In relation to state human populations in the USA (2010 census),
Utah is second only to Hawaii in reported sightings of “pterodactyls”
Strange Flying Creatures Reported
in Utah and in Many Other States
NEWS PROVIDED BY
Jonathan David Whitcomb
July 2, 2018, 3:03 p.m., MT
MURRAY, Utah, July 2, 2018/LUAPT — A nonfiction-cryptozoology author has analyzed eyewitness accounts of apparent
non-extinct pterosaurs, commonly called “pterodactyls” or “flying dinosaurs,” and found that several states in the USA stand
out, including Utah. Jonathan Whitcomb, of Murray, Utah, has been receiving emails since 2004, from five continents, and
most of those reported sightings, in recent years, have been in North America.
Relatively few scientists have given his investigation serious consideration. His own scientific paper* on the subject was
published in a peer-reviewed journal in 2009 (*”Reports of Living Pterosaurs in the Southwest Pacific”) after he led an
expedition in Papua New Guinea in 2004. Since that search for the ropen of Umboi Island, and his many online and book
publications, Whitcomb has received emails from many countries for 14 years, mostly from eyewitnesses themselves.
The News & Observer, the second largest newspaper in North Carolina, says that his research is, “Dismissed as lunacy
by paleontologists and other academics,” yet Whitcomb responded, for this press release: “Two eyewitnesses of strange
flying creatures in North America were college professors: One had taught biology; the other, aeronautics. I concluded
that each of those two men had, more likely than not, witnessed a flying creature unlike any known bird or bat. What they
reported to me correlated well with what I have seen in description details from a great number of other sighting reports
from around the world.” (The newspaper article, published on January 11, 2018, was titled “Are there flying dinosaurs in
NC? One woman says she’s seen them 3 times in Raleigh” —News & Observer)
The Houston Chronicle, one of the largest newspapers in the USA, mentioned Whitcomb’s writings on December 19, 2010
(“What’s Going on in Marfa”). It quoted an engineering professor at Texas State University: "I encourage Mr. Whitcomb to
come to Marfa and spend six months there before he says anything more about dinosaurs." Yet the cryptozoologist now
mostly stays at home in Murray, Utah, usually communicating with eyewitnesses by emails. When many persons report
apparent pterosaurs in an American state, he publishes blog posts on what they tell him, and one of those states is Texas.
Whitcomb believes that many of the published criticisms of his writings come from a few paleontologists, both professional
and amateur, who are trying to protect an assumption that dates back to the 19th century: that certain general types of
animals must be universally extinct. One of those is the pterosaur, which is often associated with dinosaurs. After 15 years
of research and interviewing eyewitnesses, Whitcomb is sure that not all pterosaur species are extinct.
On June 30, 2018, he issued the following statement: “Early in 2013, I analyzed data from the more credible sighting reports,
128 eyewitness accounts from around the world. Three methods were used to show that hoaxes played no major role in
those reports, and each of those methods was independent of the other two. Now in mid-2018, with 243 sighting reports from
the United States, we’re closer to eliminating bird misidentification as a reasonable explanation for flying creatures that some
Americans see as pterosaurs. Critics of our research may soon run out of non-pterosaur explanations.”
The following map comes from data in the online page “Declaration on Eyewitness Reports of Apparent Living Pterosaurs”
(published by Whitcomb and updated on June 23, 2018, with 243 accounts from the United States):
Whitcomb cautions against using the above map to draw conclusions about the animals reported. He suggests using
a refined map that relates to human populations by state:
He explains, “The second map eliminates the influence of human population concentrations by state. Naturally,
when we have more people out of doors we have more opportunities for people to see wildlife. In the second
map, we see Texas as only average in reporting encounters with ‘pterodactyls,’ and California is only slightly
higher than average. What jumps out at me is a refutation of frigate-bird misidentification. Birds that spend all
their lives over tropical and sub-tropical oceans will not change tack and migrate to Utah, Kansas, Oklahoma,
and Arkansas. It’s not their style.”
Yet a frigate bird can be misidentified as a non-extinct pterosaur, at least on occasion in some places. The British
paleontologist Darren Naish mentioned that possibility in 2007, in his blog post “Pterosaurs alive in, like, the
modern day!”
