Has anyone seen (or knows someone who has) a thunderbird?

I've read some of the threads on thunderbirds and no one has witnessed a thunderbird themselves. I got into this whole thunderbird thing when I had a discussion with my uncle on strange creatures. Apparently he, his cousin, my aunt, grandma, dad, and possibly grandpa have all seen this massive winged-beast at some point in their lives. My uncle along with his cousin and wife have seen something huge fly low over his house about 2 years ago. I think it was around sunset. My uncle says that it looked much like a pterodactyl and that it flew like one also. It flapped it's wings while slightly bobbing up and down, so it coulnd't of been an eagle; not to mention that most birds are asleep by 6:00. For those of you who have seen the Jurastic Park movies, you know what they look like. It was even the same dark brown color. Then, when my dad and uncle were driving to work one time (they both work at the same shop) they noticed a large winged creature standing on a tree in the forest (it was about 7:15am). Laslty, my grandma says she seen it also at night when she came to town. My grandpa also seen it, but he says that he knows what it is. He doesn't speak English, and I couln't translate the name of the bird he gave. He discribed it and from what he was saying, I think he was reffering to a night heron which do live in the area. Maybe it was night herons that they were all seeing, but could that be easily mistaken for a 6-foot tall animal with a wingspan of about 25 feet? I'll give more detail on these interesting stories as soon as I can. The first sighting ocurred not long before that UFO sighting in Tinley Park, it was a full moon, and strangely; my uncle had a wolf snooping behing his fence. I don't think wolves live in my area. Anyway, thats besides the point. There are no pictures (unfortunately) so don't ask.
So......have anyone of you seen this so-called thunderbird?

Yep and I have a picture




Oh wrong t-bird you say...sorry...anyway I am not sure what a thunderbird actually looks like. Can someone post a drawing or CG model of what one is supposed to look like?

[edit on 17-8-2005 by 12 12 2012]

A big bird. And there are lots of pictures and rederings of them online, just search.

Here's a story about Thunderbird sightings, with drawings of what happened.

www.cryptozoology.com...

Here's a story about Thunderbird sightings, with drawings of what happened.

www.cryptozoology.com...

And another link with a picture most people have seen already. The bird is a fake. Anyway make sure you read the story about a boy and the feather.

www.angelfire.com...

And finally here's an interesting story;

Film Crew Documents Tuscola Chief's Big Bird Story


FINDLAY, Illinois -- The large "Thunderbirds" return every 27 years to steal away the children of the Cherokee people, according to legend.

On Sunday, Chief John "A.J." Huffer returned to the lake where he claimed to have filmed two such Thunderbirds almost 27 years ago.

Were they really the monstrous predators of Cherokee lore, or were they just turkey buzzards basking in the warmth of summer?

Huffer believes in the former. But a film crew from Canada is trying to separate fact from fiction, and, perhaps, entertain young viewers of the non-fiction show "Mystery Hunters" in the process.

After all, entertainment follows closely behind Huffer, a Tuscola resident and chief of the Illinois Cherokee Band.

"It takes a Cherokee to film a Cherokee legend," said Huffer, 69.

In a deep yet gravely voice, he narrates the story like someone who has told it a thousand times. He probably has.

"I think I have photographed a living legend," he said.

Thus, he boarded a canoe Sunday with 16-year-old Araya Mengesha, one of two "reporters" on the documentary show aired by networks of Discovery Communications Inc.

With a cameraman, sound man, director and production assistant in tow, Huffer and Mengesha paddled across Lake Shelbyville while the chief recalled his tale.

A host of Internet Web sites and books describe how, in the summer of 1977 in Lawndale, a large bird swooped down and momentarily grabbed a young boy by the name of Marlon Lowe.

And rumors soon took wing that the Thunderbirds of old were back again. Of course, a sizeable reward was offered for pictures of them.

Huffer, who had learned to use a 16 mm camera with the U.S. Marine Corps, set out with his son, Jason, on the morning of July 26, 1977.

As they entered a cove near the Findlay marina on Lake Shelbyville, they spied two large birds in a tree. Huffer turned on his camera, the noise of which scared the birds into flight.

He shot about 100 feet of color film. Copies have since been purchased by television producers all over the world.

Huffer estimated the jet-black birds had wingspans of 18 feet and 14 feet, respectively.

Almost 30 years later, the story caught the attention of Montreal-based Apartment 11 Productions, which produces the children's show "Mystery Hunters."

"We're doing legends and myths," said Serge Marcio, director of the Thunderbird segment. "We're into ghost stories."

Mengesha and the rest of the Canadian crew also spent time Sunday in Normal with an Illinois State University professor and bird expert, Angelo Capparella.

After viewing Huffer's film, the professor told the young reporter that the birds probably were just turkey vultures, according to Cassie Fifer of Sullivan, the crew's production assistant, who was recruited for the Illinois shoot.

Marcio said "Mystery Hunters" will leave it up to the viewers to decide.

"There are pros and there are cons," he said. "That's what makes a mystery — there are no definite answers."

Source: Journal Gazette and Times-Courier

Im probably stating the obvious, so anyone who knows anything about the subject just disregaurd this...

