Sighting in Papua New Guinea – Page 2 – The Bible and Modern Pterosaurs

May 8, 2015

Ropen or “Pterodactyl” Seen in Papua New Guinea

on banks of Yakima River, Washington state

Early-2015 Pterosaur Expedition in PNG

Three Americans explored a tropical rain forest in Papua New Guinea, within the past few weeks, and two of them succeeded in observing an apparent living pterosaur. That’s better than the previous ten expeditions, over the past 21 years, at least in regard to direct observations of a flying creature: Most of the earlier searches got little more than eyewitness interviews with natives or brief glimpses of a flying light.

The name of the island is being kept secret, at least for the moment; the two American eyewitnesses were Milt Marcy and Peter Beach. The island was chosen because eyewitnesses had previously reported big flying creatures there, featherless and pterosaur-like. Strange to tell, it appears to be a species that differs from the ropen of Umboi Island, for it has a very short tail, when a tail is noticed.

In April of 2015, I interviewed two of the American Biblical creationists by phone, confirming their sighting. I have a number of evidences for their honesty in reporting the huge flying creature in Papua New Guinea.

Honesty of two Eyewitnesses: Milt Marcy and Peter Beach

According to Wikipedia, the expedition team (January, 2006) led by Milt Marcy traveled to the Dja river in Cameroon, near the Congolese border. They interviewed native eyewitnesses of the Mokèlé-mbèmbé but the explorers themselves saw no such animal. The expedition team consisted of the following:

Milt Marcy
Peter Beach
Rob Mullin
Pierre Sima

A key point is this: Marcy and Beach searched for a sauropod dinosaur in a remote area of Africa, but returned home admitting that they had seen nothing like that animal. Obviously they were telling the truth about that critical detail. A liar would not likely go to such lengths to explore a jungle wilderness and then come back admitting that kind of failure, for that kind of person would lie about seeing something.

Milt Marcy and Peter Beach also investigated a sighting report of a “pterodactyl” or apparent pterosaur that was said to have been observed in a tree on the bank of the Yakima River in southeastern Washington state. Neither of those men, however, reported observing anything like a pterosaur in daylight near or over the Yakima River, although they did see some strange flying lights there at night. Again we see their honesty-credibility supported by their admission that they failed to see what they hoped for. Dishonest persons do not admit seeing nothing like what they wanted to convince people about!

Now Mr. Marcy and Mr. Beach have returned from an expensive expedition in Papua New Guinea. Both of them report observing a flying creature that was more likely than not to have been a pterosaur. The point? Why admit uncertainty about that flying creature being a modern living pterosaur? If they had any desire to deceive, they would have proclaimed positively that they had seen a pterosaur.

Those three searches by those two men, in different years and in different areas of the planet, prove their honesty. This is three-strikes-you’re-out for skeptics who have accused such cryptozoologists of dishonesty over many years. That case is closed and the verdict is this: Milt Marcy and Peter Beach have been honest in their reports of their searches for dinosaurs and pterosaurs.

Milt Marcy (left) and Peter Beach, Yakima River, Washington

The Case for Modern Pterosaurs

So why should any paleontologist believe in modern pterosaurs or dinosaurs? These two men have searched diligently in three areas of the world and have seen nothing until early 2015, when they saw a flying creature that appeared to be a pterosaur probably. The point is in the many eyewitnesses who have had better sightings of obvious pterosaurs, flying creatures obviously not birds or bats.

But I’ve written several nonfiction books with reasoning on why these animals are living pterosaurs. There’s no room here to repeat even 5% of all of that. Please use the “Search” function of this blog, for information about location or other subject matter related to these wonderful flying creatures.

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Pterosaur Expedition in Papua New Guinea

On Saturday, April 18, 2015, two American explorers returned from Papua New Guinea, after searching for living pterosaurs on a tropical island where the creatures were previously reported.

No Lie in Whitcomb’s Reports of Modern Pterosaurs

Within the past few weeks, three web sites have caught my attention, each with a page accusing me of dishonesty. . . . We’ll look at what dishonesty is and examine the credibility of those three proclamations about my guilt.

