Live Pterosaur Sightings in Virginia

Last month, a man had two sightings, in the same area of Virginia, of an apparent pterosaur with a long tail. Let’s consider details about the second sighting. On July 29th, the man, Brian, sent me an email:

[After the first sighting] this Sunday, in about the same place, my daughter and I saw one fairly close up flying in the opposite direction. These were [both] seen while [I was] traveling on a highway.

The most obvious feature was the diamond or spade tipped tail, I have not found any creature that compares. My first sighting was far enough away that I couldn’t rule out man made gliders, imitation, but the last sighting moved in such a way that it was highly unlikely to be fake.

heart-shaped vane or flange at the end of the pterosaur tail

In the second sighting, Brian’s daughter, Brianna, also saw the flying creature. She drew two sketches, the above representing what she saw when the pterosaur was furthest away.


underside of the pterosaur seen in Virginia, including tail with heart-shaped ending

Brianna drew the above sketch to represent what she saw when it was closest.


I asked Brian about the second sighting, how high it was flying above the ground:

The height above the ground was about a tree level or more higher than the area. (estimate as low as 150 feet as high as 200+ feet to the valley stucture bottom.)  Based on my personal  readings concerning hawks and eagles and their size and general flight patterns I would estimate the creature we saw as having 6 foot wing span minimum with a maximum of 10 foot if it was actually higher than I have imagined.



From the cryptozoology book Live Pterosaurs in America (3rd ed.):

In 2007, I received an email from a young lady in Richmond, Virginia.

“My father has been the subject of much ridicule after claiming to have seen a “dinosaur bird” fly across the moon. His neighbor has a telescope and they’d been watching the sky when they saw it. My sister and I dismissed it, although I couldn’t think of anything he could have seen and mistook for a “dinosaur bird.” My father later told me that he’d done some research and learned that they were called “ropen.” I went online, and to my surprise, Dad wasn’t making it up.

Jonathan Whitcomb


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2 Responses

  1. Jonathan could you please contact me through email..Thank you