Flying Cryptids
Kongamato. "Overwhelmer of boats"
Deep in the swamps and jungles of east and central Africa lives flying reptilian creatures with a beak full of teeth and a bad attitude towards humans. Natives describe this creature as a flying reptile with a wingspan of 4 to 7 feet, sometimes larger, featherless bat-like wings that are membranous, smooth and leathery skin, often reddish in color, and having a beak full of sharp teeth. All these characteristics seem to point to a pterosaur that was "supposed" to die out 65 million years ago. But as real life often shows us, animals don't seem to have read the writings of Mr. Charles Darwin and have not realized when they are supossed to stop existing. Silly illiterate animals. When shown pictures of a pterosaur, all natives identify it as Kongamato 100% of the time. The native people never regard the Kangamato as a demon (mulombe), but as a horrible animal such as a rogue elephant or a man eating lion but they say it is even worse.
Another disturbing fact is that the Kongamato, like the Ropen of Papua New Guinea, has a taste for decaying human flesh and just like the Ropen, will dig up improperly buried human bodies and eat them. It seems that according to many stories and witness accounts that the reason these creatures are not seen by humans more often is because they simply do not want to be (like all animals), not because they fear us! The natives refuse to venture into the swamps very deep or at all in some places because they are afraid of this animal so much.
In 1957, at a hospital at Fort Rosebery (the same location J. P. F. Brown had reported seeing strange flying creatures the year before) a patient came in with a severe wound in his chest. The doctor asked him what had happened and the native claimed that a great bird had attacked him in the Bangweulu swamps. When asked to sketch the bird, the native drew a picture of a creature that resembled a pterosaur.
This creature is not limited just to the swamps and jungles, It has also been spotted repeatedly flying down from and around both Mount Kenya and Mount Kilimanjaro. In several areas where these creatures are said to inhabit, bipeidal, 3 toed tracks of a medium sized flying animal have been found, sometimes with a trail from a tail. These creatures are reported with tails only about half of the time which may mean that the length of the tail is dependent on sex. In 1988 Professor Roy Mackal led an expedition to Namibia where reports of a creature with a wingspan of up to 30 ft were collected. The arial cryptid usually glided through the air, but also was capable of true flight. It was usually seen at dusk, gliding between crevices between two hills about a mile apart. Although the expedition was not successful in getting solid evidence, one team member, James Kosi, reportedly saw the creature from about 1000 ft. away. He described it as a giant glider shape, black with white markings. These animals seem to be geographically dimorphic in coloration and markings. Though probably all the same species. Many species of reptiles inhabit large areas though they are the same species, may have different size and coloration or patterning from each different location.
One of the most vivid accounts of a Kongamato comes from the famous zoologist Ivan T. Sanderson in 1932 in the Assumbo Mountains of Cameroon.
While hunting by the river near their campsite, Ivan shot a fruit eating bat which fell into the river. While making his way through the rivers current he lost his balance and fell. Upon getting back up his partner shouted to him"Look out!".
"And I looked. Then I let out a shout also and instantly bobbed down under the water, because, coming straight at me only a few feet above the water was a black thing the size of an eagle. I had only a glimpse of its face, yet that was quite sufficient, for its lower jaw hung open and bore a semicircle of pointed white teeth set about their own width apart from each other. When I emerged, it was gone. George was facing the other way blazing off his second barrel. I arrived dripping on my rock and we looked at each other. "Will it come back?" we chorused. And just before it became too dark to see, it came again, hurtling back down the river, its teeth chattering, the air "shss-shssing" as it was cleft by the great, black, dracula-like wings. We were both off-guard, my gun was unloaded, and the brute made straight for George. He ducked. The animal soared over him and was at once swallowed up in the night."
While mr. Sanderson assumed and described the creature as a bat, pterosaurs are batlike. He also made no mention of hair and said the animal was completely black whereas fruit bats have yellow and brown fur on them. And while he did not say that it had a beak full of teeth, it does sound more like the creature had an extremely large mouth do to the fact that its teeth were spaced their own length apart. Such as a long mouth aka a beak. Another note is that fruit bats are not known to fiercely defend one another.
