THE "KONGAMATO" OF AFRICA
Deep in the Kenyan bush of East Africa, lives a beaked, flying creature called the Kongamato. This extraordinary animal first received widespread attention when explorer Frank Welland described them in his 1932 book In Witchbound Africa. The Kongamato ("overwhelmer of boats"), is described as a large, reddish creature with leathery wings, devoid of feathers. Eyewitnesses who are shown an illustration of the pterodactyl unanimously agreed to this identification of the Kongamato. Dr. J.L.B. Smith (famous for his investigation into the living fossil, the coelacanth) wrote in his 1956 book Old Fourlegs about flying dragons that lived near Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Modern reports of the Kongamato continue to surface. In 1998 Steve Romandi-Menya, a Kenyan exchange student living in Louisiana, declared that the Kongamato is well known to the bush-dwelling people in his country. Somewhat south in Zambia, the natives describe a nocturnal, bat-like creature called Olitu. Likely the same as the Kongamato, this creature was observed by an exploration team under Ivan Sanderson in 1932 and again in 1956 by engineer J.P.F. Brown near Lake Bangweulu. The creatures are said to feed on decomposing human flesh, digging up bodies if they are not buried to sufficient depth. In 1942 Captain Charles R.S. Pitman wrote in A Game Warden Takes Stock that a large pterodactyl-type creature inhabited the inland swamps of Angola.

THE "ROPEN" OF NEW GUINEA
Shortly after World War II, as Western missionaries began to penetrate the deep jungles and remote islands of Papua New Guinea, stories of a flying creature called the Ropen (“demon flyer”) began to be reported. Duane Hodgkinson was stationed northwest of Lae, near Finschaven, PNG as part of the Army cavalry in 1944. About noon one day in August he was walking down a trail through a clearing in the forest when he was startled by a crashing in the brush. As he watched a large bird-like creature ponderously rose from the ground, circled and flew away. Hodgkinson, a pilot, estimated the wing-span to be about 20 ft. He clearly recalls the dark-gray coloration, long serpentine neck, beak, and distinctive head crest. Described as a nocturnal creature, the Ropen possesses two leathery wings like a bat, a long tail with a flange on the end, a beak filled with teeth, and razor-sharp claws.

Two species appear to persist in PNG. A smaller pterosaur is believed to inhabit the caves that dot the islands of Rambunzo in the Bismarck Archipelago. Reports seem to fit the presumed-extinct Rhamphorhynchus, a pterosaur with a wingspan of 3-4 feet. Like the Kongomato in Kenya, the Ropen is said to have a taste for decaying human flesh and has even harassed native funeral gatherings with western missionaries present. Carl E. Baugh of the Creation Evidence Museum conducted an expedition to Manus. With missionary Jim Blume, he observed one of the creatures through a monocular night scope and snapped a picture of a strange print in the sand the next morning. In 1987, Tyson Hughes, an English missionary, began an 18 month contract to assist the Moluccan tribespeople of Ceram Island, Indonesia to develop efficient farms. Tyson heard stories about a terrifying creature called the Orang-bati (“men with wings”) that possesses enormous leathery wings like a bat and live in the caves of Mount Kairatu, an extinct volcano situated in the center of the island. Likely this creature is similar to the Ropen from adjoining PNG.

In October of 2004, Genesis Park staff conducted a three week trip to the remote Siassi island off the western coast of Papua New Guinea, somewhat south of the Manus island group. The goal was to hike into the mountainous interior of Siassi to follow-up on intriguing reports received from coastal communities on the south of the island. Dozens of interviews were conducted and the the credibility of witnesses was carefully tested by the use of black and white profiles. After carefully collating the dozens of interviews, a composite drawing of most likely characteristics possessed by the Ropen was assembled (left). The creature appears to resemble the Dimorphodon pterosaur, with the addition of a head crest and dermal bumps. However, the animal is said to have a 15-20ft wingspan and exhibits a bioluminescent glow. On Wednesday October 27 a large, yellowish glow approximately 20-25% the size of the full moon was observed to fly behind one of the volcanic peaks. The light left no trail and it twinkled around the edges. The whole sighting lasted for only a few seconds, as the light streaked across the horizon and behind Mt. Tolou. Team members learned of a female missionary pilot who experienced a “near miss” with this same creature in the mid 1980’s. She took a fascinating picture of the Ropen off the wing of her plane while flying near Mt. Barik. Intriguing carvings made by an unknown artisan were photographed (right). The statutes shows a medicine man with a reptilian creature on his shoulders. The creatures display a lizard-like ear, forked tongue, elongated snake-like neck, shallow beak, scaly membrane wings, dermal bumps running down its back, webbed feet, and a long tail (in one case being swallowed by a crocodilian).

