Ropen Attacks

sketch of pterosaur seen by Patty Carson in Cuba in 1965

I recently received an eyewitness report from a man who was one of many children, many years ago, who had seen a giant flying creature in Canada. Please consider some of what this anonymous eyewitness reports, and believe what you will about the possibility that these children saw a large ropen.

Gigantic flying creature in Canada

I also saw a “giant” pterodactyl! Actually most of the senior students of our public school saw it too. This was back in about 1960 when I was 12 years old. . . . Since I am now almost 67 yrs old, I would like to find anyone else who might have seen one too.

Year: … 1960-1961
Date: … sometime in the fall.
Location:… Kitchener, Ontario, Canada,
Address:… King Edward Public School,

It was a dull and rainy fall morning. The rain had just stopped so we kids were forced to go outside during our morning recess. . . . it was cold and wet and a low hanging fog hovered about 20 feet above the ground.

Us guys started a ball game, but quickly gave up because the ball kept disappearing into the overhead fog . . . So, we decided to quit and just wait for the bell.

Suddenly, we heard screams . . . We looked up the field at the girls and the ones farthest away from us were pointing into the overhead fog bank and screaming. Then the girls below them started screaming and pointing into the fog. . . .

I was curious, as were all the other boys, so we positioned ourselves under the fog, hoping we would get to see whatever it was they were screaming at. I can still remember me bracing my legs apart, so as not to lose my balance as I looked up into a grey cloud.

Suddenly, It appeared! . . . An airplane-sized black bird was silently gliding just at the bottom of the fog bank. It must have been that low, so it could see where it was going by looking at the ground. It appeared to be only maybe 20 feet over my head and I could see it as clear as a bell.

The first thing I noticed was obviously its size. I was directly under one wing and it was much wider than myself and a group of my buddies put together. . . . I would estimate “one” wing to be 20 feet in length. Then I noticed a good 3 foot long pointed beak and a shorter 2 footish bump on the back of its head which was not as pointed as its beak.

Do ropens ever attack people?

Unfortunately, yes, although human victims are much more rare than the fish, birds, and bats that are usually hunted by these flying creatures.

I have seen reports, not first hand, of large flying creatures killing people on the mainland of Papua New Guinea. In villages around the cities of Lae and Finschhafen, adult humans have been carried away, apparently, although news like that rarely gets into any Western newspapers. In the remote village of Tawa, many years ago, a number of indavas used to attack natives, sometimes carrying away a child or a pig, according to Paul Nation.

In the United States and Canada, we have indirect and not-so-indirect evidence that unidentified flying creatures (UFC) sometimes attack people and may be the cause of a considerable percentage of the most mysterious cases for missing persons.

In particular, when you visit a wilderness area in North America, try not to be alone for long, and keep an eye on what may be flying overhead. Enjoy the scenery, of course, just don’t let yourself get carried away.

Gitmo Pterosaur sketched by eyewitness Patty CarsonRopen of eastern Cuba, mid-20th century (sketch by Patty Carson)

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Can Ropens Hide in Caves?

Last month, I learned about multi-eyewitness sightings of flying lights in the northwestern United States, lights that the observers believe are bioluminescent pterosaurs, possibly ropens. Its seems these lights fly over at least two rivers in this part of the country and near one particular river the lights enter and exit nearby caves.

Ropens are pterosaurs

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.”

Three native eyewitnesses of the ropen

Last week’s “Flying Monsters” episode of MonsterQuest had major problems. For one thing, the producers included almost no detail on the eyewitness sightings.

Ropen – a living pterosaur?

How often we’ve been taught that all dinosaurs  and pterosaurs became extinct millions of years  ago, as if that were proven! But what if some are  still living?

Credibility of native eyewitnesses

“Note that these islanders [of Umboi know about] . . . the bat we call “Flying Fox.” That nocturnal featherless flying animal  is common on that island. The Flying Fox holds no fear for the native. In fact, it’s an ingredient in a soup they  relish.

Bioluminescent ropen of Papua New Guinea

American cryptozoology author Jonathan Whitcomb believes the ropen of Umboi is related to the “Gitmo Pterosaur” of Cuba.

About the flying ropen

Brian Hennessy saw a “prehistoric” flying creature on Bougainville Island, in 1971. About twenty-three years later, the Umboi Island native Gideon Koro saw a similar creature,  many miles to the west of Hennessy’s ropen sighting.

Destination Truth Ropen Episode

Just before Eric Wing and Neil [Mandt] interviewed me in their Hollywood office, I had received news that Paul [Nation] had videotaped some ropen lights (also called indava lights: the first video footage of its kind that would enter the United States).

A modern live pterosaur

What is this flying creature called “ropen?”  Countless eyewitnesses, in many countries  across the planet, have pondered what it  was they had seen. But ropens continue to  fly overhead, continuing to shock humans  who had assumed that all pterosaurs had  become extinct millions of years ago.

Flying Fox Bat Versus 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.

