South America

This section covers credible reports of apparent living Dinosaurs, Pterosaurs and Marine reptiles from Central and South America.

Plesiosaurs

Nahuelito

In Lake Naheul Huapi there have been reports of a large aquatic animal said to resemble a plesiosaur. Often called the Patagonian Plesiosaur, Nahuelito as it is known in Cryptozoology, has been reported since the 1800's and came into public light in ernest in the early 1920's. Though the local natives have known of the creatures for hundreds of years.  As of yet there have been no known authentic photos or hard physical evidence put forward. Efforts to find a Nahueltio continue. As does debate over it's existence and identity.

In 1897 a Patagonian farmer reported seeing a long necked animal swimming in the lake on several occasions and reported hearing a large dragging sound on the stoney lakeshore one night.

In 1910 George Garrett saw an unknown animal of a extraordinarily large size. His account appeared 12 years later in The Toronto Globe on April 6, 1922:

    "We were beating windward up an inlet called 'Pass Coytrue' which bounded the peninsula. This inlet was about five miles in length, a mile or so in width, and of an unfathomable depth. Just as we were near the rocky shore of the peninsula, before tacking, I happen to look astern towards the centre of the inlet, and, to my surprise, I saw about a quarter of a mile to leeward an object which appeared to 15 to 20 feet in length and about six feet above the water. After a few minutes the monster disappeared. "

In 1922 the Buenos Aires Zoo launched a search for Nahuelito. Nothing of consequence was found.

In the 1960's the Argentinian Navy chased an unidentified submerged object for 18 days without discerning what it was.

Pterosaurs

In 1868 the following sighting took place by many people at once in Copiapo, Chile:

"Yesterday, at about five o'clock in the afternoon when the daily labours in this mine were over, and all the workmen were together awaiting their supper, we saw coming through the air, from the side of the ternera a gigantic bird, which at first sight we took for one of the clouds then partially darkening the atmosphere, supposing it to have been separated from the rest by the wind. Its course was from north-west to south-east; its flight was rapid and in a straight line. As it was passing a short distance above our heads we could mark the strange formation of its body. Its immense wings were clothed with something resembling the thick and stout bristles of a boar, while on its body, elongated like that of a serpent, we could only see brilliant scales which clashed together with metallic sound as the strange animal turned its body in its flight."

In 1947 a man named J. Harrison and several other unnamed people were on a boat on an Amazon estuary called the Manuos when they witnessed a group of 5 large "birds" fly overhead in a "V" formation. Mr. Harrison described the animals in a letter:

"The wingspan must have been at least twelve feet from tip to tip. They were brown in color like brown leather, with no visible signs of feathers. The head was flat on top, with a long beak and a long neck. The wings were ribbed...were just like those of prehistoric birds."

In 1992 the Australian magazine People published an incident that happened in Brazil. A small commuter aircraft nearly collided midair with a giant flying lizard over the mountains of Brazil. A U.S. anthropologist named Dr. George Biles was aboard the plane and had the following to say:

"This was a classic case of a white pterodactyl with a giant wingspan. Of course, I've heard the rumors for many years that these prehistoric creatures still roamed the Amazon. But I was skeptical like everybody else. But that wasn't an airplane or a UFO flying beside us. It was a pterodactyl."

The People story says that the pterodactyl was flying alongside the plane as it was preparing to land and that the pilot veered away to avoid colliding with the "giant bird." A stewardess named Maya Cabon is quoted as saying:

"Here was this giant monster flying right next to the plane. He was only a few feet away from the window-and he looked right at me. I thought we were all going to die."

No actual size is given in the story, and tales like this start becoming suspect when the pilot is quoted as saying ". . . he was coming straight at us and he was mighty big!". . .

South American Indians have reported large birds attacking their villages for many years. On one incident a group of natives was shown a picture of a Pteranodon and the natives said that was the bird that had came through just one week prior.

On July 23, 2003 at 9:15 in Northern Chile, three boys reported hearing aggressive scratching and rattling on the front door of their house. The boys, scared, climbed into bed and covered themselves with blankets. After 5 minutes one boy looked out the window and didn't see anything so he opened the door and saw nothing again. After the boys went outside to look they saw a lizard like animal about 50 feet away. It stood 5 feet tall with an 11 foot wingspan and looked clean and had no hair or feathers. They said it's head looked large compared to it's beak and it had a crest like a rooster and the crest appeared to be damaged.

Sauropod's

    In 1907 Colonel Percy Fawcett was sent to the Amazon to settle a border dispute between Brazil and Peru. Colonel Fawcett was a member of the Royal Engineers and was known as "a meticulous recorder of facts". There in the Amazon He and his men encountered what he believed to be a Diplodocus. A large Sauropod Dinosaur. Before he could get a shot off at the animal it lowered it's head back into the vegetation and disappeared into the jungle. The Diplodocus story is confirmed by many tribes in the area who say these animals are soemtimes seen in the jungles and swamps. The tribes also have pieces of pottery that resemble these animals.