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Possible Thunderbird Sighting in NW Iowa


gocubsgo20

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7 hours ago, Jon the frog said:

Problem with giant cryptid is that they are big... so hard to miss if they exist beside underwater species...

 

Large birds do exist if you know where they live

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16 hours ago, Mr.United_Nations said:

Large birds do exist if you know where they live

Well large bird yes, seen some big sea bird,  got some bald and golden eagle at the family land , seen king vultures in Belize and condor in Ecuador. But giant bird with 5m wingspan are more difficult to find... and if they exist would have been seen, documented and shot (you know human nature...) a couple of times... giant bottom dweller fish or calamari are easier to miss. 

 

Edited by Jon the frog
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On 29/12/2017 at 8:06 AM, gocubsgo20 said:

Two years ago, during late July in Okoboji, IA, ...it was around 2:00-3:00 pm in the afternoon and I was laying on the back of a boat on the lake looking up at the sky. I noticed two incredibly large birds flying, and observed them glide through the sky at an astounding height. I have no good way to estimate the height, but it was higher than a two passenger plane that often flies around the lake. I alerted my GF's father and he too was dumbfounded at the size of these birds. We stared in awe for a few seconds when he remembered that he keeps a set of binoculars on the boat and quickly grabbed them. We took turns looking at the birds and I've NEVER seen any bird like this. It looked similar to a condor, but was ALL black. There wasn't a light spot on these birds. They glided through the air and didn't once flap their wings. These birds were absolutely massive, I've seen condors, eagles, and turkey vultures before, but these were easily 2-3 size those other birds. The next day, around the same time, we saw another two birds flying in the exact direction as the day before. I have no way of knowing if these two birds were the same as the original birds, but they looked identical. 

Hi. You say the birds flew at an astounding height, higher even than a small plane that flys around the lake, but of course as has been pointed out by others already, you have no way to measure how accurate that is because in reality the plane wasn't visible at that time to make that comparison a fair one, and it leaves us with no clear indication of how high the small plane flies either.  For instance is it so low you can see the pilot waving out of the cockpit or is it so high you can only make out it's colour with binoculars?

Being as high overhead as you reckon the birds were I'm left with the impression that you only had a distant view of their underside so perhaps you really didn't have a good overall view of the birds as you remember?  So they appeared black in colour and once you enhanced your vision with the binoculars they still appeared black in colour but I'm interested in what further details you recall from the wing shape to the size, colour and shape and movement of the feet, eyes and beak. Could you make out their feathers rustling in the wind? How long was its neck?

How long did you observe them before they were out of view as you don't mention that?  How fast were they gliding?  We're they simply gliding in a straight continuous line? Or were they flipping and dipping on the air currents?  Do any of your friends recall different details than yourself?

As for the second sighting it is very vague.  You say they were flying in the exact same direction but how do you know this?  Were you still lying flat on your back on that boat on lake okoboji or was this a land based sighting somewhere removed from the lake?  

How long did that sighting last?  We're you coincidently with the same people again?  Do they perhaps recall further details? Did you ask them?

You say they looked identical.  Do you mean that you observed them also through binoculars?  Do you mean they also only glided without flapping their wings?  Do you mean that they also flew higher than the small plane?  Do you mean you also didn't get that great a view of them?

Thanks I am really interested that's why all the question marks.

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I find it interesting that both sightings were of two birds. Perhaps an ornithologist could tell you what type of large, black birds mate for life. That could give you another reference point if you see them again.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sounds like a pair of golden eagles. Those things are titanically large, and look totally black on a very sunny day if they angle themselves correctly. I see them in the summer while I'm fishing, and they're absolutely massive. It would be very easy to mistake them for some kind of giant monster, especially if they were high enough that you didn't have anything to compare their size to.

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