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20th Century Dinosaurs... Page 44

Anecdotal Evidence for the Continued Existence of Bi-pedal Dinosaurs

It's certainly possible that some of the creatures carried aboard the ark which are now called dinosaurs still exist. If so, it should be easier to believe that their species survived the global flood--than the 40 million years science claims for their extinction.

One recurrent description of bi-pedal dinosaur-like creatures is that they resemble kangaroos or in some cases, giant kangaroos. Are the sightings of these kangaroo-like creatures actually bi-pedal dinosaurs?

Killer Kangaroo?

Tennessee, 1934: During mid-January of 1934, an atypical kangaroo was reported to have killed and partially devoured several animals, including German shepherd dogs.

One witness, Reverend W. J. Hancock, described the animal as looking like a large kangaroo, running and leaping across a field. Another witness, Frank Cobb, soon found more evidence of the kangaroo’s activities: a dismembered alsatian.

A search party followed the kangaroo's prints to a cave, where the trail ran out. The kangaroo was never found.

There have been recent attempts to label the story as a hoax by the late Horace N. Minnis, of the Chattanooga Times. However, Minnis was not a newspaper correspondent for the area at that time.

Colorado river mini-t-rex. Click Photo to read that story.

"Dinosaur" Sightings in Cortez Colorado?

It may sound almost beyond belief. Don't miss a Special Report Monday and Wednesday on KSL 5 Eyewitness News at 10 p.m.

November 4, 2002 News Specialist John Hollenhorst reporting

It's astounding -- if it's true. But, is it true?

Recently, reports have surfaced of several strange sightings of a bizarre "mystery lizard."

Witnesses in Colorado, near the Utah border, say believe it or not, it looks like a small dinosaur!

As we learned in the Washington, D.C. sniper investigation, eyewitness reports can be be problematic. Sometimes fraudulent. Often deeply mistaken. ALWAYS incomplete.

But, you simply have to hear what witnesses around Cortez, Colorado are saying about the mystery lizard.

Is something out there?

Is there something bizarre that shows itself only once in a while to a few astounded human beings?

"It was a Jurassic Park flashback. I mean I was -- I couldn't believe it," says Shannon Ystesund.

Ystesund and a girlfriend were driving down this road the night of July 5. She says a creature ran in front of the headlights, a very big lizard, nearly vertical, running on its hind legs.

"We were, you know, freaked out. Immediately we thought it was some kind of dinosaur or a huge lizard. So we came home," she says.

"They just walked in and they were real excited and they said, 'we just saw a little dinosaur run across the road,'" says Ystesund's husband, Keith.

"Looked like the little dinosaurs in Jurassic Park that surrounded everybody in the tall grass fields," says Shannon.

This lady gives only her first name, Bea, because she's been reluctant to go public with her story.

"Yes, I have, because people think you're nuts," Bea says. "Like a miniature dinosaur, you know. That would be as close as I can come to describing it. And I've never seen anything like it."

Independent researcher Nick Sucik says he's collected eight such stories in the Four Corners area. A mother and daughter told him they were driving down this road a couple of years ago and saw a creature run through their headlights.

"They were both stunned, and I asked 'how did you feel about it?' They said they just burst out laughing hysterically because it was the most absurd thing they'd ever seen," Sucik said.

It's tempting to give it a cutesy name, like the Rock Ness Monster, or the Lizard of Oz-some Proportions. But that's a little off-target. It doesn't seem to be all that big. Three to three-and-a-half feet high, witnesses say. Roughly five feet long measured nose to tail. Sucik avoids using the d-word: "Dinosaur".

"I'm sure there's got to be some sort of more plausible explanation for something like this, and yet at the same time we're stumped as to what it could be," he says. "Sightings like this almost always turn out to be something other than what folks think they are," says Scott Sampson with the Utah Museum of Natural History.

Dinosaur expert Sampson says there is something easily mistaken for a dinosaur. "Birds are dinosaurs in the truest sense of the word." Imagine a bigger version of this: perhaps an escaped Ostrich or Emu, seen suddenly and briefly under poor viewing conditions.

"It could well be a road-runner or some other kind of bird, and it could be a perception, a distance problem making them look a little bit bigger than they are," says Sampson.

Witnesses are emphatic they didn't see a bird. Or feathers.

Jeff Thulin runs a tourist stop called Reptile Reserve. He says he's heard the baby dinosaur stories for years. He's skeptical but not ruling it out.

"I'd like to be associated with a dinosaur. If someone could catch something, I'd pay good money for it," Thulin says. The description does fit foreign critters like the Monitor Lizard. And locally, the Collared Lizard, although that's only just over a foot high.

The sightings date back to the 1930s. But the new burst of interest makes at least one skeptic, extra-skeptical. More on that Wednesday night on Eyewitness News at 10:00 p.m.

REPTOIDS SPOTTED IN NORTHERN CHILE?