Attack in the Dead of Winter – Nightmare

Remember your worst nightmare? Were you glad to wake up? Be grateful. In the early morning hours of February 23, 2010, a few miles or so southwest of Marfa, Texas, the victims were terrified by what awakened them. I am not the eyewitness . . . I interviewed my friend James, who had been driving through Southern Texas . . .

Searching for Ropens and Finding God (nonfiction)

During those fourteen months of failure to get a ropen’s photograph,  I did get many precious sighting reports from across the United States.

El Ropen de Papúa Nueva Guinea

El “ropen” es un cryptid de Papúa Nueva Guinea. Algunos investigadores creen que es un pterosauro que vive.

Jonathan Whitcomb’s Ropen Research

I have admired Jonathan Whitcomb’s Ropen / Pterosaur research for many years. I have posted a few of Jonathan’s offerings from recent years, which includes an article he wrote for Phantoms & Monsters.

Flying Dinosaurs—Alive?

Do you believe in the possibility that long-tailed featherless flying creatures, much larger than any fruit bat, live in the jungles of Papua New Guinea? Your belief depends a great deal on where you lived your childhood: in a village like Gomlongon on Umboi Island or in a western country like the United States.

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Missing People and Pterosaurs

comparing a very big fruit bat with a big ropen pterosaur

Some of the strangest missing-persons cases may relate to a few individual animals of one species of ropen in North America, according to what I have read so far in the book Missing 411 Western United States & Canada, by David Paulides.

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.

Model of a Ropen Attack (Theoretical)

When a person is alone in a wilderness area in the United States, a large hungry ropen may attack, subduing the human by a mist or vapor that is debilitating when inhaled by prey. This may explain why human victims, when found alive, are asleep or unconscious or in a state that rescuers may describe as “confused” or “disoriented.”

The ropen may grab the person by the coat or pants or shirt or even by the shoes. That is why the body or living person found by rescuers has such clothing missing. It also explains why such clothing is found in other locations and why the pants are sometimes found inside out. The victim falls out of the clothing sometimes but not always.

The ropen flies away with the human victim but not high above the ground. Why not high? It would take more energy and time to ascend high above the ground. This explains why tracking dogs sometimes cannot find a scent and when they do track, it’s only for a limited distance, for the victim may have had limited contact with bushes or even the ground, during the low-level flight.

This low-level flight also explains why people nearby do not see the victim being carried away, for the abduction is obscured by trees or vegetation or by the hills surrounding the creeks or creek beds that ropens use for navigation.

When a body or living victim is found by rescuers, scratches may be found on the person. Those are from the claws or talons of the ropen. When scratches are absent, the victim was fortunate the creature had been holding onto the clothing only or the shoes only.

Falling out of clothing/shoes also explains why living victims may be found in bushes like berry bushes: The fall was cushioned by the vegetation. Remember it’s low-level flight.

This model also explains why children, even toddlers less than three years old, are often found miles away from where they disappeared. Two-year-olds do not climb high mountains and hike many miles across barriers like a river or a fence or a steep cliff. They are carried over all those obstacles through the air.

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comparing a very big fruit bat with a big ropen pterosaur

Some ropens are large enough to be dangerous to people

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Gitmo Pterosaur sketched by eyewitness Patty Carson

Sketch by the eyewitness Patty Carson: a flying creature seen in Eastern Cuba

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Missing Children

The case of missing-child Garrett Bardsley has barely enough evidence to even mention in regard to potential attacks from a North American ropen. But even if only one child can be saved from being a victim, it will be worth all the efforts we can muster.

Missing Persons – Coast to Coast

David Paulides was interviewed on Coast-to-Coast on May 18, 2014

“Pterodactyl Attacks”

. . . it brings to mind native accounts from Papua New Guinea, but this is far closer to home, in British Columbia, Canada. For many years, there have been reports of people being attacked in Africa and in Papua New Guinea. I have only recently noticed this news about flying creatures attacking people in British Columbia at night.

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Sock Puppets and Jonathan Whitcomb

Eskin Kuhn sketched Gitmo Pterosaur he saw

According to the paleontologist Donald Prothero and the biology professor P. Z. Myers, I Jonathan Whitcomb have used sock puppetry in online publications promoting the idea that modern pterosaurs are living. Each has written a post about me, with each post proclaiming that I have admitted using sock puppets. Both statements in each post are false, yet some of my proper use of two pseudonyms may resemble improper usage, so this needs to be explained in detail.

Norman Huntington and Nathaniel Coleman

Soon after my expedition on Umboi Island, in 2004, I found a web site highly critical of the living pterosaur investigations. In fact, the URL included the words stupid, dinosaur, and lies. In the original posting, both my first and last names were misspelled: “John Whittcomb.” Keep in mind that this was in 2005.

So what did it say about me, Jonathan Whitcomb? It said I had led creationists on an expedition in Africa and that I had been sponsored by Carl Baugh. All three statements were false; I had never led any creationists on any expedition, never set foot anywhere in Africa, never been sponsored by Carl Baugh. It would have been purely comical except for what followed on other sites.

