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Thunderbirds Of Arizona
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<blockquote data-quote="Opmmur" data-source="post: 53372" data-attributes="member: 13"><p><span style="font-size: 22px"><strong>Thunderbird (cryptozoology)</strong></span></p><p> </p><p>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p><p>Jump to: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#mw-head" target="_blank">navigation</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#p-search" target="_blank">search</a></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Thunderbird_on_Totem_Pole.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Thunderbird_on_Totem_Pole.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Thunderbird_on_Totem_Pole.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://bits.wikimedia.org/static-1.20wmf4/skins/common/images/magnify-clip.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a></p><p>A <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Coast_art" target="_blank">Northwest Coast</a> styled <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwakwaka%27wakw" target="_blank">Kwakwaka'wakw</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totem_pole" target="_blank">totem pole</a> depicting a Thunderbird perched on the top. To Kwakwaka'wakw, different Thunderbirds are ancestors, whom they descend from.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Thunderbird</strong> is a term used in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology" target="_blank">cryptozoology</a> to describe large, bird-like creatures, generally identified with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28mythology%29" target="_blank">Thunderbird</a> of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States" target="_blank">Native American</a> tradition. Similar <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptid" target="_blank">cryptids</a> reported in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_World" target="_blank">Old World</a> are often called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roc_%28mythology%29" target="_blank">Rocs</a>. Thunderbirds are regarded by a small number of researchers as having lizard features like the extinct <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pterosaurs" target="_blank">pterosaurs</a> such as <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pteranodon" target="_blank">Pteranodon</a></em>. Reports of Thunderbird sightings go back centuries,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#cite_note-0" target="_blank">[1]</a> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_record" target="_blank">fossil record</a> does show that giant birds (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teratorn" target="_blank">teratorns</a>) with wingspans between 12 and 18 ft (3.7 and 5.5 m) were likely contemporary with early man. Today the creature is generally regarded as a myth.</p><p> </p><p>This article deals with modern sightings (the last 200 years) of such a creature, reported as real, as opposed to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythological" target="_blank">mythological</a> accounts, though believers in the phenomenon often use the Native American legends in attempts to support their claims.</p><p><span style="font-size: 18px"><strong>Contents</strong></span></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#Early_reports" target="_blank">1 Early reports</a></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#20th_century" target="_blank">2 20th century</a></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#21st_century" target="_blank">3 21st century</a></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#Analysis" target="_blank">4 Analysis</a></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#References" target="_blank">5 References</a></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#See_also" target="_blank">6 See also</a></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#External_links" target="_blank">7 External links</a></li> </ul><p><span style="font-size: 18px"><strong>Early reports</strong></span></p><p> </p><p>There is a story that in April 1890, two <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy" target="_blank">cowboys</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona" target="_blank">Arizona</a> killed a giant birdlike creature with an enormous wingspan. It was said to have had smooth skin, featherless wings like a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat" target="_blank">bat</a> and a face that resembled an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alligator" target="_blank">alligator</a>. This description has some similarity to that of a prehistoric <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pterodactyl" target="_blank">pterodactyl</a>, an animal whose existence was known at the time. They are supposed to have dragged the carcass back to town, where it was pinned with wings outstretched across the entire length of a barn. A picture of this event may have been published in the local newspaper, the <em>Tombstone Epitaph</em>. Cryptozoology.com has an account of this story with the events taking place in the state of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas" target="_blank">Texas</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#cite_note-1" target="_blank">[2]</a></p><p> </p><p>According to Mark Hall, the <em>Epitaph</em> did indeed print a story about the capture of a large, unusual winged creature, on April 26, 1890. Beyond this single story, however, no one has made historic corroboration that this event ever occurred; it is usually considered an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_legend" target="_blank">urban legend</a>. Utterly fictional <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tall_tales" target="_blank">tall tales</a> were not an uncommon feature in newspapers during this era.