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| Thunderbird pictured by Steven Thompson |
Todd tells he was on his way to work one early morning in Pealand, Texas, when he saw a winged creature that did not match any of the birds in the region. He compared the winged creature with the trees around and how high up it was flying and noticed directly that this was not one of the usual vultures or other large birds known in the area. Todd grew up a hunter and is very familiar with the wild life in the area and has seen large vultures, both in the air and up close many times, so it was not common for him to see something this different.
It was in the middle of the morning rush hour, so Todd coultn't stop and take a closer look at the creature.
The bird was black and soring in the sky, but since people started to honk at Todd to move on, he had to get going.
What was it that Todd saw in the sky six years ago? Todd himself says that he is pretty sure it was a thunderbird, and it is not the first report of huge bird like creatures in that area.
I contacted another cryptozoologist in Texas, Lyle Blackburn, and he send me some news paper articles from his archive witch tells about other sightings of a huge bird with a wing span of about 4-5 meters, also made in Texas. The articles tells of a creature that has not only been seen, but that also is said to have attacked people, and since the Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus), the largest bird in that half of the world, is native to South America, no one really can tell what people has been witnessing.
So, what is a thunderbird? Mainly it is the term cryptozoologist uses for huge unknown birdlike creatures in that part of the world (in Europe they are mostly refered to as "roc"). The term itself comes from Native American mythology and the reports goes back centuries. Fossil findings actually prove that birds with a wingspan of five meters existed at the same time as early humans, and maybe, just maybe, some of them might still be out there, soring the skies.
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| A reconstruction of the largest bird that ever lived. |
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| As you can see, vultures can be really big. |
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| This is a turkey vulture, common in the described area, but much smaller than the sighting. Turkey vultures wing span is up to 1,8 meters. |
Article in Swedish found here.
Sources: Todd Dreher, Lyle Blackburn, Wikipedia
