Topic: Pterodactyl

The discussion moves to modern sightings of pterosaurs, described as leathery-winged, featherless creatures with 15-foot wingspans. Notable reports include a 2013 sighting over a busy Los Angeles freeway and various encounters in the forests of Pennsylvania and Kentucky. Some speculate these creatures are the basis for the Native American "Thunderbird" legends and may still inhabit remote cave systems.

Johnson reports frequent inquiries regarding pterodactyl-like creatures in modern times, including a recent sighting where a creature with a 16-foot wingspan jumped off a researcher's roof. He suggests these creatures utilize high winds to launch themselves from high elevations.

Reports of living pterosaurs, or flying reptiles, persist in North America, Africa, and Papua New Guinea despite their presumed extinction 65 million years ago. These creatures are described as having leathery skin and head crests, similar to pterodactyls. Some researchers believe these sightings could explain global legends of flying dragons.

Reports of flying cryptids include the Kongamato of the Congo Basin, which witnesses describe as a living pterodactyl. In the United States, legends of the Thunderbird and sightings of the "Houston Batman" describe impossibly large birds or flying humanoids. Blackburn also mentions rare reports from Colorado involving small, bipedal dinosaur-like reptiles.