Cryptozoology Book by Jonathan Whitcomb
Live Pterosaurs
in America
Sketch drawn by the eyewitness
Eskin C. Kuhn: one of the two
live pterosaurs he saw in Cuba
Cryptozoology Book
Reports of living pterosaurs or apparent pterosaurs come from Papua New Guinea and Africa, with cryptid names
that include “ropen,” “indava,” and “kongamato.” But similar descriptions come from eyewitnesses in the U.S.A.
“Just weeks after my 2004 expedition on Umboi Island, the cryptozoologists Garth Guessman and David
Woetzel interviewed Umboi native eyewitnesses with systematic interview forms (and those two Americans
later assisted . . . in another country). Woetzel and I later wrote separate scientific papers, in a peer-reviewed
journal, about our experiences in Papua New Guinea and about pterosaurs in human times. We appreciate the
support from our families and from our friends here and abroad.” (third paragraph of Acknowledgements in the
non-fiction cryptozoology book Live Pterosaurs in America)
Amazon Page on the Cryptozoology Book
“Many modern pterosaurs are much larger than any bat, many with long tails, many with head crests. What
about news headlines? How did these creatures avoid media attention? Get the answers from years of work by
American cryptozoologists.
“The old ‘fruit bat’ explanation for reports of pterosaurs in Papua New Guinea--that bat idea has now been shot
down; the tail length of the larger Rhamphorhynchoid-like flying creatures has been estimated at a minimum of
ten feet and a maximum of over twenty feet.”
From the Introduction in the Book
“This book might make a few Americans uneasy to walk alone at night; my intention, however, is not to
frighten but to enlighten as many readers as possible to know about live-pterosaur investigations. Those
who’ve been shocked at the sight of a flying creature that “should” be extinct—those eyewitnesses, more
numerous than most Americans would guess, need no longer be afraid that everyone will think them crazy, and
no longer need they feel alone. Those of us who’ve listened to the American eyewitnesses, we who have
interviewed them, we now believe. So, if you will, consider the experiences of these ordinary persons (I’ve
interviewed most of them myself) and accept whatever enlightenment you may.”
From Chapter One: South Carolina Sighting
“Susan Wooten was driving east on Highway 20, to the town of Florence . . . in the fall of about 1989,
following a girl who lived in her dorm, who was driving ahead. Where the road was surrounded by woods and
swamps, Wooten saw something flying from her left, then passing in front of her, behind her friend’s car. “It
swooped down over the highway and back up gracefully over the pines,” but its appearance was shocking: “. . .
as big as any car . . . NO feathers, not like a huge crane or egret, but like a humongous bat. . . .
“Q: Were the wings flapping?
A: One or two slow flaps, to the best of my recollection.
Q: What was the approximate distance from wingtip to wingtip?
A: My best guess is 12-15 feet.”
Live Pterosaurs in America, third edition
Searching for Dragons, the third edition (with a new title) of Searching for Ropens, will probably be published
and available for purchase before the spring of 2012.
From the Introduction in this upcoming Book:
“Before scientists created the word ‘Rhamphorhynchoid’ for long-tailed pterosaurs, common folk used the word
‘dragon’ for large destructive creatures, including those with long tails and wings but no feathers. In this book,
I use the word for those long-tailed pterosaurs . . .
“Natives on the remote island of Umboi use ‘ropen’ for a real creature, large and nocturnal, that glows for a few
seconds at a time while flying between one mountain and another . . .”
Another Cryptozoology Book: for Early 2012
Live-pterosaur site: cryptozoology book Live Pterosaurs in America and Searching for Dragons --- web page up to date: November 24, 2011
Gideon Koro described to Whitcomb
how the giant ropen flew over
the crater lake on Umboi Island