Flying Monsters in Texas

Although some eyewitnesses use the word "pterodactyl" or the phrase "flying dinosaur," another expression has come up: "flying monsters." In Texas, these featherless flying creatures themselves come up more often than news headlines would suggest, for eyewitnesses are reluctant to report sightings and news professionals may be reluctant to take seriously what is reported.

Teachers as Eyewitnesses

In San Antonio, Texas, in early 1976, three elementary school teachers were reported to have seen what they called a "pterodactyl" that swooped down just above the cars they were driving. The wingspan was estimated at 15-20 feet, and one teacher said that the creature had huge bony wings like a bat's.

Northeast Texas Sighting of 1995

According to the eyewitness, Aaron Tullock, “This thing flew over my head, about eight feet off the ground, and stopped and hovered in mid air . . . by flapping its featherless, bat-like wings, which were about four feet in span, maybe five. It had a tail about three feet long, with the . . . flange on the end . . . no head crest and no feathers at all, although there was kind of a longish bump on the back of the head. . . .”

Marfa Lights

Much has been written about Marfa Lights lately, about their resemblance to the mysterious flying lights of Papua New Guinea. Still, it deserves a brief note here. The mystery lights (called "ML" by the author James Bunnell), meaning the lights that cannot be explained away as common phenomena, have been observed in this area of southwest Texas for generations.

Do not let the 2004 investigation, the four-night study by students, confuse the issue. The Wikipedia reference to this brief investigation is itself brief, and it does not actually disprove the mysterious nature of what are called "mystery lights." It only showed that for four consecutive nights the lights seen near Marfa were made by car headlights. But true Marfa Lights only are seen a few times per year, and they differ from the appearance of car headlights.

I believe, but am not certain, that Marfa Lights are made by bioluminescent nocturnal flying predators that are related to the long-tailed pterosaurs in Papua New Guinea.

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