Revealing Illinois' giant birds of '77

[Richard]

The summer of 1977 was chaotic for central Illinois news media. The most talked about local story was the multiple sightings of giant birds throughout the region. These numerous accounts commenced with the alleged attempted abduction of young 10-year-old Marlon Lowe by one of these birds on July 25th. A black bird with a white neck ring reportedly swooped down on the undersized boy and, grabbing him by his shirt, briefly raised him from the ground before dropping him—ostensibly from a blow from the boy’s flailing hands.Exactly what type of birds these were has been argued and debated by cryptozoologists and brave ornithologists now for the past almost thirty years. Next summer will mark the three-fold decade anniversary of the sightings. Some of sightings have been told countless times on paranormal internet websites, while others, such as the fact that one of the birds alighted just outside a softball outfield fence while the game was progressing—the umpire actually stopped play and all the participants gawked and the avian immensity, have remained for whatever reason neglected.

One particular contemporary event that has been complete ignored might just hold the clue that could explain the crazy events of that summer.On July 22th, just three days prior to the now infamous Lawndale incident, a rural New Holland man [New Holland IL is 20 miles from Lawndale] saw an exotic bird on their farm. An account from the Lincoln Courier described it as such:“It was larger than a turkey,” said Kenneth Knollenburg, describing the bird on his farm. “I’d guess it weighed 25 pounds or so.” He said the bird was a dull gray with a white neck, small beak and a crest of feathers on its head, hee [sic] added. The bird’s wingspan was estimated at four feet.“It wasn’t afraid of people,” the New Holland farmer explained. “We wondered at the time if it hadn’t escaped from a zoo.”

View: Full Article | Source: Biofort

http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/vie...p?id=80101

[Lone Wolf]

Hi Richard

Three years ago at this time of year, I was on my way home, driving in my car. I turned left to go down my street and a giant bird flew right overhead. I stopped mid turn and got out of my car, stunned. It was one of those moments where I couldn't believe what I was seeing, because it "shouldn't" exist.  The bird was mostly brown with a gigantic wingspan (larger than a van). I watched it fly off into the distance.

It just so happened that I was hosting a Stewart Seminar that weekend at my home. I told Stewart about it and he thought I saw a "thunderbird". It made the local news too.

...not something I will forget.

Margo

[Richard]

Hi Margo,

That’s interesting that you got to see a bird like that. I don’t recall ever seeing a giant bird like that. I didn’t know Thunderbirds still existed. I wonder if some survived or the Illuminati are breeding them back.  

[Desertbird]

Haast (hay-awst) eagles. 

Origin: New Zealand

Status: only bird in history to be at the top of its food chain

Wingspan: 8-10 feet

Normal diet: Moa (extinct ostrich-like bird)

Status: considered extinct

Nesting habbits: unknown

Wieght: up to 30 lbs

Carry weight: 15 times it's own weight

Has been known to fly off with full grown people (settlers called the Māori).  The Māori stole moa eggs, deminishing the population and eventually the Haast eagle itself.  Some ornithologists believe this bird to still be alive today, but no longer in New Zealand.  They dissapeared in the 1400's.

Legend resemblences: Thunderbird, Roc

Personal opinion: I have been working with birds of prey for over three years at a wildlife refuge.  Because a Thunderbird's wingspan is over 3 miles long, I do not believe that this could have been it.  The Indian ocean version of a Roc is also fairly big, the wingspan longer than a ship.  However, the Simurgh (Persian version of a Roc) fits the size perfectly, body being about the size of a horse.  The only problem with this is that it takes on somewhat of a griffin appearance.

I have not heard of this story and am interested in learning more so I can help figure out what it might be.

[Richard]

[user=257]Desertbird[/user] wrote:

a Thunderbird's wingspan is over 3 miles long,

That’s pretty amazing, I didn’t know Thunderbirds were that big.

[Desertbird]

That is according to Native American mythology.  It also states that a head protrudes out of its' chest.

However, I found a more modern interpretation of a Thunderbird right here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird...zoology%29

I'm more familiar with Native American mythology though.

[Richard]

The reports of wingspans on Wikipedia sound more realistic. The Native American mythology might be a little exaggerated. It’s hard to imagine a wingspan of 3 miles.

[Desertbird]

As unrealistic as that seems, Native American mythology has been around much longer than anything on that site.  Like I mentioned, (according to those standards) I do not believe it could have been a Thunderbird.  I am not familiar enough with the altered version to yet have an opinion, so I will leave that open for now.

[Lone Wolf]

Well, I really can't say whether or not the bird I saw that day was a Thunderbird, or some other kind of bird. It was huge, with mainly brown feathers. I did not see it's head as it was flying away from me. It's tail seemed to be pretty short and it flapped it's wings in a way I hadn't seen before. (Maybe because they were so big?)

Last summer I was talking to a neighbor and he also said he saw the bird. He said he's seen it on rare ocassion and pointed in the direction where he believed it to live. The direction he pointed to was the same direction I had seen the bird flying toward. 

Also, the day I saw the bird, when my husband came home from work, he mentioned he heard on the radio that there had been local sightings of a giant bird. So that  confirmed it for me. When you see something that's "not supposed to be" it can be confusing at best!

[Desertbird]

By what you are saying, it sounds like a golden eagle, which (in New Jersey) would seem very large in comparison to the native aviculture.  Are there any underbelly or underwing markings?  Can you describe the shape of the wings?  Were they bulky-looking or swift-like?  You say the tail was short, do you remember if it was rounded or flat on the trailing end?  Was the head tucked into the shoulders slightly, or did it extend far in front of it?

Golden eagles are very large, and given the right climate, can be huge.  Here, we have large bald eagles and ravens, but up in Alaska, they're twice as big.  We have had a golden eagle at the refuge a few times, but because of his condition, it was difficult to see how big he truely was.  My guess is that his wingspan was about six feet (rather small, even for a male).  If it was a female, and in a colder climate, I would expect its' wingspan to reach maybe around eight feet.

Anything you can add to the description would be great.