Honesty in Ropen Searching

A different kind of attack has been launched, as an American paleontologist has dismissed the ropen as a “fake” pterosaur and dismissed me, Jonathan Whitcomb, as one who practices deception. . . . why does this paleontologist assume that I intended to deceive anyone? He seems upset that my web pages dominate the internet, at least when people use Google. But what would be fair if that skeptical scientist had spent over 10,000 hours in a project, for eleven years, and had published online articles and posts that outnumbered those of all of his colleagues? Would he not think it fair that his ideas would show up on the top of search-engine results?

Pterosaurs in Papua New Guinea

After he and his buddy walked into a clearing, they were amazed as a large creature flew up into the air. The men soon realized that it was no bird that started to circle the clearing. It had a tail “at least ten to fifteen feet long” . . .

Not Extinct, Flying Creatures

He set aside his work in legal video, traveling to Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea, and leading the first ropen expedition of 2004. After interviewing many natives, he returned to the United States convinced of the identity of the ropen: a living Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur . . .

April 15, 2015April 15, 2015

Books on Large Flying Creatures

"Searching for Ropens and Finding God" back and front covers

The following nonfiction cryptozoology books were found, on Amazon, to each have at least one chapter on large flying creatures that have appeared to eyewitnesses in modern times. These paperbacks are ranked according to Amazon popularity, with smaller numbers indicating more sales recently. (As in golf, authors want the lowest number-rankings possible on Amazon.)

Rankings and price offers were noted on April 15, 2015, between 7:20 a.m. and 7:38 a.m., U.S. Mountain time. Keep in mind that many millions of books are sold on Amazon, so a ranking of a million means that a book is selling better than most books.

On tax day, this is the best-selling Amazon nonfiction on modern pterosaurs: Searching for Ropens and Finding God, fourth edition, by Jonathan David Whitcomb. It has been called “the Bible of modern pterosaurs.”

Amazon rank: #102,171
Published in 2014
360 pages
$16.19

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The second best-ranked book is Thunderbirds – America’s Living Legends of Giant Birds, by Mark A. Hall. One thing sets this one apart from the others: the apparent general perspective that large flying creatures are giant birds. In fact, from what little I have read (using the Amazon “Look Inside” feature), the author appears to be hiding the identity of one flying creature, at least inadvertently. It was the one reported by Allison Jornlin about a man who witnessed something huge flying outside a window of the Elmbrook Memorial Hospital in Brookfield, Wisconsin. In that sighting, the witness could not make out any feathers and reported that it looked bat-like. Mr. Hall says nothing about that detail, at least in that part of his book about “giant birds.”

Amazon rank: #112,461
Published in 2004
208 pages
$16.99

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The Amazon page for Missionaries and Monsters (nonfiction by William J. Gibbons) says, “Clues to undiscovered species have been left by missionaries and pastors throughout the world, and explorer Bill Gibbons is hot on their trail.”

Amazon rank: #179,127
Published in 2006
104 pages
$9.95

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The cryptozoology book Live Pterosaurs in America, third edition, by Whitcomb, sometimes is the Amazon best-selling nonfiction in this narrow genre, but not on this particular day. It is not written primarily to convince readers that pterosaurs fly over the USA, but mostly documents eyewitness accounts. Unlike Searching for Ropens and Finding God, this is in pure cryptozoology genre.

Amazon rank: #407,839
Published in 2011
154 pages
$10.92

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Big Bird, by Ken Gerhard, is subtitled “Modern Sightings of Flying Monsters.” This is mostly about the author’s personal experiences in tracking down eyewitnesses in Texas and what those witnesses told him about their encounters.

Amazon Rank: #965,331
Published in 2007
108 pages
$11.51

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This is the third edition of Bird From Hell, by Gerald McIssac, of Canada. Not all of the book is about this particular cryptid that terrorizes local people in northern British Columbia. It also covers the hairy elephant, rubber-faced bear, dire wolf, and a lake monster.

Amazon Rank: #2,792,324
Published in 2012
184 pages
$13.64

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Fiery Flying Serpent

Searching for Ropens and Finding God is a nonfiction about pterosaurs with long tails, apparently real animals that live in our modern world.

Nonfiction Books That Mention Non-Extinct Pterosaurs

Not all books that include a sighting of an apparent living pterosaur are in the cryptozoology genre. Let’s begin with a translation of an ancient writing by the Jewish historian Josephus . . .

Sense of Truth

This nonfiction paperback should be published before the beginning of summer, 2015, and one chapter is devoted to the concept of modern living pterosaurs.

