A Car Dies on a AZ Road... In Proximity to a ThunderBird?

Hello, this story started when my parents saw an unusual bird in town while at the local senior center, hauling water for our cattle. My parents, the employees, and other elders saw a Blue Heron on top a nearby steep hill. When compared to common birds known in the area it was huge and has a weird body shape, which made it stand out to witnesses. Later that day while searching for our cattle, that were calving, they spotted it again, this time soaring and could really see the wing span on this large bird. while the bird is common everywhere in North America, my parents, nor I, have seen this ( or similar) bird species in our area. it's too arid for such a bird (wading bird) to be here even though there is a large lake (reservoir) 30 miles to the north (Lake Powell) i would think they would stay around water. My mother took the sightings as an omen, perhaps a messenger of heavy weather that will come to our area this monsoon or following winter.

This discussion led to my mother recalling an encounter her sibling had with a Thunderbird. In this case it seems by the description, to be a classical Native American Thunderbird. This occurred in the late 70's or early 80's. She and her family, husband and three kids, were near Big Mountain in Black Mesa area traveling home mid day on a rural dirt road. They noticed a large shadow hovering around the car to the point that it look like something very large was above them. along with this shadow came a strong turbulent wind like a helicopter was just above them. then the car died in the road and would not start again. She tried looking up to see what it was but couldn't see any detail against the flickering sunlight and shadow. Her Husband, a law officer, got out of the vehicle and pulled his service weapon and fired it in an attempt to scare off whatever this thing was. The shadow left and the wind died and she finally saw what was causing this ruckus, a huge black bird soaring away. Her guess the wing span on this bird was definitely larger than a Cessna, perhaps just under a DC 10 or 747. A few minutes after it flew away they tried starting the vehicle and it started up. They returned home and told family of there strange encounter.

I've seen drawings of Thunderbirds in other Indian tribes' art and relics and some show what looks like lightning emanating from under its body, hence also its name "thunder"bird. what really wow'd me was the Electro-Magnetic interference which cause the vehicle to die and not start. combined with its really large size made this story I wanted to tell here on ATS. My mother asked if such things were seen by others and discussed on my travels through the Internet. I told her large birds are witnessed commonly, but what see described was a real Thunderbird and I've seen very little of stories like those seen and discussed...

a reply to: ZeroOne

My mom was a thunderbird! At least when I
plssed her off.

I'm not doubting the story, but there is a HUGE difference in wingspan between a Cessna and a 747. A Cessna could land on a 747 wing. (Well, not quite. 747 wingspan is 212 feet. A Cessna 150 can land in 200 feet.) Having said that the story reminds me of UFO sightings that show them transforming into different things--like birds. Given the electrical interference, also associated with UFOs, well, there you have it. A friend of mine, usually of sound mind, says he once saw a pterodactyl fly over the freeway in Montana. Strange stuff out there.

I think they maybe saw something , perhaps with a Cessna sized wingspan. but 747 is far to large.

the bird to me isn't the mystery. the electrical failure momentarily in the car is. what could have caused that? a biological bird couldn't have. a ufo maybe. maybe the ufo implanted a memory or idea that your parents saw a giant bird instead of craft. ancient Egyptian and sun erian tales tell of God's travelling around in giant birds. could be the best descriptor they had for ufo or aircraft back then. but I figure they would have been smart enough to give something, although flying, a different descriptor than bird...unless of course the ufo implanted the idea or memory in them too that they are seeing a giant bird instead of craft or ufo.

another thing to consider is Indian folklore when it comes to paranormal creatures. particularly a thing called Anisgina. Anisgina are native American supernatural entities and tricksters. usually said to occurs months before a local calamity, but not always. think mothman or even skibwalker ranch. Anisgina usually proceed in two stages. first stage is strange things like animals being much to large or doing things they're not able to to such as flying cars or giant birds or insects ., coyote or whatever. or even anomalous lights. stage two is things usually like flying humanoids or supernatural looking monsters even trolls and elf like creatures, perhaps even banshees. essentially like a much more sophisticated elemental spirit. maybe they saw an anisgina.

