Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Papua New Guinea is located at the intersection of Asia and the Pacific, making it one of the largest island nations in the world.
Its excellent rainforest environment, rich biodiversity, and the oral traditions and specific customs among the local Indigenous Peoples have made it a place that many scholars and pioneering explorers flock to, especially due to numerous sightings of suspected surviving prehistoric species.
One such large flying creature is known as the Ropen.
The following information contains unverified elements.
The term "Ropen" originates from the Kohut I Language spoken on Wemboi Island in Papua New Guinea.
This creature is typically described as a large flying being resembling a Pterosaur, with wingspans ranging from 15 to 30 feet or even larger. It has sharp teeth in its beak, wings similar to those of a bat, and a massive bill. Its tail is long, sometimes exceeding its wingspan, and it is entirely featherless.
While Roben, Kongamato, and Olitiau share similar forms, they still exhibit distinct characteristics.
For instance, compared to the Ropen, the Roben is generally described as a nocturnal creature that intermittently glows while flying, possibly to attract fish.
Rumors suggest that this creature primarily feeds on fish; however, this is not definitive. In most sighting reports, the Roben is portrayed as an extremely aggressive animal that attacks humans. It also displays scavenging behavior, with cases of it seizing human corpses reported.
There are two controversial videos online, recorded in 2008 and 2015 respectively, both claiming to have captured footage of the creature known as Roben or Ropen.
The earliest written account of the Roben likely comes from Evelyn Cheesman, a British entomologist, who documented his expedition experiences in Papua New Guinea in his 1935 book "Two Roads Through Papua."
However, due to the scarcity of this book and the prohibitive prices of second-hand copies, I have not found sufficient comprehensive content. I did manage to locate a few key documents on the Ropen website founded by cryptozoologist Jonathan Whitcomb.
During his exploration, Chiseman witnessed a strange glowing object flying over the jungle. He described the lights as lasting about four to five seconds, moving almost in a horizontal line.
He concluded that this phenomenon could not have been man-made, as the light was clearly above the treetops, resembling something from an animal.
Unfortunately, the locals did not provide any explanation for these lights. To this day, the incident has been attributed to Roben, a gigantic surviving Pterosaur.
In fact, interest in Roben began to grow among scholars and explorers only in the 1990s, and there have been numerous related sightings since then. Below are some notable pieces of information to share.
In 2005, Cryptozoologist Gus Gessman interviewed an American World War II veteran named Duane Hodgkinson. He mentioned that on a day in August 1944, during World War II, when the Japanese forces had already left Papua New Guinea, he and a teammate were granted permission to visit a local village as weather observers for field artillery.
While passing through a clearing near Stone Harbor, they suddenly heard a loud noise coming from the nearby bushes. He then saw a large creature resembling a bird awkwardly lift off from the ground, circling as it flew away but soon returning over the clearing.
Before it flew out of their sight, the creature presented a perfect side profile. Hodgkinson quickly realized it was not a bird because it was far too large; its tail alone measured between 10 to 15 feet.
Its wingspan resembled that of a specific type of aircraft with tricycle landing gear, approximately 29 feet wide, and it had a long neck with an elongated head crest on the back of its head.
In the interview video, what he described perfectly matched the image of a Pterosaur. However, he admitted that he did not observe closely enough due to his focus on the features of the creature's tail.
The year 2004 marked a crucial point in this narrative.
That year, two expedition teams set out to Wemboi Island, the source of the Roben legend, in search of clues. The first team was led by Cryptozoologist Jonathan Whitcomb, as mentioned earlier.
On October 17, a few weeks after the expedition set out, the second team led by explorers David Wozelle and Gus Gessman chose to head to Kapulap on the eastern coast of Papua New Guinea to begin their exploration.
They visited numerous villages and discovered that most of the indigenous people on Wemboi Island had seen a low-flying light that lasted about 5 to 6 seconds. They acknowledged that Roben was a large, long-tailed flying creature.
Whitcomb interviewed three eyewitnesses in the heart of Wemboi—Gideon, Krovilis Klo, and Mesa Augustine.
The three stated that around late 1993 to early 1994, they, along with seven others, encountered the legendary Roben at a place called Crater Lake in the central-western region of Wemboi Island.
What shocked them the most was the creature's enormous size as it flew over the surface of the lake.
Comment 0 Comment Count