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Big Bird! - Modern Sightings of Flying Monsters
A LEGEND ON LEATHER WINGS! The Indians called it the Thunderbird, a winged monster so vast that the beating of its mighty pinions sounded like thunder. But this ancient beast is not to be held in the cage of mythology. Today, from all over the dusty U.S. / Mexican border come hair-raising stories of modern day encounters with winged monsters of immense size and terrifying appearance. Further field sightings of similar creatures are recorded from all around the globe. The Kongamato of Africa, the Ropen of New Guinea and many others. What lies behind these weird tales? Ken Gerhard is in pole position to find out. A native Texan, he lives in the homeland of the monster some call 'Big Bird'. Cryptozoologist, author, adventurer, and gothic musician Ken is a larger than life character as amazing as the Big Bird itself. Ken's scholarly work is the first of its kind. The research and fieldwork involved are indeed impressive. On the track of the monster, Ken uncovers cases of animal mutilations, attacks on humans and mounting evidence of a stunning zoological discovery ignored by mainstream science. Something incredible awaits us on the broad desert horizon. Keep watching the skies!
108 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2007
About the author
Ken Gerhard
15 books25 followersKen Gerhard is a professional monster hunter and has investigated reports of mysterious beasts around the world including Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, the Chupacabra, giant winged creatures like Mothman and Thunderbirds and even werewolves.
In addition to appearing in three episodes of the television series Monster Quest (History Channel), Texan Cryptozoologist Ken Gerhard is featured in the History Channel special The Real Wolfman, as well as Legend Hunters (Travel Channel/A&E), Paranatural (National Geographic), Ultimate Encounters (truTV) and William Shatner's Weird or What? (History Television). His credits include multiple appearances on Coast to Coast AM, major news broadcasts and Ireland’s Newstalk radio, as well as being featured in major books and in articles by the Associated Press, Houston Chronicle and Tampa Tribune.
Ken is author of the book Big Bird: Modern Sightings of Flying Monsters, as well as the co-author of Monsters of Texas (with Nick Redfern) and has contributed to trade publications including Fate Magazine, Animals and Men, The Journal of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club and Bigfoot Times.
Ken has traveled to twenty-six different countries on six continents and almost all of the United States. An avid adventurer, he has camped along the Amazon Jungle, explored the Galapagos Islands, hiked the Australian Outback and has visited many ancient and mysterious sites from Machu Pichu to Stonehenge to Australia, Thailand and Tunisia.
He currently lectures and exhibits at events across the United States.
In addition to appearing in three episodes of the television series Monster Quest (History Channel), Texan Cryptozoologist Ken Gerhard is featured in the History Channel special The Real Wolfman, as well as Legend Hunters (Travel Channel/A&E), Paranatural (National Geographic), Ultimate Encounters (truTV) and William Shatner's Weird or What? (History Television). His credits include multiple appearances on Coast to Coast AM, major news broadcasts and Ireland’s Newstalk radio, as well as being featured in major books and in articles by the Associated Press, Houston Chronicle and Tampa Tribune.
Ken is author of the book Big Bird: Modern Sightings of Flying Monsters, as well as the co-author of Monsters of Texas (with Nick Redfern) and has contributed to trade publications including Fate Magazine, Animals and Men, The Journal of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club and Bigfoot Times.
Ken has traveled to twenty-six different countries on six continents and almost all of the United States. An avid adventurer, he has camped along the Amazon Jungle, explored the Galapagos Islands, hiked the Australian Outback and has visited many ancient and mysterious sites from Machu Pichu to Stonehenge to Australia, Thailand and Tunisia.
He currently lectures and exhibits at events across the United States.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 25, 2015
Gerhard does a very good job of summarizing various sightings of unusually large birds and other avian animals, and rather helpfully, includes a chronological list of the sightings he covers in his book. The structure of the book is appealing, with subjects being grouped in a logical manner, and it is very easy to read/follow, to the point that I hadn’t realized that I had gotten to the end in a little more than an hour. In his theories and speculation chapter, he explains every reasonable option behind sightings of unknown flying creatures, managing to avoid the unfortunate habit that some authors have of making bold claims of how situations absolutely must be supernatural or even alien in nature. He does mention that supernatural occurrences should not be entirely discounted, but he does not assert that they are the only explanation. This book is a wonderful introduction to the world of cryptozoology, and I highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the field that conventional science tends to overlook.
The book has the most focus on a particular series of sightings of the Texas “Big Bird” phenomena. While this is a fascinating subject (it actually sparked my interest in doing some research on similar sightings in Texas), it does take up a large chunk of a thin book, which can leave some readers disappointed about the lack of variety of flying monsters. However, this is made up for in his new book “Encounters with Flying Humanoids,” which covers many of the themes that he mentions only in passing in this book.
My only true complaint of this book is that I wish that he had more input from colleagues or consulting biologists. Gerhard made sure to speak with every witness that he could, but the lack of other perspectives throughout the book could lead some people to accuse him of bias.
The book has the most focus on a particular series of sightings of the Texas “Big Bird” phenomena. While this is a fascinating subject (it actually sparked my interest in doing some research on similar sightings in Texas), it does take up a large chunk of a thin book, which can leave some readers disappointed about the lack of variety of flying monsters. However, this is made up for in his new book “Encounters with Flying Humanoids,” which covers many of the themes that he mentions only in passing in this book.
My only true complaint of this book is that I wish that he had more input from colleagues or consulting biologists. Gerhard made sure to speak with every witness that he could, but the lack of other perspectives throughout the book could lead some people to accuse him of bias.
April 20, 2020
Not one of my better reads!
September 3, 2012
Short, but well-done, work on the 1976 (and beyond) sightings of weird bird-like creatures in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Aside from casual mentions in other works, the "Big Bird" sightings weren't dealt with previously in any great detail.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews