Michael was happy to tell the American explorer about the ropen. In Gomlongon Village, Umboi Island, many years ago, the brightly glowing ropen came down to the grave of a recently buried man. The creature then uncovered the body and carried it up to nearby Mount Bel. Near the end of the interview, Michael said, in the Tok Pisin language, "Me lookeem true" ("I saw that myself"). Watch the video (his interview was videotaped).

Michael is not the only native eyewitness of a ropen grave robbery. Years before Michael's interview, a missionary interviewed another old man. He told a similar story about a glowing creature that had uncovered a human body that had been wrapped in leaves. But the earlier interview revealed details about the creature's appearance: long but "skinny."

On the mainland of Papua New Guinea (southwest of the much smaller island of Umboi), some of the largest flying creatures have attacked humans. Reports indicate that two native men, in two areas of Morobe Province, between about 1985 and 1995, were killed (according to missionary Jim Blume). The victims were not kicked by the notorious cassowary bird, which is flightless; they were carried up into the air by what some American investigators believe were giant pterosaurs.

Not only natives but Australians and Americans have witnessed these giant featherless ropens. A few eyewitnesses have opened up about their shocking experiences. (look to the right).