But Whitcomb responded to that point in Naish’s critical and “sarcastic” article: “My associates and I who have
searched for a modern pterosaur in Papua New Guinea know about the possibility of misidentifying a bird. We have
taken care in our interviews, avoiding publicizing and emphasizing accounts that were more likely from observing a
bird. Some of the descriptions of flying creatures in Australia and in Papua New Guinea are so unlike the appearance
of any frigate bird as to make that speculation ludicrous, for those particular reports.”
Whitcomb and his wife Gladys interviewed two young men, in 2015, who had seen a large flying creature at night
in Grantsville, Utah, in 2001. In that face-to-face questioning of Devon Roberts and his brother Dallin (both now
living in St. George), something very strange was revealed, with a wingspan estimated at 15-20 feet.
Size is hard to estimate when teenagers see something overhead at night, but Whitcomb answers that: “If those
teenagers were startled and gave an exaggerated guess for the wingspan, then why did nearby farm animals make
so much noise, as if they were frightened? Why would both humans and animals be greatly disturbed if it had been
just an owl or other common bird or bat?”
The passage of time between a sighting and an interview allows memory to be affected, but Whitcomb and his
wife interviewed a family in their home in Draper, Utah, on June 26, 2017, and a “pterosaur” was seen by two
members of that family just five days earlier. A mother and her twelve-year-old son, at about 11 p.m., in their
back yard, were resting on their trampoline when the thing flew over their house. She reported to Whitcomb
that it had no feathers and that its wing flapping made her doubt that it was any kind of drone.
The woman’s brother, who lives in the same neighborhood, was also interviewed on June 26th. He witnessed
what he later thought was the same flying creature, but his sighting was earlier in 2017.
See the blog post “Big Bird in Draper, Utah”
The following two sketches have been well known online for years, with some cryptozoologists. For the one
on the right, Whitcomb says, “I have no idea how closely any eyewitness may have been to the drawing of the
sketch, and multiple degrees of size exaggeration may have been involved.”
For the one on the left, he says, “The eyewitness himself, Eskin C. Kuhn, drew the sketch, and it was only
minutes after he saw the two flying creatures at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 1971. The flying creature seen in
Draper could have resembled what was sketched by Mr. Kuhn in Cuba. Even the one seen by teenagers in
Grantsville, which is only a few miles from Stansbury Island, is more likely to resemble the ‘Gitmo pterosaur’
than to resemble the fanciful sketch of the dragon of Stansbury Island.”
“Pterodactyls” in Cuba, 1971 (Eskin C. Kuhn)
Reported on Stansbury Island, Utah,
in newspapers early in 20th century
Strange Flying Creatures Reported
in Utah and in Many Other States
In relation to state human populations in the
USA, Utah is second only to Hawaii in
reported sightings of “pterodactyls”
NEWS PROVIDED BY
Jonathan David Whitcomb
July 2, 2018, 3:03 p.m., MT
MURRAY, Utah, July 2, 2018/LUAPT — A nonfiction-cryptozoology author has analyzed
eyewitness accounts of apparent non-extinct pterosaurs, commonly called “pterodactyls” or
“flying dinosaurs,” and found that several states in the USA stand out, including Utah.
Jonathan Whitcomb, of Murray, Utah, has been receiving emails since 2004, from five
continents. Most of those reported sightings, in recent years, have been in North America.
Relatively few scientists have given his investigation serious consideration. His own scientific
paper* on the subject was published in a peer-reviewed journal in 2009 (*”Reports of Living
Pterosaurs in the Southwest Pacific”) after he led an expedition in Papua New Guinea in
2004. Since that search for the ropen of Umboi Island, and his many online and book
publications, Whitcomb has received emails from many countries for 14 years, mostly from
eyewitnesses themselves.