Two things Ive heard about the Thunderbird that I thought were interesting-- First, that they are sometimes called Thunderbirds and other times "mothmen". Second, there used to be a giant hawk type thing that lived in North America in prehistoric times. Human skulls have been found with imprints of talons, as if a giant bird had grabbed them by the head and flown off with them! Could you imagine?

.......... never saw one myself but my friend, who hunts deer and bear in upstate PA, swears he saw a huge bird with a "leathery" appearance with a wingspan he estimated to have been 8 to 10 ft. He has been hunting for 30+ years and he knows local wildlife, and he didn't know what it was, but didn't go as far to classify it as "prehistoric" (i.e. a pterodactyl).

Anyway, here's a previous discussion on the board regarding this.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

You people are not helping. You know, my uncle did say that this creature did remind him of mothman. Perhaps theres a connection? This is strange especialy since no one (except some of my family members) claims to have seen this thing around my area. As for the links, I'm familiar with all of them. I've read the other thunderbird threads on this site. UnBreakable, where was your freind hunting at when he saw this? What was the land feature? I live in a an area where there is just plain old forest and the crappy animals that live in them. You know, racoons, coyotees, oppusums, mice, rats, fox, robins, prehistoric winged-beasts, etc.

Whoever posted the picture of the freakin car........that was good

[edit on 808/17/0505 by Acekwak]

[edit on 808/18/0505 by Acekwak]

Three days ago above the Rio Grande river, I saw a huge bird. At first thought it was a buzzard that frequent this part of the country but it was very high, gliding, black and alone. I'm not good at estimating, but if I was to hazzard a guess I would put the wingspread at 10ft. Thunderbird?
There is the occasional eagle spotted around here; that's what it probably was.

Somebody posted a picture that looked like a Huge bird sitting on a bridge but I have been unable to find it again, it was in ATS I think.


Dont know if its faked or not, couldnt get a good look at it...

[edit on 18-8-2005 by edsinger]

About a month ago i was working way out in the middle of nowhere and i saw a HUGE shadow go over me. I kept working, thinking it was just a plane going overhead. It was about 20-30 seconds later that i realized that i wasn't hearing the noise that a plane would make. So i casually looked around and at about 100 yards away i saw 2 BIG black birds flying together. They appeared to be hunting. Although they were very far away, i judged their wingspan to be anywhere from 6-10 wide. Under impressive for a Thunderbird i know, but very large nontheless. Perhaps they weren't full grown.

As far as the pic of the Thunderbird, here's a web page that shows the same photo and more. Although they call it the Mothman - i consider them to be the same thing.

home.manyrivers.aunz.com...

The Thunderbird is suposed to look like a pterodactyl and it flies like it too. If the thing that the two of you seen made two wing flaps and then glided, it was probably an eagle/hawk. As for the mothman being the same as the thunderbird theory, it might be true but it's strange because mothman looks like a man with moth wings. Keep in mind that the thunderbird has a wingspan of somewhere between 15 and 30 ft, the record for any known bird is 12ft.

The Thunderbird comes from Native American folklore. It's not a prehistoric bird, just a massive one, all black.

The color might vary. The thing that my uncle saw was brown. He says that it's wingspan was at least 13 ft. Some of the other threads say that this creature looks like a pterodactyl and thats exacly how it was descibed to me. The only possibility is that my relatives seen a night heron (that's especialy likely for my grandma and grandpa). If I seen this myself then this would be much easier to describe.

Originally posted by Faust


As far as the pic of the Thunderbird, here's a web page that shows the same photo and more. Although they call it the Mothman - i consider them to be the same thing.

home.manyrivers.aunz.com...

Thats the one I was looking for and even more, thanks!

Just now I found something accidently. Read this:
www.users.bigpond.com...
Also, the wingspan of what my uncle saw was 10-15 ft. The only possible explanation is that that was a heron but the wingspan that was given to me doesn't fit the description of a night heron.

I Think i may have seen a thunderbird on MOunt Krackatoa, it had a wingspan of about 215 feet

As of today, (10/28/05) I have witnessed the same thing that my uncle (and the others who seen it with him) has seen. Here's my story:
I was outside for P.E. 'playing' football when I noticed something huge flying, say, less than one fifth of a mile away (or something like that). It was flying diagnally upwards away from where I was. It might have been over 5 ft wingspan (I'll grab a ruler and measure-out things so I can try to figure out the size more accurately) and it was rapidly flapping its wings. I think I might have noticed a long pterodactyl-like tail but I didn't look at it for long since it was flying away from me. It was completely brown, or so at least everything I seen was. Obviously I alerted some of the people I was with by saying "what the hell is that!". One stooge said "it's just a freakin hawk!" and another said the same thing. Of all the hawks I seen in my area, none were that big and they did not flap their wings like that. As for the wings, I couldn't tell if it had feathers or leathery wings and I couldn't make out a lump on its head. If only I kept staring at it...........................

If this really was a hawk, then what kind of hawk was it? Anyone know of any giant hawks that live in Tinley Park or any other Chicago suberb? I'm having a hard time getting an answer to that.............................

[edit on 1010/28/0505 by Acekwak]