cryptozoology topic #3

[penguins]

Thunderbird is a term used in cryptozoology to describe large, bird-like creatures, generally identified with the Thunderbird of Native American myth and folklore. Similar cryptids reported in the Old World are often called Rocs. Although Rocs are generally regarded as being eagles like the gigantic Haast eagle of New Zealand, which would have been dismissed as myth if not for fossil evidence, thunderbirds, on the other hand, are regarded by a small number of researchers as having lizard features like the pterosaurs and pteranodon. As most people assume these creatures did not survive from the time of dinosaurs, they are generally regarded by most people as mythological.

Thunderbird?

 

Turkey Vulture

 

Today these enormous birds have been seen soaring through the skies of Pennsylvania, and in the past they've even been blamed for snatching children from the ground.

A gigantic bird has been sighted in Pennsylvania. On the evening of Tuesday, September 25, 2001, a 19-year-old claimed to have seen an enormous winged creature flying over Route 119 in South Greensburg, Pennsylvania. The witness's attention was drawn to the sky by a sound that resembled "flags flapping in a thunderstorm." Looking up, the witness saw what appeared to be a bird that had a wingspan of an estimated 10 to 15 feet and a head about three feet long.

 

This is the most recent sighting of an incredible creature - most often considered a myth - known as a "Thunderbird." Sightings of these gigantic birds, apparently unknown to science, go back hundreds of years and are a part of many Native American legends and traditions. They have even been blamed for abducting, or attempting to abduct, small children. And now they seem to be soaring through the skies of Pennsylvania.

 

On September 25, the witness told researcher Dennis Smeltzer, that the huge black or grayish-brown bird passed overhead at about 50 to 60 feet. "I wouldn't say it was flapping its wings gracefully," the witness told Smeltzer, "but almost horrifically flapping its wings very slowly, then gliding above the passing big rig trucks."

 

The witness observed the creature for about 90 seconds in total, even seeing it land on the branches of a dead tree, which nearly broke under its great weight. Unfortunately, no other witnesses saw the bird on this date and no tangible evidence could be found for the bird after the site was searched.

 

What makes this story more interesting, however - even plausible - is that other sightings of similar description were reported in Pennsylvania in June and July, 2001.

 

On June 13, a resident of Greenville, Pa. was startled by the great size of the grayish-black creature seen soaring overhead, at first thinking it was a small airplane or ultralight aircraft! This witness observed the bird for at least 20 minutes, clearly seeing its fully feathered body and confidently estimating its wingspan to be about 15 feet and its body length at about 5 feet. This bird, too, was seen to perch on a tree for at least 15 minutes before taking to air again and flying off toward the south. A neighbor of this witness claimed to have seen the creature the next day, describing it as "the biggest bird I ever saw."

 

Less than a month later, on July 6, a witness in Erie County, Pa. reported a very similar sighting, according to an item in Fortean Times magazine. Again, the creature's wingspan was estimated to be 15 to 17 feet and was described as "dark gray with little or no neck, and a circle of black under its head. Its beak was very thin and long - about a foot in length."

 

These were not the first sightings of Thunderbirds in Pennsylvania, as you'll read later in this article. And if these reports are accurate, these birds are the largest flying creatures not yet identified by science. By comparison, the largest known bird is the wandering albatross with a wingspan of up to 12 feet. The largest predatory birds - which the Thunderbird is most often likened to - are the Andean condor (10.5-foot wingspan) and the California condor (10-foot wingspan).

 

Centuries-Old Legend

 

The legend of the Thunderbird reaches back hundreds of years as part of the mythology of several Native American tribes of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes region. And the legend might have remained strictly a part of those cultures had not the great winged creature been seen countless times by the "white man" over the centuries.

 

According to the Native American myths, the giant Thunderbird could shoot lightning from its eyes and its wings were so enormous that they created peals of thunder when they flapped.

[smumpkins]

It's true, turkey vultures are very ugly and can be mistaken as mythical/lizard-like. But, someone wrote an article about it? *shakes head in disbelief*

[penguins]

not someone I found 100s I only post at least two.

[Yixzy]

Turkey vultures are sweet. :)

When I saw the topic 'Thunderbirds' i thought you'd be talking about Tracey Island T.T Lol.

[penguins]

you meen this? it looks like a toy or something.

[cloudedsunny]

I really like your cryptozoology topics! :)

 

Well this one I have to say would be awesome! I'd love to see a giant bird, although the pictures are kinda hard to tell how big they are cos there is nothing in the pictures to judge their size against. Hooray for photographic evidence ;)

 

Oh but...they both look like the same bird to me...

 

And Penguins haha I always wanted that toy! LOVE how the pool slides aside for the rocket to come out in Thunderbirds ;)

 

 

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Thunderbirds...

 

Are

 

GO!!!!!

[penguins]

Why thank you I thought the cryptozoology topics are annoying to everybody! :thumbsup: