Modern Pterosaurs in Ohio and Kentucky

Giant Pterosaur in Northern Kentucky

A "giant pterodactyl type bird" was seen by a man and his wife in 2001, in the middle of the day, near the Ohio River, in Kentucky. The creature was red with smooth leathery skin. It had no feathers. The man said that the wings were "extremely long." The tail, he said, was "curled up," although he did not say how much of a curl that was. Some kind of protrusion or "knob" was on the top of the head [sounds like a head crest]. The wingspan was "at least 20 feet or better." They noticed "hair about 5 or 6 inches long . . . just above its feet."

Louisville, Kentucky, Sighting (second-hand account)

From a person in Lexington, Kentucky, I received an email (in 2007) with this second-hand report of a living pterosaur: "I have never had a sighting of a pterodactyl (alas!), but I have met an individual who claimed to have had one."

" . . . for many years I was employed at an auto manufacturing plant in Georgetown (Ky). During the late 1990s I met a co-worker, David R., who commuted from Louisville (Ky). One conversation [we had] was unforgettable. This is what he told me: Twenty years before (late 1970s), when David was 18 years old, he was walking home alone one night through Louisville streets lit by a full moon. Suddenly. a huge shadow swept over him and the surrounding neighborhood. Both startled and puzzled, David looked upward into the night sky. Flying across the face of the moon was the outline of an enormous bird. Terrified, David ran the rest of the distance to his home. He described the monster bird to me: its beak, head crest, wings, and tail. I was stunned. 'That sounds like a pterodactyl,' I told him. 'Yeah ! Yeah !' he agreed excitedly. 'One of those dinosaur birds!'"

Kenton, Ohio, Pterosaur Sighting

" . . . in June of 2010, a lady reported a 'pterodactyl' that flew right in front of her car at night. In her own words, 'I was driving on Route 309, just outside of Kenton, Ohio, . . . I had a creature swoop down and glide over my hood of my car. It glided smoothly and looked like a Pterodactyl, . . . it smoothly flew into a thick area of trees . . . I could see almost the bones in its wings but I did NOT see feathers at all.'"