Big Flying Creatures

Some Americans call them “pterodactyls”

Deep in the jungles of Papua New Guinea

Natives in an almost inaccessible area deep in the mainland of Papua New Guinea call it indava. Investigators believe it may be the same kind of giant flying creature called ropen on Umboi Island.  The colony of apparent pterosaurs flies near  Tawa Village, which is north-by-northwest of Port Moresby. Expeditions were in November of 2006 and March of 2007. Paul Nation, one of the pioneer American ropen investigators, was  guided  to the  remote  area by Jacob Kepas and the local villagers. They watched for night after night as the glowing creatures flew to and from their caves or cliff resting-spots. One of Paul’s seven sightings was of two indavas above the village; he was able to videotape the creatures for a few seconds. Although the resulting video shows no form, it documents the intense bioluminescence of the creatures. Villagers confirmed that what Paul saw were indavas. Long Flights to the Coast The general pattern of the movements of most of the lights was consistent with concept that flying creatures keep just above the forest canopy. Indavas leave for the coast early in the evening and return to the remote inland areas before sunrise, according to local natives. Behavior of Ropens and Indavas Unlike individualistic ropens, like the one on Umboi Island, the indavas sometimes fly in small groups. But how does the indava resemble the ropen? In the (glow of) bioluminescence, at least in some aspects. And both creatures appear to be "living fossils" like the Coelacanth fish. What a marvelous discovery! What a marvelous opportunity for more discoveries! Keep in touch with pages like this for news about what is happening in this exciting new field of cryptozoology. It appears that at least two species of what some people call “pterodactyls” live in Papua New Guinea. Some are on the mainland of PNG and some are on islands like Umboi (called by local citizens Siasi). Nocturnal Flying Creatures Both ropens and indavas appear to fly to and from a coast, or reef, apparently to feed at night. Both have solid reputations for living in “caves.” Both are said to be large, some of them attaining a wingspan of over 20 feet. Attacks on Children in the Past The indava is said to have carried away the villagers’ animals and children in the past (no recent tragedies, though). This resembles the accounts of other areas of Papua New Guinea, for those giant flying creatures have been reported to carry away people, sometimes even adult natives. Lights From Rhamphorhynchoid Pterosaurs Something else about the lights—that’s the flickering of the indava-light as it begins to get started. This may relate to the “pulsating” light seen by Jim Blume, years earlier, near Manus Island and to the “shimmering” light seen by David Woetzel, in 2004, on Umboi Island. Investigators, including Jonathan Whitcomb and Paul Nation, believe that both the ropen and the indava are extant (living) Rhamphorhynchoid (“basal” - long-tailed) pterosaurs, with populations in Papua New Guinea. Scientist Validates Video Footage: no Hoax Paul Nation’s short video of the two indavas was examined by Cliff Paiva, a missile defense physicist, who declared that the images of the two lights were not of meteors, camp fires, auto headlights, a paste-on-the-background hoax, or other common things. Although he was not able to verify any features that would prove the lights were created by pterosaurs, his report is welcome verification that the lights are real. Clear Sightings by an American and an Australian Duane Hodgkinson and Brian Hennessy had sightings of live pterosaurs, in 1944 and 1971, in separate areas of Papua New Guinea. Investigators believe that they had observed the same species of flying creature. Maybe they were the same species that are seen as flying lights in some areas of PNG.

Ropen Bioluminescence

What do the flying lights of Umboi Island, Tawa Village, and Salamaua have in common? In each of these areas of Papua New Guinea, natives ascribe the lights to a large flying creature. On Umboi, it is called ropen; in Tawa Village, indava.