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Scientific Paper on Modern Pterosaurs

By investigative journalist Jonathan Whitcomb (nonfiction author)

Introduction

The ten-year anniversary is approaching for the publication of my scientific paper “Reports of Living Pterosaurs in the Southwest Pacific,” so here is an introduction to that peer-reviewed article, with links to images of some of the pages. It was published in Volume 45 of the Creation Research Society Quarterly (issue: Winter of 2009), beginning on page 200 of that issue.

I also include here a few details about some of my cryptozoology books, for the scientific paper is only 13 pages long, and my books have much more information. In addition, the books are more-recently published and contain more-recent sighting reports.

top of 1st page: Reports of Living Pterosaurs in the Southwest Pacific

Page 1 of the scientific paper on living pterosaurs

The Abstract refers to standard models of evolution regarding asserted extinctions of all species of dinosaurs and pterosaurs. It also refers to the Flood of Genesis and to the young-earth view that allows for the possibility that some of the pterosaurs survived extinction. It also mentions that some descriptions suggest a Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur lives in Papua New Guinea and that expeditions were made on Umboi Island.

Page 2 of “Reports of Living Pterosaurs in the Southwest Pacific”

A body of indirect evidence has accumulated that suggests that extant pterosaurs exist in the southwest Pacific area. This paper will present and evaluate that evidence and address some the skepticism of the possibility of extant pterosaurs, . . . this skepticism tends to rest on an evolutionary worldview.

map of Papua New Guinea

Page 3 of the scientific paper (but page in the journal is “202”)

This includes evidence gathered from the two expeditions on Umboi Island in 2004 (Whitcomb and Guessman and Woetzel). It also briefly mentions the expedition of 1994, in which Carl Baugh, Jim Blume, and Paul Nation participated. This page also briefly answers the suggestion that the animal called ropen is not a pterosaur but a bat.

Page 4 of the scientific paper by Whitcomb

This is mostly two tables about what was learned in six expeditions in Papua New Guinea in the following years: 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2007. Here are some examples of what was learned about the ropen, according to natives:

  • “ropen never glows longer than 5-6 seconds at a time”
  • “the ropen may be similar to a Sordes pilosus (but ropen is large)”
  • “tail length is 7 m [23 feet]; mouth ‘like a crocodile’ . . .”
  • “has a long tail with a ‘diamond’ . . . Lake Pung”
  • grave robbery in the village of Gomlongon (Umboi Island)
  • “large empty clam shells . . . the ropen eats clams”

Page 5 of “Reports of Living Pterosaurs in the Southwest Pacific”

The following are some examples from Table II:

  • Finschhafen — 1944 — Giant, long beak & tail, head appen.”
  • Umboi — 1972 — “Gov’t official sees light fly near Lab Lab”
  • Bougainville — 1971 — “Long beak, long tail, head appendage”
  • Umboi — “upright, it holds onto a tree trunk”

Page 6 of the scientific paper

This has the continuation of Table II and all of Table III. Here are a few examples from this page, restricted to flying lights on Umboi Island:

  • Umboi — 2003 — “it flew from beach to [the mountain] Bel”
  • Umboi — 2003 — “light flew down to reef, as if fishing”
  • Umboi — 2004 — “creature glowing as it flew”
  • Tawa Village — 2006 —  “two lights on a ridge (videotaped)”
  • Tawa area — 2006 — “winged creature sleeping on a cliff”

Books on Modern Pterosaurs

The preceding references to images of pages of that scientific paper can be used in finding the other pages, up to the final one: page thirteen.

I recommend my book Searching for Ropens and Finding God, which is the longest nonfiction print publication on living pterosaurs. For young readers, especially those between eight and fourteen years old, I recommend my shorter book: The Girl who saw a Flying Dinosaur.

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Scientific paper on living pterosaurs

Eyewitness sightings in “Reports of Living Pterosaurs in the Southwest Pacific,” include the sighting by Duane Hodgkinson, the World War II veteran. This excerpt is from Volume 45, Number 3, of the Creation Research Society Quarterly (Winter issue, 2009).

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Nonfiction cryptozoology books

Six books that have at least some content related to sightings of apparent living pterosaurs—that’s what this blog post covers.