The News & Observer, the second largest newspaper in North Carolina, says that his research
is, “Dismissed as lunacy by paleontologists and other academics,” yet Whitcomb responded,
for this press release: “Two eyewitnesses of strange flying creatures in North America were
college professors: One had taught biology; the other, aeronautics. I concluded that each of
those two men had, more likely than not, witnessed a flying creature unlike any known bird or
bat. What they reported to me correlated well with what I have seen in description details from
a great number of other sighting reports from around the world.” (The newspaper article,
published on January 11, 2018, was titled “Are there flying dinosaurs in NC? One woman
says she’s seen them 3 times in Raleigh” —News & Observer)
The Houston Chronicle, one of the largest newspapers in the USA, mentioned Whitcomb’s
writings on December 19, 2010 (“What’s Going on in Marfa”). It quoted an engineering
professor at Texas State University: "I encourage Mr. Whitcomb to come to Marfa and spend
six months there before he says anything more about dinosaurs." Yet the cryptozoologist now
mostly stays at home in Murray, Utah, usually communicating with eyewitnesses by emails.
When many persons report apparent pterosaurs in an American state, he publishes blog
posts on what they tell him, and one of those states is Texas.
Whitcomb believes that many of the published criticisms of his writings come from a few
paleontologists, both professional and amateur, who are trying to protect an assumption
that dates back to the 19th century: that certain general types of animals must be universally
extinct. One of those is the pterosaur, which is often associated with dinosaurs. After 15
years of research and interviewing eyewitnesses, Whitcomb is sure that not all pterosaur
species are extinct.
On June 30, 2018, he issued the following statement: “Early in 2013, I analyzed data from
the more credible sighting reports, 128 eyewitness accounts from around the world. Three
methods were used to show that hoaxes played no major role in those reports, and each of
those methods was independent of the other two. Now in mid-2018, with 243 sighting reports
from the United States, we’re closer to eliminating bird misidentification as a reasonable
explanation for flying creatures that some Americans see as pterosaurs. Critics of our
research may soon run out of non-pterosaur explanations.”
The following map comes from data in the online page “Declaration on Eyewitness Reports
of Apparent Living Pterosaurs” (published by Whitcomb and updated on June 23, 2018, with
243 accounts from the United States):
Whitcomb cautions against using the above map to draw conclusions about the animals
reported. He suggests using a refined map that relates to human populations by state:
He explains, “The second map eliminates the influence of human population concentrations
by state. Naturally, when we have more people out of doors we have more opportunities for
people to see wildlife. In the second map, we see Texas as only average in reporting
encounters with ‘pterodactyls,’ and California is only slightly higher than average. What
jumps out at me is a refutation of frigate-bird misidentification. Birds that spend all their lives
over tropical and sub-tropical oceans will not change tack and migrate to Utah, Kansas,
Oklahoma, and Arkansas. It’s not their style.”
Yet a frigate bird can be misidentified as a non-extinct pterosaur, at least on occasion in
some places. The British paleontologist Darren Naish mentioned that possibility in 2007, in
his blog post “Pterosaurs alive in, like, the modern day!”
But Whitcomb responded to that point in Naish’s critical and “sarcastic” article: “My associates
and I who have searched for a modern pterosaur in Papua New Guinea know about the possi-
bility of misidentifying a bird. We have taken care in our interviews, avoiding publicizing and
emphasizing accounts that were more likely from observing a bird. Some of the descriptions
of flying creatures in Australia and in Papua New Guinea are so unlike the appearance of any
frigate bird as to make that speculation ludicrous, for those particular reports.”
Whitcomb and his wife Gladys interviewed two young men, in 2015, who had seen a large
flying creature at night in Grantsville, Utah, in 2001. In that face-to-face questioning of Devon
Roberts and his brother Dallin (both now living in St. George), something very strange was
revealed, with a wingspan estimated at 15-20 feet.
Size is hard to estimate when teenagers see something overhead at night, but Whitcomb
answers that: “If those teenagers were startled and gave an exaggerated guess for the wing-
span, then why did nearby farm animals make so much noise, as if they were frightened?
Why would both humans and animals be greatly disturbed if it had been just an owl or other
common bird or bat?”
