day ropen. Some ancient reports of long-tailed flying dragons may be of similar species of modern pterosaur, in earlier human history. But for now let’s consider the more recent encounters with these apparent pterosaurs, especially North American sightings.

At the end of 2012, I compiled data from 128 sighting reports, 74% of which I had direct contact with the eyewitnesses, usually involving email communication. In each of these 128 reports, I believed the sighting was more than 50% likely to have been an actual encounter with a living pterosaur. In some cases, I was over 80% sure.

Much has been written on some of the sightings from 1944 through the end of 2012. Let’s now consider more recent reports, all of which were encounters since 2012. This is just a small sampling.

Before getting into those details of particular reports, however, let’s go over some of the statistics.

Of the worldwide sightings (the 128), the ratio of long-tail/lack-of-long-tail is about 20-to-1, namely 41% long-tail and 2% no-long-tail. For those encounters in the contiguous 48 states of the USA, the ratio is not so dramatic, 38% to 5% in favor of long tails, but it is still significant. Ropens dominate in numbers, in the United States of America and elsewhere.

For all 128 of the sightings worldwide, 28.5% of them involved an observation of something like a Rhamphorhynchoid tail flange, with some descriptions including a word like “diamond” (shape). This correlates with the frequent reporting of a long tail on an apparent pterosaur.

Now for a few particular recent sighting reports in North America:

Hanover County, Virginia, sighting in early July of 2015

Three members of a family saw a strange flying creature that brought to their minds the word “dragon.” It had a “large wingspan and long pointy tail.” [contacted Jonathan Whitcomb by email]

Columbia Station, Ohio, sighting in the spring of 2015

“A medium to large bird with no feathers and a long tail with a ball at the end.” [contacted Whitcomb by email]

Richmond, Virginia, sighting in early April of 2015

“It looked to be about 10 feet across and its tail was long with a triangle point!” [two eyewitnesses]

Los Angeles County, California, sighting in December of 2014

“I saw it around 9am this morning today. It was a giant black bird of some types. I live very close to San Fernando and Fletcher but I usually help out my cousin who lives here in Atwater most the week.

“Anyway, after the rain settled I saw this big black bird figure fly over an electrical post. I could compare the size to a couple of pigeons because there was some flying by it. It was just huge. A big beautiful thing. It had a long tail but it was a different color than what was reported. it was black… I think it was a pterosaur. I called the Los Angeles Zoo but they put me on hold and I didn’t want to leave a message.” [email contact with Whitcomb]

Sketch of pterosaur seen and drawn by Eskin Kuhn — Eskin Kuhn’s sketch, 1971 sighting, Cuba

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Dragon Pterodactyl Living in California

A 38-year-old woman in a residential neighborhood of Lakewood, California, just northeast of Long Beach, reported a “dragon-pterodactyl” that had no feathers but a long tail with a “dragon” “triangle” at the of that tail.

“Long Pointy Tail”

“. . . large wingspan and long pointy tail . . . Wings had the distinct ‘pterodactyl’ architecture on the trailing edge.” [Hanover County, Virginia, early July of 2015]

Pterosaur Sightings Data for the USA

What do I mean by “more credible sightings?” Each sighting report in this compilation (including the 90 here examined) was judged by me to be more than 50% likely to have been an actual encounter with a living pterosaur.

Ropen – Flying Creatures

In the United States and British Columbia, with many sightings in the USA

Flying Fox Bat or the Ropen?

Up until the late 20th Century, the flying fox explanation was used to dismiss reports of large flying creatures in Papua New Guinea, nocturnal creatures that some people called pterodactyls.

The Fiery Flying Serpent and the Ropen

Searching for Ropens and Finding God [the book] is . . . about pterosaurs with long tails, apparently real animals that live in our modern world.

Jonathan Whitcomb’s Ropen Research

The tail is what riveted me, you could see the shape on the end . . . it stuck straight out.

Long-Tailed “Flying Dinosaur” or Ropen

In third-world countries, it is called by many names. In Papua New Guine, the creature may be called “Seklo-bali” or “indava” or “Kor” or “duwas.”

Jonathan Whitcomb in Papua New Guinea

My interpreter Luke Paina and I were there to videotape or photograph a ropen.

Searching for Ropens and Finding God

The prayers of family, friends, and other Americans were answered when I found Luke Paina, who became my interpreter, bodyguard, and counselor.

The Ropen of Papua New Guinea

All seven boys ran home in terror, for that ropen had a mouth “like a crocodile” and a tail that one of the eyewitnesses estimated to be “sefan meetuh” long (about 22 feet).

