Posted on 07/20/2006 7:42:59 PM PDT by DaveLoneRanger
Intermittent expeditions on Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea, from 1994 through 2004, resulted in the compilation of eyewitness testimonies that substantiated a hypothesis that pterosaurs may not be extinct.
Long Beach, Calif. (PRWEB) July 20, 2006 -- The conflict between evolution and creation took a new form with an investigation of reports of a pterosaur-like creature in Papua New Guinea. According to standard models of science, all pterosaurs became extinct by about 65-million years ago, but traditional interpretations of the Bible suggest that they lived in human times. According to Jonathan Whitcomb, a forensic videographer who interviewed native islanders in 2004, the “ropen” of Umboi Island is at least similar to a long-tailed pterosaur.
He maintains that the creationists who explored the island intermittently from 1994 through 2002 were not overly imaginative in believing the creature to be a pterosaur. According to Whitcomb’s new book, “Searching for Ropens,” there are many similarities between American, Australian, and native eyewitness accounts. Ropens appear featherless with long tails, and reports indicate they eat fish.
Whitcomb, from Long Beach, California, disputes an old idea that they are misidentifications of Flying Fox fruit bats. Two natives described a ropen holding itself upright on a tree trunk (fruit bats hang upside down from branches), and his book also describes an apparently bioluminescent glow that may help the nocturnal creatures catch fish.
The puzzle for the creationist investigators is that they’re unlike Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur fossils in some ways: A few ropens are too large and have dorsal ridges along the back. In addition, some eyewitnesses report a head crest on the ropen while few long-tailed pterosaur fossils have such appendages.
Although Whitcomb admits having no photograph to disprove textbook declarations that all pterosaurs are extinct, he disputes the idea that the ropen is an unknown bat. His book examines an investigation by the explorers Garth Guessman, a Southern California firefighter; and David Woetzel, a New Hampshire businessman. Their 2004 expedition, a few weeks after Whitcomb’s, uncovered a native tradition about the ropen’s tail: It moves only near the tail’s base. This, says Guessman, relates to Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur anatomy.
Before his expedition to Papua New Guinea, Whitcomb questioned Duane Hodgkinson, a flight instructor in Livingston, Montana, who maintains he saw a large “pterodactyl” in 1944, near Finschhafen. The World War II veteran’s description resembles that given by a couple who saw a creature flying over Perth, Australia, in 1997. Whitcomb also noted similarities to native accounts recorded by earlier explorers on Umboi Island between 1994 and 2002.
Whitcomb found no indication of any hallucination or hoax with the two Australians and the American veteran. He also noted that the native eyewitnesses he interviewed mentioned no supernatural elements and that their descriptions resemble those given by the Westerners.
Around Manus Island, the wingspan is three to four feet, according to Jim Blume, a missionary in Wau, on the mainland. Blume’s investigations indicate that wingspans may reach ten to fifteen feet in other areas. Whitcomb’s book mentions a few ropens that are even larger, including the ones seen by Hodgkinson and the Australian couple.
The book acknowledges differences between the ropen and Rhamphorhynchoid fossils but it emphasizes that the “diamond” on the ropen’s tail may relate to the fossil tails.
Whitcomb, a 57-year-old independent videographer who records evidence for attorney firms, completed his book after one year of compiling and analyzing eyewitness testimonies. He encourages a major expedition to videotape a ropen before the end of 2007.
This isn't definitive proof, but just a promising preliminary report that is worth noting.
They're pets of the local bigfooters.
How scientific is it to rule this out completely before giving it a fair hearing? I'll bet the hidden eden in Indonesia would have gotten a smirk from you to, before it was widely reported.
A new species of condor, perhaps?
yabbbba dabbbbaaa doooo
I haven't ruled it out. But I'm skeptical. There's a difference between finding a mammal or ocean fish believed to be extinct and finding a dinosaur.
:::blink:::
That's not the way science works. One must prove one's hypothesis. Or else, I could claim that a Brontasaurus lives in the woods behind my house, and you would have to claim that I need to be given a fair hearing.
Find them and you find the keys to eternal life! Obviously they have it since we haven't found a lot of their dead carcasses for millions of years.
Disappointed!
Another "living fossil"?
Although Whitcomb admits having no photograph to disprove textbook declarations that all pterosaurs are extinct...
Lots of living fossils are right here in Florida.
Yes, but what do they taste like?
