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Picture this:

It is somewhere in the American West sometime in the late 1800’s. A group of weary and grizzled cowboys stand holding their rifles. They are posing in front of the side of a barn. Hung on the side of the barn is the freshly-killed carcass of a pterosaur...

This is the idea behind the mysterious “thunderbird photograph”, a staple of cryptozoological lore. Thunderbird is a term used by cryptozoologists to describe “living” pterosaurs, after the giant bird in Native American mythology. Supposedly, an old photo of this scene appeared in a cryptozoology magazine or book or TV series (the story frequently changes) sometime in the 1960’s or 70’s. Cryptozoologist Ivan T. Sanderson was purportedly the first to have seen it. Many people, cryptozoologist and non-cryptozoologist alike, claim to have a clear memory of seeing this distinctive photo. However, when looking back at the purported sources of the photo (magazine, book, TV episode, etc.), it cannot be found. While this is likely to be a case of false memory, many still swear that they saw the thunderbird photo. Since the advent of the Internet, many supposed “examples” of the thunderbird photograph have appeared. All of them can be thoroughly debunked.

Photo #1



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The first apparent problem of this example is that it does not match the traditional description of the thunderbird photo. This photo shows a group of men in deer-hunting garb inside of a barn or shed, and looks to be from the 1930’s-40’s rather than the late 1800’s. Under careful scrutiny, more flaws emerge. Near the legs of the third man from the left, the legs of a deer are still visible, unedited by the clumsy hoaxer.



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If that was not already enough evidence that this is an altered photo, the “thunderbird” is also an exact match for this model of a Pterodactylus.



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This photo is clearly just a group of deer hunters, with their kill digitally replaced by a pterosaur.

Photo #2



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Once again, this photo does not match the original description; this thunderbird is shown lying on the ground. However, it does appear to be from the late 1800’s. That’s because it is; this is an edited version of a phtograph from 1893. The original photo shows the posse of men who captured train robber John Sontag. Sontag is shown wounded laying in a pile of hay at the bottom.



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The edited photo switched the position of some of the posse members and covered Sontag with the thunderbird. It also greatly decreased the quality to cover up signs of tampering.

Photo #3



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This photo is the closest in appearance to the original description. One problem can be noticed immediately - the thunderbird’s wings. The wing membrane is supported by the fingers like a bat. Pterosaur wings were supported only by the fourth finger. Additionally, there are numerous editing errors. The feet of second man from the right on the bottom row simply “disappear”.



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The position of the farthest man on the left indicates that he is leaning on something (his feet are not flat on the ground), but nothing is there.



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The signs lack any nails to hold them to the side of the barn, and look superimposed.



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It is obvious that different men from old photographs have been composited into this photo, and the thunderbird itself looks like a composition of multiple animals (the head looks like a marabou stork, the wings look like a bat, etc.).

Photos #4 and #5



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These two pictures are commonly known as the “Civil War” photos. Although the first one is often claimed to be genuine, it was actually created for the cryptozoology TV show Freaky Links in 2000. It was intended to be a reconstruction of the second photograph. The second photo, like many of the previous, is filled with editing errors. The farthest man to the left does not appear to be holding his rifle; his fingers and thumb don’t wrap around the gun.



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On the right side of the picture, there are issues with the contrast. The background is too dark and the foreground is too light (a sign of editing).



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The boot of the man standing on the thunderbird’s head leaves no shadow.



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Once again, this is probably a composite photograph with Civil War soldiers superimposed on the model of a pterosaur.

Photo #6



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This last photo is a bit different from the others. It was supposedly taken in the 1950’s, and shows only one man holding a rather small thunderbird. This one does not appear to have any signs of tampering or editing. Rather, it is a poor rubber model of a pterosaur that was used. The head is much too small for the body, there are no signs of structure in the wings, and there is no evidence of legs.

Conclusion:

Under careful examination, it becomes clear that all of these so-called “thunderbird photos” are just hoaxes. In the age of photoshop and gullible people, these hoaxes are relatively common. It seems like there is a new “cryptid” or “ghost” photo cropping up every few weeks. Before you are convinced that they are real, take a closer look. Flaws will always emerge.

As for the photo that so many claimed to have seen, it is likely a case of what is termed the Mandela Effect. The Mandela Effect is when a large group of people mis-remember the same event, object, place, etc. It is named after a group of South Africans who “remembered” that Nelson Mandela had died in prison in the 1980’s, even though he actually died only three years ago. Zoologist and cryptozoogist Karl Shuker was the first to suggest this explanation for the thunderbird photo. It is likely that it is a distorted memory of an actual photograph that featured men holding or standing near a large bird.



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These two photos are commonly cited as possible inspirations for the false memory. The first is a man standing near a cutout representing the size of Argentavis in a museum. The second is of three African tribesmen holding a large marabou stork (this one was suggested by Karl Shuker). Both had circulated in various encyclopedias in the mid-20th century. It is easy to see how vague memories of these or similar photos, coupled with suggestions from others, might have lead to the thunderbird myth.

As for the concept of 19th century pterodactyls itself, it is outlandish. A large family of flying reptiles surviving 66 million years (and a few ice ages) without leaving any evidence in the fossil record is impossible. Besides that, the dry inland conditions of the American West are not ideal for a large pterosaur that would need large amounts of food. If there was a surviving population, there should be multiple accounts from the time, yet there are none. There are multiple major problems with this idea. This is an easily debunked modern cryptozoological myth that needs to be put to rest.

UPDATE:

Due to brief conversation with Karl Shuker himself, it has come to my attention that photo #3 was not intended as a hoax. Rather, it was originally created as a piece of digital artwork, but then taken out of context by various websites who claimed it was the genuine “thunderbird photo”. See here for more information.

Carnoferox is a champion moderator and an all time top contributor at Dinosaur Home.