Ropen in Cuba

Sketched by the eyewitness Patty Carson “The Gitmo Pterosaur” or American ropen in Cuba was seen alive in 1965

“Pterodactyl” in New Guinea, in 1944, was apparently a ropen

. . . the same species of flying creature that natives of nearby Umboi Island call “ropen.”

Live Pterosaurs and the Ropen

The ropen is described in ways that actually lead to two words: “dragon” and “pterosaur,”

January 30, 2015

The Flood of Genesis

I’ve noticed that few of my posts on this blog have related directly to the Bible, at least with Biblical quotations included (except regarding the “fiery flying serpent”). This may have been a major weakness in my writings, in particular for readers who had no previous experience with the writings and lectures of my associates, who sometimes make up for what I have lacked. I’ll take a step to correct that now, since the name of this blog is, after all, The Bible and Modern Pterosaurs.

I have never doubted the Biblical account of the Garden of Eden and the fall of mankind into the mortal condition in which we now live. I have also never doubted the reality of the Flood of Genesis, and that deserves attention here. Yet we need to take all of this in context: The Savior Jesus Christ accomplished the great atonement to save us from all the negative aspects of the Fall, a subject deserving a library of books. With that in mind, let’s now look at the Flood of Noah.

Genesis 7: 1-3 (King James Version)

And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.

Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.

Old depiction of the animals and birds leaving the Ark, but where are the dinosaurs?

Genesis actually gives us few details about the Ark and how eight humans and many creatures were saved by living on it for many months, at least few details compared with all that must have taken place. Let’s use a bit of human reasoning here, even though our limited abilities make the best of our reasoning inferior to what we can learn from the words of scripture.

Apparently even back in the time of Noah animals were divided into “clean” and “unclean,” meaning some were approved for human consumption and others were not. In the number of creatures to be taken into the Ark, a balance was necessary: predatory animals must be greatly outnumbered by the prey animals on which they would feed after the Flood was abated.

Regardless of what kind of animals Noah’s family ate (if any) before the Flood, and regardless of what they would eat afterwards, prey animals needed to be much more numerous than lions, eagles, and snakes, for example. Otherwise animals like deer, rabbits, and rats might become extinct, an event not completely tragic to all humans.

Details absent in Genesis

Did every variety of every type of creature enter the Ark of Noah? Why should they? Take the obvious example first: Would Noah have taken every breed of dog into the Ark, if all the present-day varieties existed in his day? No. Only a few genetically-healthy dogs would be needed, for they would have all the traits that could later become active in our modern breeds, even though the countless traits would not be outwardly visible in those original ancestors.

What about dinosaurs and pterosaurs? From eyewitness accounts over the centuries, at least some varieties of dinosaurs and pterosaurs must have been preserved on the Ark. For example, one of my associates, Brian Irwin of Australia, spoke with natives in the New Britain area of Papua New Guinea, and they described an encounter with an apparent Therizinosaurus. That is not to say that all types of dinosaurs were preserved from extinction in the Flood of Genesis, but not all of them became extinct.

Many eyewitness reports that I have received, over the past eleven years, suggest a narrow range of characteristics are common in modern pterosaurs. Many sighting reports include descriptions that include two or more of the following:

Lack of feathers
Long tail
Flange (“diamond”) at tail end
pointed horn-like head crest

The combination of a head crest and a Rhamphorhynchoid tail is uncommon in pterosaur fossils (but not totally absent from all types); yet that combination is common in eyewitness reports in the past 100 years. For some reason, long-tailed ropens (like Rhamphorhynchoids but sometimes much larger than fossils) may account for more than 60% of all modern pterosaurs, perhaps much more.

Do any of the recently-seen types closely relate to the “fiery flying serpents” of the Old Testament? Who knows? Yet with all of the wonderful possibilities, how much we need to learn by future discoveries, and how dearly we need the help of biologists in the search for these wonderful flying creatures!

Are these dragons flying away from the Ark of Noah? Apparently so.

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What was the Fiery Flying Serpent?

Another problem with the snake interpretation strikes me to the heart. What is the usual symbolism here? Who does the snake usually represent in the Old and New Testament? Satan, of course. Does it seem likely that a true serpent would be used to symbolize Jesus Christ? If the “fiery flying serpent” were a snake, Moses would have killed one of them and dragged the dead snake on the ground, to symbolize God’s victory over Satan. He would not have given the Israelites the symbol for Satan, to look up to a common snake for healing or salvation.

Let us be Fair to the Young-Earth Creationist

For years I have worked with Young Earth Creationists in bringing to light evidence for modern living pterosaurs. For years critics have dismissed the possibility of live pterosaurs because the idea is promoted by YEC’s who believe in the Bible. This unfair approach, commonly accompanied by bulverism, now deserves attention.

