DINOSAURS ALIVE?
TRUTH OR JURASSIC QUIRK?
by Michel Archer
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On his website, Mr. Derek Gilbert posted the list of dinosaur sightings appearing at the end of this article. He also posed the question, "Can any of them be true?"

As a creationist, my response would have to be that it is certainly possible.

Part of the problem is that as soon as children are old enough to crawl through the library, they are quickly introduced to to an ill-defined word: extinct. Try it yourself. Go to the children's section of your local library and find a picture book about dinosaurs. That book will endeavor to teach two main ideas about the creatures: 1) that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago and 2) that none exist at all today because they are EXTINCT. Gone forever!

Dr. Kent Hovind addresses this topic quite well in his children's video. He asks the group of assembled youngsters about a dinosaur book he is reading from. Quote: "...this man says dinosaurs are extinct. Does he know that or does he think that? (many calls of, "He thinks that!" Hovind continues...) "...That's right because unless he's looked under every rock and in every ocean, how can he be sure?"

Of course, the coelacanth comes to mind. For years good scientists used the fossilized remains of this lobe-finned fish to to determine the age of other fossils. I can hear it now..

"...Ah, yes, a shark fossil in the same strata as a coelacanth....therefore this particular shark must have died 65 million years ago..."

And predictions continued on there merry way like that until about fifty years ago when schools of this 'dinosaur fish' were discovered swimming around the Indian Ocean.

We would be far more accurate defining 'extinct' as 'extremely rare,' because more than one species has miraculously re-appeared from official extinction. When you think about it, to declare something 'gone forever' is rather arrogant and heaven forbid science should ever be arrogant.

But why would dinosaurs still be around? Why on earth did God even make such huge creatures?

The conditions of the pre-flood world were quite different from what we have today. From the Biblical record and physical evidence, one can draw a picture of a world conducive to flourishing, massive growth of both plants and animals. Creation scientists have long theorized the existence of a vapor canopy which would have blocked the sun's dangerous radiation; we know the oxygen content of the air was at least twice what it is today and that quite possibly the very air pressure was doubled. If this was true, there should be fossilized remains of huge plants, and that is certainly the case. Fossils of maple leaves measuring 24 inches across have been discovered along with common fern leaves 18 inches wide. The plant life was so big dinosaurs would have been required just to keep the grass mowed.

It is incredible to me, that there are Christians who have trouble believing Noah could have taken dinosaurs on the ark, but I don't see a problem. Ken Ham, Kent Hovind and many others have suggested a most logical solution: Noah was smart enough to take babies dinosaurs with him. Given that the egg of a brachiosaur was smaller than an ostrich egg, baby dino's would have been more than manageable. And if they were cold-blooded creatures and Noah found a cool spot on the ark for them, they would have curled up and slept the entire voyage.

But once the voyage was over, dinosaurs especially would have found themselves in an envioronment not favorable to them at all. Many died and a number of them died out completely. The rest became known as 'dragons' and were killed in acts of self-defense and bravery. So their numbers continued to dwindle until people lived their entire lives having never seen one. But in jungle area's and in the ocean, a few could have very easily survived. The Indians of Icca Peru were making textbook perfect drawings of dinosaurs a mere 500 years ago. Loch Ness alone has over 29,000 reports of a pleisiosaur-like creature living in its depths. And as Derek's list shows all around the world, people have looked into the waters or across sparsely habited lands and sometimes seen strange creatures looking back.

Are they all hoaxes? I'm sure a number are, but people have definitely been seeing SOMETHING and that something could very well be described as a dinosaur....or better yet, Dragon. What do you think?


South America
The Madidi Monster
A sauropod dinosaur-like creature has been rumored from the Amazonian jungle for a long time.

Other South American Dinosaurs
In South America there have been several reports of Iguanodons. I don’t know what to make of these reports, but Kyle Whitney has proposed that they are actually of the terror bird Titanis, a large carnivorous flightless bird that had grasping hands for catching prey.
Another account, by a man named Harold Westin in 1931, mentions a 20-foot long animal like a “legged boa constrictor.” This description is a lot like the Nguma-Monene, reported from Africa. Could it have a South American relative? In a Cherokee Indian legend from North Carolina, there is also a legged snake.
There are also reports of Pterosaurs in South America. One account states that 50 passengers on a jetliner saw a pterosaur with a 20-foot wingspan flying over the jungle. Another report states that some Indians identified a Pteranodon as the animal that rampaged through their village the week before.
Some pterosaurs have also been reported in North America, so if the pterosaurs exist in South America, they may occasionally fly north.
There are also reported Allosaurus sightings in Bolivia.

Asia
The Buru
The Buru is a strange creatue that was said to inhabit the Apu Tanis valley in Nepal. It is described as a reptile 15 feet long, with a triangular-shaped head and four fang-like teeth. The Buru also had heavily clawed feet and a powerful tail with a row of spines down the back. The color was mottled-blue with a white underbelly.

The Chinese Pterodactyls
A student in China, Yu Chou Wong, told GUST expedition leader Jan-Ove Sundberg in late 2001 that in the village of Yangshou 2 pterosaurs were found lying unconscious in a field after a storm. The creatures were described as having leathery skin, bat-like wings 30 feet wide and were brown to black in color. The villagers shut the dragons up in a barn. One villager opened up the barn and one of the dragons flew out. The other supposedly remains there.

