Thunderbird (cryptozoology)
The Thunderbird is a legendary creature deeply rooted in the mythology of various American Indian tribes, often depicted as a massive bird with a colossal wingspan, believed to control thunder and lightning. In the realm of cryptozoology, some researchers propose that the Thunderbird may correspond to real, large, elusive birds, while others suggest it may be a broader term for any enormous flying creatures, including extinct species like teratorns. Sightings of the Thunderbird have been reported since the late 19th century, including a notable case in 1890 involving two cowboys in Arizona who claimed to have killed a giant bird described as having bat-like wings and an alligator-like head.
Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, interest in the Thunderbird persisted, with various sightings reported across the United States. One significant event occurred in 1977 in Illinois, where a group of boys allegedly encountered giant birds, leading to claims of an attack by one of them. The challenge of verifying the existence of the Thunderbird lies in the lack of consensus among cryptozoologists about its appearance and characteristics, with ongoing debates about its true nature. As interest continues, the Thunderbird remains a captivating subject for both mythology and cryptozoological exploration.
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Thunderbird (cryptozoology)
The Thunderbird is an ancient legendary creature that has been a prominent figure in the mythology of many different American Indian tribes. This Thunderbird is usually described as a colossal colored bird with a massive wingspan that had control over thunder and lightning. However, the possibility that this mythological character may refer to huge elusive birds in real life is a subject of interest to many prominent cryptozoologists, including Mark A. Hall, author of a number of books about a variety of cryptids (creatures whose existence has yet to be proven). Hall, along with other leading cryptozoologists, believes that the thunderbird may be synonymous with the Roc, another mythic bird that takes the form of a giant eagle or vulture that appears most frequently in Middle Eastern mythology.
That being said, some cryptozoologists believe that the thunderbird has nothing at all to do with the Thunderbird of American Indian tradition. These cryptozoologists believe that "thunderbird" is just a catch-all term to describe all birds of enormous size that can fly, including extinct species such as the teratorns.
Background
Though some cryptozoologists have suggested that the myth of the Thunderbird may have basis in extinct creatures that lived concurrently with early American Indians, there is little evidence for this. The Thunderbird does appear in a number of myths and is portrayed as both protector and destroyer. In cryptozoological terms, the thunderbird is a predator that has been known to prey on small children.
The thunderbird has been on the radar of cryptozoologists for hundreds of years. The first recorded sighting was in April 26, 1890, when two cowboys from Arizona claimed to have killed a giant bird that had a colossal wingspan. The story was originally printed in a local newspaper called the Tombstone Epitaph. According to the story, the two cowboys described the creature as having smooth skin and featherless wings that looked like they belonged to a bat. The article reported that the creature was ninety-two feet long and had a wingspan of 160 feet. The creature also had a head and face that resembled that of an alligator. The description given suggests the animal sighted was more like a pterodactyl or other prehistoric creature than a bird. While the story did appear in a newspaper, however, it is very possible that this was fabricated, as newspapers in the era would often run fictional tall tales alongside real news stories. While there was no photo published with the article and several hoaxes have surfaced over the years, subsequent cryptozoologists still held the belief that a photograph is out there somewhere.
It was not until the mid-twentieth century that there was renewed interest in seeing and recording photographs of the thunderbird. Loren Coleman, a former college professor and founder of the International Cryptozoology Museum, wrote extensively about the thunderbird, although his main interest in the field of cryptozoology was Bigfoot. In his book Curious Encounters: Phantom Trains, Spooky Spots and Other Mysterious Wonders, Coleman documented several thunderbird sightings in the 1940s. These primarily took place in Illinois. The first sighting occurred on April 10, 1948, and occurred in Overland, Illinois. During this sighting, three people claimed to have seen a large bird that was the size of a plane flying overhead, although no interaction happened. Shortly later, another sighting occurred in Alton, Illinois. Here, a father and son claimed to have been accosted by a giant bird with a body the size of a Piper Cub airplane.
Overview
One of the most famous sightings occurred on July 25, 1977, in Lawndale, Illinois. During this sighting, a group of several boys were directly attacked by giant birds of unknown origin that were thought at the time to be thunderbirds. According to Coleman, one boy named Marlon Lowe, was carried off the ground by the thunderbird’s massive talons while being chased. The bird was described by witnesses as being all black with a white ring around its neck. This was corroborated by interviews of the families and witnesses performed by Coleman and his brother, Jerry Coleman.
Cryptozoologists still have keen interest in the thunderbird into the twenty-first century. There are a series of sightings that occurred throughout rural Pennsylvania in 2001. While eyewitness accounts claimed that the large bird sightings were much bigger, it is very possible that the thunderbird sightings were of the Andean condor or the California condor, which both have a roughly ten-foot wingspan. Mark Hall does not believe that these birds match the description of a thunderbird. This is the biggest problem with verifying the thunderbird’s existence: there is no consensus on what the bird is supposed to look like. Hall suggests that, based on witness accounts, the thunderbird is capable of lifting more weight than known bird species. It has usually been described as being dark in color, and witness estimates put the bird at four to eight feet tall with a fifteen to twenty foot wingspan. While Hall believes that the thunderbird should appear this way in sightings, it appears that not all cryptozoologists agree. Unlike other cryptids, such as the Loch Ness monster, or Bigfoot, there is very little agreement in the cryptozoology community among what a thunderbird looks like. This has caused many sightings in the twenty-first century to be outright dismissed by many leading cryptozoologists, including Hall, who believes that a true thunderbird has yet to be sighted.
Bibliography
Bommersbach, Jana. "Tombstone’s Flying Monster." True West. True West, 1 June 2007. Web. 11 July 2016.
Coleman, Loren. Curious Encounters: Phantom Trains, Spooky Spots and Other Mysterious Wonders. New York: Faber, 1986. Print.
Gerhard, Ken. Big Bird! Modern Sighting of Flying Monsters. Biddeford: CFZ, 2007. Print.
Hall, Mark A. Thunderbirds: America’s Living Legends of Giant Birds. New York: Paraview, 2004. Print.
Mizrach, Steve. "Thunderbird and Trickster." Florida International University. Florida Intl. U, n.d. Web. 11 July 2016.
Taylor, Troy. Weird Illinois. New York: Sterling, 2005. Print.
Wagner, Stephen. "The Giant Bird Haunting the Skies of Pennsylvania." About.com. About, 14 Feb. 2016. Web. 11 July 2016.