He may have had aerial photos, but the aliens who took him up in the flying saucer to make to photos messed up the prints.
Tho I support evolution, I have always kept an open mind, regarding whether or not, particular species are extinct...
I mean, I do believe that its possible that there really is a Loch Ness Monster, or some such sea monster, whether at the bottom of a very deep lake, or out in the ocean somewhere...I just think its possible that a few individuals of a particular species have continued to exist right down to this very day....sea serpents in a part of the ocean we have never investigated, does not seem to be outside of the realm of possibility..I know many will disagree with me here, but I just like to keep my mind open to this particular possibility...
I suppose that this is where I and many of those I consider to be fellow evolutionists part ways...However, the mere existence of some creatures, long thought to be extinct, in no way does anything to falsify, the Theory of evolution....
Of course, I also allow for the possibility of a Big Foot, or a Yeti to also exist...
I suppose one might want to call me a kook...go ahead, I can assure you, I have been called worse...
Come on guys. Get a grip. Fruit eatin' flying foxes. Look it up in your Funk'n'Wagnalls.
Isn't there a Keeper Of Odd Knowledge Society out there?
This is nothing. I have seen an ancient dinosaur on numerous occasions and have photographs to prove it. My mother-in-law comes over about once a month.
Hey, your pic is proof that Jurassic Park used those very flying saurs for their 3 films. Now we need to capture some and let them loose on Iran.
Hey, your pic is proof that Jurassic Park used those very flying saurs for their 3 films. Now we need to capture some and let them loose on Iran.
Thanks for the laugh...a Keeper of odd Knowledge society...I like it, thanks...
One of Carl Sagan's famous quotes is that extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.
Sorry but there ain't a bit of proof here.
Me neither. To you and me, this could be possible.
To the others, Even if it turned out to be so, it would simply be explained away.
I still keep thinking about those island near Aceh Indonesia, where the inhabitants are considered hostile. Apparently when helicopters dropped packs of food there after the tsunami, they realized the unknown inhabitants were still alive because spears were being throw towards the copters. You have to wonder what kinds of animals may also be living undiscovered on those islands.
Might want to read up on your dinosaurs. Brontosaurus never existed.
It's another scam plant by some enviros who don't
want something built nearby.
it's not impossible. The coelacanth was thought to have gone extinct at the same time, but has since been found in the waters of seven countries. And crocodilians have existed virtually unchanged for about 200 million years.
But, then again, it's unlikely, and the burden of proof is to prove it exists, and not the other way around. So for now, interesting, and probably not true.
but not impossible...
Is cryptozoology science? What ever happened to Mokele mbembe? A too open mind allows the remaining brains to fall out. Tagline...
It's THUNDERBIRD TIME!!!
*SIGH*
{You hadda ask}
Tastes like chicken...
A.A.C.
"The Final Crusade has commenced - acclimate your pet Pterosaur to a diet of mozzie frappe!"
Hey Victoria, we discussed this kind of stuff once. Enjoy! :-)
Yep- and many of them are registered to vote both in FL and NY!
When my 7 year old asks what happened to Woolly Mammoths, I tell him I don't know, but they probably tasted pretty good.
They taste like a cross between a passenger pigeon and a dodo.
placemarker
Then what are Brontosaurus burgers made out of? And besides, one lives in the woods behind my house. It would be very unscientific for you to assume I am wrong without investigating it and proving it wrong.
Why is what medium it lives in make a difference? If a fish that lived "200+ million" years ago is found alive today that is conclusive scientific proof that it is possible for an animal (and others) to survive into this day and age.
"Yes, but what do they taste like?"
Chicken, they taste like chicken.
;-)
Kind of rules out T Rex and the raptor things that everyone likes so much, doesn't it?
>>>pterosaurs may not be extinct.
May not be extinct or BROUGHT BACK?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1568683/posts?page=7#7
Excerpt:
Rewilding America, Pleistocene Style
The Monitor's View
Ever since Congress passed the Wilderness Act in 1964, defining wilderness has not been easy. What often looks wild or "pristine" has probably been altered by humans over centuries. And in recent years scientists have tried to coax nature back to some concept of an original state by bringing back long-gone species, such as wolves, the American elm, or prairie plants.
Now a team of ecologists proposes a radical step to recreate the pre-human wilderness of North America by reintroducing large predators like those that lived 13,000 years ago.
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