Fictional Story or an
Extant Pterosaur?
Westerners may confuse foreign descriptions
of real animals with legends that are obviously
fictional. For example, a story of a giant turtle
that carries the whole world on its back is
fictional, but a story of a giant flying creature
that would occasionally carry away a human
—that’s not necessarily fiction. Such an animal
may be absent from Western textbooks as a
living species, but that's a poor argument
against the story. When they report an animal
in their territory, it deserves attention, even if
it sounds like a pterosaur.
From fossils, we know that some pterosaurs
had wingspans over 20 feet. Should such an
animal live near humans, it would be feasible
for it to carry off a child or small adult. A
report of such an incident may resemble a
fable to Westerners, yet natives in a remote
jungle see no problem except the danger from
that animal.
Those trained in Western ideas about
dinosaur-pterosaur extinctions are easily
prejudiced against any story containing living
pterosaur-like creatures. When a person is
taught from early childhood that pterodactyls
became extinct millions of years ago, how
easy it is for any report of a giant featherless
flying creature to be dismissed!
Huge Flying Creature
on Umboi Island,
Papua New Guinea
The American forensic
videographer Jonathan
Whitcomb interviewed three
native men in a remote village
in Papua New Guinea, in 2004,
during his expedition. He
failed to see the ropen but was
able to question many
eyewitnesses of the long-tailed
featherless flying creature.
Many Westerners would call it
a “pterodactyl.”
The three men had almost no
time to prepare for the
surprise visit from the
expedition team. Two of them
spoke English, at least to some
extent, but an interpreter was
also used in the questioning.
The ropen’s tail was estimated
to be seven meters long, and
Gideon Koro was positive that
it had no feathers. It was flying
over the surface of Lake Pung
at mid-day.
Before proceeding with
historical records that may
suggest sightings of modern
pterosaurs, let’s acknowledge
a cultural weakness in Western
thought: the tendency of
Westerners to think of some
societies as less adept at
discerning truth from error,
particularly third-world
countries much less
technologically advanced and
different in philosophy and
religion. This tendency can
cause us to miss valuable
evidence from eyewitnesses of
other cultures. Be especially
careful about assuming the
natives are just caught up in
superstition when they report
dragons.
Wesley Koro, Gideon’s brother,
was one of seven boys who
saw the ropen fly over a
crater lake on Umboi Island
(sighting: about 1994). Four of
the eyewitnesses were not
available when Whitcomb
arrived in the village.
Copyright 2004-2017 Jonathan David Whitcomb