"In his own subject every man knows
all discoveries are made and all errors
corrected by those who ignore the
'climate of opinion.'" (C. S. Lewis)
The
ropen of
Papua New Guinea (which seems to be the same creature that is called “
indava” deep in the mountainous interior of the
PNG mainland) has been the subject of many expeditions since the mid-1990’s. Until the “
Destination Truth” television series coverage
of this pterosaur-like creature (2007), the ropen seekers had been almost entirely American
creationists.
According to a 2006
press release, "A study by a forensic videographer suggests that the 'pterodactyl' described by the World War II veteran Duane Hodgkinson
is a real creature that lives in coastal areas of Papua New Guinea. Jonathan Whitcomb, of Long Beach, analyzed a videotaped testimony
of Hodgkinson in 2005 and maintains that the veteran saw, near Finschhafen, New Guinea, in 1944, what natives of nearby Umboi Island
call a ropen." ("
Pterodactyl . . . In Papua New Guinea")
By late 2007, many eyewitness reports had accumulated, reports
of
ropen-like creatures flying over a number of areas in the United States. By early 2008, investigators (such as Whitcomb, Guessman,
and Woetzel) set aside plans for expeditions to Papua New Guinea and concentrated on reports of apparent living pterosaurs in the
U.S.
Ropen