Modern Flying Dragons

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Modern Flying Dragons"

Louisa Lily George
5 years ago
Views:

1 Modern Flying Dragons How do flying dragons relate to pterosaurs? Old stories and ancient history those contain the word dragon, and some of the accounts involve large creatures that fly, and sometimes those flying creatures resemble pterosaurs, at least to some extent Peter Wellnhofer works at the Bavarian State Collection for Palaeontology and Geology in Munich, a research institute He is recognized as the foremost pterosaur-fossil expert in the world I mention this to illustrate the depth of the pterosaur-extinction assumption, that it is not confined to common paleontologists It seems like all of them assume universal extinction I also mention Peter Wellnhofer because of what he wrote in his book, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pterosaurs, regarding old records about flying dragons I am fortunate to own a copy of his book The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pterosaurs Published by Salamander Books, Ltd, in 1991 Large hardback, 192 pages In general I highly recommend this book as a reference to fossil discoveries of pterosaurs and what has been learned about these amazing flying creatures of the past I do not, however, feel any need to adopt his assumption about universal extinction of pterosaurs or to adopt his assumption about many millions of years of age for the fossils Today I read an interesting proposition in this paleontology book: Dragons of the Myths

2 If we pursue the history of the investigation of pterosaurs, the flying saurians of prehistoric times, there is a natural link in our minds with the myths and legends of dragons For 16th and 17th century scholars dragons were still a reality For example, in the Schlanganbuch (Snake Book) by the famous Swiss naturalist and town doctor Conrad Gessner, dating from 1589, there is a chapter called Von den Tracken, in which he describes and illustrates various dragons He also describes a battle between a Swiss called Winkelreid and a dragon which took place near the Swiss village of Wyler The scholarly Jesuit father Athanasius Kircher provided a picture of this fight in his great work on natural history Mundus Subterraneus (The World Below the Earth) in 1678 According to this the dragon had a long neck and tail, four legs, and wings The Viennese paleontologist Othenio Abel suggested in this context that the drawing could have been based on fossil reptile finds, possibly long necked plesiosaurs from the Jurassic strata of Wurttemberg At a time when even naturalists believed in fabulous creatures and monsters, the discovery of fossil bones and remains of skeletons in caves must have reinforced ideas of dragons Old names like Dragon s Cave, Dragon s Rock, or Dragon s Stone still occur on modern maps I agree with Wellnhofer that we naturally have a tendency to connect pterosaur fossils with dragon legends But unless he neglected to mention important evidence, he is speculating about fossil discoveries reinforcing belief in dragon stories Even if there is some truth to that, it would not explain the dragon stories themselves

3 He mentions a few geographic names that might have been related to ancient fossil discoveries, but he mentioned nothing about the many geographic names that contain nothing like rock or stone but do contain references to encounters with living creatures Wellnhofer also mentioned nothing about reports of strange flying creatures much earlier in history than the 16th and 17th centuries and more recently, such as from 1890 to the present Those many accounts could have taken up many pages of his book, rather than just the few paragraphs that he chose to dedicate to dragons But writing extensively about sightings of pterosaur-like flying creatures would be expected of a nonfiction cryptozoology book, not a paleontology book Nevertheless, this line of thinking brings up a question: Was Wellnhofer s choices (in writing these few paragraphs about dragons) greatly influenced by the dogma of universal extinction of all species of pterosaurs? Since the book in general appears to have been written entirely within that paradigm, I suggest those few paragraphs were also written within it Anyone desiring to gain much knowledge and understanding of dragon legends, and how they might relate to extant pterosaurs, needs to research in other books If significant truth lives in even just one of the old legends or stories of flying dragons, the intelligent and objective researcher will need to search further than in the brief writings of those who assume modern flying dragons could never have existed My advice? Search!

