Thunderbird Sightings

A motorist stopped at a downtown red light watched a huge winged creature pass overhead; reported to investigator Stan Gordon, who noted a similar sighting from the previous day.

Source: https://www.stangordon.info/wp/2021/05/25/thunderbird-huge-flying-creature-sighting-reported-in-the-greensburg-pa-area-again-may-23-2021/

A surge of thunderbird reports near Pittsburgh logged by researcher Stan Gordon described huge dark birds with 12-20 foot wingspans flying at very low altitude over residential neighborhoods.

Source: https://www.liveabout.com/the-giant-thunderbird-returns-3862215

Investigator Ken Gerhard logged a central Illinois sighting in which a driver reported a black bird with a wingspan wider than the road soaring across Route 6 — one of several modern Illinois reports following the Lawndale legacy.

Source: http://www.cryptozoonews.com/lawndale07/

Multiple Juneau residents reported a bird 'larger than any eagle' soaring over the Mendenhall Valley, prompting a Juneau Empire feature on the impossibly large bird sightings.

Source: https://www.juneauempire.com/life/impossibly-large-bird-spotted-in-mendenhall-valley/

During the October 2002 Alaskan flap, villagers in Togiak repeatedly reported a bird the size of a small plane; sightings prompted state biologists to investigate alongside the better-known Manokotak reports.

Source: https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=20021019&slug=bird19

Heavy-equipment operator Moses Coupchiak and a Dillingham pilot independently reported a bird with a wingspan matching a Cessna 207's wing (~14 ft); the Anchorage Daily News covered the wave of sightings.

Source: https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=20021019&slug=bird19

A 19-year-old reported a winged creature about 50-60 feet above Route 119 traffic, with an estimated 10-15-foot wingspan and a head about three feet long; investigated by Stan Gordon.

Source: https://new-cryptozoology.fandom.com/wiki/Pennsylvanian_Thunderbird

Reverend Robin Swope watched a dark-gray bird with an estimated 15-17-foot wingspan fly low over the cemetery; the creature was described as having little to no neck and a circle of black under the head.

Source: https://new-cryptozoology.fandom.com/wiki/Pennsylvanian_Thunderbird

A farmer on Clinch Mountain reported a bird with a wingspan he estimated at 14 to 16 feet landing briefly on a fence post before lifting off without apparent effort. He described the bird as dark gray with a bare head and no visible neck, resembling no known species. The report was collected by Tennessee Valley Authority wildlife staff conducting a routine bird survey.

Source: https://www.wjhl.com/haunted-tri-cities/mothman-bigfoot-raven-mocker-and-more-cryptids-of-appalachia/

Ex-Marine and photographer John Huffer shot roughly 100 feet of 16mm color film of two enormous birds taking flight from a tree in a cove near Findlay; Huffer estimated the larger bird's wingspan at over 12 feet.

Source: https://jg-tc.com/news/film-crew-documents-tuscola-chiefs-big-bird-story/article_4cdc7f58-a114-5e62-9597-13a90f0773f5.html

Three days after the Lawndale attack, a McLean County farmer watching radio-controlled airplanes spotted a giant bird with a wingspan he estimated at over 10 feet flying above his farm.

Source: https://sped2work.tripod.com/thunderbirds.html

Ten-year-old Marlon Lowe was briefly lifted from his yard by one of two enormous black birds with white-ringed necks and ~10-ft wingspans, witnessed by seven people including his mother.

Source: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-mythic-child-stealing-thunderbirds-of-illinois

Armando Grimaldo, smoking in his backyard, was attacked from the air by an immense leathery-skinned bird with a simian face that clawed his shirt and jacket to shreds before flying off.

Source: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/the-texas-sized-monster-bird-that-created-a-huge-flap-back-in-1975-2251208/

On-duty police officers Arturo Padilla and Homer Galvan independently reported a massive bird-like creature with a 12-15 foot wingspan and glowing red eyes flying low over the city before dawn.

Source: https://truehorrorstoriesoftexas.com/the-bizarre-bird-monsters-of-the-rio-grande/

Eleven-year-old Tracey Lawson and her cousin saw a horrible five-foot bird with a bald gorilla-like face and luminous red eyes near their home, kicking off the 1976 Rio Grande Valley Big Bird flap.

Source: https://utrgv.libguides.com/legends/bigbird

Cryptozoologist Robert Lyman Sr. catalogued multiple PA Black Forest encounters; on this date a witness near Coudersport reported a dark bird with a 20-foot wingspan flying over the treetops.

Source: https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Thunderbird

Fred Murray of Westfield reported a flock of thunderbirds resembling enormous vultures with sixteen-foot wingspans circling Dent's Run in north-central Pennsylvania.

Source: https://thepennsylvaniarambler.wordpress.com/2022/04/24/the-black-forest-thunderbird-part-one/

Two ranchers reported killing an enormous featherless bird with bat-like wings and an alligator-like head in the desert south of Tombstone; the Tombstone Epitaph article remains a foundational thunderbird account.

Source: https://www.truewestmagazine.com/article/tombstone-thunderbird/