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#cite_note-ferrum-2" target="_blank">[3]</a></p><p> </p><p>No one has ever produced a copy of the "Thunderbird" photograph, though numerous people, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_T._Sanderson" target="_blank">Ivan T. Sanderson</a> being one of the better known, have made claims to its existence. Sanderson claimed to have once owned a copy of the photo, which vanished after he loaned it to an acquaintance in the 1960s. The television program <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freaky_Links" target="_blank">Freaky Links</a></em> staged a similar photo, giving new life to the "Thunderbird Photograph" legend.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#cite_note-3" target="_blank">[4]</a></p><p> </p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_Clark" target="_blank">Jerome Clark</a> speculates that the description of the basic image in question (men standing alongside a winged creature nailed to a barn), is evocative enough to implant a sort of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_memory" target="_blank">false memory</a>, leading some people to vaguely "remember" seeing the photo at some distant, imprecise time.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#cite_note-Clark-4" target="_blank">[5]</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 18px"><strong>20th century</strong></span></p><p> </p><p>Bigfoot researcher and cryptozoology author <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loren_Coleman" target="_blank">Loren Coleman</a> wrote about a series of thunderbird sightings in the 1940s. On April 10, 1948, three individuals in Overland, Illinois spotted what they originally thought to be a passing plane, but after seeing a large set of flapping wings, they realized this "plane" was something very different. A few weeks later, in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alton,_Illinois" target="_blank">Alton, Illinois</a>, a man and his son saw what they described as an enormous bird creature with a body shaped like a naval torpedo. The creature was flying at at least 500 feet and cast a shadow the same size as a small passenger airplane.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#cite_note-5" target="_blank">[6]</a></p><p> </p><p>Similar sightings around the same time in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis,_Missouri" target="_blank">St. Louis, Missouri</a> prompted residents to write concerned letters to then St. Louis mayor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloys_P._Kaufmann" target="_blank">Aloys P. Kaufmann</a> demanding that the city do something about these reportedly huge birds. The mayor instructed an administrative assistant to set a trap to catch one of the creatures, but when <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_blue_heron" target="_blank">blue heron</a> tracks were discovered on an island in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meramec_River" target="_blank">Meramec River</a>, the mystery was considered solved.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#cite_note-6" target="_blank">[7]</a></p><p> </p><p>There was a spike in Thunderbird sightings in the late twentieth century. On occasion, such reports were accompanied by large footprints or other purported evidence.</p><p> </p><p>Among the most controversial reports is a July 25, 1977 account from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawndale,_Illinois" target="_blank">Lawndale, Illinois</a>. About 9 P.M. a group of three boys were at play in a residential back yard. Two large birds approached, and chased the boys. Two escaped unharmed, but the third boy, ten-year-old Marlon Lowe, did not. One of the birds reportedly clamped his shoulder with its claws, then lifted Lowe about two feet off the ground, carrying him some distance. Lowe fought against the bird, which released him.</p><p> </p><p>Viewed by some as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tall_tale" target="_blank">tall tale</a>, the descriptions given by the witnesses of these birds match that of an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andean_condor" target="_blank">Andean condor</a>: a large black bird, with a white ringed neck and a wingspan up to 10 feet (3 m).<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#cite_note-7" target="_blank">[8]</a> However, an Andean condor's talons are not strong enough to lift heavy objects.[<em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" target="_blank">citation needed</a></em>] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loren_Coleman" target="_blank">Loren Coleman</a> and his brother Jerry interviewed several witnesses after the reported event.