Pterosaurs Across the Pacific
October 23rd, 2012 at 16:04
Long-tailed pterosaurs, called by the name “ropen,” are reported in many areas surrounding the Pacific Ocean. We now have considerable sighting evidence even in Hawaii, islands surrounded by vaste areas of the Pacific.
Two “Pterodactyls” Observed in Philippines in 2008
Once again, the last Pterosaurs around did not have tails and the biggest Pterosaurs did not have tails. The outline of such creatures these witnesses report of the broad diamond-shaped wings and body and the long stringy rat-tail plus the consistent estimartes of the wingspan at about twenty feet makes it likely that many of these sightings are actually of Manta rays leaping above the surface: in the case of creatures actually seen above the sea, the identification is pretty certain. A manta with a 20 foot span can easily leap ten feet above the surface of the sea and thus be well above the head level of a fisherman seated in a boat.
Two “Pterodactyls” Observed in Philippines in 2008
According to the eyewitness, “I think we’re not the only ones who saw it, because my classmate told me that there are sightings of this thing in Atimonan, Quezon [Province], just one-half hr travel from Pagbilao, and I was told by the local fisherman there that he saw it several times, flying above the sea.”http://www.livepterosaur.com/LP_Blog/archives/3887
. . . Question: Did the two creatures have tails?
Answer: YES! they have long tails about 3 to 4 meters long . . .it is not a bird: They don’t have any feathers.
Question: Did you have a good view of them?
Answer: Yes! I was not the only one who saw it . . .
Once again, the last Pterosaurs around did not have tails and the biggest Pterosaurs did not have tails. The outline of such creatures these witnesses report of the broad diamond-shaped wings and body and the long stringy rat-tail plus the consistent estimartes of the wingspan at about twenty feet makes it likely that many of these sightings are actually of Manta rays leaping above the surface: in the case of creatures actually seen above the sea, the identification is pretty certain. A manta with a 20 foot span can easily leap ten feet above the surface of the sea and thus be well above the head level of a fisherman seated in a boat.
The above includes "witnesses report of the broad diamond-shaped wings." But the many eyewitness reports I have received over the past nine years (when "diamond" is mentioned) refer to the end of the tail, NOT the shape of the wings.
ReplyDeleteAu contraire. The witness' drawings definitely showa composite silhouette (two wings together) of a broad diamond shape, similar to the winglike fins of a manta ray. The diamond shape is a reference to the length of the body part being something like ten feet long and the width of the wings about 20. There you have a fairly standard diamond shape and with the tail another ten feet on the average, you have the total length and the total width being approximately the same. Pterosaurs never have anything like that, a fact which was pointed out on this blog very long ago. The wingspan of a ptersaur like Pteranodon (the one that is theoretically most like the reports) has a length not so much as half that, or one quarter ofthe width. The entire overall shape is something completely different and never has anything like the aspect your witnesses are describing. On the other hand the described dimensions do happen to match a manta ray fairly exactly. Furthermore, you have no specific examples as any fin on the end of the tail in the Philippines sighting just recounted. The Philippines sighting in specific lends itself to the Manta ray hypothesis most readily and there is no need to seek out more exotic explanations.
ReplyDeleteAnd it just so happens I had basically the same argument back when Ivan Sanderson was alive, only then I was the one supporting the "Ropen is a Pterosaur" point of view: I was answered back then with the same arguments then as I am giving you now. I changed sides because there is no way around the argument.
Regarding "The Philippines sighting in specific lends itself to the Manta ray Hypothesis most readily," I suspect that only a brief summary of that report was examined. Here are critical details:
Delete"I saw them clearly: the SHAPE, their BAT-LIKE WINGS, a LONG NECK and . . . I dunno if it is a horn behind their heads. They have a long beak. I even saw their claws between their wings. They don't have any feathers; their body really looks like a bat. They seldom flap their wings, about every 3-4 sec.; thats why I knew it is not just a big bat. . . ."
This is the report I received in 2008, from the eyewitness who was in the city of Pagbilao, Quezon Province (not to be
confused with Quezon City). Nothing in that report gives any detail about any sighting of anything above any water.
Those details are available in an archive of a newsletter dated February 6, 2009, although brief excerpts of it may appear on other sites and blogs:
http://www.laattorneyvideo.com/nonlegal/pterosaurs/newsletters/013/
Of course, Mr. Drinnon, if you still feel that this report is a good example of the possibility of a misidentified Manta ray, that is up to you. The fisherman's experiences are something else, for the report gives no details, so it is conceivable that the fisherman may have confused the land-based sighting with Manta rays jumping out of the sea. But until we learn more, that aspect would be very speculative.
Yes as a matter of fact I did have only a brief summary of the reports available to me at the time of writing. For the most part I count sightings in or above the water to default to the manta explanation and so I still hold that for the fisherman's report: I have solid examples of thae misidentification being made in Indonesia and in the Coral sea, not so far away. Unfortunately, the winglike fins of rays are commonly spoke of as being batlike (They form the group Batoidea), so you gain no points on that argument. as for the mouthparts of a manta being described as looking like a prolonged head and neck, or a horned version of the same, or like a beak, you DO get descriptions of that in other reports where there is good reason to suspect a manta ray otherwise, such as in certain "Sea-serpent" cases (including ones mentioned by Heuvelmans. We are not talking photographic reproductions of the sightings but confused memories by the witnesses for the most part. The outstanding feature about Pagbailo is that it surrounds a very sizeable harbour or lagoon and therefore much of the city is on a shoreline: it is not an idle presumption that the sighting would have taken place over or near the water.
DeleteAgain the striopngest reason of all for assuming the sightings were manta rays instead of Pterosaurs is because Pterosaurs are now known to have looked nothing like what you are describing Pterosaurs were covered with fine hair or fur anbd had neither feathers NOR were bare: Batlike wings ordinarily means something completely different than Pterosaur wings in shape and due to the face that the Pterosaur wing has only one support whereas the bat wing has several obvious finger-struts running through it (In most cases where these are reported they must be imaginary in any event, even if you are searching for a pterosaurian identity) and most importantly, in the genus Pteranodon which is your assymed model the wings are long and narrow in proportion and the head is much larger in proportion, MUCH larger thanb the entire body actually is. NONE of your reports has EVER specified ANY of those features. Additionally Pteranodons could neither stand o their hind legs alone nor yet perch like a peching bird on a branch or structure: animals which are witnessed as perching most probably would be actual birds, no matter whatever other details may be alleged.
Wen your witnessesbegin to describe anything like what a ptersaur was really like, that will be the time to suspect you are dealing with Pterosaurs, and NOT before that point.
Thank you for taking the time to make a statement. Your information was important and your input was appreciated.