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I was recently contacted on Facebook about a possible Thunderbird sighting near Table Rock, Wyoming. For those who might not be familiar with the term Thunderbird let me give you a little more information.

Thunderbird is a term used in cryptozoology to describe large, bird-like creatures, generally identified with the Thunderbird of Native American tradition. These massive birds are normally described as being black in color and as having a wingspan between 12 and 18 ft. The fossil record does show that giant birds once existed but for the most part the Thunderbird is considered a myth. The only problem is that there continues to be sporadic sighting of this very large bird.

Here is the most recent possible sighting of a Thunderbird.

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General area of the sightings.

Over the last few days I received two separate reports of a possible thunderbird sighting in Oakland county Michigan. The two people submitting the reports could be connected or know one another, but at this time I do not know. The two sightings describe a very similar creature. I'm fairly familiar with the area as this is where my wife grew up. I have been in this area many times over the years.

Before I get to the actual reports, I want to offer some general information about Thunderbirds and Oakland county.

Thunderbirds are described as large, bird-like creatures. Sighting of Thunderbirds go back for centuries and there are some fossil records that show a bird with a 12 to 18 foot wingspan did exist. But sadly Thunderbirds are mostly thought of as myths nowadays even though there are a growing number of sightings.

Oakland county is a rather large area with lots of water. In fact, there are 387 lakes in Oakland county. Cass lake, which I have been to several times, is the largest and deepest lake in Oakland county. Oakland county is located in the northwest of the Detroit metropolitan area. Even thought the area is flat and heavily populated, there are still areas with good sized forests. West Bloomfield Woods Nature Preserve is a 162 acre preserve that is frequented by over 100 bird species as well as white-tail deer, ref fox, coyote, weasel, mink and salamanders.So, this area is a viable habitat for possible Thunderbirds.


Now that we got some general information about the area, lets look at the report.

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I got in a report of a Thunderbird sighting. This is the first one I have got in a long time. By reading over the report I think it is safe to assume that this has never been reported until now.

Here is the report.

- Start Report - 

Name: Luci

Email Address: On file

State: MO

County:

Date of Sighting: early 90's

Time of Day: mid day

Nearest Town: Maryville

Length of Sighting: several minutes

How many Witnesses: 2

Any Photos/Videos: no

Describe sighting in detail:
I saw on your map this "thunderbird" sighting and it took me back to a day of bird hunting long ago. Myself, my now ex husband, and our Brittany, Scout had gotten an early start to a beautiful day of quail and pheasant hunting. It was mid day and we were on the long trek back to the truck when we heard Scout just going nuts. He was a very calm and professional bird dog and we ran as fast as we could because we were very concerned. Holy crap.
We couldn't believe our eyes and to this day I still can't quite believe what we saw. A huge, monstrous dark gray bird apparently stuck in the mud with it's wings just flailing violently. Scout was lunging at it as if he'd hit the jackpot. That bird was at least 20 foot from tip of wing to tip of wing. I was young at the time and my husband simply explained to me that hawks could get very huge. I told a few people about it and they simply told me that I must be mistaken, that no bird gets that big. I know what I saw that day. I'll never forget it. I had never heard of this "thunderbird" until I saw your map and read about the sighting in Nebraska in 1990. The area we were hunting that day is close to the NE southern border. Thank you for your web site. I now know that I'm not crazy and that I really DID see what I know I saw.

- End Report -

Thanks goes to Luci for sending in the report. It seems that most of these Thunderbird sightings happen in the north.

For those who may not know, a Brittany is a breed of dog that is used for bird hunting.


Thanks
~Tom~


This post by Thomas Marcum, Thomas is the founder/leader of the cryptozoology and paranormal research organization known as The Crypto Crew. Over 20 years experience with research and investigation of unexplained activity, working with video and websites. A trained wild land firefighter and a published photographer, and poet.


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El paso, Co - Thunderbird Sighting

This post by Thomas Marcum, Thomas is the founder/leader of the cryptozoology and paranormal research organization known as The Crypto Crew. Over 20 years experience with research and investigation of unexplained activity, working with video and websites. A trained wild land firefighter and a published photographer, and poet.



I got in another possible Thunderbird report, it has never been reported until now.  The wingspan of the bird in this report is larger than any reports I have read. Could it have been a Thunderbird or something else?

- Start Report - 

Name: Christine ******

Email Address:  Withheld but on file

State: Colorado

County: El paso

Date of Sighting: 2006

Time of Day: 4am

Nearest Town: COLORADO SPRINGS (less than half mile from national forest)

Length of Sighting: 1min

How many Witnesses: 1

Any Photos/Videos: no

Describe sighting in detail:

I Stepped out onto the front porch suddenly & started something above me on the roof.  I Heard a loud clawing or scratching above but before I had a chance to look,  there was a great flapping sound like a large flag in the wind.
A percussion type force filled my ears & actually knocked me backwards into the door. Looking up I saw in silhouette from the moon light of a huge winged thing. (40ft wingspan easy)It  lifted away from the roof & as it flew off it made an unearthly sounding screech, almost like a croak.
I would greatly appreciate hearing from a cryptozoologist regarding this, this is my first time speaking about this at all & I've done a lot of research: given other known "bird related" elements (carcass damage,  eyeshine & hemophagocytosis) I think there is a connection between this thing and the reported cattle mutilations. Thank you

(Note: I did send Christine an email and some info about this possibly being a Thunderbird.) 