Religion and Science in the New Ropen Book

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.

Cryptozoology/true-life adventure/spiritual quest – Searching for Ropens and Finding God – fourth edition, by Jonathan David Whitcomb, with 360 pages, handles a number of issues regarding worldwide sightings, including questions about misidentification potential. Indeed this nonfiction paperback deserves being called “the Bible of Modern Pterosaurs.”

Subtitled “The quest for discovering modern pterosaurs (‘flying dinosaurs’)”

From the Acknowledgements near the beginning of the book:

What more could we ask of the U.S. Marine Eskin Kuhn and the little girl Patty Carson, two eyewitnesses of “pterodactyls” at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in the middle of the twentieth century? They carefully observed those flying creatures and later drew detailed sketches that defy any misidentification conjecture that any skeptic might throw at them.

Special thanks to Paul Nation, Garth Guessman, and David Woetzel for research, advice, and the use of photographs and other images. Clifford A. Paiva, of BSM Associates, California City, CA, assisted by Harold S. Slusher, University of Texas at El Paso, Physics Department, wrote “Results of Investigations Concerning Pterosaur Sightings in Papua New Guinea.” We also acknowledge a report by the late Scott Norman, who encounter with an apparent pterosaur encouraged us to continue searching for large bioluminescent flying creatures in North America.

January 10, 2015

Farewell to Duane N. Hodgkinson

World War II veteran Duane N. Hodgkinson

I tried phoning Duane Hodgkinson last year, in the summer or early fall as I remember; nobody answered. I have just learned that he passed away on September 19. He will be missed.

His sighting in New Guinea in 1944 (before these islands became the independent nation of Papua New Guinea) deserve attention. Yet I feel we need to see his report in the context of other sightings of large flying creatures in the southwest Pacific. Consider what I now quote from the nonfiction book Searching for Ropens and Finding God, fourth edition:

By telephone and letter, Hodgkinson told me more [about his sighting]. . . . while the native guide was ahead of them on the trail, he and his friend stopped in a clearing. The two soldiers heard a “crashing” noise in the brush, and when they looked toward the uphill side of the clearing they saw the creature take off into the air. Before this takeoff, it was unseen. A wild pig, which had caused the noise, then ran to the downhill side of the clearing, into the taller brush; apparently, it had startled the “pterodactyl,” which then circled above the clearing. [page 25 of SFRFG]

. . . [Duane Hodgkinson] revealed that he had noticed no detail of the long tail he had seen, but the tail was indeed long. [in 2005, in an interview, he revealed his rough estimate for tail length: “at least ten or fifteen feet”] . . . The creature, which Hodgkinson first assumed was a bird, flew up from the edge of the clearing and, as it circled, fifty to one hundred feet above the men, presented a “perfect side view” of itself—obviously no bird. [page 26]

Sighting in Perth, Australia

(Continued quoting of the nonfiction book on ropens)

Soon after I had questioned Hodgkinson, an Australian lady told me about a flying creature she and her husband . . . had observed near the coast of Perth. . . . [top of page 31]

Soon after the sighting, the lady was open about it and tried to spread the news, but people accused her of dishonesty, people who did not know her, so she kept quiet about it for years. When she realized my work was serious, she replied . . . “Whatever people may think, the fact remains that my husband and I both saw that creature. My husband, being a scientist, took in things from the sighting that I [did not] take in.”

I requested her husband’s account and he soon replied: [page 32]

“As I am to understand that my wife has been corresponding with you concerning a certain sighting we witnessed near the coast of the Indian Ocean in Perth, Western Australia, she has encouraged and prevailed upon me to add my perspectives . . .

“We had been walking in the evening and had just crested a hill and were on the down slope along a major thoroughfare. In the distance, I perceived an object in the sky. . . .

“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. I was very new to the area at the time and unfamiliar with the native creatures . . .

“. . . its progress had brought it closer and while its shape did resemble a bird, I thought by now that from its apparent distance, it must be the largest bird I had ever witnessed. . . .

“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.” [This man estimated the wingspan of the strange flying creature at 30-50 feet.]

Ropen sighting by seven natives of Umboi Island

We rested while someone went for Gideon. These curious villagers rarely see a Western visitor: probably their first encounter with a ropen hunter. [page 74 of SFRFG]

Gideon arrived . . . the same Gideon I saw and heard in Paul Nation’s video . . .