The Star (Iquique) 4 August 2004, Tranlation; Scott Corrales

Strange creatures described as "dinosaur-like" and standing 2 meters (6 feet, 6 inches) tall have been seen in recent weeks in Pampa Acha, a small town 17 kilometers (10 miles) from the city of Arica in northern Chile.

The "two strange creatures, described as small dinosaurs and with a physical appearance similar to that of a kangaroo, were reported by the occupants of a Terrano pickup truck between Iquique and Arica on Thursday night," July 30, 2004.

"The vehicle's driver, Dario Riquelme, was traveling in the company of (Chilean) Army official Hernan Cuevas, his wife and two young children. According to his account, the situation which left the family rather nervous and confused at 9:30 p.m. that evening.

The event took place in the Pampa Acha sector, only a few moments before passing" the barrio "Presencias Tutelares, 17 kilometers south of Arica."

"Riquelme and his party left Iquique," just south of Chile's border with Peru "at 6 p.m. They were only a few minutes away from Arica and were holding a normal conversation when something strange darted in front of the vehicle."

Graphic associated with witness descriptions in Chilean versions of this story.

"My companion said, 'Look at that tremendous beast!' and I managed to hit the brakes. Then, after a few minutes, the second one ambled past, and it was even more startling because it was just like a dinosaur, walking on two legs. It had very noticeable thighs,' Riquelme said."

"According to the driver's description, the figures were grey and hairless. The second one, which crossed a few minutes later, was clearly seen by Riquelme, Hernan Cuevas and his 12-year-old daughter, Tania.

They estimated the creatures' height at 2 meters (6 feet, 6 inches), thanks to the fact that the beasts' distance from the vehicle at the moment it crossed was not more than 4 meters (13 feet)."

"In the case of the second 'animal,' they said it was smaller but were able to see it clearly because it was a clear night and there was moonlight. However, what was most remarkable about both creatures was the speed at which they crossed the road and the strides they took."

Riquelme and Cuevas had gone "to Arica to purchase a vehicle...But the strange event caused nervousness among Sr. Cuevas's wife and daughter. 'The good thing is that when they started screaming, my companion and I didn't lose control and kept calm.

Later we stopped to smoke a cigarette and walked around. From there I descended (drove--J.T.) calmly to Arica, but I'm still nervous,' explains the driver, who contacted (the Chilean newspaper) La Estrella (The Star) immediately after reaching the city."

"Riquelme's account coincides with that of Hernan Cuevas, who is a recruiting officer with the Army."

"'When the first crossing occurred, I asked Dario if he had seen it, and he said yes. Then we started making comments as to what it might have been. Shortly after, another one walked by, shorter, but very similar to a dinosaur or a lizard running on two legs.

Even my eldest daughter saw it and let out a scream,' Cuevas said."

"Twelve-year-old Tania stated that the creatures were very similar to a dinosaur and had small hands."

"Meanwhile, Sra. Cuevas almost didn't realize what was going on because she was paying attention to the couple's younger child, who was asleep."

"Neither Riquelme nor Cuevas had ever experienced a similar situation and would not even compare it with descriptions of other creatures, such as the alleged Chupacabras that attack and exsanguinate (drain of blood-- J.T.) animals in their fields. But they still have not managed to find an explanation for what they saw Thursday night."

"A new report involving the sighting of strange animals in the Pampa Acha sector was made known" Monday, August 2, 2004, "and coincides almost exactly with the one described Thursday by driver Dario Riquelme."

"The case involves the six members of the Abett de la Torre Diaz family, who live at Fuerte Baquedano, in the community of Pozo Almonte. All of them were traveling from their home to Arica two weeks ago, and, as they crossed the Pampa Acha sector, less than 20 kilometers (13 miles) from the city, near Presencias Tutelares, they were faced with four creatures they described at first as 'dog- faced kangaroos' that moved slowly through the air."

"The event occurred at approximately 9 p.m. and left almost all of the family's members traumatized. The family consisted of Carlos Abett de la Torre, a (Chilean) Army non-commissioned officer, his wife Teresa (Diaz), their three children and a three-year-old nephew."

"I was traveling in the back seat with my brothers, talking, and suddenly everything went dark. Then I told my brother what I was seeing, and he told me to keep quiet because Mom gets nervous. Later I looked through the window and saw more things that looked like birds, with dogs' heads and backswept wings.

My father said they were like gargoyles,' explained Carmen Abett de la Torre, the couple's daughter."

"Carmen added that she wasn't sure if the creatures had wings or legs, but then they moved them toward the rear. The height of the animals was calculated at 2 meters. Two of the beings flew over the vehicle; another two appeared, but this time darting in front of the vehicle."

"'We were speechless for some 10 minutes, and my Mom told us to react, and then we started discussing what we had seen.'"

