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This is an ongoing series about explorer and spelunker, Ken Gentry, and his many encounters with amazing wonders and mysteries on and in our planet.
Ken Gentry shared that about 10 years ago at the Woodlake Rodeo Grounds in Woodlake, California, a man preparing the animals for the rodeo, along with 20 other people, witnessed what appeared to be a pterodactyl flying overhead.
A friend of Ken's was gathering wood in Squaw Valley for some firewood for his home. He saw one leave out of a crevice in a tree. It had a 10-12 feet wingspan.
Ken's best guess on the pterosaurs seen is that there was downsizing of them after the age of the dinosaurs, much like crocodiles and alligators. He sees these locations and thinks it's absolutely possible for such a thing to still exist and go generally unnoticed.
There is an old abandoned house in that area. The people moved out of the house and into a trailer while they work on renovation. They thought their barn was haunted and then one time a pterosaur was seen flying out of it at daybreak. It was viewed from 200 feet away. The barn hadn’t been used for 60-70 years.
The men wanted to get permission to check out the potential pterosaur hiding place in the barn, but the realtors were trying to sell the land and not amenable. They did manage to hike around the area to look for clues.
These pterosaurs are described by witnesses as having translucent wings, making them hard to see. They are said to have a somber tone, nothing bright or flashy to attract the eye. This is interesting, as we do not know much about ancient pterosaurs. They may have been much more bat-like, perhaps even utilizing sonar.
There have been numerous pterosaurs reported between Orange Cove in Squaw Valley and San Joaquin Valley. They are said to live in trees, caves, even the underside of bridges. Most sightings report them walking on knuckles and drinking from creeks.
In helping some bat experts find obscure caves in the Sierras looking for a rare bat, Ken and the men went over pterosaur reports and evidence. They covered an area from Central Sierra Nevada east of Bakersfield, Lake Isabella, Sonora and beyond. All told, that was 10 million acres. The search went on for years and the conclusion was that conditions were ideal.
Let's review some witness reports -
(LINK) In May of 2008 I saw a pair of what I could identify as Pterosaurs, flying in a generally south-south-west direction over Oxnard, CA. They were at about 800 feet altitude, in a straight glide, no wing beats.
I estimate they had wing spans of 10 to 12 feet. The legs trailing out behind it made it clear it was not a bird, and it had a distinct shape to the head as well. I know what I saw.
another sighting -
(LINK) John Bouker, a 22-year veteran Alaskan bush pilot, thought he'd lost his mind. As he headed toward Manokotak on October 15, 2002, he and his passengers thought they'd somehow flown into a scene from Jurrassic Park. Not far off the starboard side of his plane a gigantic winged creature soared. The amazed pilot and his stunned passengers all got a good look at the thing. Comparing notes about the sighting, all agreed that the creature strongly resembled the illustrations in books about dinosaurs and other extinct animals.
The flying creature was not a bird; it was a living pterodactyl.
Let's finish today's post up with a song by Ken Gentry and Jon Artz “Moving Around.”
MORE INFO ON PTEROSAURS