[Question by Whitcomb] “You told them about when you went up to the mountain where there was a lake . . .”

Gideon nodded many times.

[Whitcomb] “All right. . . What lake was that?”

He appeared surprised at my ignorance and said, “Pung.”

[Whitcomb] “Did you notice . . . did it have wings?”

With a smile, Gideon said, “Yeah.”

[Whitcomb] “It had wings. OK. About how large were the wings . . .”

Gideon said, “Sefan meeta.” . . . [seven meters is about 23 feet]

[Whitcomb] “OK. Did it have a tail?”

“Yeah.”

[Whitcomb] “It had a tail. OK. How long was the tail?”

Gideon looked at the ground to his left for five seconds; from the way he glanced back and forth at the ground a few times, I concluded that he was imagining the tail and estimating its length. He looked back at me and said:

“Sefan meeta long.”

“Seven meters?”

“Yeah.”

One year later, I would analyze this interview and realize the weakness of trying to communicate with villagers about “wingspan.” . . . Gideon meant that one wing by itself was seven meters long.

When I asked about feathers, he gave me the puzzled look.

[Gideon] “There’s no feathers.”

Eyewitness of a ropen: Duane Hodgkinson

Other ropen eyewitnesses could be mentioned, but these two from western Australia and this native from Umboi Island support the testimony of Mr. Hodgkinson. The ropen is a real flying creature, seen by natives and Australians and Americans, on occasion, in the Southwest Pacific.

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Passing of Duane Hodgkinson

Within the past twelve years or so, the testimony of Mr. Hodgkinson has been vindicated by reports from other eyewitnesses in the southwest Pacific, many others.

“Pterodactyl” reported alive in Papua New Guinea

A study by an American cryptozoologist suggests that the “pterodactyl” described by the World War II veteran Duane Hodgkinson was a real creature, of a species living in coastal areas of Papua New Guinea.

Ropen questions and answers

We do not yet have enough eyewitness reports to determine variations of species of the long-tailed featherless flying creatures that we call “ropen.” The Perth creature may be a different species than the ones observed by Duane Hodgkinson (1944) and by Gideon Koro (~1994), based upon the apparent differences in rations between wingspan and length of tail.

Honesty in Ropen Searching

A different kind of attack has been launched, as an American paleontologist has dismissed the ropen as a “fake” pterosaur and dismissed me, Jonathan Whitcomb, as one who practices deception. [A reply to accusations]

November 28, 2014

Honesty in Ropen Searching

A different kind of attack has been launched, as an American paleontologist has dismissed the ropen as a “fake” pterosaur and dismissed me, Jonathan Whitcomb, as one who practices deception. He also ridicules my belief in the Garden of Eden and in the Flood of Genesis. If I were a paleontologist who had a valid point to make about pterosaur fossils, I hope I would not respond to a misguided cryptozoologist by ridiculing that person’s religion or assuming the worst regarding honesty.

“Stupid Dinosaur Lies”

Those are not my words. They are part of a URL that I first saw around mid-2005, perhaps the first major online attack against those who promote the possibility that not all of these featherless flying creatures are extinct. Search the words of my book Searching for Ropens and Finding God (fourth edition) if you will, and you’ll see, in those 360 pages, that only twice is the word stupid printed: once quoting that word in that libelous web page and once for an eyewitness who was discouraged because of the possibility that he had been mistaken through misidentification, his own word for his predicament. I do not use that word for a person who disagrees with me.

I will not link to that web site having the URL words “stupid,” “dinosaur,” and “lies.” I will quote from page 118 of my nonfiction book:

I will quote no more from that web page, but I deny that my associates and I have perpetrated a hoax to make money. In addition, I have never led any Young Earth Creationists on any expedition and have never set foot in Africa. Those noticing the misspelling of both my first and last names, they may take a clue that other details on that page may also be inaccurate. Enough said.

Honesty of Explorers

Perhaps nobody accused Paul Nation of dishonesty after his Umboi Island expedition with his son in 2002; hardly anybody knew about that.
Few persons, if any, seem to have accused him of dishonesty after his 2006 expedition on the mainland of Papua New Guinea.
Nobody that I know of accused him of any lie after he returned from his 2007 expedition, in which he found that he had made a misidentification in part of the 2006 endeavor.

