Ropens
Living pterodactyls
Ropen of the Southwest Pacific
Pterosaurs seen around the world
Copyright 2005-2016 Jonathan David Whitcomb
Giant Flying Creature,
Lizard-Like, Seen Over
Perth, Australia, in 1997
Though people may be shocked that the
ropen of Papua New Guinea is considered
by some investigators to be a living
pterosaur (and not a flying fox fruit bat),
consider the eyewitness evidence, including
this account of a man who was taking a walk
with his wife near Perth, Australia, in of
December, 1997:
“We had been walking in the evening and
had just crested a hill and were on the down
slope along a major thoroughfare. In the
distance I perceived an object in the sky. At
this point it was rather indistinct and
wondering what it might be I watched it as it
approached. Soon I was able to determine
that it was some sort of flying creature, and
my first thought was that it must be some
very large bird. . .
“Its progress had brought it closer and while
it’s shape did resemble a bird I thought by
now that from its apparent distance it must
be the largest bird I had ever witnessed. I
would estimate that at this time it was about
a quarter mile north of us and quite high. . .
“Within a minute or so it had reached our
position and was about 250 or 300 feet
above us and slightly inland. The area was
moderately well lit and I saw that it seemed
to be a light reddish-tan color. It did not
appear to be covered with feathers but had
a leathery texture.
“Soon after it passed us it flew over a more
brightly lit sports area which highlighted
even more the leathery appearance also
bringing more detail to view. The wings were
the most definite leathery feature, they were
shaped in a triangular arch, similar to a very
elongated shark fin, The body also still
appeared leathery, though textured as
though possibly covered with fine hair or
small scales, the distance preventing any
finer observation other than that it was
slightly different texture than the wings. . .
“The creature, during the time we observed
it, was mostly gliding. There was some wing
movement as in a hawk or other bird
controlling it’s flight path, but did not flap as
a sparrow or other small bird. Whether the
creature was predominately a glider, or
simply taking advantage or the many air
currents near the ocean to rest in flight I
also do not know. . .
“[I] estimated the size to be in excess of
thirty foot, possibly as great as fifty foot. My
eyes told me it was nearer the greater of
these, my rational mind wants me to believe
the lesser, since either of these is
astounding for a flying creature . . .”
Finschhafen Harbor, Papua New Guinea
Was it a live pterodactyl? The wife was
positive about what she saw:
“I have received many different types of
responses since first coming forward and
making our sighting public. I have been met
with skepticism, to being called an
downright liar. At first I was very upset about
being called a liar, having been brought up
in a family of law and telling the truth was
drummed into me from the time I could
understand, as a child, and I was simply
telling the truth about our sighting. I no
longer concern myself with people who call
me a liar over this, because I realize that
you cannot show a blind man an oil painting.
“. . . we do know that it was definitely a living
creature. . . . I was so totally shocked,
amazed, awed and bewildered at the same
time. This was completely out of the reality I
had grown up to know. . . . it has changed
me. I never believed these things existed
until that night.
“. . . in Perth, Western Australia on the
coastline around 10:30 pm. We were
walking along Marmion Avenue between the
suburbs of Heathridge and Ocean Reef.
This creature could not be written off as a
bird as it was bigger than any bird on the
planet, it did not flap it's wings (just glided
on the air current), it had a ruddy reddish
brown leathery skin; (we could see it's
underneath as it flew over us at about 300ft
up; the glow from all the ground lighting
made that possible), it had a long tail and a
wingspan that we estimated at between 30-
50 feet across.
“"My husband and I both have talked about
what we saw many times since that night in
1997. . . It had a lizard appearance, and
was a ruddy reddish brown colour, bearing
in mind that all we could see was its dark
shape until the ground lighting hit it, it was
only for maybe between 5 to 10 seconds . .
. but enough time for us to see it was a
living creature. I should imagine a creature
that size would have had legs and feet, but
we didn't see them. It was gliding across the
night sky, flying quite low, without a sound."
Investigations have no doubt: a ropen.
More About the Pterosaur
Seen Flying Over Perth
(Ropen seen by two eyewitnesses)
Pterosaur sightings in the southwest Pacific do NOT come from the superstitions of “primitive” natives. Persons from various cultures and nationalities have seen ropens.
Flying-fox conjecture dead
Why is the old fruit-bat explanation now
invalid? The ropen reports often include
details like "long tail" or "head appendage."
In addition, the ropen of the Southwest
Pacific eats fish and some reports indicate
that it glows with intrinsic bioluminescence.
Live Pterosaurs in America (third edition)
Check out this nonfiction paperback on
these amazing flying creatures. Sightings
are in many states of the USA, with many
detailed of description in this book. It’s
available from online book sellers like
Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.
Long-tailed featherless ropens are not at all
restricted to the southwest Pacific Ocean. It
seems that these nocturnal pterosaurs have
established themselves on most continents.
They mostly fly around as single individuals,
as best as the investigators can tell. About
90% of the eyewitness reports involve only
one apparent pterosaur per sighting.
That does not necessarily mean that none of
them associate with others of their species.
In the Winder area of Georgia, two different
individual flying creatures were observed in
different weeks. Each time was early in the
morning, and each sighting was of a single
long-tailed creature in the same general
area. Yet they were not the same creature,
for one was significantly larger than the
other. Those two were probably associated
with each other, yet they appeared to be in
the habit of flying separately.