"Teresa Diaz, Carmen's mother, was traveling in the front passenger seat beside her husband and was the one who saw the creature the clearest. Her impression was that these animals were moving slowly over the car first and then in front of it. However, they appeared to match the vehicle's speed, which was 100 kilometers per hour (60 miles per hour--J.T.)."

"The situation caused such nervousness among the whole family that all they wanted to do was get to Arica and forget the traumatic incident. Once in the city, they told their relatives what had happened."

"'Then we were terrified to go back,' Teresa added, with regard to the day they were getting ready to return to their home in Fuerte Baquedano."

"At the time of the strange encounter, the moonlight provided certain visibility, which as well as the similar (Riquelme) case made known last week, enabled the beast to be clearly seen. Furthermore, the animals did not go any further than 20 meters (66 feet) from the car in which the Abett de la Torre family was driving.

All of the family members agreed as to what they had seen. They were startled and nervous as a result of the sighting. None of them went public for fear of ridicule and mockery."

"Carabinero (Chilean national police--J.T.) members of the Cuya barracks stated that until now no one had approached them to report a similar event. However, they had heard of strange creatures being witnessed in the Pampa Acha sector from third parties.

In any event, they added that they constantly patrol the road near the sector where the incident occurred." (See the Chilean newspaper La Estrella of Arica for August 1, 2004, "Strange creatures reported in Pampa Acha," and for August 3, 2004, "More strange creatures reported in Acha." Muchas gracias a Scott Corrales, Claudio Ojeda y Liliana Nunez para estos articulos de diario.)

Aboriginal Sightings

The myths and legends of the Aboriginal people, including their accounts of the creation of the world, are known as the Dreamtime. Such stories feature monsters, of whom many are mythological.

Others, however, may have reference to real creatures, the Aborigines even insisting on their past ‘flesh-and-blood’ existence.

Some of them are reminiscent of animals regarded as prehistoric, which supposedly became extinct tens of thousands, or even millions of years ago.

Aboriginal drawing of a"bunyip".

Aborigines did not keep written records - their knowledge and traditions were passed orally from one generation to the next. Such oral traditions tend not to last more than a few hundred years without being distorted out of recognition. This would suggest that some of these animals may have still been living in Australia some two to three hundred years ago, or even more recently.

Such a conclusion may surprise many, but it would explain why documented encounters with similar monsters post-date the time of European settlement.

THE GEELONG BUNYIP

For instance, the Geelong Advertiser, of Victoria, Australia, reported in July, 1845 about the finding of unfossilised bone forming park of the knee joint of some gigantic animal. The paper reported showing it to a local Aboriginal person. He identified it immediately as a ‘bunyip’ bone, and unhesitatingly drew the picture reproduced left.

When the bone was shown to other Aboriginal people who ‘had no opportunity of communicating with each other’, they all instantly recognised the bone and the picture as being of a ‘bunyip’, a common word in some Aboriginal languages for a frightening monster.

They gave detailed, consistent accounts of where a few people they had known had been killed by one of these. The creature was said to be amphibious, laid eggs, and from the descriptions, appeared to combine ‘the characteristics of a bird and an alligator’ - I.e. a bipedal reptile. (Note that no crocodiles or alligators are found in Australia except in the far north - Geelong is deep in the south).

One of the Aboriginals, named Mumbowran, showed ‘several deep wounds on his breast made by the claws of the animal’.

The description and sketch certainly fits well with some form of bipedal dinosaur.

A large number of Aboriginal stories of creatures of possible dinosaurian origin have been collected by Rex Gilroy, an evolutionist. Since we should be cautious about over-reliance on this particular source without independent confirmation, a large number of the ones he describes have been omitted.

However, Burrunjor and Kulta, the accounts of which appear below, also feature in a book by zoologist Karl Shuker.

BURRUNJOR Extending from the Northern Territory’s Arnhem Land east through the Gulf of Carpentaria to Queensland’s Cape York district is the story of ‘Burrunjor’. The description is reminiscent of an Allosaurus, a smaller version of the well-known Tyrannosaurus.

In 1950, cattlemen on the border between the Northern Territory and Queensland claimed losing stock to a strange beast which left mutilated, half-eaten corpses in its destructive wake.

A part-Aboriginal tracker also claimed to have seen a bipedal reptile, 7 - 8 metres (25 feet) tall, moving through the scrub near Lagoon Creek on the Gulf Coast in 1961.

Some parts of northern Australia’s vastness are still little explored, and large areas of it are closed to public access. Perhaps some creatures unknown to science are still to be found there. That this is possible was shown a few years back when a tree, the Wollemi Pine, was found in a national park in New South Wales.

Scientists said it was ‘like finding a small dinosaur’. The tree is known from its fossils in ‘dinosaur age’ rock, but the fossils are not found in any of the layers above. Unlike the animal, a tree cannot run away and hide, yet this tree was completely unknown to science till recently.

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