Living pterodactyls

In this article, we'll explore the fascinating topic of living pterodactyls, which supposedly may still exist in remote corners of the world. Reports of giant, pterosaur-like birds date back to ancient times and persist to this day. In particular, reports from Alaskan pilots in 2002 and numerous stories from South America raise questions about the possibility of these prehistoric creatures' survival. Author David Hatcher Childress, renowned cryptozoologist, examines the phenomenon and connects it with the Chupacabra legends, suggesting that they may have common roots in Pteranodon sightings.

The above "lost pterodactyl photo" appeared online in 2011. There's one fundamental problem with most such photos: the people submitting them to magazines, radio stations, etc. don't provide any information about the circumstances of their creation. This raises reasonable suspicions that the material may be fake.

"It's huge, huge, really really huge," is how pilot John Bouker described a giant bird the size of a small plane that he and several other pilots saw over southeast Alaska in October 2002. According to the Anchorage Daily News in its October 15 issue of that year, Bouker was initially skeptical of reports of the enormous birds. Later, he and the passengers on his plane saw them with their own eyes. Scientists are still unsure what Bouker and the other pilots actually observed. Such sightings aren't as rare as you might think. They've been reported from many locations, from ancient times to the present day. The sightings vary. Some of the giants resemble familiar birds, such as eagles, though of unimaginable size. Others resemble long-extinct pterodactyls or pteranodons.

Could living dinosaurs exist? The author of this article, David Hatcher Childress, believes so. In fact, he believes pteranodons could explain other mysterious creatures—chupacabras, or "goat suckers," small, insidious beasts with kangaroo legs and glowing red eyes that gained attention in 1995 when they were blamed for a livestock massacre in Puerto Rico. Childress goes on to describe sightings of the enormous birds and discusses reasons to believe these enigmatic creatures could be living dinosaurs.

Childress is the founder of the World Explorers Club, based in Kempton, Illinois, and publisher of World Explorer magazine. He has spent many years traveling the world and tracking down ancient mysteries, and has written numerous books and articles on them.Reports of strange flying reptiles, some quite large, continue to appear in modern times. As we'll see, reports of pteranodons, dragons, thunderbirds, and similar creatures are relatively common. Could the sudden outpouring of reports of chupacabra attacks and sightings be linked to sporadic waves of pteranodon sightings?

In many ways, chupacabras and living pteranodons seem to be a good match. Both are carnivorous monsters. Pteranodons can also drink blood and feast on internal organs, which are easy to consume. Scavenger birds like vultures and condors first eat the flesh on the outside: the mouth, eyes, underbelly, and so on. This seems natural for pteranodons as well. Admittedly, the chupacabra's habit of drinking all the blood through two slits on its neck, similar to the legendary vampire, seems more fictional than real. In Chile, the animals actually disappeared or were eaten in half. Pteranodons are brutal carnivores, possessing very sharp fangs and talons for tearing apart their prey. They presumably feed at night, similar to owls. For decades, cryptozoologists have considered the possibility that these animals survived in the mountains of northern Mexico or the southern Andes.

Giant bats, enormous super-eagles called "pteratornas," and strange "moth-men" have all been proposed as explanations for these various reports. I am now unequivocally inclined to attribute these legends and sightings to living flying dinosaurs—pterodactyls, or more precisely, pteranodons.

Thanks to fossils, we know these creatures once existed. Sightings continue to this day, and legends persist, but where can we find physical proof that these creatures still exist? First and foremost, it's important to remember that fossils are anomalous geological artifacts, usually formed as a result of some cataclysm or volcanic eruption. Most animals that die of natural causes or at the hands of a predator simply decompose and turn to dust. This means that a pterodactyl that died in a desert, jungle, or among mountain cliffs 1,000 years ago (or even 10) wouldn't have left behind fossils to prove its existence.

The second thing we must remember about these incredible animals is that they are nocturnal and inhabit extremely remote and uninhabited regions of Earth. Despite this, there are literally hundreds of reports from around the world of enormous birds and flying lizards. The most astonishing Pteranodon fossil was found in Big Bend National Park in Texas. It was there that the skeleton of a giant Pteranodon was discovered in 1975. With a wingspan of 51 feet (15.5 meters), it was the largest fossilized flying reptile ever found. Other pterodactyls were much smaller, with wingspans ranging from 8 to 20 feet (2.4 to 6 meters).

Although pteranodons are believed to have become extinct around 65 million years ago, this may not be entirely true. Many animals from that period still exist—for example, crocodiles, turtles, and the famous prehistoric spiny finfish. Because fossils cannot be dated by any known technical method, and because current dating of geological remains is based on the widely accepted Uniformity of Slow Geological Change theory, many fossils may have originated much earlier than 65 million years ago.