Perhaps the most convincing recount of Kongamato type animals comes from Frank Welland's book Witchbound Africa in which he describes the absolute certainty of the identity of such creatures to both the native people and honest minded explorers alike:
“The evidence for the pterodactyl is that the natives can describe it so accurately, unprompted, and that they all agree about it. There is negative support also in the fact that they said they could not identify any other of the prehistoric monsters which I showed them…The natives do not consider it to be an unnatural thing like a mulombe [demon] only a very awful thing, like a man-eating lion or a rogue elephant, but infinitely worse… I have mentioned the Jiundu swamp [northwestern Zambia] as one of the reputed haunts of the kongamato, and I must say that the place itself is the very kind of place in which such a reptile might exist, if it is possible anywhere.” (Welland, 1932, pp. 238, 240.)
Another report, this one by Charles R.S. Pitman, describes the same creatures and assigns the same identity to them:
“When in Northern Rhodesia I heard of a mythical beast, alleged to have a similar death-dealing attribute, 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 too is death. But the most amazing feature of this mystery beast is its suggested identity with a creature bat- and bird-like in form on a gigantic scale strangely reminiscent of the prehistoric pterodactyl. From where does the primitive African derive such a fanciful idea?” (Pitman, C.R.S, A Game Warden Takes Stock, 1942, pp. 202-203.)
With so many reports of these animals and with them being regarded and treated as real, natural animals just as lions and elephants are, it seems the native people in some parts of the dark continent are living in the territory of survivng Pterosaurs that have established themselves in some of the last remaining wild areas on Earth. It seems that if these animals are still alive and predominantly unchanged from their fossilized ancestors, they haven't been here for the millions of years required to change into something entirely new as Evolutionary theory predicts and fit much more easily into Creation models of life and history. God willing we will soon capture one of these amazing creatures to study and show people one more that Pterosaurs are great evidence of Creation and not Darwinian theroies.
Ropen "Demon Flyer"
On the island (perhaps several) of Papua New Guinea, there is a strange yet familiar sounding and very frightening creature known as the Ropen. These creatures have been known to the nationals (local people) for centuries but have only become known to outsiders in the last few decades sue to many sightings and stories. The first accounts of these animals come from an old sea chart from the days of sailing ships, the chart shows creatures that strongly resemble Pterosaurs and warn sailors to steer clear of the coast because of the menacing creatures. Many have said the sea chart to simply depict "monsters" as many other maps have, yet the animals on the chart in question are far too specific in their anatomy to possibly be dismissed as mythical creatures or something other than pterosaurs. The local people however insist the the animals in question more very real and are not mythical beings like ghosts or demons although they do equate them to demons in their ferocity and the fear they instill. Many different reports from many different people from different places and speaking different languages that have never met each other have reported the same animals. The consistency from so many reports from so many differing witnesses lends much credence to the validity of sighting reports and show that these claims are not a hoax as some propose.
The Ropens (multiple ones have been seen together flying at once) are described by witnesses as usually large, varying from 4 to over 30 feet in length from tip of snout to tip of tail, a long beak/snout full of long sharp teeth, "leathery" appearing skin with no hair or feathers, an appendage or "crest" protruding from the back of the head, powerful grasping feet with sharp claws, a long tail that is equal to 25% over the length of the wings and has a diamond shaped "flange" on the tip, large leathery, bat-like wings that are possessed of apparently two finger like structures which have claws and a love for flesh both fresh and decaying along with a fierce attitude. The animals' descriptions best fit that of a Pterosaur, though many disagree with this identification saying that this cannot be since evidence says that all known Pterosaur species have been extinct for at least 65 million years. However the accounts of eyewitnesses seem far more reliable than speculation from the preconceived view by some people, be they scientists or not. There are several creatures that seem to also match the description of Ropens that go by the names of Duwah, Indava, Seklo-Bali, Wawanar, and Kundua. These different names are applied to what seems to be the same animals depending on the local area the creatures live in. The different names are due to the different dialects of different tribes throughout Papua New Guinea. There are several hundred throughout the islands.
Despite the knowledge of the physical appearance of Ropens, only about 10% of the sightings are of clear and easily defined animals. Roughly 90% of the sightings of these animals are of lights flying at a low altitude at night. These lights or glows are aptly called "Ropen lights" or sometimes "Indava lights". These lights are apparently caused by a bio-luminescence that the creatures exhibit on their own accord. It was initially proposed by some that the "glow" from the Ropens was caused by glowing fungi that rubbed onto the animals from the caves they live in, but this has been shown to be impossible for an explanation based upon the intensity and brightness of the light and the fact that they can apparently control the brightness. Also, the lights "flash" or pulsate and normally only last 5-6 seconds and are mostly used when the animals take flight or descend to land or catch food at the water. This may be, as some have suggested, a method of orientating themselves and seeing to hunt. The bio-luminescent light is said to flash or pulsate to a slight degree. The light is said to exhibit colors, different colors have been reported such as blue, red, yellow and green which may mean that it displays a radiant brilliance of multiple colors.