The passage of time between a sighting and an interview allows memory to be affected, but
Whitcomb and his wife interviewed a family in their home in Draper, Utah, on June 26, 2017,
and a “pterosaur” was seen by two members of that family just five days earlier. A mother
and her twelve-year-old son, at about 11 p.m., in their back yard, were resting on their
trampoline when the thing flew over their house. She reported to Whitcomb that it had no
feathers and that its wing flapping made her doubt that it was any kind of drone.
The woman’s brother, who lives in the same neighborhood, was also interviewed on June
26th. He witnessed what he later thought was the same flying creature, but his sighting was
earlier in 2017.
See the blog post “Big Bird in Draper, Utah”
The following two sketches have been well known online for years, with some cryptozoologists.
For the one on the right, Whitcomb says, “I have no idea how closely any eyewitness may
have been to the drawing of the sketch, and multiple degrees of size exaggeration may have
been involved.”
For the one on the left, he says, “The eyewitness himself, Eskin C. Kuhn, drew the sketch,
and it was only minutes after he saw the two flying creatures at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in
1971. The flying creature seen in Draper could have resembled what was sketched by Mr.
Kuhn in Cuba. Even the one seen by teenagers in Grantsville, which is only a few miles
from Stansbury Island, is more likely to resemble the ‘Gitmo pterosaur’ than to resemble
the fanciful sketch of the dragon of Stansbury Island.”
“Pterodactyls” in Cuba, 1971 (Eskin C. Kuhn)
Reported on Stansbury Island, Utah,
in newspapers early in 20th century
Strange Flying Creatures
Reported in Utah and
in Many Other States
In relation to state human populations
in the USA, Utah is second only
to Hawaii in reported
sightings of “pterodactyls”
NEWS PROVIDED BY
Jonathan David Whitcomb
July 2, 2018, 3:03 p.m., MT
MURRAY, Utah, July 2, 2018/LUAPT — A nonfiction-cryptozoology
author has analyzed eyewitness accounts of apparent non-extinct
pterosaurs, commonly called “pterodactyls” or “flying dinosaurs,”
and found that several states in the USA stand out, including Utah.
Jonathan Whitcomb, of Murray, Utah, has been receiving emails since
2004, from five continents. Most of those reported sightings, in recent
years, have been in North America.
Relatively few scientists have given his investigation serious consi-
deration. His own scientific paper (”Reports of Living Pterosaurs in the
Southwest Pacific”) on the subject was published in a peer-reviewed
journal in 2009 after he led an expedition in Papua New Guinea in
2004. Since that search for the ropen of Umboi Island, and his many
online and book publications, Whitcomb has received emails from
many countries for 14 years, mostly from eyewitnesses themselves.
The News & Observer, the second largest newspaper in North Carolina,
says that his research is, “Dismissed as lunacy by paleontologists and
other academics,” yet Whitcomb responded, for this press release:
“Two eyewitnesses of strange flying creatures in North America were
college professors: One had taught biology; the other, aeronautics. I
concluded that each of those two men had, more likely than not,
witnessed a flying creature unlike any known bird or bat. What they
reported to me correlated well with what I have seen in description
details from a great number of other sighting reports from around the
world.” (The newspaper article, published on January 11, 2018, was
titled “Are there flying dinosaurs in NC? One woman says she’s seen
them 3 times in Raleigh” —News & Observer)
The Houston Chronicle, one of the largest newspapers in the USA,
mentioned Whitcomb’s writings on December 19, 2010 (“What’s Going
on in Marfa”). It quoted an engineering professor at Texas State
University: "I encourage Mr. Whitcomb to come to Marfa and spend
six months there before he says anything more about dinosaurs." Yet
the cryptozoologist now mostly stays at home in Murray, Utah, usually
communicating with eyewitnesses by emails. When many persons
report apparent pterosaurs in an American state, he publishes blog
posts on what they tell him, and one of those states is Texas.
Whitcomb believes that many of the published criticisms of his writings
come from a few paleontologists, both professional and amateur, who
are trying to protect an assumption that dates back to the 19th century:
that certain general types of animals must be universally extinct. One
of those is the pterosaur, which is often associated with dinosaurs. After
15 years of research and interviewing eyewitnesses, Whitcomb is sure
that not all pterosaur species are extinct.