- End Report -

UPDATE -  The following is a follow up conversation I had with Christine. She has obviously researched the cattle mutilations to some degree.
Christine said:
"Thank you for your response. Despite consistent historical accounts by many native American tribes about the Thunderbirds, you are correct, it is not accepted as 'real'.  This is exactly why I never reported it. About 2 years ago I tried researching it but at the time all the websites were dominated by cattle mutilation reports. That's when it dawned on me that if the Thunderbird was real, what did it eat? Further reading confirmed a connection; photographs of cows draped in treetops and over fences along with carcass damage consistent with raptor predation follow the 37th parallel across the country. If you cross reference that with the map you sent me of sightings, it is consistent with the central-Mississippi flyway bird migratory pattern. I don't know what part of the country you are in but here in Colorado the cattle mutilations have become a serious issue for ranchers; one rancher was forced out of the trade after losing 23 head of cattle, in las animas county. There is a $2,500 reward & it has been the subject of 2 federal investigations. I don't think anyone will take me seriously though, the other theories of UFO, cult or government conspiracy are much more "exciting" to everyone else. but to me the confirmation of a Thunderbird type species would be amazing."


Thanks again for this extra information.

- End Update-


This does sound like a Thunderbird but the wingspan is lager than any reports that I have read. A bird this large would not have any problem attacking cattle and this could explain some of the cattle mutilations in the area.

Thanks to Christine for sending us the report. If anyone in this area has had a similar sighting or has had a cattle mutilation problem and you don't know for sure what it was , then please let us know.



Thanks
~Tom~  





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Van Buren County, MI

This post by Thomas Marcum, Thomas is the founder/leader of the cryptozoology and paranormal research organization known as The Crypto Crew. Over 20 years experience with research and investigation of unexplained activity, working with video and websites. A trained wild land firefighter and a published photographer, and poet.


I just got a report in late last night of a possible Thunderbird sighting in Van Buren County, MI
This is a pretty recent sighting. Here is the report.


- Start Report -

Name: Matt
Email Address: withheld
State: Michigan
County: Van Buren
Date of Sighting: 6/14/14  
Time of Day: 12:00 PM
Nearest Town: Breedsville, Michigan
Length of Sighting: 1 Minute
How many Witnesses: 3
Any Photos/Videos: No
Describe sighting in detail:
We were working on the lawn on Jeptha Lake in Grand Junction, Michigan Van Buren County SW Michigan) when the high noon sun became obscured by a very large bird. I was looking at the ground when the huge outline of a giant bird covered the ground I was looking at.

I looked up and about 300-500 feet up (too high to notice any features except it being all black and 10-16 foot wingspan, I'm guessing around 12-14 feet specifically) was a giant "hawk-like" bird. It was circling the lake and was checking out there area.

It is a very high populated deer area, so maybe looking for deer?

I alerted my gf and brother who were with me and we all watch as it continued its circle until we lost it behind a giant tree. We waited to see if it would circle around but it must have continued the opposite way.

We watched it for around a full minute.

It's tough to estimate size as it was so far up, but there is no way it was smaller than a 10 foot wingspan, which makes it too large to be any known species in the area. The DNR suggested a Turkey Vulture of Bald Eagle (if definitely was not a Bald Eagle).

If it was a turkey vulture, it was larger than the largest known size by a matter of a couple feet.

I have been since then been watching hawks and other large birds carefully. Ive sized up 4 foot wingspan
hawks and seen what they look like even a hundred feet in the air. No comparison, and they are 200+ feet lower than the bird I saw.

From what I have read, it may be a Thunderbird, or some giant hawk. Anyone have any ideas what I saw?



- End Report -

This sure sounds like a Thunderbird  when compared to what has been described by other witnesses.
If anyone from that are also seen this large bird, please contact us.
A thanks goes to Matt for submitting the report.

Thanks
~Tom~





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Thunderbirds in Nebraska?

This post by Thomas Marcum, Thomas is the founder/leader of the cryptozoology and paranormal research organization known as The Crypto Crew. Over 20 years experience with research and investigation of unexplained activity, working with video and websites. A trained wild land firefighter and a published photographer, and poet.


Just got in another report of a Thunderbird sighting. If anyone has had sighting, please send us a report by Clicking Here



Name: Ashley *********
Email Address: Withheld
State: Nebraska
County:
Date of Sighting: Summer in mid 1990
Time of Day: late afternoon
Nearest Town: York
Length of Sighting: about 2 minutes
How many Witnesses: 4
Any Photos/Videos: no
Describe sighting in detail:

"Mom, Dad, my brother and myself were on the front porch at the end of the day. It was very quiet. All of a sudden you could hear this "whoooosh, whoooosh" starting quietly but increasing in volume. At it's loudest point a shadow fell over and covered the ENTIRE porch, and we looked up and could see in great detail a giant bird, completely black, with huge talons. It was very low to the ground, only mere FEET higher than our 1 story home. I remember the family being in complete shock, and shrinking back under the roof of the porch as it swooped a bit lower, then back up into the sky and headed west, disappearing over the trees. We will never forget this strange experience. We've told people about it. I just saw a thunderbird sighting on youtube, which led me here to report."

Thanks for the report Ashley.

Thanks
~Tom~





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