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