Some vultures can get pretty big. Maybe the bird was silhouetted against the bright sun when they looked up at it, and it seemed bigger than it was? I looked up "Thunderbird" and some of the depictions of it look remarkably like a big condor in flight.

originally posted by: BASSPLYR

***POST WAS EDITED BY ME "GUYFRIDAY", IN ORDER TO POINT OUT THE PART I WANT TO TALK ABOUT***

the bird to me isn't the mystery. the electrical failure momentarily in the car is. what could have caused that? a biological bird couldn't have.

I had an encounter with a very very large bird. Looked like an eagle but bigger. I had told the park ranger about it when I was leaving the National Park. They said it was probably a Thunderbird. I was told that they can be seen during late summer in the Olympic National Park, from time to time. I've been trying to get a picture of one ever since I saw it, but no luck yet (maybe this year, who knows)

The electrical failure interests me, as in it could be a sign of "QC" happening in the area. Yes, now that "QC" is a semi-official thing I'm interested in seeing if I can get something to prove it. I'm willing to bet that the area where this event talked about by the OP had a large amount of quartz in it (probably locked up in the granite). Either way, cool story.

a reply to: Guyfriday

Looks like Olympic National Park is on my summer hike list now. I’ve always been fascinated by thunderbird stories. Any information about the best locations in the park or anything like that?

a reply to: underwerks


The area in the Owl Mountain to Hoh Peak, and the other area is Mountain Mystery (though this area may be more myth then verifiable stories).

my favorite part of this story is " Her Husband, a law officer, got out of the vehicle and pulled his service weapon and fired it in an attempt to scare off whatever this thing was. " did he shoot it into the ground? if he fired it into the air the bullet had to fall somewhere

I also can say my mother and aunt are a force of nature not to be triffled with... lol a reply to: randyvs

I agree, it is very hard to tell distance and size of any object in the sky with out any relative object for scale. But judging by the scale of the size of the shadow and the wind turbulence, surely this cant be from a normal Bird. The EM interference did remind me of the similar UFO phenomenon of killing electronics. I wondered also if it could've been a false memory, but there was no mention of missing time. I could ask my aunt about that detail when ever I see her again. a reply to: schuyler

I wondered if the wind from the creatures wings whooshing the air about somehow deprived the vehicle of oxygen.

Of course I also considered EM and a "mirage" of a bird, or a mask memory to cover the memory of a potential abduction/interaction. I just wonder if there are any other explanations.

Of course it's possible that the car had a perfectly timed malfunction unrelated to the bird which could have merely been a "large condor". But that seems unlikely to me. The only time a car stops for no reason and then starts up with no problem, is when UFOs are around... Or maybe a big ass Bird that builds up static electricity in its feathers?

originally posted by: fightzone58
my favorite part of this story is " Her Husband, a law officer, got out of the vehicle and pulled his service weapon and fired it in an attempt to scare off whatever this thing was. " did he shoot it into the ground? if he fired it into the air the bullet had to fall somewhere

It was apparently a pretty remote area, so not likely to be an issue.

I thought of that too, maybe its large size and its feathers flapping through the air might build up some kind of static build up and may jump to a ground when near the deck. The composition of physiology may conduct or store energy and discharge it, willing or unwillingly.(side effect of its evolution, possible use to stun its prey) and a reply to: 3n19m470

a reply to: Guyfriday

Wait, a park ranger offered that it might be a thunderbird?
I would have liked to have a conversation with that guy.

a reply to: Chickensalad

Next time you go to the visitors center at a National Park, ask the Ranger there about any mysteries that they know of in the park. If there aren't a lot of people there you might be pleasantly surprised how much they like to talk.

