ATS Hunts For The Missing Thunderbird Picture

a reply to: reldra The next place is to try to access Pierre Burten episodes, though some of them were lost and most don't note on the film case or anywhere else who all of the guests were if there were more than 1 in one show. All that Youtube has is him interviewing Bruce Lee and Malcolm X. I can look for more Argosy magazine.

I don't know how much help this will be, but here is the episode guide from the Canadian TV Archives.

Episode Guide - Pierre Berton Show, The

If this has already been linked or discussed my apologies as I thought I had read every post in this thread prior to posting.

How about this?

originally posted by: SecretKnowledge
How about this?

This pic is actually in the OP.

a reply to: butcherguy

nope not that one. the pic i remember you see a big barn and a black huge bird "nailed" on top of the barn with its huge wings extended to the sides. on the photo i remember seeing there are no civil war soldiers or cowboys.

is this the photo everyone remembers?

originally posted by: Picollo30
a reply to: butcherguy

nope not that one. the pic i remember you see a barn and a black huge bird "nailed" on top of the barn with its huge wings extended to the sides.

is this the photo everyone remembers?

I never saw the original image that was printed years ago and is the subject of the thread. It is apparently lost and hasn't been seen in years.
I was just letting member SecretKnowledge that the pic that they offered is in the opening post of this thread.

originally posted by: butcherguy

originally posted by: Picollo30
a reply to: butcherguy

nope not that one. the pic i remember you see a barn and a black huge bird "nailed" on top of the barn with its huge wings extended to the sides.

is this the photo everyone remembers?

I never saw the original image that was printed years ago and is the subject of the thread. It is apparently lost and hasn't been seen in years.
I was just letting member SecretKnowledge that the pic that they offered is in the opening post of this thread.

I remember seeing the picture in a book of the 70's/80's from the Readers Digest

static2.custojusto.pt...

but its not there!!!! i could swear i saw the thunderbird in this book as a kid. i dont know its real title in english.

in the original pic there's no soldiers, and the photo is taken inside this huge barn where you see the thunderbird nailed there with its wings extended to the sides like a giant crow.

I have a serious question and I'm not being facetious -

How many decades have people been looking for this picture?

I have a copy of the Readers Digest Quest for the Unknown series. These books have a copy write date of 1993. There were a couple of paragraphs on the Thunderbird, and went on to say that people have been searching for the missing Thunderbird photo SINCE THE 1960'S. It was supposed to have been printed in the Epitaph in 1886, numerous people remember seeing it years later, but no one can locate it.

Personally, I remember years ago (70's maybe) seeing a blue tinted picture in a library book of men with their arms outstretched and this giant birdlike creature nailed to a barn wall.

a reply to: Cheddarhead

Good memory! The photo reportedly went missing in 1966 when Sanderson received AND loaned his copy to two Pennsylvania researchers.
There is a possibility however the last date may have been as early as 1965 or as late as 1967.

I am still on this case and we MUST keep up the chatter--the more people post, the more clues we get.

Thank you Cheddarhead for giving your memory of the photo--you are not the first to say it was "blue tinted".

Happy searching everyone! Keep it up!
-Russ

On the SITU archive . . .

I sent the caretaker of the newly discovered SITU archive in Kalamazoo these questions and the reply was quite hopefull:
1. What is the possibility that the names of the two researchers, who Sanderson lent the Thunderbird photo too, still contained somewhere in the archive?
2. According to Dale Drinnon, sketches of the thunderbird photo were made after it went missing, in an attempt to remember it. Is is possible these sketches still exist?

