Originally posted by fooffstarr
I've seen this photo too, and it is possible I have it on a VHS tape.

I have a series of tapes of an 80's mysteries TV series (can't remember it's name off the top of my head) and I'm sure there was an American monsters episode and I'm feeling that it may be where I've seen this picture.

I'll go have a dig through them and see if I can find it (If it is even there).

If it is I'll get a video of the segment with my camera and upload it.

Fingers crossed.

I also have a "memory" of seeing this photograph! Maybe it is a false memory people are having. I don't know. I clearly remember seeing it in a book that I read as a kid. In a book I got either from the school library or the public library. I've searched for it on the internet and also went thru all of the books I have here at home. No luck tho.

fooffstarr - that would be greatly appreciated! Good luck on your search! This photo has puzzled people for years looking for it. It would be a great relief if it was found again.

We are looking for an image of a large bird being
held up by a number of men, possibly nailed to a barn.

I've seen a picture that might be the one you're looking for, but several of the details as I remember them are not quite as I'm seeing described in this thread.

The picture that I saw was of what appeared to be a huge bird. I remember it being somehow anchored such that its full wingspan was shown, and though it's been years since I've seen it, but from impressions I remember, I'd say it was on the order of 50+ feet. Larger than the men standing in front of it could possibly be expected to lift. None of the images I've seen in this thread so far are even remotely close. The men standing in front of it were all wearing suits, and I remember thinking they looked extremely pleased with themselves. The picture was taken indoors, and my impression was that it was inside a museum.

The photo was black and white.

It was clearly a bird. It did not at all look like any of the "pterodactyl" pictures in this thread. I vaguely remember there being a second photograph that showed a feather next to a human hand, and the feather was wider than the hand.

photo probably vanished before the 'net really took off.

The picture that I saw was definitely online, and within the past five or so years. When I first saw this thread title my immediate thought was "Oh, I wonder if that's the picture I saw on cryptomundo a few years ago." Though a casual search on cryptomundo does not turn up the picture I remember seeing.

I will see if I can find it.

I think its safe to say this alleged photograph is something completely different to everyone that remembers it, or was completely erased from history in every form imaginable.

I have the book Mysteries of the Unexplained by Calkins. On page 45, it talks about this incident. The source of the information is cited as The Illustrated London News, Feb. 9th, 1856, p. 166. There is no photo of the bird though. Wish there was. I'd be more than happy to upload it.

You know I remember reading about this in some book when I was probably about 10 at the library possibly. I also vaguely remember a program on tv that talked about it when I was younger. I never really could find much on it but now I see it here on ATS! I will be looking for anything I can find to help find the picture. I for some reason also seem to vaguely remember discussing this with my grandfather some years ago. I will call him this weekend and see if he even remembers this, heck I might have read about it in one of his books, if thats the case even better! I will keep checking to see what others posts.
S&F!

KIM
I know the photo was in a book called “Mysteries of the Unexplained”. It was on page 45. I was given this book as a gift in the 1980’s when I was in Highschool. I studied this book, showed it to every one I knew and talked about it all the time! When I met my husband, and started telling him about Fortean Phenom. I showed this book, and the photo of the Thunderbird nailed to an out building/small barn wall.

Kim is mistaken. I have the actual book published in 1982 by Reader's Digest & edited by Carroll C. Calkins. It discusses this incident, but there is no picture. The source is from The Illustrated London News, Feb. 9th, 1856, p.166. I'm still searching for this original source.

From source:

'... in the experience of a number os startled French workmen, the last one died in the winter of 1856 in a partially completed railway tunnel between the St. Dozier & Nancy lines.
In the half-light of the tunnel, something monstrous stumbled toward them out of a great boulder of Jurassic limestone they had just split open. It fluttered its wings, croaked, & died at their feet.
The creature, whose wingspan was 10ft. 7in., had four legs joined by a membrane, like a bat. What should have been feet were long talons, & the mouth was arrayed with sharp teeth. The skin was like a black leather, thick & oily.
At the town of Gray, the creature was immediately identified by a local student of paleontology as a pterodactyl. The rock stratum in which it had been found was consistent with the period when pterodactyls lived, & the limestone boulder that had imprisoned the winged reptile for millions of years was found to contain a cavity in the form of an exact mold of the creature's body.(The Illustrated London News, February 9, 1856, p.166)'

Too bad it doesn't tell us where the limestone was taken & by whom. I wish to find the original article which may contain the names of those involved.


[edit on 7-8-2009 by Afterthought]