Friday, June 6, 2008

Things with Wings....

....are in the news again.

7 comments:

cryptidsrus said...

Good thing that we have a Thunderbird "flap" again...

Wish there would be more sightings.

Hopefully photos will be out soon.

Nick Redfern said...

C:

I'd like to see someone do a definitibe article on mystery bird/thunderbird/pterodactyl type photos - both to try and resolve what they might show, sort out the hoaxes from what might be real, and make it the ultimate resource tool for such imagery.

cryptidsrus said...

Agree with you, Nick...

Hopefully, IF there is such a thing as a Thunderbird, the apparent change in their migratory patterns would make them more "public" and facilitate what you are saying.

Wish people would get a 35mm... (which most people won't get, of course). Harder to "fake" 35mm, as far as I know. Can't accuse one of "photoshopping."

It would also be good if these things were managed to be filmed next to a tree or telephone pole or something like that to get a size estimate. People can so easily overestimate size.

All in all, good thing Thunderbirds are in people's radars again...

Gummerfan said...

My problem with Thunderbirds and other winged mysteries, is that there's hardly ever a photo, and in most cases there's nothing to hint at size or scale.
Without a good photo of a giant winged cryptid on the ground, all statements regarding their size are based solely on eyewitness testimony, and it's been my experience that people in general are lousy at estimating distance, size, and especially altitude.
I once had a turkey buzzard emerge from behind a hedgerow and fly right over my head. Intellectually, I know the wingspan was 6-8ft, max. But at the time, it looked to me like 15 feet at least. The thing was coming right toward me at low altitude, so it looked freakin' huge!

Nick Redfern said...

Gummerfan:
Yeah, I think that is one of the biggest problems with the whole "big bird" angle is in trying to get a perspective on the size of the thing. It's very easy, I think, to over-calculate something to where it seems beyond normal.
That said, however, I do believe there are some reports that seem truly anomalous in terms of size.

Gummerfan said...

Yep. I'm not saying I don't believe the reports, or in the big flying things' existence, just that hard evidence is difficult to come by.

Nick Redfern said...

G:
Agreed. And I think the even bigger problem is that because these things are flying, without a camera it becomes very difficult to track movements etc.