Kongamato Pterodactyl
A Mystery in Africa
The word “Kongamato” is said to have come from
a native word that means "breaker of boats." Even
though some people believe it is a fictional animal
of myth, some cryptozoologists belief kongamato
is a “pterodactyl,” meaning a pterosaur.
Some reports put this flying creature in the Mwinilunga
district Jiundu swamps of Western Zambia, Angola
and Congo, although sighting reports have come
from various parts of Africa.
The kongamato is sometimes compared with the
ropen of Papua New Guinea or the long-tailed
pterosaur seen in Eastern Cuba in the mid-20th
century. This kind of cryptid has been reported
in many parts of the world, including North
America, Australia, Europe, and Africa.
According to standard models of Western science,
pterosaurs lived long ago, in what is called the “late
Triassic” to the end of the “Cretaceous Period,” that
being thought to have been 65-220 million years ago.
But according to some cryptozoologists, there is no
evidence at all for the extinction of all species of
pterosaurs. That idea that they are all extinct is just
an assumption, not based on any solid evidence.
The kongamato may be related
to the Gitmo pterosaur of Cuba
The U.S. Marine Eskin Kuhn, in 1971, saw
two large long-tailed pterosaurs flying in
daylight, at the Guantanamo Bay military
installation in Cuba. The America crypto-
zoologist Jonathan Whitcomb has named
this cryptid the “Gitmo Pterosaur.”
The American explorer and cryptozoologist
David Woetzel, of New Hampshire, searched
for the Mokele-Mbembe dinosaur in Africa.
In 2004, he searched for the ropen (probably
related to kongamato) in Papua New Guinea
Jonathan Whitcomb, of California, author of
cryptozoology books on living pterosaurs,
compares the kongamato of Africa with the
ropen of Papua New Guinea.
Part of the sketch drawn, by Eskin C. Kuhn,
of the two pterosaurs that he saw in clear
daylight in Cuba, in 1971. He was later inter-
viewed by Jonathan Whitcomb, by phone.
Kongamato Cryptid
African Cryptid Kongamato
Manta Rays and Modern Pterosaurs
Stingray Interpretation for Kongamato
U.N Photos:
Sudan, Africa
Introduction to the Kongamato
Kongamato Misidentified?
Some skeptics have suggested that this flying
creature is just a misidentified bird. One or
two skeptics have even suggested it is just
a Manta Ray or Singray, for those fishes, at
times, can jump out of the water and might
appear to fly.
There are major problems with a gliding-fish
interpretation, however. One skeptic said a
little about two sightings in New Guinea:
the Hodgkinson sighting of 1944 and the
Hennessy sighting of 1971. Details were
entirely absent in this critic’s writing, how-
ever. Neither sighting could have been
from any fish.
The sighting by Duane Hodgkinson was a
significant distance from the coast. The
giant flying creature was nowhere near
any water. Two men, including D.H., saw
the “pterodactyl” running with its feet just
before it took off into the air. It then flew
over the jungle canopy, reappearing soon
afterwards to fly overhead in the opposite
direction. It again flew over jungle canopy,
meaning the flying creature was high up.
The sighting by Brian Hennessy was also
far from the coast. In fact, it was up on a
mountain ridge, flying high overhead. It
was, like the Hodgkinson “pterodactyl,”
a “prehistoric” looking creature that had
a long tail but no sign of feathers.
Pterosaurs
According to the blog Live Pterodactyl:
“Walking from one mud-brick hut to another, early one
night in 1988 (in Sudan, Africa), the boy noticed some-
thing on the roof of a nearby hut. Lit up by the patio light,
perched on the edge of the roof, the creature appeared
to be four-to-five feet tall . . . and leathery (no feathers).
A “long bone looking thing” stuck out the back of its head,
and its long tail somehow resembled that of a lion.”
Sudan Pterosaur
According to the blog The Bible and Modern Pterosaurs:
“It was on a . . . morning just having finished breakfast,
~10:00, late April/early May 2011 . . . I was sitting in the
garden . . . when I saw a large bird gliding, moving its
wings very, very slowly, very much as we see raptors or
eagles do when they circle in the air scanning the land for
prey. I paid attention to the wings as it would allow for
identification – but this bird did not have any feathers,
at least not any spread primary feathers (as eagles often
show). It looked more like a large bat. . . .
“The wings span was about double the distance of beak-
tip to end-of-tail. I cannot remember details of the tail, but
thought that two legs and a strange looking longer tail or
appendix were visible, parallel to one another. . . .
“The eyewitness estimated the wingspan, but I’m not yet
sure what he means by “wingspan,” for he mentioned the
planes flying overhead as having wingspans of ”5-7 metres.”
That seems too small a wing-tip-towing-tip for even the
smallest private planes, so I assume he meant the length
of one wing. At any rate, he estimated the flying creature
had a wingspan about half of that of the airplanes he sees
flying overhead; it was a large flying creature.
Namibia, Africa, Pterosaur