When an American like Paul Nation travels to remote tropical wildernesses to look for flying dinosaurs (not the phrase he himself normally uses), his return to the United States is not usually met with loud proclamations of dishonesty. For those who dismiss the possibility of a living pterosaur, accusations of lies could be interpreted to mean that the explorer was not telling the truth about observing nothing resembling a pterosaur, and that would defeat the skeptics’ purpose.

But that is the point in all those expeditions in Papua New Guinea: Liars would not be expected to return home admitting they saw nothing like what they were most hoping to see. In other words, the following explorers were telling the truth when they returned from Papua New Guinea:

Garth Guessman
David Woetzel
Jonathan Whitcomb
Paul Nation

Attack From an American Paleontologist

This highly acclaimed scientist, whom I will not name here, recognized in his field of paleontology and acknowledged on Wikipedia for his many scientific papers (published in peer-reviewed journals of science, no doubt)—he never mentioned the word expedition in his attack against my honesty. Of course such an admission could seriously detract from what he wanted to portray, that I am dishonest. He concentrated on one apparent political blunder that I seem to have made, but he twists it around, even 180 degrees around, making it appear that I was using deception.

The early years of my publications were met with skeptic comments questioning my honesty. I then continued writing in web pages and online blogs, usually using my normal name, Jonathan Whitcomb. I also started using two pseudonyms: Norman Huntington and Nathaniel Coleman. That was to allow readers to be informed about the living-pterosaur investigations. To at least a few readers, my name had been smeared to some extent, and it could have been a distraction. In other words, I used those two pen names to get the truth to as many persons as possible, while still using Whitcomb on many blog posts, including on my dominant blog Live Pterosaur. So why does this paleontologist assume that I intended to deceive anyone?

He seems upset that my web pages dominate the internet, at least when people use Google. But what would be fair if that skeptical scientist had spent over 10,000 hours in a project, for eleven years, and had published online articles and posts that outnumbered those of all of his colleagues? Would he not think it fair that his ideas would show up on the top of search-engine results?

Conclusion About Honesty

I am shocked that somebody with so much education would make so many mistakes, indeed errors that are facing 180 degrees away from reality. But I do not accuse this man of dishonesty, for I cannot see into his mind or into his heart. Being honest or dishonest is, after all, about one’s intention. Those who search diligently will find the truth.

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Is Jonathan Whitcomb a Paleontologist?

I’ve received emails from eyewitnesses from four continents plus islands in the Pacific, emails about flying creatures that resemble “primitive” or “prehistoric” animals more than any bird or bat. On occasion I am able to talk with an eyewitness by phone or by face-to-face interview. One critical point here, unappreciated by some paleontologists, is that those eyewitnesses come from various countries and have different backgrounds and beliefs, including differing religious beliefs.

1400 Eyewitnesses of Pterosaurs

Whitcomb’s current reply to this week’s Cryptomundo posting and nearly 40 comments is given in full below, without edits

Videographer in Papua New Guinea

. . . explored part of Umboi Island . . . in 2004, searching for the elusive ropen . . .

What does Whitcomb believe?

We defend both the Genesis account of creation and the worldwide Flood. We believe in the God of Biblical miracles and in a recent life on earth, devoid of molecules-to-man evolution (GTE).

“Settle into a comfortable chair and prepare for what may become the most unsettling scientific discovery since Copernicus and Galileo. This true story takes you into the expeditions that began to prepare the Western world for a discovery not yet recognized by scientists in developed countries.”

October 21, 2014October 21, 2014

Fourth Edition of the Biggest Live-Pterosaur Book

Bioluminescent Glow of the Flying Creature

I sometimes get a report of a large glowing creature, a shocking animal seen at night, even in the United States. The latest one was about two miles from Point Pleasant West Virginia, on the night of October 20, 2014. An eyewitness may search online for a similar sighting in the same general area where he/she witnessed the flying creature. This may result in disappointment, for reported sightings may be in other areas of the country but not near that person’s area. Please be aware of two factors:

These large ropens (or other glowing flying creatures) can travel long distances
They do not always glow and are not always noticed at night

Please also be aware that more than one species may be involved and that the ropen may be only one of two general types of modern pterosaur, both of which may have bioluminescent capabilities, at least in some species. Much scientific research needs to be done on this, even thought it now lives within cryptozoology, not yet acknowledged commonly by many scientists.

