Jacob Kepas was only twelve years old when he saw, one night, the glowing seklo-bali fly over his village near Wau, (mainland) Papua New Guinea. In the local village language, seklo-bali means "he who carries his own bed." He would later become a Baptist minister and eventually would help Americans search for this kind of creature in three areas within three years.

After the Woetzel-Guessman expedition (Umboi Island, late 2004), in which Kepas was an interpreter, ropen invesigators concluded that the name refers to one of the eating habits of the creature: It carries away giant clams from the reefs, eating far inland.

Some investigators believe that this creature is similar to or the same as the wawanar (dragon) around the Pilio Islands or the ropen of Umboi Island. It could also be the same as the indava. The bioluminescent glow at night probably inspired at least some of the dragon legends in some areas of the world.