Insinuations and direct statements about dishonesty followed. It came to the point where one skeptic suggested people should take statements by Paul Nation with a “grain of salt” because he was associated with Jonathan Whitcomb.

By about that time, I had begun writing nonfiction book about eyewitness sightings of apparent pterosaurs, especially in Papua New Guinea and in Australia. My main purpose was not in making a profit but in telling the truth to the world, the truth about details in the many sighting reports that I received from around the world.

To publicize details about the encounters with apparent pterosaurs, I needed some way to emphasize those reports without my name getting in the way. I began using two pseudonyms on a limited number of my many blogs: Nathaniel Coleman and Norman Huntington. Neither of those names were ever used as if they were happy purchasers of my books. They were used to emphasize the logic of a modern-pterosaur interpretation of many sighting reports and critical details in those eyewitness accounts.

When using my regular name, Jonathan Whitcomb, I sometimes admit personal weaknesses, most notably in the problems I faced in my expedition in 2004, problems sometimes caused by my lack of planning or inexperience in exploring on a tropical island. When using one of the two pen names, I sometimes mentioned a weakness or potential bias in the reasoning or writings of “Jonathan Whitcomb.” That’s not deceptive but honest, for I am human like everybody else. I did not use any pseudonym or sock puppet to heap empty praise on “Jonathan Whitcomb,” for that would have been dishonest.

What are sock puppets?

According to Wikipedia:

A sockpuppet is an online identity used for purposes of deception. . . . [It] originally referred to a false identity assumed by a member of an Internet community who spoke to, or about, themselves while pretending to be another person. The term now includes other misleading uses of online identities, such as those created to praise, defend or support a person or organization, or to circumvent a suspension or ban from a website. A significant difference between the use of a pseudonym and the creation of a sockpuppet is that the sockpuppet poses as an independent third-party unaffiliated with the puppeteer. Many online communities attempt to block sockpuppets.

Dr. Prothero’s post went much further than suggesting that I might have been guilty of using sock puppets. He said, “it’s a classic case of a typically modern internet phenomenon, sock puppetry.” I suggest my usage of those two names was more like the opposite. Consider the following ways of improper online writing, sock puppetry:

  1. Endorsing a self-written book as if from a common reader
  2. Praising oneself
  3. Sneaking around a suspension or ban

I suggest a “classic case” of sock puppetry would include at least two of the above, if not all three, when the person involved was an author. Yet none of the above three applies to my use of the names Nathaniel Coleman and Norman Huntington. Where does Dr. Prothero get the his definition of “a classic case?”

Honesty or deception in the first expedition of 2004

The point of this controversy about modern living pterosaurs is in honesty or dishonesty. In particular, have I, Jonathan Whitcomb, been deceptive or have I tried to bring the truth out into the open? Consider my expedition on Umboi Island in 2004.

Nobody disputes the fact I was on that tropical island, wanting to find evidence that a species of pterosaur was still living. Yet I returned home to the USA admitting that I had seen nothing that could be interpreted as a living pterosaur. The nocturnal ropen had kept out of my sight. A liar would have reported a sighting of a glowing pterosaur, making it appear like his expedition had been a success. I was honest and told the truth.

For some reason, Dr. Prothero says nothing about the fact that I had been on Umboi Island, looking for the ropen. Why did he say nothing about that? Is it because any mention of that expedition could have defeated his purpose in how he wanted to portray me? Since I was obviously being honest about my 2004 expedition, why not consider the possibility that I have been honest in my online publications since then?

Conclusions on sock puppets and pseudonyms

Did I make a mistake in using those two pen names. From the narrow point of view of the moment, it certainly looks like I should never have used any name except Jonathan Whitcomb, yet time will tell the whole story. I am content to see how history will play out.

The critical point, however seems to have been entirely overlooked by Donald Prothero: Eyewitness-testimony details prove the case for modern living pterosaurs, and his post “Fake Pterosaurs and Sock Puppets” does not even mention the word eyewitness. Who really has something to hide, Dr. Prothero?

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Dr. Prothero and modern pterosaurs

My blog posts and web pages outnumber those of anyone else on the subject of modern “pterodactyls” or primitive flying creatures that have been assumed to have been long extinct; that need not suggest that I have been dishonest. Skeptics include at least three of the best-known paleontologists in the world; that need not suggest my investigation over the past eleven years has been in vain. Look at some details.

Hoax Criticism and Pterosaur Wingspans

Estimated pterosaur wingspans, analyzed in recent statistics of eyewitness reports, show what would be expected of a variety of pterosaur species of different sizes, observed under various conditions by eyewitnesses having various abilities in estimating sizes. In other words, the sighting reports support the honesty of eyewitnesses, in general.

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4th edition of Whitcomb's "Searching for Ropens and Finding God"

Nonfiction, 360 pages, worldwide sightings of modern pterosaurs

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Cover of the third edition of "Live Pterosaurs in America" by Whitcomb

Pure cryptozoology, 154 pages, live pterosaurs in the USA

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