Wings In The Night... Visited By A Pteranodon!

Okay, ATS... I have a true story to share with you; but before you reply, I would appreciate it if you would read the source text I have provided. I didn't have a camera at age 10 to take pictues, or record the sound of this thing; all I have is my word that this is true.
Take it, or leave it; It Happened!

My Story:

There was a creature that used to run past my window when I was around the age of 10 years old. My bedroom was on one end of the house, and my parents bedroom was on the other end, with my sister's room in between the two.

During the winter of 1967 (?) a creature of some type would start running at the other end of the house (at my parents bedroom), and run past the three bedrooms.
When it reached my window it sounded like it took flight with very large wings; I could hear them flapping as it went airborne.
As it ran it sounded like horse hooves, but only with two legs, which was very loud! (I never could figure out why my parents and sister were never awakened by it.)

The sound it made when it screamed (if this was it) was unlike anything the old-timers in the area had ever heard! They had heard panthers, bobcats, etc. all their lives, and they said this was not a cat, or anything they had ever heard! To me it sounded exactly like a pteranodon!





I never did look out my window to see what it was... I was too frightened! I also felt like it knew I was there... and it was there because of me.
The adults in the area were afraid to go outside at night, and my parents wouldn't allow me to play outside during the day.

Also, another interesting fact: My neighbor had a pig sliced open on it's belly during this time with only the liver missing! He said the cut was smooth, like it could have been a very sharp knife. ( Probably the creature's razor-sharp claws! )

The "visitations" happened every night for several weeks, or more.
One night when there was snow on the ground, I got lucky and saw where it had left footprints in the snow. They were shaped like a bird, sort of; about a foot long, or more, with three long appendages in front and one going out in the back. I showed the footprints to my sister and she was amazed by it!
I don't remember sharing that information with my parents.... they already thought I was nuts anyway! Ha! ( I had a lot of strange experiences growing up. See my thread in my signature.)

Now, I have come across this information where others have described a similar creature, and I have to wonder...


__________________________________________________________________________________________

Source:www.thecrowhouse.com...

Author, Maxwell Igan, states:

" Frank Mellard was the Chief Magistrate for the Kasempa district of Northern Rhodesia from 1911 until 1922 and also a respected scholar and explorer. In one section of his book he describes a tribe of natives known as the ‘Kaonde’ who live in the Jiundu swamps in North-West Zambia reporting that the tribe lived in fear of a terrifying winged monster that inhabited the depths of a nearby section of swamp. The natives called the beast a ‘Kongomato’ which means ‘the overwhelmer of boats’ and they describe the creature as not being so much like a bird, but rather more like a huge lizard but with large membranous wings that spanned around 4 to 7 feet, similar looking to those of a bat. They say it has no plumage and leathery skin, reddish in colour. The natives told Mellard that they believed it has a beak that also contained teeth but readily admitted that no-one had actually seen it close enough to be really sure and lived to tell any tales about it." There are a number of other explorers who have lent corroboration to Mellards’ strange tale of flying beasts from Zambia too."

An interesting comment is made by A. Blayney Percival in his book entitled, ‘A Game Warden on Safari’ that was published in 1928. When writing of a conversation he had with some local natives in Kenya, Blayney states:

“… the Kitui Wakumba tell of a huge flying beast which comes down from Mount Kenya by night; they only see it against the sky, but they have seen its tracks; more, they have shown these to a white man, who told me about them, saying, he could make nothing of the spoor, which betrayed two feet and an, apparently, heavy tail.”

Another tale containing similarities to Mallards’ story were also recorded in ‘A Game Warden Takes Stock’ by Colonel C.R.S. Pittman published in 1942:

“When in Northern Rhodesia I heard of a mythical beast which intrigued me considerably. It was said to haunt formerly, and perhaps still to haunt, a dense, swampy forest region in the neighbourhood of the Angola and Congo borders. To look upon it is death. But the most amazing feature of this mystery beast is its suggested identity with a creature bat-bird-like in form on a gigantic scale strangely reminiscent of the prehistoric pterodactyl. From whence does the primitive African derive such a fanciful idea?”