Oceania
New Guinea
Papua New Guinea is remote, and much of it is inaccessible. The mountains are covered with jungle, and recently a new species of tree Kangaroo was discovered there. In 1954, aircraft discovered many new tribes with an estimated population of 100,000. Many of these tribes are still in the Stone Age in technology. There are several other cryptids besides dinosaurs and pterosaurs reported there, including the Gazeka, which is a giant marsupial grazer, and giant funnel-web spiders seen by soldiers fighting in World War II and others.

The Ropen
The most famous New Guinea dinosaur is the Ropen (“Demon flyer”). The Ropen is described as a having a long beak filled with sharp teeth, leathery bat-like wings, a 3-4 foot wingspan, 2 sharp claws and a long tail with a diamond-shaped flange on the end. The natives say the Ropen is agressive, and will snatch fish from fishermen’s nets. The Ropen spends the day several caves in Rambunzo, Rambutyo, Manus, Umboi and Good Enough Island in the Bismarck Archapelago. The Ropen has also been reported from the Solomon Islands.
The natives say the Ropen glows in the dark, this could be because bioluminescent bacteria stich to it. The Ropen apparently eats fish, and its bioluminescent capabilities would help in catching them. It is also said to have attacked native funeral gatherings while western missionaries were present.
Carl Baugh of the Creation Evidences Museum in Glen Rose, Texas, has gone on two expeditions in search of the Ropen. Baugh has actually observed a living Ropen at a distance through a monocular night scope. Bill Gibbons and Carl Baugh have now pinpointed the exact caves where the Ropen is said to live, and Baugh has a permit from the New Zealand government to take up to 4 Ropens back to the USA for study.

The Duah
The Duah (“demon flyer”) is a strange animal much like the Ropen reported from the Papua New Guinea mainland. The Duah is described as having leathery wings with a span of 25 feet, a long toothless beak, a backwards-pointing head crest and and 2 powerful claws. The Duah is said to be extremely dangerous and is much feared by the tribespeople. The Duah also exhibits a bioluminescent glow.

Australia
Most of Australia is a vast desert, explored only by satellite and aircraft. Much of it is closed to the public, and hardly anyone goes there anyways. Much of it is remote, and may harbor unknown animals. Most of the dinosaurs reported in Australia are aboriginal legends of creatures that are now extinct.

The Burrunjor and the Arnhem Rex
There is an aboriginal legend of a frightening creature called the Burrunjor. The Burrunjor is said to be bipedal and have 2 short, almost useless arms - a good description of a carnivorous theropod.

The Kulta
The Kulta is a creature in Aboriginal legends described as a long-necked animal with a long tail and four legs. The Kulta lived in swamps and ate plants. Unfortunately, the Aborigines say that the swamps dried up and all the Kultas died. The interior of Australia is now desert, of course.

The Gauarge
The Gauarge is said to be a semi-aquatic animal that looks like a featherless Emu. The Gauarge is said to drag into a whirlpool anyone who bathes in its water hole.

Europe
That dinosaurs are still alive in Europe is extremely unlikely, and the existing reports are probably fake. But there have been many reports of dinosaurs in Europe in the past. There is not enough space here to go over the various dragon legends, but two will be mentioned here. There are also a few reports from the 20th century.

The Belua
An ancient account, translated by Geoffery of Monmouth, states that a reptilian monster called the Belua ate Mordivus, King of the Britons in 336 AD. The creature is said to have “gulped down the body of Mordivus as a big fish swallows a little one.” No living reptile in Britain could do that, and large lizards or crocodiles could not survive there. But a warm-blooded dinosaur such as Tyrannosaurus could.

The Sudbury Dragon
“Close to the town of Bures, near Sudbury, there has lately appeared, to the great hurt of the countryside, a dragon, vast in body, with a crested head, teeth like a saw, and a tail extending to an enormous length. Having slaughtered the shepherd of a flock, it devoured many sheep. “
Local archers tried to kill the animal but failed: “In order to destroy him, all the country people were summoned. But when the dragon saw that he was again to be assailed with arrows, he fled into a marsh or mere and there hid himself among the long reeds, and was no more seen.”
The above account happened in 1405 in Britain, and accurately describes the dinosaur Dilophosaurus, which was 20 feet long and had a head crest. Dilophosaurus was a carnivore, and had razor-sharp teeth.

The Sraheens Lough Monster
Sraheens Lough is situated on Achill Island, off the west coast of Ireland. The Sraheens Lough is probably an extinct volcano, and the “monster” is described as having dark-brown skin and a swan-like neck. The creature is said to be like the dinosaur Coelophysis in shape, and moves like a kangaroo. Similar creatures have been seen elsewhere on Achill Island, including Glendarry Lough. The animal will eat sheep.

North America
Our last continent is North America. Most of North America has been thoroughly explored, and there are probably no dinosaurs here, but, of course that does not stop people from saying that they saw them.

The Mountain Boomer
The Mountain Boomer was first mentioned in an article by Jimmy Ward. It is said to be about 5-6 feet tall and have a greenish or brownish color. The animal had long back legs and short front ones. The Mountain Boomer is said to inhabit the Big Bend region of Texas.

The Colorado River Lizards
This brings us to our last bipedal lizard report, from Colorado. This is by far the biggest case. The creature is described as a bipedal lizard 3 feet long. The front legs are short and like arms. The creature is usually associated with water.

 

You can reach Michel Archer at: Michele501@msn.com

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