Prehistoric Dragonfly? Help please

I wonder if I could ask for your help with something I saw when I was a child. I've never told anyone about this for fear of ridicule, but it is as clear to me today as it was 40 years ago.

I grew up in the county of Kent in south east England. My childhood was spent playing in the woods and meadows that surrounded us. I knew every tree and how to climb it, where to find every flower as it came into season, what berries were edible and when to find the cob nuts that I could crack with my teeth!

One day whilst I was playing alone on the edge of the wood I heard a buzzing noise and looked up. What I saw looked like a giant black dragonfly, which flew in a straight line out across the meadow for about 500 yards, then abruptly performed a 360 degree turn and flew back to the tree from which it came.

As I grew older I told myself that it must have been some sort of remote controlled aircraft, partly because of the buzzing noise and size, and also it was the only thing I could think of to explain it. Then a while ago I heard about the prehistoric dragonflies, and how large they were, and their size fits perfectly with what I saw. Also now I realise that no remote controlled aircraft could have possibly executed that 360 degree turn.

www.windsofkansas.com...

What I saw looked very much like this reconstruction except that it had a slightly thicker body and was black.

Has anyone heard of giant dragonflies being seen or can you think of any other explanation for what I saw?

Many thanks in anticipation.

Cara

No, sorry, not heard of that before, I live in UK too. I can't think of what it might have been. What year was this? and how far away were you? There was no one else nearby?

Woodpigeons flap with a clapping sound.

Nope, I have no sensible suggestions to give you.

One can only assume you glimpsed through paranormal time shift phenomenom.

I have had a similar experience involving an oversized dragonfly.

It is one of the two weirdest experiences in my life.

It would have been 1998, my friend and i were walking through the bush just down from hd his house to go to the shops, it was a bush we walked all the time, used by heaps of school kids and hikers etc.

Anyways, we had stopped at a bridge that crossed a small creek, just taking in the view and throwing stones into the creek when we heard a buzzing sound. I thought it was some with a remote controlled helicopter, it was pretty loud! Next thing ya know, top of the tree line, about 8-10 metres away appears what looked like a bird but it was certainly not a bird. I look at my friend and he looks at me, next thing, it flys down down to us but at some weird as angles, it darted to its right very fast then down on a diagonal to about 2 metres from us over the water. This thing was very large and unlike any other dragonfly i had ever seen.

It was about 8 inchs in length but very very fat, not thin like a normal dragonfly, this thing was real meaty, at its fattest part, must have been about 1.5 inches across and rounded, not flat. Its eyes were huge too, like just under the size of hlaf a golfball, everything about it seemed out of proportion. The main thing i did notice that made me think this thing was even wierder was its wings. On its back it had a hump which had another set of wings coming out of it, the hump was the size of half a golfball so not only did it have its normal wings out of its body but the hump gave it another set.

the thing checked us out for about 3 of 4 seconds then buzzed off up over the canopy out of sight.

Very very weird indeed.

Never seen anything like it again in my life.

I live in Auckland, New Zealand and we saw it in the suburb of Birkenhead, Tui Glen Bush.

oh thank goodness someone else has seen something similar - I'm probably not mad after all!!!

I think I must have seen mine around 1965 so I would have been 7 - after that they ploughed the meadow and planted corn - and I was about 50 yards from the edge of the wood. For me it was the buzzing that always made me wonder if it was something remote controlled, but you heard the buzzing too. Perhaps ordinary dragonflies buzz too but because of their size its not audible to us.

This is probably irrelevant, but the tree it came from was known to us kids as "the eagle's nest tree" because it had a huge nest in the top of it which was full of skeletons of small animals. It was the hardest tree to climb and you needed to be at least 10 or so to be physically able to do it.

I wonder if anyone else has seen something like this.

Cheers

Cara

Okay, some reasons for the non-existance of giant insects. It's been a while, but let's see if I get this right. Insects don't have lungs as vertibrates do, which means they don't assimilate oxygen the same way. Humans use their lungs to breath, and transfer oxygen to our blood, which is then carried throughout the body.

Insects have holes in their abdomens which transfer oxygen directly throughout their bodies. As the insects bodies grow bigger, they need a higher concentration of oxygen to help fuel the growth. The current amount of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere won't allow for that huge growth. In prehistoric times, when the Earth was warmer, and there was more liquid water, and more plant life, oxygen concentrations were huge. That's how we get meter long dragonflies, and 2 meter long centipedes.

I don't see how an insect could grow as large as you describe without living in an extremely tropical climate. Unless you know something about the UK that I don't, I don't think the temperate climate would even allow for the vegitation necessary to produce that much oxygen.

I have to say though, that that is my primary fear with regards to global warming. Giant Bugs!!!


Edit to add: Found this www.physorg.com... it explains the stuff much better than I could.

[edit on 8-1-2007 by Rasobasi420]

Hi, I read that about there not being enough oxygen nowadays for insects that large to live, thats why I was asking if anyone had any ideas about what it could possibly have been. It certainly looked like a giant, albeit slightly fat, dragonfly.

Cheers

Myself, I would just chalk it up to seeing a larger-than-average insect trhough the lenses of childhood.

I still swear that the first horsefly I ever saw was the size of a man's fist

I'm trying to find some good pics, but maybe this will do for the moment..

Did it look like this???

(Sorry couldn't resist when I saw it, the only Giant Dragonflies on the net are only 3-4 inches long or so)



[edit on 9-1-2007 by chris01621]

Yeah, bugs just can't grow that big in this environment. Not enough O2

well, this thing had to be at least 12 inches long because of the distance it flew out across the meadow, if it had been smaller I would have lost sight of it before it turned round and came back.