What one Book Reports About the Ropen Light

Two chapters of Searching for Ropens and Finding God cover this strange attribute of at least some ropens, this ability to glow with a bright light:

From page 41: How radical is the glow of a modern dragon or non-extinct pterosaur! Yet a fire-breathing dragon, to people in old times, was thought to be a real animal. Why should old stories all be completely fictional?

As I reviewed the videotaped interviews of natives on Umboi Island, early in 2004, my imagination was fired by a conviction: Old stories may contain truth. The fiction of Bilbo’s encounter with Smaug, the great dragon who burned up a town with his fiery breath, left an impression (like dieing embers) too dim to fire up my resolve to fly away to Papua New Guinea; but older ideas about dragons let in just enough light to spark my imagination: I believed native testimonies of a glowing creature flying over a remote tropical island.

Bioluminescence is more common than most Americans would imagine, as I would see for myself later that year. Could old stories of fiery dragons include some truth? Could that kind of glow have lead away our early ancestors into imaginative fiction: dragons burning down towns with fiery breath? . . .

From page 277: The sighting of a glowing “dragon” in England, around 1987, could be dismissed, for it was just a ten-year-old girl watching the stars, and that’s just one story. The two sightings of huge glowing flying creatures in the San Fernando Valley could be dismissed, for they were near Hollywood (the land of fictional creations), and that’s just two stories. The glowing creatures flying in the Caribbean could be dismissed, for they appear like nothing in any biology textbook, and that’s just two sightings. But scan the landscape of sighting reports and see what few other humans have seen for the past two centuries: Trees connected by underground roots, revealing the edge of a forest. How many eyewitnesses there must be who never contacted me about appearances of glowing flying creatures!

Searching for Ropens and Finding God, fourth edition, by Whitcomb

This religious/spiritual cryptozoology book should be published in the fourth edition before the end of October, 2014. Please see the latest posts of this blog.

From the title page of this nonfiction book:

This overshadows common true-life adventures, revealing the early stages of what may become the most unsettling scientific discovery since Galileo and Copernicus. It soars above disputes about religion, revealing why an official discovery of an extraordinary animal was delayed for so long. Above all, this explores human experiences—of eyewitnesses and those who interviewed them. People have become connected by common encounters: Persons of various faiths, with various levels of education, from various countries and cultures, have seen a living pterosaur.

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August 28, 2014

Free Book on Modern Pterosaurs

nonfiction cryptozoology book in electronic format - living pterosaurs

Think of a friend who needs to be informed about sightings of modern pterosaurs. Perhaps think of yourself, too. The nonfiction digital book Live Pterosaurs in Australia and in Papua New Guinea is now available FOR FREE, no strings attached, to let the world know about these astonishing nocturnal flying creatures.

This short book says little about the Bible, so why is it promoted on The Bible and Modern Pterosaurs? Here is what it says:

Expeditions and Bible-Believers

Who could organize any expedition to search for living pterosaurs? Only an official discovery could awaken Western scientists so they could search for extant pterosaurs, but discovery normally comes after searching, not before. Looking back at this problem, from the time of Darwin until 1990 it appears to have been an almost hopeless atmosphere for a discovery. But a solution eventually appeared . . . from an unexpected source.

It was only a partial solution, to be sure: only cryptozoological. But in the 1990’s a few American Biblical creationists began intermittent light expeditions in Papua New Guinea, investigating reports of possible living pterosaurs. This led to more expeditions, from 2002 to 2007, by cryptozoologists who were better prepared and who had more success with interviews and observations.

But why Biblical creationists? For the moment, lay aside any judgment of any concept of earth-age; look only at the recent history of expeditions in Papua New Guinea. Who would be more likely to search for living pterosaurs, those who believed in a major extinction event 65 million years ago or those who believed in many pterosaurs living 6,000 years ago? How much easier to organize an expedition when the organizers are convinced of the recent existence of what is being sought!

Before considering what those Biblical creationists discovered, we need to go back into history a bit more. How deeply extinction ideas had been ingrained into Western culture!