4 The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pterosaurs, by Peter Wellnhofer ### Pterosaurs, or Flying Dragons, in California News headlines in an 1891 newspaper included: PTERODACTYLS Sport Gunning for Dragons Near Fresno Two Screaming Dragons Snap Their Jaws Flying Creature Sightings in Georgia

5 Cooler weather does not mean pterosaur sightings come to a halt, for they continue This past Wednesday, January 2, 2013, I received an from an eyewitness in Missouri The sighting was not old: about 45 minutes ago Live Pterosaur in Georgia? Reports of living pterodactyls in Georgia probably relate to sightings of some flying creatures in South Carolina and Florida, according to author Jonathan Whitcomb Pterosaur Eyewitness Reliability I ve not yet seen with my own eyes a living pterosaur I explored a remote island in Papua New Guinea in 2004 but failed to see the ropen I walked through a wildlife reserve in Orange County, California, in 2008, but failed to see the ropen-like flying creature I set up a game camera in Lakewood, California, in mid-2012, but after examining 9,823 photographs I have failed to see any image of a living pterosaur So why do I believe that they exist? It s the eyewitness reports

6 What do the following descriptions have in common (quoting eyewitnesses)? no feathers / tail it was very long & had a bushy or hairy tip / long bone looking thing sticking out the back of its head the same sort of texture as suede (ie no feathers) / had a long thin tail They don t have any feathers / tails about 3 to 4 meters long / LONG NECK no feathers / [tail length] 7 meters / diamond [on tail] no feathers in sight / longish narrow tail / [out the back of the head] It was like a horn did not appear to have any feathers / a long, skinny, pointed tail / diamond shape at the tip [of the tail] he had no feathers the head had a crest solid, not feathery at all / tail was very long / [tail] ended in a thick, heartshaped pad Featherlessness and a long tail these are reported from around the world Sometimes an eyewitness will also report a head crest, sometimes a long neck, sometimes a structure at the end of the tail ( diamond ) For the above, here are the eyewitness report locations: 1 Sudan, Africa July of 1988 from a native 2 Spain summer of 2007 from a man from England 3 city of Pagbilao, Quezon Province, Philippines around 1994 from a native 4 Lake Pung, Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea about 1994 from natives 5 Bougainville Island, (Papua) New Guinea 1971 from an Australian 6 Brampton, Ontario, Canada 2004 from a Canadian 7 Zaandam, Holland (Netherlands) from a Dutch man 8 Near Winder, Georgia, USA 2008 from a Georgian lady

7 Many other eyewitness reports we could examine, with flyingcreature descriptions that clearly tie in with the above sightings I once interviewed an attorney who had witnessed a giant featherless flying creature with a tail about fifteen feet long Last week I received an from a U S marine stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri; he saw a large flying creature with a cone protruding from behind its head and a very long tail that had a diamond shape at the end That sighting was on January 2, 2013 These kinds of descriptions can be found in accounts from around the world, including the United States, Canada, Australia and Papua New Guinea, although not every eyewitness has noticed every one of the following details: lack of feathers long tail structure at the end of the tail head crest long neck But many eyewitness report two or three of the above, especially featherless appearance and long tail Eyewitnesses from various countries, of various cultures, with various languages those common persons have encountered uncommon flying creatures, but significant details in descriptions are commonly repeated: long tail, head crest, structure at tail end, no feathers Those differences in the eyewitnesses, when added to similarities in descriptions, equal an actual creature, a real flying creature, not extinct but living in our modern world of diversified humans Why Doubt Pterosaur Extinction? Is the pterosaur-extinction idea a modern concept? No It s an old assumption, originating about two centuries ago, and it deserves to be buried alongside the long-held assumption (long ago dismissed) that the sun revolves around the earth

8 The first pterosaur fossil discovery, in 1784 (four years before George Washington was elected president), was decades before Charles Darwin began writing about evolution Where did those early fossil researchers get the idea of pterosaur extinction? It was just an assumption, originating from a few researchers who were ignorant of extant nocturnal pterosaurs That leaves a world of room for us to doubt the universal extinction of all species of pterosaurs For those who still think extant pterosaurs are hard to believe, they should try explaining human mentality to an animal The less intelligent animals live by instinct and to some extent by experience; the most intelligent animals learn more from experience and from following parents who have experiences the younger ones have not yet had I know that human imagination is important, but some humans would be much better off following the examples of intelligent animals, for imagining ancient extinctions is far less reliable than listening to eyewitnesses of living creatures

9 ### Clear Thinking Trust one eyewitness of a plane crash over the imaginations of a hundred professors who ve agreed how that plane should fly Bulverism and Extant Pterosaurs C S Lewis, in the mid-20th Century, noticed an unfortunate trend becoming popular bulverism