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 18px"><strong>21st century</strong></span></p><p> </p><p>In 2002, a sighting of a large birdlike creature, with a wingspan of around 14 feet (4.3 m), was reported in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska" target="_blank">Alaska</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#cite_note-8" target="_blank">[9]</a> The Anchorage Daily News reported witnesses describing the creature like something out of the movie Jurassic Park. Scientists suggested the giant bird may have simply been a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steller%27s_sea_eagle" target="_blank">Steller's sea eagle</a>, which have a wingspan of 6–8 feet (1.8–2.4 m).There had also been previous reports of similar creatures in the same area around that time.</p><p> </p><p>As recently as 2007, sightings have been claimed in the area around <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Antonio,_Texas" target="_blank">San Antonio, Texas</a>.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Opmmur, post: 53372, member: 13"] [SIZE=6][B]Thunderbird (cryptozoology)[/B][/SIZE] From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#mw-head']navigation[/URL], [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#p-search']search[/URL] [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Thunderbird_on_Totem_Pole.jpg'][IMG]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Thunderbird_on_Totem_Pole.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Thunderbird_on_Totem_Pole.jpg'][IMG]https://bits.wikimedia.org/static-1.20wmf4/skins/common/images/magnify-clip.png[/IMG][/URL] A [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Coast_art']Northwest Coast[/URL] styled [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwakwaka%27wakw']Kwakwaka'wakw[/URL] [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totem_pole']totem pole[/URL] depicting a Thunderbird perched on the top. To Kwakwaka'wakw, different Thunderbirds are ancestors, whom they descend from. [B]Thunderbird[/B] is a term used in [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology']cryptozoology[/URL] to describe large, bird-like creatures, generally identified with the [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28mythology%29']Thunderbird[/URL] of [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States']Native American[/URL] tradition. Similar [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptid']cryptids[/URL] reported in the [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_World']Old World[/URL] are often called [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roc_%28mythology%29']Rocs[/URL]. Thunderbirds are regarded by a small number of researchers as having lizard features like the extinct [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pterosaurs']pterosaurs[/URL] such as [I][URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pteranodon']Pteranodon[/URL][/I]. Reports of Thunderbird sightings go back centuries,[URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#cite_note-0'][1][/URL] and the [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_record']fossil record[/URL] does show that giant birds ([URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teratorn']teratorns[/URL]) with wingspans between 12 and 18 ft (3.7 and 5.5 m) were likely contemporary with early man. Today the creature is generally regarded as a myth. This article deals with modern sightings (the last 200 years) of such a creature, reported as real, as opposed to [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythological']mythological[/URL] accounts, though believers in the phenomenon often use the Native American legends in attempts to support their claims. [SIZE=5][B]Contents[/B][/SIZE] [LIST] [*][URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#Early_reports']1 Early reports[/URL] [*][URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#20th_century']2 20th century[/URL] [*][URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#21st_century']3 21st century[/URL] [*][URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#Analysis']4 Analysis[/URL] [*][URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#References']5 References[/URL] [*][URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#See_also']6 See also[/URL] [*][URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#External_links']7 External links[/URL] [/LIST] [SIZE=5][B]Early reports[/B][/SIZE] There is a story that in April 1890, two [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy']cowboys[/URL] in [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona']Arizona[/URL] killed a giant birdlike creature with an enormous wingspan. It was said to have had smooth skin, featherless wings like a [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat']bat[/URL] and a face that resembled an [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alligator']alligator[/URL]. This description has some similarity to that of a prehistoric [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pterodactyl']pterodactyl[/URL], an animal whose existence was known at the time. They are supposed to have dragged the carcass back to town, where it was pinned with wings outstretched across the entire length of a barn. A picture of this event may have been published in the local newspaper, the [I]Tombstone Epitaph[/I]. Cryptozoology.com has an account of this story with the events taking place in the state of [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas']Texas[/URL].[URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#cite_note-1'][2][/URL] According to Mark Hall, the [I]Epitaph[/I] did indeed print a story about the capture of a large, unusual winged creature, on April 26, 1890. Beyond this single story, however, no one has made historic corroboration that this event ever occurred; it is usually considered an [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_legend']urban legend[/URL]. Utterly fictional [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tall_tales']tall tales[/URL] were not an uncommon feature in newspapers during this era.[URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#cite_note-ferrum-2'][3][/URL] No one has ever produced a copy of the "Thunderbird" photograph, though numerous people, [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_T._Sanderson']Ivan T. Sanderson[/URL] being one of the better known, have made claims to its existence. Sanderson claimed to have once owned a copy of the photo, which vanished after he loaned it to an acquaintance in the 1960s. The television program [I][URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freaky_Links']Freaky Links[/URL][/I] staged a similar photo, giving new life to the "Thunderbird Photograph" legend.[URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#cite_note-3'][4][/URL] [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_Clark']Jerome Clark[/URL] speculates that the description of the basic image in question (men standing alongside a winged creature nailed to a barn), is evocative enough to implant a sort of [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_memory']false memory[/URL], leading some people to vaguely "remember" seeing the photo at some distant, imprecise time.[URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#cite_note-Clark-4'][5][/URL] [SIZE=5][B]20th century[/B][/SIZE] Bigfoot researcher and cryptozoology author [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loren_Coleman']Loren Coleman[/URL] wrote about a series of thunderbird sightings in the 1940s. On April 10, 1948, three individuals in Overland, Illinois spotted what they originally thought to be a passing plane, but after seeing a large set of flapping wings, they realized this "plane" was something very different. A few weeks later, in [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alton,_Illinois']Alton, Illinois[/URL], a man and his son saw what they described as an enormous bird creature with a body shaped like a naval torpedo. The creature was flying at at least 500 feet and cast a shadow the same size as a small passenger airplane.[URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#cite_note-5'][6][/URL] Similar sightings around the same time in [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis,_Missouri']St. Louis, Missouri[/URL] prompted residents to write concerned letters to then St. Louis mayor [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloys_P._Kaufmann']Aloys P. Kaufmann[/URL] demanding that the city do something about these reportedly huge birds. The mayor instructed an administrative assistant to set a trap to catch one of the creatures, but when [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_blue_heron']blue heron[/URL] tracks were discovered on an island in the [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meramec_River']Meramec River[/URL], the mystery was considered solved.[URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#cite_note-6'][7][/URL] There was a spike in Thunderbird sightings in the late twentieth century. On occasion, such reports were accompanied by large footprints or other purported evidence. Among the most controversial reports is a July 25, 1977 account from [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawndale,_Illinois']Lawndale, Illinois[/URL]. About 9 P.M. a group of three boys were at play in a residential back yard. Two large birds approached, and chased the boys. Two escaped unharmed, but the third boy, ten-year-old Marlon Lowe, did not. One of the birds reportedly clamped his shoulder with its claws, then lifted Lowe about two feet off the ground, carrying him some distance. Lowe fought against the bird, which released him. Viewed by some as a [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tall_tale']tall tale[/URL], the descriptions given by the witnesses of these birds match that of an [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andean_condor']Andean condor[/URL]: a large black bird, with a white ringed neck and a wingspan up to 10 feet (3 m).[URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#cite_note-7'][8][/URL] However, an Andean condor's talons are not strong enough to lift heavy objects.[[I][URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed']citation needed[/URL][/I]] [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loren_Coleman']Loren Coleman[/URL] and his brother Jerry interviewed several witnesses after the reported event. [SIZE=5][B]21st century[/B][/SIZE] In 2002, a sighting of a large birdlike creature, with a wingspan of around 14 feet (4.3 m), was reported in [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska']Alaska[/URL].[URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28cryptozoology%29#cite_note-8'][9][/URL] The Anchorage Daily News reported witnesses describing the creature like something out of the movie Jurassic Park. Scientists suggested the giant bird may have simply been a [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steller%27s_sea_eagle']Steller's sea eagle[/URL], which have a wingspan of 6–8 feet (1.8–2.4 m).There had also been previous reports of similar creatures in the same area around that time. As recently as 2007, sightings have been claimed in the area around [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Antonio,_Texas']San Antonio, Texas[/URL]. [/QUOTE]
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