A problem with pterosaur-no, unknown-bat-yes
Duane Hodgkinson was interviewed for the "
Flying Monsters" episode of
MonsterQuest, which was broadcast in the United States in early
June, 2009. But since much of the MonsterQuest production involved their own expedition, on New Britain Island (in Papua New Guinea),
limited time was available for interviews. That was too bad, for Hodgkinson's sighting may have been the most significant one of the
20th Century.
The MonsterQuest episode did mention a head crest on the "flying Monster" that some persons believe is a living
pterosaur; Hodgkinson is one of the eyewitnesses who have seen a head crest. But the show did not reveal an important detail
about this veteran's sighting: The creature had a tail "at least" ten-to-fifteen feet long.
Also, the "Flying Monsters"
episode failed to mention Hodgkinson's own estimate for the wingspan of the "pterodactyl" he had seen: similar to the wingspan of
a Piper Tri-Pacer airplane (a little less than 30 feet).
Both the size-estimate and the long tail would have refuted the conclusion
that the show's producers seemed anxious to make: The creature may be some
unknown bat. The
bat-explanation would have been ludicrous
if some of these details had been included in "Flying Monsters."
It seems that the production objection was to downplay any pterosaur
possibility; the best way to do this seemed to them to do everything possible to make viewers think "bat." But for those who know
details involving
live-pterosaur investigations, "bat" is still ludicrous.
Duane Hodgkinson, in 1944, in Papua
New Guinea, saw a "pterodactyl." This World War II
veteran has been interviewed by several
American
living-pterosaur investigators, including Jonathan Whitcomb and Garth Guessman. He was interviewed for a 2009 episode
of MonsterQuest.
Composite sketch of the ropen, similar
Hodgkinson (1944) near Finschhafen