The "Ropen lights" have been seen by hundreds of Papua New Guinea natives and several westerners. Although many skeptics have claimed that all Ropen investigators have seen Ropens or Ropen lights, only a few actually have, however one witness claimed to have seen 7 Ropen lights together in the night sky at once, possibly during a migration process from one area or island to another. Or perhaps they were gathering for breeding or maybe several were just going to start the nights hunting at one coincidental time. Who knows at this point in the investigations? Some also say that the light may seem to leave the animals as they move, "like pixie dust" as one investigator described it. This would seem to lend evidence to the source of the light being separate from the animals' natural anatomy, yet the intensity and ability to control the light seems much more credible towards the belief of actual bio-luminescence that the Ropens actually have control over.
*This slide from the Paul Nation video filmed in 2006 shows two Ropens flying at night and exhibiting bio-luminescence. The tests results performed on the video stated that the lights were not caused by meteors, fires, man made devices such as lights or planes, or artifacts of the camera. It also showed that the source of the lights themselves did not exhibit heat or light but that the light was only on the outer surface of the objects, and that said objects did not retain their shape but indeed changed form repeatedly as if moving (flapping of the animals' wings).
*This is a slide from the analysis of the Ropen lights video shot in Papua New Guinea by Paul Nation during a 2006 expedition. The full report on the testing results of the video by Clifford Paiva using highly sophisticated technology used by the military can be found here. www.ropens.com/report/pg-10/
Aside from the rare daytime sightings of the animals that resemble Pterosaurs and the numerous sightings of "Ropen lights" at night, are the also rare sightings of the animals "lit up" at night but also close enough to accurately see the animal that is "shining". These rare sightings show that the Ropens and Ropen lights are caused by the same organism and that Ropen lights are not merely local legends or misidentifications of planes which are not aloud to fly at night over Papua New Guinea and which the local people are quite familiar with. The sightings of the animals exhibiting the "Ropen light" while still being discernible in appearance are very important in linking the two phenomena together, it clarifies that the animal is real and emits it's own bio-luminescence, and that the strange lights seen in the sky belong to an animal unknown to science. One report that links the two together comes from a couple that were fishing at night. They said the animal flew overhead and hovered above their boat, they could see that i was a Ropen which was lighting up the whole area. Interestingly enough, the woman said the glow was dripping off the creature into the water. Some suggest this is caused by glowing fungus rubbing off onto the animal in its caves. But since the animal can control the light they emit and it does not last the whole time they fly usually, it is more likely that the animal was either wet or cut causing the chemical in its body that causes the light to drip out. This however is only a hypothesis.
One of the Ropen's most disturbing characteristics is its habit of robbing human graves to feed on the body, and its general taste for human flesh. Ropens are said to uncover recently buried human bodies to carry them off and feast on them. Incidentally, Most people are now buried in coffins to prevent this. In the old days, people were simply put in a hole and buried then covered with leaves. Smelling the rotting flesh, Ropens would come and excavate the deceased from their resting places and make an easy meal out of them. This has since largely stopped. However, it has been documented that Ropens will also prey on live humans as well, possibly due to the ease of a meal, humans aren't very well equipped to defend themselves with just their anatomy like animals are. There is at least one incident of a sick man walking back to the village only to be snatched up by a Ropen and eaten in a nearby tree for villagers to see. Two more incidents took place between 1985-1995. Two different men in two different areas of the Morobe Province on mainland Papua New Guinea were killed by Ropens, the men were apparently picked up into the air by the creatures. It is believed they died from being dropped. There are other stories to be posted later.
There are several Creationist researchers searching diligently for these animals and have made a number of expeditions to New Guinea and some smaller islands. They have made much progress in the study of these animals and have uncovered a large amount of evidence for these animals and seem to be getting closer with every expedition. Indeed, with all the corroborating evidence it seems that if any "dinosaur" or presumably extinct "ancient" reptile is found within the next decade it may very well be a Ropen.
American Pterosaurs.