Honestly, I Told the Truth

For eleven years, I (Jonathan Whitcomb) have been a cryptozoologist, with a special interest in eyewitness accounts of flying creatures that look like pterosaurs, commonly called pterodactyls. I have given my opinions honestly about various levels of credibility in the individual reports that I have received from eyewitnesses . . .

The Ropen and the Fiery Flying Serpent

Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaurs are well known from fossils: long-tailed . . . If the fossils were really all we had to go by, members of the Rhamphorhynchoidea suborder would be consistantly small; but modern versions of those long-tailed pterosaurs can be almost any size, and that means a few are huge: bigger than fossils yet discovered.

December 26, 2014

Vapor or Mist Used in Attacks on Humans?

This does not necessarily directly relate to the fiery flying serpent of the Old Testament, yet a potential correlation cannot be denied. The general subject is large flying creatures, in various areas of the planet, that may on occasion attack humans; the target point is how an attack is accomplished, since these animals are considered by me and my associates to be modern pterosaurs with wings that may be delicate in comparison with the bodies of other large predators. The answer is in a few reports that suggest a debilitating vapor or mist is ejected at the victim.

Let’s consider first what the substance may be and then consider the evidences for its use.

Is it a Vapor or a Mist?

I would say the substance ejaculated from the mouth or head of the pterosaur is a mist, described by one eyewitness as a “smoke.” This very well could be part of the origin of old legends of fire-breathing dragons. A vapor, by one scientific definition, is the gas form of a substance, which seems like a difficult thing for an animal to produce as an organized offensive or defensive weapon. (The young lady who described it as “smoke” had frightened a “devil bird,” in British Columbia, causing it to use it in defense.) I’ll call it a debilitating mist.

Modern pterosaur observed in eastern Cuba by the eyewitness Patty Carson

Spitting Cobras

More than one species of cobra can spit their venom at the eyes of a person or threatening animal, and they have remarkable aim. Don’t get less than ten feet from one of these snakes unless you are wearing goggles. The venom ejaculated from the mouth of this kind of cobra is in liquid form, showing us an ingenious self-defense tactic.

Is the debilitating mist real?

I have seen very little direct evidence for this harmful mist that I believe is used by at least one species of ropen. So why do I give this idea so much credence? It’s from the two separate sources I found, both pointing to the same concept.

It was in 2005, to the best of my memory, when one of my associates visited me where I then lived, in Long Beach, California. I still respect his desire to be anonymous, but I can no longer remain silent on the information he gave me at that time, regarding the danger that at least one species of these flying creatures may pose to people.

He told me that he was planning publishing something on this, but to my knowledge he has not done so. For that reason, for the potential saving of human lives, I release this information. His research turned up old reports, in European or Mediterranean history as I recall, of a kind of flying creature that could produce a mist or vapor that was harmful to any person or animal that inhaled it. It was said to be especially dangerous to come upon this kind of animal in a confined place like a cellar, where it could be difficult to get a breath of safe air after the animal shot out the mist.

That would have made a limited impact on me, for it appeared like only one researcher had come to that conclusion, and for years afterwards I did not encounter any related first-hand account that appeared like it would confirm the concept. That changed when I was contacted by Gerald McIsaac of British Columbia, Canada. He had his own sources for information on attacks from large non-bird flying creatures in northern British Columbia, and one of the eyewitness accounts involved the “devil bird” and the “smoke” screen used in self defense.

To the best of my knowledge, the previous research, by my anonymous associate, was so obscure that I found it hard to believe that Mr. McIsaac could have learned about it, even if he knew where to look and what to look for. I believe these are two distinct sources of information from separate origins, from different parts of the world and different time periods. What did all of the sources (from two investigators) have in common? The animals involved were potential modern pterosaurs.

Fiery Flying Serpents

Did the fiery flying serpents of the Bible use a debilitating mist in their attacks on the children of Israel at the time of Moses? That is beyond my expertise to speculate. If anyone has additional research information on this, I’ll be interested.

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Don’t Get Carried Away With Large Pterodactyls

Humans are not a common prey for any species of modern “pterodactyl,” but the apparent exceptions now deserve attention. . . . I am compiling data that seems to strongly suggest that some of the strange missing-person cases have no reasonable explanation except for one: A person can get carried away by a large flying creature.

Garrett Bardsley – Missing Person

How can any American explain the following case of a missing two-year-old who was found almost perfectly healthy? With no knowledge of these large flying creatures, this report could have baffled even a detective like Sherlock Holmes.

Missing Persons and Pterosaurs

Please keep in mind that I have read nothing that even hints that Mr. Paulides has considered the possibility of large modern pterosaurs in regard to any disappearance of any missing person. I take full responsibility for the following model, and the evidences, so far, are circumstantial, for such attacks in the forty-eight contiguous states of the USA.