This was the reply:
"As to these things themselves: Ivan had a three-ring notebook file labeled "Thunderbird", which thankfully still exists here in plain sight. It is fairly substantial, about two inches thick. I am about as certain as I can be that it does not contain the elusive Thunderbird Against The Barn photo. All I remember [and forgive me if I do not myself take time to research this] is that the search for this photo was driving Ivan crazy as he was sure that he had seen it and even in what magazine it was in --- but had "turned every page" and could not locate it. The existing notebook contains some comment about this but I can't tell you how useful it would be [and, as it is not my research area, I'm not going to read the file.] "
There are handwritten letters in there, and so could give names, but I bet not the location of the picture or Ivan would have gotten it. It saw a sketch once, but my memory of it is that it was very crude, more like childish outlining than a sketch. "

It seems that there are still clues out there!!! I plan on going to Kalamazoo as soon as I can.
The search is not dead yet!
Happy searching everyone,
-Russ

the ten largest birds by wingspan....
pheonix76.hubpages.com...

originally posted by: jimmyx
the ten largest birds by wingspan....
pheonix76.hubpages.com...

Thanks for posting--cool article, but we need help finding a photograph.

Stupid question:
Multiple forteans have said that the photo may be in Argosy (the magazine). I myself was under the impression that this was a good lead, however I am leafing through Argosy magazines and only see drawings--it seems a photo would not even appear in a magazine such as Argosy. Is this true?

a reply to: Batan

Hi! Aw, you've done such a great job sleuthing this!!! I don't even know you but I'm so excited that you've been posting in this forum while I've been flaking for the past few years.

It seems like Argosy does include some photos now and then: bigfootbooksblog.blogspot.com...

So not completely implausible.

I honestly wonder if the Library of Congress would have any thoughts on this. Do you think they get bothered with questions about it frequently? I'd hate to bother them and there's always the chance of being totally rejected.

Looks like Karl Shuker tried to find it as well, and did get a little help from the Library of Congress to look through Saga magazine, but... have you seen his blog post? I feel like he didn't get that close. karlshuker.blogspot.com...

a reply to: ravenshadow13

First of all, It is so good to see you post on here again! That is truly so exciting.
Secondly, I just called all the McClure last names in the Colorado Springs phone book just in case any were relatives of the late Harry McClure of Co Springs. Unfortunately, none were of relation and therefore were unfamiliar with his story. That pretty much wraps up the McClure lead for me.
On a positive note, in Mark Chorvinsky's comprehensive article on the T-bird photo, he includes parts of a 1891 article (one year after the Epitaph) that speaks of a similar monster in Selma CA. A certain Mr Snodgrass was able to acquire a footprint of the beast. Well I was able to find a Mr Snodgrass (died in early 1900s) who would have been living in Selma at the time--a well educated man as well, as the article suggested. This may prove that the article was not entirely fabricated and thus, the Epitaph article may not have been entirely hoaxed either, but perhaps an exaggeration.
As to the photo however, I am beginning to feel that these old west tails have very little to do with the photograph in question, true as they may be. I just wonder how the photo ever came to be so tangled up with the Epitaph.

Have a good weekend everyone!

I found this picture, but I don't know if it's been posted yet. Enjoy.

What is the deal with the guy on the far left of the picture. His lower body looks like it's running.

Strange looking.

originally posted by: Iwonder123

I found this picture, but I don't know if it's been posted yet. Enjoy.

awful awful fake


I remember seeing the missing photo in an old library book from my school. the book was probably from the late 60s or 70s and was about weird mysterious tales.

Sorry folks I researched the pic and it was made in 2010.

It turns out that the photo is not a hoax but rather an affectionate homage in pastiche form to the original missing thunderbird photograph, and once you know where to look online it is openly identified as having been created by highly-acclaimed digital illustration artist Chris Smith from Croydon in London, England, who has also created an equally wonderful digital image of a pair of mokele-mbembes encountered by some pygmies in the Congolese swamplands. Click here to view both of these excellent artworks, which were posted on the Vividvisuals website's blog by Chris on 15 April 2013, and where I discovered them tonight.

Also, an enlargement of his pterodactylian thunderbird photo can be viewed here on Chris's own Flickr page, which reveals that he created this spectacular image on 27 October 2010. I strongly recommend all fans of fantasy and science-fiction art to visit Chris's Flickr page (click here), because it contains some of the most spectacular digital artwork from these genres that I have ever seen, and even includes some awesome front-cover illustrations that he has prepared for Fortean Times.

a reply to: Iwonder123
No link there in your post.