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Umboi Island, Tawa Village, Finschhafen, Salamaua--these are classic sighting areas known to ropen researchers. In Morobe
Province, Papua New Guinea, a hot spot for these apparent pterosaurs, not only natives but foreigners have seen
these giants: apparent Rhamphorhynchoid (long-tailed) pterosaurs. But don't think that a casual tourist visit will reward
you with a pterodactyl sighting. These are still somewhat rare and obviously nocturnal. The daylight sightings by Gideon Koro,
Duane Hodgkinson, and Brian Hennessy were exceptions: lucky (or terrifying) encounters with giants that usually fly at night.
Still, it's the sightings of giant long-tailed pterosaurs that attract attention.
In about 1994, seven boys, aged about ten to fourteen, climbed up to the crater lake near their village (Pung is one
of the larger crater lakes on Umboi Island). Within a few minutes, a giant ropen flew down to the lake flying about thirty
meters above the surface. The terrified boys ran home, but they looked at the ropen long enough to see its long tail with
a "diamond" on it. This may have been a tail flange, similar to those found on some Rhamphorhynchoid fossils. Three of the
seven boys (now young men) were interviewed and videotaped in 2004 by Whitcomb.
Late in 2006, Paul Nation arrived at a remote mountainous area on the mainland of Papua New Guinea. After waiting for
a night without rain, he was rewarded with a number of sightings of the luminous creatures. Although they were too
far away to discern shapes or features, two of the closer lights were videotaped by Nation.
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The first three ropen expeditions, in the 1990's, resulted in many interviews
with eyewitnesses, but little else. Nevertheless, the pioneers deserve attention: Carl Baugh, Paul Nation, and Jim Blume.
The two expeditions of 2004 involved three newcomers: Jonathan Whitcomb, David Woetzel, and Garth Guessman; the two interpreters, Luke Kenda and Jacob
Kepas, made significant contributions.
The 2006 expedition by Paul Nation resulted in the first video footage
of ropen lights (although the creatures are called "indava" in the new area where Nation explored). This footage was
analyzed by a physicist who declared that, although no form could be distinguished in the video, the two lights were not produced
by hoax, lanterns, car headlights, meteors, camera artifacts, or airplanes. The axiom that they were from bioluminescence
is a valid approach in the investigations.
In early 2007, the Destination Truth expedition team videotaped a flying light, similar to the one videotaped a few weeks
earlier by Paul Nation.
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