copyright 2007-2017 Jonathan David Whitcomb
Small island south of Umboi
Island in Papua New Guinea
An Umboi native describes a ropen’s flight path
Composite sketches from two sightings
1971, Bougainville (PNG)
1944, Finschhafen (PNG)
Flying Dinosaurs in Papua New Guinea
Could living pterosaurs still fly through the skies?
This is an investigation in the realm of cryptozoology.
Introduction by Jonathan Whitcomb
From 1994 through 2009, about nine Americans have
intermittently (and usually two or three at a time) visited
remote islands of Papua New Guinea, searching for flying
creatures: living pterosaurs. On Umboi Island, it’s called
ropen, but it’s known as duwas and seklo-bali in other
local languages in other areas of PNG.
Most of the evidence the American explorers have found
is native eyewitness testimony. Why have they gone on
such a strange search, a quest for discovering a modern
pterosaur? About of the explorers have spent personal
funds to explore in Papua New Guinea and with some
kind of religious purpose. These men have no confidence
in Darwin’s General theory of evolution. In fact, the first
scientific paper written by Jonathan Whitcomb (one of
the American explorers) ends with the conclusion that
Darwin’s concept of natural selection actually prevents
any long-term ascending evolution from happening.
Many textbooks declare that dinosaurs and pterosaurs
died out long ago, the last ones becoming extinct by
about 65-million years ago. Many persons may assume
this has been proven, but has it? In reality, extinctions
are practically impossible to prove.
Sketch by the eyewitness Patty Carson: “Pterodactyl”
seen by her and her brother in 1965 in eastern Cuba
Cryptozoology and Science
Before dismissing ropen expeditions as unscientific religious exercises,
consider this: Until 1938, the fish called Coelacanth was thought to have
become extinct 65-million years ago. Does that number sound familiar?
After this supposedly ancient fish was discovered alive by a Westerner,
the truth came out: Natives had long known about this living fish. If a
scientist had been searching for the living Coelacanths before 1938, the
first evidence to be found would have been native eyewitness testimony;
it would have been cryptozoological.
What is evidence? Human experience
is always a part of evidence, whether
it is cryptozoological or not.
Evidence Gathering in PNG
Consider the following testimonies of one American
and three natives of Papua New Guinea, then believe
what you will about modern “flying dinosaurs.”
But first consider what two skeptics have said. One
critic of the ropen cryptozoological investigations
has mentioned native superstitions. Another has
insinuated that an American eyewitness may have
been hallucinating. These criticisms, however, seem
to be more speculative than the investigations are.
Judge those two criticisms after considering the
following details in sighting reports from PNG.
For decades, the American World War II veteran
Duane Hodgkinson (now deceased) maintained that
he and his army buddy saw a gigantic “pterodactyl”
in 1944, in what was then called New Guinea. He
estimated the wingspan for the apparent pterosaur-
like flying creature: about that of a Piper Tri-Pacer
(which has a wingspan of about 29 feet).
In 2004, two American cryptozoologists, Garth
Guessman and David Woetzel, interviewed a native
on a remote island in Papua New Guinea. The
two explorers showed Jonah Jim 34 silhouette
sketches of birds, bats, and pterosaurs. He chose
the Sordes pilosus (a long-tailed pterosaur) as the
nearest to the flying creature that he had seen in
the year 2001. By the way, his sighting was sixty-
six miles north of the World War II veteran’s 1944
sighting. Jonah Jim estimated the wingspan of
the ropen* he observed: six to seven meters, about
twenty feet. *(Natives of Umboi Island do not use
the term “flying dinosaurs.”)
An individual pterosaur would not have a wingspan
of twenty-nine feet in 1944 and twenty-one feet in
2001: obviously not the same individual creature.
What’s the point? The tail-length/wingspan ratio.
Jonah Jim estimated tail length: up to three meters,
or about half the wingspan. Duane Hodgkinson, the
World War II veteran estimated tail length: “at least
ten or fifteen feet.” Both eyewitnesses estimated a
tail length equal to about half the wingspan, although
these are estimates, not measurements. This could be
a coincidence, could it not? But there’s more.
Another native of Umboi Island, Jonathan Ragu,
lives a few miles or so north of Jonah Jim. He saw
the same thirty-four silhouette sketches, for he was
interviewed by the same two American explorers
in the year 2004. Guess which sketch he chose.
What is it about the Sordes pilosus? It gets hairier.
Over the years of ropen investigations in this area
of Papua New Guinea, some of the natives say that
the flying creature is hairy. Well, it just so happens
that the “Sordes” in the Latin Sordes pilosus means
“hairy.” But there’s more.
Another native was interviewed by Guessman and
Woetzel in another area of Umboi Island. Although
Dickson had no clear view of a ropen, he knew of a
tradition about it. When the interviewers asked him
about the tail, Dickson told them that it is stiff. He
then modified his answer: The tail does not bend
except where it connects to the body of the ropen.
How does that relate to the idea that pterosaurs,
“flying dinosaurs,” are still living? Fossil evidence
indicates the tails of Rhamphorhynchoids could
not move much except at the base of the tail.
Does it seem reasonable that an American soldier
would hallucinate a giant Rhamphorhynchoid and
natives on an island to the north would have, in
some of their legends, ideas that correlate with a
giant Rhamphorhynchoid, with various sightings
suggesting a tail length equal to about half of the
wingspan and all of that only by coincidence? It’s
unlikely that everything would be coincidental. The
best explanation is this: Some pterosaurs are alive.
Are All Pterosaurs Extinct? (No)
Flying Dinosaurs
Drawn by the eyewitness
U.S. Marine Eskin Kuhn
Another sighting in eastern Cuba, this one in 1971
(image reversed horizontally for artistic purpose)
Shape of the Sordes pilosus (Rhamphorhynchoid
pterosaur), top, compared with a sketch approved
by the eyewitness Jonah Jim, of Umboi Island—
the bottom sketch shows the shape of the ropen.
The eyewitness could have been impressed by the
similarity of wing shape in the Sordes pilosus.
David Woetzel (left) and Garth Guessman (bottom) on Umboi
Island, Papua New Guinea, during their expedition in 2004
“Flying Dinosaurs” not Limited to Long Tails
What some Westerners call “pterodactyls” or “flying dinosaurs” are
not limited to Rhamphorhynchoids, in Papua New Guinea. One news
release explains how three Americans reported strange flying creatures
deep in the interior of New Britain Island. These apparent pterosaurs,
however, have not tails and fly in daylight, unlike the nocturnal ropen
of nearby Umboi Island. (Natives of PNG use the word “Siasi” for the
island that Westerners call Umboi.)
Living Pterodactyloid on New Britain Island
Philosophies regarding a live pterosaur
Credibility of Umboi Island eyewitnesses of a pterosaur
Exciting New Subject for LDS Readers