10 Flying Creature Sightings in Georgia Cooler weather does not mean pterosaur sightings come to a halt, for they continue This past Wednesday, January 2, 2013, I received an from an eyewitness in Missouri The sighting was not old: about 45 minutes ago But the present hot spot for sightings, in the past few weeks of cooler weather, is the state of Georgia, with two sightings in December of 2012 The following are some of the words of David Schroder (who has given me permission to use his name), of northern Georgia: [In] July of 2010, My wife and I were sitting outside when motion from above the tree tops to our left caught my attention; it s very hard to explain how I felt at that moment We were looking at two extremely large birds flying together and heading north I can only guess to be wing spans and the motion of their wings as they flew was very slow The head was long and ended in a point; wings ended in a point and appeared to be featherless Anyway, it happened again yesterday [Dec 9, 2012], this time there were three of us who saw this bird fly over, in plain sight, in daylight, up close I have been trying to contact a whole lot of people (with not much success) I don t know how to say this any other way except that I have seen these very large birds that don t even come close to looking like anything else I ve ever seen I believe them to be Pterosaurs or something similar to them I have seen three of these birds in the past year and a half, I have also heard them

This last sighting has sparked me to do something about it There were two other people with me when I saw the last one; this was three days ago I am intent on identifying these large birds This is

11 This last sighting has sparked me to do something about it There were two other people with me when I saw the last one; this was three days ago I am intent on identifying these large birds This is not a joke, I, we have seen something that is not supposed to be here! We need to keep this in mind: When Mr Schroder says birds, his description of the flying creatures includes: appeared to be featherless wingspans of about fifteen to twenty feet the head was long and ended in a point Forested hills in Georgia, USA Update, December 21, 2018: A number of additional sightings have been reported to me from the American state of Georgia, over a number of years At least some of these flying creatures I believe were ropens In August of 2018, I received the following, which is only part of one May 2018, My husband and I both saw a living pterosaur It

12 was flying about 10 feet from the ground It flew directly in front of our car while we were going approximately 30 miles an hour right at it It headed over the tree line near the Atlanta Motor speedway It was greyish in color It was as long as the car is wide Possibly slightly longer One year earlier, I got the following from a different eyewitness in Georgia (although the sighting was in 2003): In 2003 I was driving my dad to visit one of his friends we were in the foothills of the mountains between murrayville and Dahlonega we went around a curve and we saw a large pterodactyl flying toward the truck we were freaked out it was like it was gonna try and swoop in on the truck then we drove under some trees and it was gone!!! I ve told many people but, I know what I saw ### Sightings in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina Although pterosaur sightings are reported across the contiguous 48 states of the USA, the southeast has enough of a similarity of environment to suggest the pterodactyls seen in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, may be similar species or even the same species State of Georgia is Hot Along with his wife and some friends, Schroder has seen this flying creature, most recently on December 9, 2012

Live Pterosaurs in South-East USA Apparent pterosaurs in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina Another Pterosaur Sighting in Georgia On Wednesday, July 18, 2012, a lady was

13 Live Pterosaurs in South-East USA Apparent pterosaurs in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina Another Pterosaur Sighting in Georgia On Wednesday, July 18, 2012, a lady was driving with her two sons on Highway 27, in Franklin, Georgia, around 8:15 am, when they saw what she called a flying dinosaur Non-fiction cryptozoology book Live Pterosaurs in America,

14 third edition For the previous (second) edition, an Amazon review includes: This is an updated review of the book and I am changing my rating to 5 stars I pick it up every now and then and a part of me becomes more impressed by the book every time Yes, the skeptics will laugh at it, but I am a skeptic too I remember stumbling on this subject (cryptozoology, living dinosaurs, extinct animals) in recent years I always find myself fascinated by the subject I remember hearing stories for the first time Wait?? Some people claim to have seen dinosaurs and pterodactyl like animals today and in the past?? I couldn t get enough and their are so few books on the subject I highly recommend this Whitcomb painstakingly reviews every account for credibility and reason This man is not a crank He tries to weed out would be hoaxes and miss-identification Yes, it as a lot to take in My first thought about these creatures was, Well, I guess it could be possible because new guinea is very secluded and actually one of the few remaining lost worlds Whitcomb will have you suspending disbelief again as he shares his collection of personal accounts from Americans If you are interested in reading about this subject, this is definitely the book to get This is well written and very hard to put down

Dinosaur! by David Orme. Perfection Learning

Dinosaur! by David Orme. Perfection Learning Dinosaur! David Orme Dinosaur! by David Orme Perfection Learning Dinosaur! by David Orme Illustrated by Elisa Huber and Cyber Media (India) Ltd. Image Credits Illustrations copyright 2006 Elisa Huber and