Officer, I have a pterodactyl in my yard!"

I have no doubt that pterodactyl sightings occurred in the 19th century. In fact, sightings in the Sonoran Desert continue to this day. In early 1976, there was a wave of sightings of the "flying reptile" in the Rio Grande Valley along the US-Mexico border.

One of the first encounters took place on the morning of December 26, 1975, when a rancher named Joe Suarez discovered that a goat he had locked in a fence in Raymondville, Texas (about 30 miles north of the Rio Grande in southeast Texas) had been torn to pieces and partially eaten by an unknown assailant. The goat was mutilated on its right side and lying in a pool of blood, missing its heart and lungs, and with its muzzle smashed. When police officers examined the carcass, the blood was still liquid and warm. They could find no footprints on the goat and concluded that the death had been caused by a flying animal of unknown origin.

Later, on January 14, 1976, at approximately 10:30 p.m. in the same town, in the northern part of Raymondville, a young man named Armando Grimaldo was sitting in the backyard of his mother-in-law's house when he was suddenly attacked by a strange winged creature.

Here's what Armando told the local press: "As I turned to look around the other side of the house, I felt something grab me, something big with claws. I looked back, saw it, and started running. I'd never been afraid of anything before, but this time I was truly terrified. It was the most terrifying thing I'd ever seen in my life."

This strange flying attacker emerged from the sky—according to Grimaldo's description, it was about six feet tall (1.8 meters) with a wingspan of ten to twelve feet (3.2 to 3.6 meters). The creature had blackish-brown skin, hard and featherless. It had large red eyes.

Grimaldo was terrified. He screamed and tried to run, but tripped and fell facedown on the ground. As he tried to get up and flee to his mother-in-law's house, the beast continued to claw at him, tearing at his clothes, which were already literally torn to shreds. Finally, the man managed to hide among the bushes, and the attacking animal flew away, breathing heavily.

Grimaldo then ran into the house, falling to the floor and screaming "pajaro" (Spanish for "bird") repeatedly. He was taken to the hospital, where he was treated for shock, minor wounds were treated, and released.