The above does not directly relate to evidence that the Bible is true; these few paragraphs only briefly explain why Biblical creationists became involved. Yet the book as a whole does suggest that the world should listen to what these few American explorers, Christian men, discovered for themselves, even though their first discoveries were limited to within the realm of cryptozoology.

Consider the following excerpts.

Preface (second paragraph)

I believe in living pterosaurs and hope they will soon be officially discovered. More important, I believe in you, that you can soar above dogmatic assumptions about extinctions. I hope that you already understand that we are more than a by-product of culture: Our existence transcends the boundaries of the human cultural assumptions that have shaped our beliefs.

What is a Pterosaur (from the Introduction)

We must begin with the basics: What is a pterosaur? It’s not really a type of dinosaur, although it’s associated with them. The flying creature is called “pterodactyl” by many non-scientists; some Americans call those featherless fliers “dinosaur birds” or “prehistoric birds.”

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Now consider excerpts from a much larger book, in print format.

Searching for Ropens and Finding God (third edition)

We live in a world in which modern Westerners, at least many respectable or respected ones, have believed all magical dragons to be only legendary and all pterosaurs to be extinct and even more ancient; also in this world, many natives, whom we had assumed more primitive or less gifted than us, have believed all dragons to be real and either magical or spiritually gifted. In some areas, they believe dragons to be both ancient and modern. What if all of us have been only partially correct? What if flying dragons are not so much ancient as modern, not so much magical as physically gifted, not so much legendary as real? [From Introduction]

The existence of life I credited to God, from childhood choosing to respect the Bible as nonfiction. When I was ten, my father, psychologist for the San Bernardino School District in California, showed me the largest collection of bird eggs in the Western United States, in the museum in our own little town of Bloomington. The variety of eggs and birds, all dead, fascinated me. Then I read the labels. Non-birds becoming birds discomforted me, for each type of life appeared to have a role in its own basic form. [first page of the first chapter]

Jim Blume, a missionary in Papua New Guinea for thirty years, had interviewed about seventy nationals (we call them “natives”) who had seen the creatures in many coastal areas, and the eyewitnesses gave similar descriptions. I obtained an audio recording of Blume himself being interviewed: astonishing details from Garth Guessman questioning him by telephone. Within a year, Garth would become an associate of mine and a treasured friend.

The wingspan is said to be twenty feet, on the mainland and on some islands, according to natives who spoke with Blume, but only three to four feet around Manus Island. They have “hands” about halfway up their bat-like wings and tails having flanges that are “almost eel-like.” The bill is somewhat like a pelican’s, and a comb-like structure on the head has been described like a rooster’s comb, “only stiffer.” Flying at night, it glows. [from second chapter]

Apparently, those estimating how much gasoline we would need to take were unaware of the significant difference between nine passengers and the usual three to five. I was ten pounds lighter than I was two weeks earlier, and my luggage was only half as heavy, for I left many things in Gomlongon (or ate them), but it was insufficient: The boat was still low in the water, which took more fuel.

We were only a few hundred meters from the shore of Umboi Island, so what was the problem? I thought we could get to land somehow and hike through the jungle up to the main trail that leads to Lab Lab. The natives knew better.

For one thing, this coast is a mangrove swamp. Should we abandon the boat, it would be a horrible trek to trudge through the muck, inching toward the main road—a poor option. Soon, we would be in the swamp but for a different reason. [from Chapter 14]

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Live Pterosaurs in Australia E-Book

This digital book is now ready for you to easily download FREE, to promote worldwide public awareness of modern living pterosaurs. You are free to download and read the book, with no obligations, but consider telling a friend about this free book, at least one or two friends and relatives, so that others may know the wonderful truth about modern living pterosaurs.

Modern Pterosaurs and Suicide Prevention

Like many others, I was sad to learn of the passing of Robin Williams. Yet I suggest we each now focus on someone, among the billions of persons now living, who can benefit from something we can do or say positively. My own part may seem especially weak and indirect to some skeptics, perhaps, but I’ll be satisfied if only one person will benefit.

Evidence for Pterosaurs and Honesty

I’ll answer your last question first, but I feel it needs to be taken in context: There is no physical evidence for the universal extinction of all pterosaurs. In addition, there is no eyewitness evidence for their complete extinction. In other words, there is NO EVIDENCE, of any kind, that all species of pterosaurs became extinct.