“We also maintain—again with perfect truth—that mystery is more than half of beauty, the element of strangeness that stirs the senses through the imagination. “ Richard Le Gallienne
Half a century ago, Belgian Zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans first codified the science of cryptozoology in his ground-breaking book: “On the Track of Unknown Animals.”
From the glossary section of http://www.cryptozoology.com/ comes the following description of an illusive creature known for centuries as a Thunderbird: “For centuries people have reported giant birds flying over North America. Birds large enough to carry off even small children. The Thunderbird is possibly the largest bird known to science. It resembles a larger version of an Andean condor. (Though some scientists think it may be a recently extinct Teratorn.)”
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ALSO FROM CRYPTOZOOLOGY.COM: “One of the strongest arguments for the existence of the Thunderbird (besides the fact that it’s been seen even before the white man came to America) is the Lawndale Incident: On July 25, 1977, Marlon Lowe, a ten-year-old, was playing outside. Unknown to him, two large birds were on the prowl. One bird swooped down and grabbed young Marlon and started to carry him off. The creature got only a few feet until it dropped the child. Seven people witnessed this surreal event.”
The witnesses (in the Lawndale Incident) described two coal-black birds (with long necks highlighted by white rings at the collar); their beaks were large and curved. The giant birds had wingspans of more than 10 feet. The creatures were said to be the size of ostriches, yet they resembled condors.
Thunderbirds have been spotted all across the U.S., but mostly around the Midwest area. Many Indian tribes have stories about Thunderbirds; most describe something similar to the Lawndale birds, and some tell of birds that can carry whales. Most stories tell of one to two birds, and possibly a nest with young. Most of the birds are described as being extremely aggressive.
On the website http://forteanzoology.blogspot.com/ . . . I found a very recent posting of a Thunderbird sighting (from Monday, October 26, 2009): “We were in Pacifica MO, tonight around 11:30 and we noticed a massive flying creature, not once but three times. My son even noticed it on his own the third time. We were near a large cliff/mountain with some type of cave openings.
“We don’t live in the area, I can say for sure we turned onto a road called Viaduct Road, went past a fire station and continued on for about 1 mile before we first noticed it. It was brownish/grey and the body portion was at least the size of a large adult human. This creature was tracking us – in a circle pattern.
“We were driving an Escalade with the blue color headlights; this may have caused interest in us. The third time around us, we viewed it in front of the vehicle, around the driver side and around towards the rear of the vehicle.
“Please understand when we could see it, the range must have been about 150 feet in the air, not more than 250 feet. The distance was never less than 100 yards, often much greater. We were going about 35-45 MPH. I have never thought of anything like this in my life! It is 3:33 and my son and myself are wide awake in a hotel 17 miles away from the place we first noticed the creature.”
That is a compelling eye witness account, bringing a whole new meaning to that old American proverb, “the early bird gets the worm!”
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“Now, my suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose… I suspect that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of, in any philosophy.” James Haldane