Continued...

THE EVIDENCE:

Even America has its fair share of similar tales. As a point of interest, the largest pteranodon skeleton ever found was retrieved in fossil form, from Big Bend National Park in North America. The creature sported a wingspan of an impressive 51 feet making it the largest flying reptile remains ever found. A number of Pterodon remains have been retrieved from the Big Bend area so we know they inhabited the area once and another interesting fact is that almost every Indian tribe in continental America, both north and South all have tribal legends of flying monsters. According Hatcher-Childress in ‘Lost Cities…’ many have stories of: “…a gigantic flying monsters.

AND, MORE RECENTLY:

Firstly, on December 24th in 1975 a man, by the name of Joe Suarez, woke up to find his tethered goat had been ripped to shreds and partial devoured yet strangely, no tracks could be found that led either led to or from the carcass. What had killed the animal was a total mystery to the man. Local police were called but could also find no trace of tracks or footprints to identify the unknown assailant. Then, 21 days later, at 10.30 in the evening, on January 14th, 1976, and in the same town a young man called Armando Grimaldo was sitting with his Mother in their backyard when he was suddenly attacked viciously by a ‘strange winged creature.’ Armando apparently told the Raymondville press that as he walked around to the far side of the house, he felt something with big claws grab him from behind and that he looked back to see what it was then began running for his life, claiming it to be the most scared he has ever been. Armando kept running to reach the cover of his Mothers house, stumbling and sprawling as the beast kept clutching at his clothes and trying to get hold of him as he ran. Unable to reach the house, he was forced to dive under a low bush to escape the creature, his clothes now all but torn to shreds. The beast hovered about the bush a little and then flew off panting as if tired from the exertion. Eventually the boy collapsed through the door of his Mothers house and onto the floor, his clothes torn and bloodied muttering ‘bird’ over and over again in Spanish. He was taken to hospital and treated for minor wounds and shock before being later released. Armando Grimaldo describes his attacker as being about 6 feet tall, blackish-brown leathery skin, a wingspan of 10 to 12 feet and large red eyes.

And, we continue with more...

A short time later, on that very same night, on the outskirts of the nearby town of Brownsville, which is also on the Rio Grande, a creature exactly matching its description crashed into the side of a mobile-home owned by a Mr. Alverico Guajardo. He quickly went outside to investigate the incident and noticed a large creature of some kind on the ground next to his wall. So he got inside his station-wagon and flicked on his headlights for a better look. Guajardo described what as saw as looking like ‘a creature from hell.’ The beast was apparently startled by the lights because, according to Guajardo, as soon as his headlights struck the creature it rose up from the ground turning to glare at him with huge red eyes and began making ‘a horrible sounding noise in its throat.” He reports that the creature then continued regarding him menacingly for 2 or 3 minutes with its wings drawn up and ‘wrapped around its shoulders’ before slowly backing out of the light and disappearing into the night. He says that the beast was truly terrifying and at the time, he was almost paralysed with fear at the sight of it. In January of 1976, another bizarre incident was reported by two sisters named Deany and Libby Ford who saw what they described as a “Huge and strange, big black bird” at a pond just outside of Brownsville, Texas. The sisters say that the creature was as tall as they were and had a face like a bat. When they were later show a book containing pictures of prehistoric animals both sisters identified the creature they had seen as being a Pterodon.

Igan states, "These are just some sightings that have been reported. There have been quite a number of other
sightings of similar creatures in many other places around the world as well, places as diverse as
Africa, North and South America, Sumatra and even in France, England and New Zealand."


Could it be possible that some of these creatures managed to survive in the more remote and inaccessible regions even until the 20th Century?

According to Igan, there is absolutely no conclusive evidence at all, to prove that
the chronology of 65 million years is in any way correct for the extinction of the species and
further evidence that even suggests that the event may have in fact occurred a good deal more
recently than any Palaeontologist who values his doctorate would ever care to admit.


Did a Pterodon visit me? I think so.