On June 30, 2018, he issued the following statement: “Early in 2013, I
analyzed data from the more credible sighting reports, 128 eyewitness
accounts from around the world. Three methods were used to show
that hoaxes played no major role in those reports, and each of those
methods was independent of the other two. Now in mid-2018, with 243
sighting reports from the United States, we’re closer to eliminating bird
misidentification as a reasonable explanation for flying creatures that
some Americans see as pterosaurs. Critics of our research may soon
run out of non-pterosaur explanations.”
The following map comes from data in the online page “Declaration
on Eyewitness Reports of Apparent Living Pterosaurs” (published by
Whitcomb and updated on June 23, 2018, with 243 accounts from the
United States):
Whitcomb cautions against using the above map to draw conclusions
about the animals reported. He suggests using a refined map that relates
to human populations by state:
He explains, “The second map eliminates the influence of human popu-
lation concentrations by state. Naturally, when we have more people out
of doors we have more opportunities for people to see wildlife. In the
second map, we see Texas as only average in reporting encounters
with ‘pterodactyls,’ and California is only slightly higher than average.
What jumps out at me is a refutation of frigate-bird misidentification.
Birds that spend all their lives over tropical and sub-tropical oceans will
not change tack and migrate to Utah, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.
It’s not their style.”
Yet a frigate bird can be misidentified as a non-extinct pterosaur, at least
on occasion in some places. The British paleontologist Darren Naish
mentioned that possibility in 2007, in his blog post “Pterosaurs alive in,
like, the modern day!”
But Whitcomb responded to that point in Naish’s critical and “sarcastic”
article: “My associates and I who have searched for a modern pterosaur
in Papua New Guinea know about the possibility of misidentifying a bird.
We have taken care in our interviews, avoiding publicizing and empha-
sizing accounts that were more likely from observing a bird. Some of
the descriptions of flying creatures in Australia and in Papua New
Guinea are so unlike the appearance of any frigate bird as to make
that speculation ludicrous, for those particular reports.”
Whitcomb and his wife Gladys interviewed two young men, in 2015,
who had seen a large flying creature at night in Grantsville, Utah, in
2001. In that face-to-face questioning of Devon Roberts and his brother
Dallin (both now living in St. George), something very strange was
revealed, with a wingspan estimated at 15-20 feet.
Size is hard to estimate when teenagers see something overhead at
night, but Whitcomb answers that: “If those teenagers were startled and
gave an exaggerated guess for the wingspan, then why did nearby farm
animals make so much noise, as if they were frightened? Why would
both humans and animals be greatly disturbed if it had been just an owl
or other common bird or bat?”
The passage of time between a sighting and an interview allows memory
to be affected, but Whitcomb and his wife interviewed a family in their
home in Draper, Utah, on June 26, 2017, and a “pterosaur” was seen
by two members of that family just five days earlier. A mother and her
twelve-year-old son, at about 11 p.m., in their back yard, were resting
on their trampoline when the thing flew over their house. She reported
to Whitcomb that it had no feathers and that its wing flapping made her
doubt that it was any kind of drone.
The woman’s brother, who lives in the same neighborhood, was also
interviewed on June 26th. He witnessed what he later thought was the
same flying creature, but his sighting was earlier in 2017.
See the blog post “Big Bird in Draper, Utah”
The following two sketches have been well known online for years, with
some cryptozoologists. For the one on the right, Whitcomb says, “I have
no idea how closely any eyewitness may have been to the drawing of
the sketch, and multiple degrees of size exaggeration may have been
involved.”
For the one on the left, he says, “The eyewitness himself, Eskin Kuhn,
drew the sketch only minutes after he saw the two flying creatures at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 1971. The flying creature seen in Draper
could have resembled what was sketched by Mr. Kuhn in Cuba. Even
the one seen by teenagers in Grantsville, which is only a few miles from
Stansbury Island) is more likely to resemble the ‘Gitmo pterosaur’ than
to resemble the fanciful sketch of the dragon of Stansbury Island.”
“Pterodactyls” in Cuba, 1971 (Eskin C. Kuhn)
Reported on Stansbury Island, Utah,
in newspapers early in 20th century