Dear ATS Readers, Writers,

a reply to: ZeroOne

Hello ZeroOne, thanks for posting this story. Believe it or not I have been Kaibito a few times in my past.

I used to live In Page, AZ. for 3+ years.

I never heard of thunderbirds on the Navajo Rez... skin runners, yes.... UFO's... yes.... strange curses on friends and their families, yes...(A local argument over who owned a watering hole for their sheep and goats...caused bad juju to go on. They found someone shot through the roof the mouth in their hogan... but no evidence at all anywhere. No footprints etc. Someone claims they shot a skinrunner the night before dancing on top of HIS hogan, but he was in the form of a coyote. NOT kidding mate...freaky story there.) (The distance from the shot skinrunner to the hogan of dead man was over a mile! )

I even had an event that my Navajo friends said was I encountered by a medicine man who was "travelling"...

I had an adopted aunt, who was a Navajo orphan, that my grandparents adopted. I saw her "healed" of debilitating arthritis by a medicine man...

I must agree with you.. I never saw a Blue Heron that far south. I had seen them in Utah, on shoreline of Lake Powell; even around Sweetwater, UT. But where you saw it was way south for them.

Weird things happen on the Rez... people think you are lying or making it up.... Anyone who has lived in that region for any decent length of time know weird stuff goes on..and rarely get explained.

I know someone who "swears on a stack of Bibles" he had a skin runner running alongside his GTO...at 70MPH!!! It looked at him, laughed, and took off and veered off into the desert. My friend was very affected by it..

I also had an aunt who was a schoolteacher for 6 years on the Navajo reservation. She saw some very strange things...UFO lights stuff. That was in Pinon, AZ.

Lord knows there are enough remote canyons and high places for such a bird to hide out in around that country. Your post triggered some fond memories of that area and part of my life.

Pravdaseeker

a reply to: Guyfriday

The park ranger told you it was a Thunderbird?

originally posted by: pravdaseeker
Dear ATS Readers, Writers,

a reply to: ZeroOne

Hello ZeroOne, thanks for posting this story. Believe it or not I have been Kaibito a few times in my past.

I used to live In Page, AZ. for 3+ years.

I never heard of thunderbirds on the Navajo Rez... skin runners, yes.... UFO's... yes.... strange curses on friends and their families, yes...(A local argument over who owned a watering hole for their sheep and goats...caused bad juju to go on. They found someone shot through the roof the mouth in their hogan... but no evidence at all anywhere. No footprints etc. Someone claims they shot a skinrunner the night before dancing on top of HIS hogan, but he was in the form of a coyote. NOT kidding mate...freaky story there.) (The distance from the shot skinrunner to the hogan of dead man was over a mile! )

I even had an event that my Navajo friends said was I encountered by a medicine man who was "travelling"...

I had an adopted aunt, who was a Navajo orphan, that my grandparents adopted. I saw her "healed" of debilitating arthritis by a medicine man...

I must agree with you.. I never saw a Blue Heron that far south. I had seen them in Utah, on shoreline of Lake Powell; even around Sweetwater, UT. But where you saw it was way south for them.

Weird things happen on the Rez... people think you are lying or making it up.... Anyone who has lived in that region for any decent length of time know weird stuff goes on..and rarely get explained.

I know someone who "swears on a stack of Bibles" he had a skin runner running alongside his GTO...at 70MPH!!! It looked at him, laughed, and took off and veered off into the desert. My friend was very affected by it..

I also had an aunt who was a schoolteacher for 6 years on the Navajo reservation. She saw some very strange things...UFO lights stuff. That was in Pinon, AZ.

Lord knows there are enough remote canyons and high places for such a bird to hide out in around that country. Your post triggered some fond memories of that area and part of my life.

Pravdaseeker

Spend several nights around Navajo and Hopi reservations and the four corners area chances are good you might see something crazy.

a reply to: TheOnlyBilko


They said it was probably a Thunderbird.