New Perspective on Fiery Flying Serpent

Some Bible scholars have assumed that a story of anything like a flying fire-breathing dragon could not have come from any real animal. Thus, to avoid a strange direct interpretation, we’ve been fed indirect meanings for “fiery” and “flying.”

May 21, 2014November 14, 2014

Religion and Science in the new Ropen Book

Four copies (front and back covers) of nonfiction cryptozoology science/religion - "Searching for Ropens and Finding God"

How much religion and science are found in the nonfiction Searching for Ropens and Finding God? It depends on what you’re looking for. If it’s quantities of Biblical quotes or complex scientific concepts that prove the Bible is true, this nonfiction would compete poorly with at least two books available on Amazon. But for true-life adventures of Christian explorers who live their faith by getting actively involved, Searching for Ropens and Finding God may be a step above any other book in the religion/science-and-religion genre.

Noah’s Flood

If you look for references to the Flood of Genesis, notice fourteen pages listed in the index. Yet no detailed analysis of geologic strata will you find in this book. The Biblical account is taken as a foundation:

The model of Noah’s Flood suggests that some of them survived into the time of Noah’s descendants, and whatever conditions threatened some species, within several thousand years, some dinosaurs and pterosaurs should have survived. [page 16]

Fiery Flying Serpents in the Old Testament

Look up “fiery flying serpent” in the index and notice four pages on that Biblical animal. Yet no detailed analysis of Hebrew word-meanings will you find. The modern-winged-creature interpretation is explained in simple English:

My associates and I believe that the fiery flying serpent of the Old Testament was a “basal” pterosaur, perhaps related to the long-tailed ropen of Papua New Guinea. We believe they called it “fiery” because of its glow, which we attribute to bioluminescence. “Flying” is literal, with wings. [page 44]

Evolution

Why not look up “evolution” in the index? Seventeen entries you’ll find, but without any obscure scientific words or baffling concepts, mostly just the basics:

Is this a tool for promoting Biblical Creation and ridiculing evolution? Clear thinking we need, without fear, allowing us to discover both truth and error in whatever camp we find ourselves, entrenched or visiting, at the moment. I suggest we beware of simplistic labels. That said, expect explanations for why my associates and I have rejected extreme naturalism philosophy and Darwin’s unlimited common ancestry philosophy, what some call the General Theory of Evolution. [third paragraph of the Introduction, on page 7]

In my childhood, nobody insisted to me that small simple life must have changed into large complex life long ago. I had read of ideas contrary to the General Theory of Evolution by my mid-teens, after our family had moved to Pasadena, California. But I was brought up to believe or disbelieve what I chose. My own feelings, perspective, and belief in God raised my doubts about Darwin. [page 13]

(3rd edition shown above) Searching for Ropens and Finding God – Buy ropen book on Amazon

Science, Mathematics, and Common Ancestry (Unlimited Evolution)

Not all references to scientific investigation are that simple, yet basic explanations of results—that is what you’ll find in this book:

Late in 2002, I began working on what I called an “Evolutionary Boundary.” I wanted to force one step in the evolution of a new biological structure. That would demonstrate how unlikely it would be for all life on this planet to have arisen through evolving from simple organisms in countless steps. It surprised me when my mathematical models failed to produce such a step, even after half a year of work. It proved to me that Darwin’s ideas about the origin of life were even more unrealistic than I had thought.

Conclusions

For those who are offended at ideas contradicting popular standard models in Western science, avoid this book if you don’t want to be offended. For those who want only details that support all Young Earth Creationism ideas, you can be inspired by the faith promoting expeditions of Young Earth Creationists, although only a limited number of the 353 pages directly support a very young earth, and none of them support a young universe.

For those who simply want to know what can fly over our heads at night—you should find this book inspiring, entertaining, and instructive.

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The most recent edition, number four: Searching for Ropens and Finding God by Whitcomb

The Fiery Flying Serpent

If the Israelites had been attacked by an animal well known to us, with a clear label, we would feel no need for oblique interpretations. And if we were always humble enough to admit that our modern science might not include knowledge of every dangerous animal encountered by ancient Israelites, we would feel no need for continuous obliqueness.

“Pterosaurs Alive in, Like, the Modern Day”

I’ve written elsewhere about this paleontologist, about his extensive criticism of the concept of modern living pterosaurs (“Pterosaurs alive in, like, the modern day”). His lengthy writings, on that one page, about questionable reports—they ring like strawman arguments to me, for the credible accounts are entirely neglected by Darren Naish.

Recent Pterosaur Sightings

The wingspan was around 30 feet, according to the sailor. The ship was doing target practice at an island in the Pacific. It looked like their ship was found by a Japanese plane, but the men came to realize that it was a flying creature, after it flapped its wings.