The similarities in the several independent lines of evidence produce a powerful argument for a living pterosaur in Papua New Guinea. An Australian pilot’s photo, an American WWII veteran’s testimony, a Highland PNG native’s sculpture, dozens of eye witness reports from Umboi and the Manus islands combine to make a strong case! For more information, see the full PNG Expedition Report Page with slides in the Genesis Park Auditorium.

source: http://www.genesispark.org/genpark/

The similarities in the several independent lines of evidence produce a powerful argument for a living pterosaur in Papua New Guinea. An Australian pilot’s photo,
Australian pilot’s photo,
Australian pilot’s photo,
Australian pilot’s photo,

Where is the photo??????

Neat.

so are these documented animals or native folklore?

You know the mountain gorilla was just the imagination of those silly natives until a white person was able to see one. Then they became fact!

i think its possible for some pterasaurs to have survived to now, they could live easily undisturbed by humans in the deep jungles of New Guinea and Africa

i believe that Plesiosaurs still exist
Definitly
I thought Nessie was a Plesiosaur until i heard about the eel theory

Johnny, plesiosaurs arent actually what people are describing (unless they swim like that...having no muscles or live plesios to study, we dont know). they describe something that undulates, so it may actually be an eel.

http://www.trueauthority.com/cryptozoology/kongamato.htm

Interesting article about the Kongamato.

So these creatures are documented? Can someone come up with a piccy?

id really like to see a pic of a living pterasaur

That only accounts for recent sightings. Nessies have been spotted since the 1500's in that region. They've all described a Pleisiosaur/Elasmosaur type creature (most accounts were spotted on land eating livestock or walking across roads).

Oh, i see. Giant apes and sea monsters arent really my thing. ^^;

I do not consider myself to be part of the
"Genesis Park team" per se, but I was the
first of three Americans who went to Umboi
Island in 2004. The other two, Garth Guessman
and David Woetzel, could be considered to be
this "team" as they went together, arriving
there not many days after I had left. We
communicated by emails before I left the
Southwest Pacific, so that they would have
the benefit of up-to-date details about my
expedition, weather, recent sightings, etc.

Hodgkinson was interviewed by me (through
correspondance and phone conversations)
in 2004 and I would like add his words:

"I have a Piper Tri-Pacer airplane which
has a wing spread of 26 feet and it
appeared to be about that size."

For more details and a photo of Hodgkinson:

http://www.laattorneyvideo.com/nonlegal/pterosaurs/DH/

Duane did not mention the word "bird" in
our interviews but he did say:

" . . . pterodactyl take off from the ground and then
circle back overhead and to the side giving us a perfect
side view which clearly showed the long beak and
appendage protruding from the back of its head (just
like the ones that Fuzzy used to ride in the comic strip
Ally Oop)."

This is a long subject. I have been studying this
for two years and have interviewed many eyewitnesses.
(I am a forensic videographer by profession.)

There is no evidence that I am aware of, to indicate
there are two species of pterosaur in the Southwest
Pacific. The reports from Northern Papua New Guinea
are most likely the juveniles of the less numerous
creatures seen more to the south, including Umboi Is.

In regard to Umboi Island (where the three of us spent
the great majority of our time in exploring and in
interviewing eyewitnesses), it is known by the people
of P.N.G. as "Siassi" or "Big Siassi Island", though
during World War II it may have been known to most
Westerners as Rooke Island.

In regard to the female pilot (I do not know if she
was a missionary) and the photo being taken, this
was related to me by Jonah Jim, who lives on Umboi
Island. This account probably came from my report
which was relayed to Woetzel. - Anyway, this photo
was in the possession of the father of Jonah Jim.
Unfortunately, I was running out of money, time,
and food and had to leave the island. Even if we
were able to find this man, it is not certain if
the photo would still be in reasonable condition
as it was taken many years ago, even if it were
a good photo to begin with. (of which I don't know)

the important point, however, is that the eyewitness
testimonies are numerous and are very credible. See:

http://www.laattorneyvideo.com/nonlegal/pterosaurs/wit-1/

I am organizing another expedition that should have
more people. This should hopefully last longer than
the two-week expeditions of the past. (I don't know
of any explorer who has stayed in Umboi Island for
more than two weeks, unless perhaps it was Carl Baugh.)

We now have about seven people (incl. two Americans)
who would like to be in this next expedition, but I
would like to have a many others, especially more
Americans who speak English.

Please spread the word! We need participation!

Awww... so.. the photo. HE DOES NOT HAVE!
Bah, go figure.
I think i would have been smart enough to take it with me.

JonW. That expedition sounds great. It is something that I can only imagine. The search for a creature of myth, reminds me of those stories of treasure seekers. Or explorers wandering the jungles of Africa for the first time.