A few years back I saw a hell of a big bird that looked like something prehistoric. It looked like an ancient bird with a big thing sticking out of it's head in the back, something I have never seen. It looked like one of those big red headed woodpeckers flying but ten times the size. There was a young eagle and a raven flying right along side of it. They looked so small compared to this thing. It had about a twelve foot wingspan minimum and a length of about six feet or more.

I researched it for about five hours on the net and found it was something like a crane but it was something that was never seen around here, having it's area around the west coast. It was the year that a volcano blew off in Alaska so it must have changed it's migration pattern. It must have impressed the eagle and raven also. It was probably going to land somewhere in the little ponds and river real close to my house. That was the same year that I saw HUGE geese flying when we were going to Iron Mountain. I have never seen a goose that big, and I have seen a big snowgoose up close before. I suppose they changed their migration pattern also because of that volcano.

Originally posted by sled735
all I have is my word that this is true.

Your word has always been just aces with me, Sled. You're a very honest and sincere person, and I wouldn't doubt you for a minute. I remember hearing this story from you way back when in a U2U. You have shared it with us faithfully in the same amount of detail without changing one iota of the story.

Thanks for the well-written post! I'm always intrigued with the stories, folk tales, and myths of native cultures. I tend to look at these stories with interest, rather than with incredulity. After all, a people that lives close to the land has to survive by being expertly aware of their surroundings. In other words, when someone says they've seen something, pay attention!

The mind is a wonderful thing..it sees what it wants to see, but it also has the power to block out that which it doesn't want to. I have a feeling you're just a little more in tune with your surroundings than some others.

I thought Pteranondon's were sea birds that had no teeth and would dive for fish. Also I think they walked and ran on all fours not just their hind legs. Something else perhaps? Why not a large modern bird?

reply to post by rickymouse


Thanks for your reply. I'm happy to see someone else has seen something similar. Well... I didn't actually see it, and I'm glad I didn't look, because one of the quotes said to look at it meant certain death!

reply to post by NarcolepticBuddha


Thanks, NB! As usual, a very well-written reply.

You're aces with me too.

Originally posted by MrSpad
I thought Pteranondon's were sea birds that had no teeth and would dive for fish. Also I think they walked and ran on all fours not just their hind legs. Something else perhaps? Why not a large modern bird?

Here is my source for the pic: www.google.com...

It shows it to be a Pteranodon.

Or, I have also considered it could have been a New Jersey Devil. They have hoofs!

reply to post by sled735


It made me think of the movie the mothman prophecies the entire time I was reading it. I don't know much about prehistoric birds but what is undisputed is that species survived extinction. It's just that they mutated to some degree (got smaller mainly due to less oxygen, resources, etc). This creature sounds intelligent - sees people and weighs its options of fight or flight; comes at night to get food, and clearly stays hidden well enough that only those who truly pay attention to their surroundings notice. It must bother you to have this unknown. I think I would be constantly watching and listening for another chance to actually look. I believe you and the numerous other people who are perplexed by this experience.

Kind of related but not really.

Last week I threw the remains of a spiral ham out into my back yard. A few hours later I notice this monster out of my kitchen window and for a split second I didn't know what I was looking at. It was a vulture and if you've never seen one up close those suckers are huge, I bet he easily had a six foot wing span if not greater. I see them flying in the distance fairly often but this was the first time one actually landed literally twenty feet away from me, it was awesome. I see herons all the time and they're big too, jerks wipe out my fish pond ever year damn it, but as far as sheer bulk is concerned this vulture takes the title easily. I wish I would have taken some pictures but I didn't want to miss him fly away, oh well next time.

I'm not at all saying that's what you saw I have no idea, just wanted to share.

Originally posted by sled735
reply to post by rickymouse

 

Thanks for your reply. I'm happy to see someone else has seen something similar. Well... I didn't actually see it, and I'm glad I didn't look, because one of the quotes said to look at it meant certain death!

You were ten back then, you are older now. You won't die from looking at something like that unless it scares you to death I have curiosity and little fear. If I saw something really ugly I would probably say "Boy you sure are ugly" to it's face. If it understands what I was saying it would probably bite my head off instead of me having a heart attack Can't win no matter what you do sometimes.

Awesome thread! S&F!

