Brown Jenkin
First Post
Its a bird
Its a plane
No its .....
Its a plane
No its .....
[OT] Giant bird spotted off Alaska
- Thread starter Krug
- Start date
Emiricol
Registered User
True, but not many and most are merely missing steps in the chain - and since we are still finding NEW species fossils all the time, I can forgive that for the other 99% in which it appeares true. Plus that's a really controversial subject due to XXligeon.
A much more relevant (and less controversial) example might be the meteor theory (when I was a kid it was considered fantasy, and now presumed to be at the least the key factor in a rapid chain of events, if not the outright cause); continental plates (not that long ago this too was thought to be fantasy); supervolcanos (now proven to exist); the round earth (at times thought to be flat, despite early greek proofs to the contrary); the loss of Sodom in the bible (now shown to be in fact possible based on the description given)
The list goes on and on.
A much more relevant (and less controversial) example might be the meteor theory (when I was a kid it was considered fantasy, and now presumed to be at the least the key factor in a rapid chain of events, if not the outright cause); continental plates (not that long ago this too was thought to be fantasy); supervolcanos (now proven to exist); the round earth (at times thought to be flat, despite early greek proofs to the contrary); the loss of Sodom in the bible (now shown to be in fact possible based on the description given)
The list goes on and on.
Selvarin
Explorer
It isn't beyond the realm of possibility for an unknown species to exist. What does everyone expect, some animal to flap in at the nearest bilogy conference and screech/squawk/parrot "I exist, I exist!"...? Scientists are expected to be skeptical, but they haven't been everywhere. They haven't found every species. The world's vast oceans have barely been explored, but what litt's been done has yieleded plenty of never-before seen plant and animal life. The same can be said of the Amazon, although exploration and deforestation is bringing us smack against what's out there. I guess it's hard to imagine something new here in North America because it's so 'settled.'
I'd like to point out that Native Americans have had stories of what were known as 'thunder birds'...and that sightings of birds with such large wingspans have been documented elsewhere. There were similar sightings years ago in Texas, and one reportedly tried to pick up a child (but couldn't get enough 'lift' and was forced to drop the twerp). There's also a film clip of a giant eagle, although it's hard to use the trees in the picture frames as a reference to get a good size comparison. I've seen at least two separate shows on this, and I find it to be a very real possibility. It may be cute to see these reports in the same bemused vein as Ogopogo and goat-eating devils in Mexico, but Nature never fails to astonish.
I'd like to point out that Native Americans have had stories of what were known as 'thunder birds'...and that sightings of birds with such large wingspans have been documented elsewhere. There were similar sightings years ago in Texas, and one reportedly tried to pick up a child (but couldn't get enough 'lift' and was forced to drop the twerp). There's also a film clip of a giant eagle, although it's hard to use the trees in the picture frames as a reference to get a good size comparison. I've seen at least two separate shows on this, and I find it to be a very real possibility. It may be cute to see these reports in the same bemused vein as Ogopogo and goat-eating devils in Mexico, but Nature never fails to astonish.
Jim Bishop
First Post
DM with a vengence said:
Except... there were these big cousins of the condors around just 4 million years ago, and they were the same size as what the witness is describing, and they flew:
http://cluster4.biosci.utexas.edu/deathvalley/Art/teratorn.htm
http://www.lairweb.org.nz/vulture/teratornis.html
http://www.co.san-bernardino.ca.us/museum/giant.htm
Now the odds are this was just a big eagle or one of those remote vehicles the army's using, but it's _technically_ possible that something this big could fly.
Breakdaddy
First Post
DM with a vengence said:
Actually, something this big (and larger) has flown in the past. Also, colder climates would be perfect for such a large avian, as such creatures would need strong thermals to ride and colder climes tend to produce stronger thermals in the mid to upper atmosphere. From the proper height and with the right amount of wind, something this size could stay aloft for quite some time.