Good luck. I really hope you find the Ropen. I need to find my inner "believer" again. I'm too much of a cynic.

who isnt...
*shrugs*

Not you. I can't wait for your next "China was the first to..." post.

It was a memorable and exciting experience for me.
In regard to "myth", I did not usually ask questions
about local legends, except when I was on the cargo-
passenger ship going to Umboi Island. I then spoke
with an islander who told me about the "Wawanar"
legend. It is the "dragon" who owns the land and sea.
For the most part, I interviewed eyewitnesses and
tried to get a sighting of the creature for myself.

The eyewitness testimonies on this island seem to
correlate well with the accounts on the mainland.
The creature glows at night for a few seconds at
a time while it flies. This makes for two strange
things (to Westerners) about the "ropen" (AKA the
duwas, seklobari, kundua, etc): It glows at night
and it looks like a pterosaur.

This "pilot's photo" is not very high on any explorer's to-do list
as far as I know. We have left a number of cheap film cameras
with a number of villagers and hope someone gets some kind
of photo. ("one-time use" cameras) Even this is not a top priority
with me, however. We need quality video footage of the creature
in the daytime. This will most likely be a major goal of the expedition
that I am hoping for.

Why do I not think this reported photo important? First, it may not
exist anymore, even if it was a valid photo (years ago). Second, I
I do not know anything about the quality of the picture. A still photo
taken by an amateur (I presume) photographer while flying a plane
is not likely to be significant enough to make a major impression on
skeptics and may not have enough detail to help researchers, either.
Third, there are other things we could do while on the island, rather
than search for an old photo. We could try to get photos ourselves!

"so are these documented animals or native folklore?"

an interesting and valid question!

If we think of "documented animals" as being described
in American school text books, well, no. But ropens are
well known to some people who live in Papua New Guinea.
Actually most of the people in the cities of the mainland
probably have never heard of these creatures. It is in
certain villages that they are seen and/or talked about.

Now to "folklore":

My own research involved mostly interviewing eyewitnesses.
These are people who have actually seen something themselves.
With one exception, I found these to be credible testimonies
that would surely make a real impression in a court of law.
(I am a legal videographer and deal with evidence credibility.)

There has been some research into the local legends and
these have been of some help. In themselves, however,
they are of limited usefulness as fiction can so easily come
into even a true story or account. We sometimes use a
traditional story to get clues that may help the investigation,
but we do not except such accounts to be very convincing
by themselves. An exception is when certain details are
common among stories from a number of different areas.
This could be evidence for some truthfulness of these
particular details.

This report about the Kongomato digging up
graves seems very similar to the reports we
have from some areas of Papua New Guinea.
I interviewed an older man named Michael.
(in Tok Pisin this would probably be "Maikel")
He described the ropen light going to a recently
buried man in a grave in Gomlongon Village.
This was many years ago when the body was
wrapped in leaves instead of wooden coffins.
When the people went to the grave the next
morning, it was open and there was no body
in it. This resembles other reports from earlier
times on Umboi Island. Now people use coffins
and there are no longer any reports of bodies
being stolen from graves. See:

http://www.objectiveness.com/michael/

"He clearly recalls the dark-gray coloration, long serpentine neck, beak, and distinctive head crest."

I do not know where this information comes from. When I interviewed
Duane, he did not mention any color. He told me that the creature was
flying against a bright sky. Because of this, he could not make out certain
details. The coloration, I would say, is not the most sure thing about this
report, therefore.

The neck: He did say it was long. He said nothing about "serpentine neck"
to me. The survey form he filled out did not indicate what I would call a
snake-like neck, if one means it was able to bend a great deal. I don't
know where this expression comes from or if he did say it, exactly what
he meant by it.

He did mention the head crest. This was narrow and long. I know this
from the survey form in which he choose various pictures that were
somewhat similar.

for general info on Duane, see:

http://www.laattorneyvideo.com/nonlegal/pterosaurs/DH/


The survey form in question (head crest):

http://www.laattorneyvideo.com/nonlegal/pterosaurs/DH-A/


As to the length of the neck, see:

http://www.laattorneyvideo.com/nonlegal/pterosaurs/DH-F/

Plesiosaurs are an interesting subject. I do not know
much about them. Is it possible you are confusing
this word with "Pterosaurs"?

"Can someone come up with a piccy?"

I went to Umboi Island last year with the
hope of videotaping one of the "ropens"
I thought were living in significant numbers
on this island. After two weeks, I found out
that in a previous interview, when the two
translators thought the witness said "ten or
twenty" of the creatures, he was most likely
describing the SIZE of the ONE creature he saw!

This is one reason it is so hard to find this giant
ropen on this tropical island. There is only one
of them on this particular island.

Did you know that there is a whole web page
devoted to the subject of how difficult it is
to photograph or videotape the ropen?:

http://www.objectiveness.com/pic-no/