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Scientific papers about modern pterosaurs

Two peer-reviewed articles are covered here, one by David Woetzel and the other by Jonathan Whitcomb:

  • “The Fiery Flying Serpent”
  • “Reports of Living Pterosaurs in the Southwest Pacific”

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Non-fiction books on living pterosaurs

Two paperback books are closely compared:

  • Searching for Ropens and Finding God (4th edition)
  • Live Pterosaurs in America (3rd edition)

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Modern pterosaurs in Papua New Guinea

Around 1965, some of the natives in this general area of New Britain got access to a gun and shot a pterosaur. They then cooked it in three large pots, feeding the village. This event was told to [Milt Marcy] and [Peter Beach] by two of the older natives, Fraggie and Hulio, who were boys at the time of the feast. Apparently, however, Marcy and Beach stayed in a different village than the one in which Fraggie and Hulio remembered enjoying that home-cooked meal.

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Scientific paper on non-extinct pterodactyls (& a sighting in Spain)

Let’s examine an individual sighting report and its credibility: an account of an apparent living pterosaur in Spain. (I’ve already written much about the overall honesty-credibility of the reports, so we’ll here concentrate on this individual account.)

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Cryptozoology book on pterosaurs

“Since the time of Darwin, many scientists have assumed that some general types of animals became extinct long ago. One of the assumptions is that all species of dinosaurs and pterosaurs died off before any humans existed.” [from Jonathan Whitcomb]

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Wikipedia and “Tiny Minorities”

Of course undue attention to the opinion of “tiny minorities” may be inappropriate in the biography of a living person (BLP), in an encyclopedia or similar publication; but with a giant like Wikipedia, there is an unspoken policy that resembles this: The virtual policy of “popular opinion rules.” This unofficial policy comes unavoidably from the nature of Wikipedia: an open platform for writing and editing.

I would not change Wikipedia; I would encourage knowledge and understanding of popular opinions in Western culture. Wikipedia makes many research projects much easier, but we need to remember that it comes mostly from writings of those who comply, at least to some extent, to popular models; concepts not based on standard axioms of developed nations are not portrayed in a positive light, in general, if they are portrayed at all.

So what do I suggest about Wikipedia? Use it when popular Western ideas are not a problem; do not use it to research something unorthodox at its roots. Of course, I am thinking about modern living pterosaurs. In particular, consider those Americans who have investigated eyewitness reports that suggest extant pterosaurs. Wikipedia has a somewhat informative page on the ropen; it includes informative reference URL’s as well (mostly quite positive towards researchers and investigators).

But the Wikipedia page itself tells us little about the investigators; it mentions names: “Carl Baugh, Paul Nation, Jonathan Whitcomb, David Woetzel, and Garth Guessman,” mentioning that they are American creationists who seek to “discredit mainstream scientific views on the age of the Earth.” As of July 19, 2010, almost nothing else is said about them, although Baugh has his own Wikipedia page (very negative about him, by standard BLP policies). So let’s now consider those three investigators who do not have their own pages on Wikipedia (Nation, Whitcomb, Woetzel, and Guessman), using CreationWiki:

Paul Nation

As a living-pterosaur investigator, Paul Nation, of Granbury, Texas, conducted brief expeditions in Papua New Guinea in 1994 (with Carl Baugh), 2002, 2006, and early 2007 (Nation became involved in living-pterosaur expeditions because of his professional experience handling large ratites–flightless birds like ostriches–and their eggs). The earlier two expeditions were searching for the ropen of Umboi Island; the latter two, for the indava of the mainland interior.

Jonathan Whitcomb

While viewing an expedition video by Paul Nation, he noticed a high level of credibility in the testimonies of eyewitnesses of what is called the ropen of Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea. He then became involved in living-pterosaur investigations, exploring part of Umboi Island in 2004. Although he failed to see any ropen, he interviewed native eyewitnesses. In 2006, Whitcomb wrote the book Searching for Ropens. In it he criticizes the standard model of universal and ancient pterosaur extinction and criticizes the General Theory of Evolution.

David Woetzel

David Woetzel, a New Hampshire businessman, is an active cryptozoology explorer, having searched for the Mokele Mbembe in Africa and the ropen in Papua New Guinea. His 2004 expedition to Umboi Island, with Garth Guessman and Jacob Kepas, resulted in detailed interviews with villagers. In addition, Woetzel himself saw what investigators believe was a bioluminescent ropen (a living pterosaur) one night as the distant glowing form flew behind a mountain. Like Whitcomb, Woetzel has written a scientific paper about living pterosaurs (both articles being published in the peer-reviewed Creation Research Society Quarterly).