I don't know if its possible for me to get a google image of the area, but I will try and mark where I was and how far it flew. I know it was a long time ago but its such a vivid memory that I can remember it very clearly.

Well regardless of the O2, i know what i saw and htere were two of us, i have seen a load of dragonflys and this thing was most certainly a massive mutant.

I was 16 at the time so my child like sences were definatly adapt to deter between something large and small.

Here is a google map link of the bush where i saw the critter.

Tui Glen Bush Map Link

This is a map showing where I was in relation to the creature, and approximately how far it flew before turning round and flying back to the tree. The roads and houses should give some idea of scale. At the time I saw this the whole area was woodland and meadow, apart from the road marked and the few houses.

I know that science says that such a creature cannot exist nowadays, but it is the only plausible explanation I can find for what I saw. I know I was a child, but I knew that meadow and woodland like the back of my hand - I must have spent more time there than in my own bed!

Cheers

Cara

I don't think it works that way. There is no "Regardless of the o2" that's just the way it is.

You know, if it turned 360° it would still be flying in the same direction it was going originaly either making a loop or a full circle where it was.

If it was flying back to where it came from all of the sudden it probably made a 180° turn :p sorry, couldn't help but point that out.

Anyways, couldn't it have been a bird?
Like this for instance?

Originally posted by Rasobasi420
I don't think it works that way. There is no "Regardless of the o2" that's just the way it is.

exactly, nature will pump out some mutants from time to time.

Anyways, couldn't it have been a bird?
Like this for instance?

I cant speak for Cara, but what i saw was certainly no bird, i thought it was a bird at first it was so big but it was 100% a big ass ugly looking mutant Dragonfly bigger than my handspan with a very fat thorax/abdomen.

Thats it from me anyways, i have supplied my story and a map of the area, its an encounter i will always remember as one of the top 2 weird things in my life (seeing a UFO was the other).

EZ ;-)

Originally posted by Dreamkidd
exactly, nature will pump out some mutants from time to time.

Maybe, but because of either a lack large enough trachea to process the o2, or trachea too large for the joints that connect the segments and limbs, that mutant woulld have died at birth or soon after.

Maybe it was a hummingbird. One time one of those things flew near me and I just whacked it out of the air thinking it was a big bug. Those things are freaky.

Originally posted by Mayacara
I wonder if I could ask for your help with something I saw when I was a child. I've never told anyone about this for fear of ridicule, but it is as clear to me today as it was 40 years ago.

I grew up in the county of Kent in south east England. My childhood was spent playing in the woods and meadows that surrounded us. I knew every tree and how to climb it, where to find every flower as it came into season, what berries were edible and when to find the cob nuts that I could crack with my teeth!

One day whilst I was playing alone on the edge of the wood I heard a buzzing noise and looked up. What I saw looked like a giant black dragonfly, which flew in a straight line out across the meadow for about 500 yards, then abruptly performed a 360 degree turn and flew back to the tree from which it came.

As I grew older I told myself that it must have been some sort of remote controlled aircraft, partly because of the buzzing noise and size, and also it was the only thing I could think of to explain it. Then a while ago I heard about the prehistoric dragonflies, and how large they were, and their size fits perfectly with what I saw. Also now I realise that no remote controlled aircraft could have possibly executed that 360 degree turn.

www.windsofkansas.com...

What I saw looked very much like this reconstruction except that it had a slightly thicker body and was black.

Has anyone heard of giant dragonflies being seen or can you think of any other explanation for what I saw?

Many thanks in anticipation.

Cara

Is that a real dragonfly, or a fake? 'Cause i think that is fake!

Originally posted by DarkAlex
Is that a real dragonfly, or a fake? 'Cause i think that is fake!

Perhaps you missed this part, DarkAlex.

Originally posted by Mayacara
www.windsofkansas.com...

What I saw looked very much like this reconstruction except that it had a slightly thicker body and was black.

*emphasis mine

[edit on 1/11/2007 by 12m8keall2c]

Originally posted by 12m8keall2c

Originally posted by DarkAlex
Is that a real dragonfly, or a fake? 'Cause i think that is fake!

Perhaps you missed this part, DarkAlex.

Originally posted by Mayacara
www.windsofkansas.com...

What I saw looked very much like this reconstruction except that it had a slightly thicker body and was black.

*emphasis mine

[edit on 1/11/2007 by 12m8keall2c]

I saw the picture, but it look fake.

Originally posted by Mayacara
oh thank goodness someone else has seen something similar - I'm probably not mad after all!!!

I think I must have seen mine around 1965 so I would have been 7 - after that they ploughed the meadow and planted corn - and I was about 50 yards from the edge of the wood. For me it was the buzzing that always made me wonder if it was something remote controlled, but you heard the buzzing too. Perhaps ordinary dragonflies buzz too but because of their size its not audible to us.

This is probably irrelevant, but the tree it came from was known to us kids as "the eagle's nest tree" because it had a huge nest in the top of it which was full of skeletons of small animals. It was the hardest tree to climb and you needed to be at least 10 or so to be physically able to do it.

I wonder if anyone else has seen something like this.

Cheers

Cara

I haven't seen a dragonfly as big as you describe Cara but while fishing I have seen larger than normal ones that have made a buzz with their wings.. I am also from the UK. The one's I have seen were prob at biggest around 6 inches, but you know what us guys are like for addin the few inches when we quote sizes! ;-)

DarkAlex- du know what RECONSTRUCTION means??

[edit on 11/1/07 by Blacksheep]