Orang-Bati

[MysteryMike]

The Orang-Bati is a winged cryptid rumored to inhabit the Indonesian island of Seram. According to local folklore, the bat-like or somewhat monkey-like creatures abduct children and carry them away to be eaten. Other accounts sound more like encounters with living Pterosaurs.

It is said that islanders of Seram were faced with this creature when it raided villages to abduct infants and children to its home in Mount Kairatu.

Encounters

• Missionary Tyson Hughes, an English man who became a believer in Orang-Batis was originally skeptical about "Orangutans with wings", but later claimed he actually encountered one.
  
• Missionaries on Seram as long ago as the 15th century were told about the beast and how it raided the town of Uraur.
  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orang-bati

What do you guys think it could be? Some say it could be a new species of Bat yet to be discovered. Others say it could be a flying primate. So if you like discuss about it then.

Edited January 13, 2013 by Still Waters
Source link added

[Ashotep]

Maybe this creature was made up so when you got rid of the wife and kids you had something to blame it on and take the suspicion off of you.

[Q-C]

Reminds ne of the updated flying monkeys in the new Wizard of Oz movie.

Second last image

http://comicbook.com...ve-best-scenes/

Edited January 13, 2013 by QuiteContrary

[Rafterman]

Think about it. Of any cryptids out there, a flying one would be the least likely to remain hidden, right? Even nocturnal birds are seen routinely.

Edited January 13, 2013 by Rafterman

[Overdueleaf]

The myth is/was most likely based off of fruit bats that can grow to quite large sizes...lots of people are afraid of bats.

Apparently this rumour was spread by the dutch missionaries from the 15th century.. and started by the inhabitants there.. gee i wonder why.. this may help explain.. thanks wikipedia

There are no records of Dutch misionaries from those parts of Seram at that time for the simple reason that the complete population of western Seram was wiped out by the Dutch for illegal glove-growing in the seventeenth century and missionaries went there much later. The village of Uraur is not that old. They are immigrants and isolated without much contact with the other regions. The claim that the coastal inhabitants of Seram are fearfull of this animal as is stated in Shukers book is simply not true: they know nothing of it. The Orang Bati they fear are a tribe with that name in eastern Seram who claim to be able to fly and the story goes they abduct children. The French adventurer Jean Raymond visited and fotographed them in 2005 attracted by the stories of the orang bati. These fotographs are published in his book Les Molucques (2007). Needless to say they could not fly and did not abduct children; this was a myth they spread to protect themselves by means of fear. In the only source there exists of the myth around this animal - the book of Karl Shuker - Tyson Hughes does not claim to have encountered one.So he was not stunned by the sight of it.

[wolfknight]

Likes like a big ass bat to me. Could be hiding in caves only coming out at night.

Edited January 14, 2013 by wolfknight

[orangepeaceful79]

a Bat (or any flying thing) big enough to grab hold of and take off with a small child would be exceedingly large and would have a tough time flying. Oh and also - how come there is no evidence of these things? A big ass giant bat would leave one hell of a stinking pile I'd think. And where there is one there has to be a bunch. Come on.....really?

[SubjectDigamma]

a Bat (or any flying thing) big enough to grab hold of and take off with a small child would be exceedingly large and would have a tough time flying. Oh and also - how come there is no evidence of these things? A big ass giant bat would leave one hell of a stinking pile I'd think. And where there is one there has to be a bunch. Come on.....really?

Yeah look a new mounten lol

[Thegreatsilence]

A flying primate ? Batman ?

Orang-bati is a composite creature, as it's often the case in cryptozoology, mixing a monkey-faced fruit-bat with an ape, because they share some superficial similarities (externals,dietary habits...).

http://scientificill...onkey-faced-bat

[TheSearcher]

The claim that the coastal inhabitants of Seram are fearfull of this animal as is stated in Shukers book is simply not true: they know nothing of it. The Orang Bati they fear are a tribe with that name in eastern Seram who claim to be able to fly and the story goes they abduct children. The French adventurer Jean Raymond visited and fotographed them in 2005 attracted by the stories of the orang bati. These fotographs are published in his book Les Molucques (2007). Needless to say they could not fly and did not abduct children; this was a myth they spread to protect themselves by means of fear.

The above bit alone, is enough to make you realize the Orang Bati is not a cryptid but something made up. End of story.