Garth Guessman

Garth Guessman, of Southern California, explored (with David Woetzel and Jacob Kepas) Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea in 2004, searching for ropens. This resulted in one brief and distant sighting by Woetzel and in many formally conducted interviews with native eyewitnesses.

Guessman’s knowledge of Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur fossils allowed him to notice an important clue about the ropen‘s classification. The two explorers learned that the native traditions describe the ropen‘s tail as being stiff, never moving except near where it connects to the body. Guessman recognized that this relates to the stiffening extension rods of Rhamphorhynchoid vertebrae: all but a few vertebrae are locked into stiffness; the few that are flexible are near where the pterosaur’s tail connects to the body.

Strange Flying Creatures — Lack of fairness from critics

Science and Clear Thinking

“The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane.” I believe Nikola Tesla was thinking clearly when he said that. I also believe that we need clear thinking in the scientists of today, at least as much as in the time of Tesla. It appears to me difficult to define, although its opposite appears easy to expose. Perhaps we should be grateful for extremes that help us to distinguish between foggy and clear thinking. I suggest a couple of examples.

A few years ago, a critic of living-pterosaurs investigations appeared offended that I had, on one of my own web pages, included a link to a creationist site; he demanded that I remove that link, insinuating that I should not be taken seriously because of that link. I now suggest that those who can be offended by such a thing should consider this: Bias is not necessarily confined to those who disagree with you.

I later found a site produced by another critic; he used the words “lies” and “stupid” in his URL, with the content of his site ridiculing me and my associates. Not to repeat much of the content, I simply refer to part of it: He declared that “John Whitcomb” had been sponsored by Carl Baugh and led a group of creationists in an expedition in Africa; I have never gone by the name of “John,” have never been sponsored by Carl Baugh for anything, have never led any group of creationists on any expedition anywhere, and have never set foot in Africa.

Regarding his URL, I have told the truth, not lies; I hope that he was simply ignorant of my intentions. I make no comment about “stupid,” although I sometimes admit that my general intelligence may be inferior to that of some of my readers and my education may seem less impressive than that of some of my critics (not, it seems, this one), but let’s return to “clear thinking,” for that is the subject.

I admit this subject cries for me to dig more deeply and learn more about human thinking, but one thing is obvious: We need to listen to each other, regardless of previous disagreements and regardless of differing labels. Truth can be found in the thoughts of those appearing to be most ignorant and foolish. Even my own most vehement critic did reveal some truth about me: My last name is “Whitcomb” and I am active in promoting the concept of modern living pterosaurs; this critic may have actually helped promote awareness of the case for living pterosaurs.

By the way, I did explore a remote island in Papua New Guinea (north of Australia) in 2004. I traveled to P.N.G. alone and found an interpreter on the mainland, before taking a small ship to Umboi Island. I interviewed many eyewitnesses of the ropen. My associates and I are convinced that this nocturnal flying creature is a modern Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur.

My critic may have confused Papua New Guinea with a small country in Western Africa. He may also have confused me with John C. Whitcomb who wrote The Genesis Flood many years ago. He may also have been confused by my assistance from Paul Nation, who was once a close associate of Carl Baugh. He may also have been confused about the two expeditions of 2004, for the second one was led by two American creationists and they followed my expedition by only a few weeks.

After I had replied to this web site, stating the inaccuracies, changes were made, including the correct spelling of my name: “Jonathan Whitcomb.” The newer page mentions nothing about my being in Africa. I appreciate that correction.

But many other inaccuracies were added, related to sightings and the living-pterosaur investigations. For example, the two indava lights videotaped by Paul Nation in 2006 were compared with high-speed UFO’s (the two lights were actually sitting motionless on the top of a nearby ridge). The critic mentioned those videotaped lights “flying in the sky above the peaks of volcanoes located on Umboi Island created by creationists possessing fake credentials.” (I suspect he was trying too hard to cram too many criticisms into one sentence.) At any rate, the videotaped lights were on the mainland of Papua New Guinea, nowhere near Umboi Island. I’m afraid that the critic has a problem with clear thinking, for he still tends to become confused.

I don’t know why this critic uses the words “lies” and “stupid” for me and my associates; I assume that it is also from some kind of confusion.

More: objective evaluation of eyewitness reports and the nonfiction book Live Pterosaurs in America (published by Createspace; written by Jonathan David Whitcomb) This is a cryptozoology book.

Objective interview methods of Guessman & Woetzel (2nd Umboi Island expedition of 2004)

Objective Ministries” is a parody or hoax. The university is nonexistent. There’s no “objectiveministries.”