I ave no idea what you saw, but having been in that same area, I can easily imagine such a creature!

I apologize if I missed it but where did you live when this happened?
Any chance that it was a giant condor?

reply to post by sled735



" To me it sounded exactly like a pteranodon! "


This isn't a personal attack or a declaration of doubt my friend, but I am stuck on this bit here.
If I were to have written this, I would be basing this statement on base knowledge gained from television and film. In fact I have a mental audio clip that let's me think I know exactly what a pteranodon sounds like as well. I'm just curious where you gained your information?
Thanks
eX

Firstly, thank you for sharing your experience and the supporting evidence which I have taken a look at. I don't blame you for not looking out the window, as were I in your situation, I would have likely done the same. With that said I do believe you saw something rare. What that is I cannot say.

To me it sounded exactly like a pteranodon!

Don't take this the wrong way, but how would you, or anyone else at this time, know what a pteranodon sounded like? Even in movies and recreations, these sounds are artificially produced.

Ultimately, there are many big bird tales. The thunderbird story comes to mind. What I do know is that this planet is still remote enough to shelter such a creature in a mountain cave, or within a large forested ridge.

The fact that you still remember and feel strongly about this experience suggests to me that it was a very real phenomenon you experienced. Having said that, until a photo comes out you will unfortunately encounter skeptics who argue that this was a figment of your imagination.

Here's a link you may find interesting for comparison/further research: eol.org...

reply to post by exdog5

Probably Jurassic Park III but I was wondering the same thing (even tho I still believe his story).

reply to post by sled735


I can corroborate your story on two different occasions. Fontana Ca. On clear night north bound on Sierra Ave.
with two bikers in front of me. I witnessed something swoop down off a telephone pole, like it was going for
one of the bikers. Or so it seemed, then suddenly changed it's mind and direction. This thing with a span
as wide as the two lane road, soared right over those bikers and immediately my truck, as we were travel'in a
good rate of speed, prolly 45 mph. I was by myself, but yelled out woe ! Just as the two bikers looked
back at it, so did I for a split second. So I know they saw what I saw, as they looked at each other, one
raised his open hand, to point the direction they were going No.. They booked it to the 15 fwy and were gone.

The other one, was just a leather skinned bird, with gigantic four toed feet flying over my wife's car, go'in over the bridge east bound on Bear Valley blvd in Apple Valley Ca. My wife, her boy and myself all saw it. And it weren't no owl. So I would have to say, you're right ! Something is out there fly'in around at night. Cattle mutilations
might be a thought.

I was also put off by the statement that indicates you know the sound Pteranodon makes. But I gave you my truth as it were.

reply to post by randyvs


Ahhh Fontana...I believe you saw something. Not sure what? I spent some time working there...sadly my facility was located by the rendering plant and train tracks where they stationed rail cars that contained something that attracted honey bees by the thousand...needless to say, I didn't spend much time outside at the job site.

reply to post by exdog5


I don't understand that one part of OPs thread.either tho ! I mean who would make a mistake like that ?

But I'm gonna give him the old SnF for a great thread. Well put together and still very believable.

Originally posted by CosmicCitizen
I apologize if I missed it but where did you live when this happened?
Any chance that it was a giant condor?

Sled is my auntie. She grew up in the East Tennessee mountains. And I mean in the mountains. Nearest city of was 30 minute drive away, and that city was small.

Put it this way. This community was so isolated, they had a midwife (Sled's granny and my great-granny). Most of the women just went to Granny's to have their babies b/c they had no way to get to town.

Personal story, happened about 30 miles away from Sled's experience. Still in the mountainous area but in a more populated place.

I was driving an isolated back road, afternoon time, when I came around a curve and almost hit a bird that was in the road. I saw it in time to slow down and the bird took off directly in front of my car. If I had goosed the gas just a little, I would have hit the thing. Anyway, the bird was GIGANTIC. Its wings were wider than the width of my car (an '87 Honda Civic). I didn't get a good look at the head, but it was dark in color. I have no idea what kind of bird it was. Not claiming anything supernatural, but it was a unique sighting for sure.