Favourite Cryptozoological creature/story?

[Han]

For what its worth I believe that you did see a huge Bird.

However my sceptical side would say:
If you saw it then surely others would have too?are there any other reported sightings from nearby?
What was it doing there?
Where does it usually live?
What would/could it eat?
If it was NOT resident to that area then where did it come from? and did anyone else see it on its journey?
The general description of the bird you saw, is very similar to a known and living animal (apart from size and bald head) could it have appeared to have been larger than it actually was?

Finally a ten foot wingspan does not sound that impressive on paper, but it is actually massive.
For example the largest Bears only stand at 11 feet, a ten foot bull shark would be easily capable of eating you, a ten foot tiger would be an impressive sight, Bison get up to about 11 foot long, a moose gets to about 11 foot long, and the tallest man was only about 9 foot tall.
So if I had to bet on what you saw I would place my money on a disorientated juvenile California condor, but that does not mean you did, but the fact that you have such a strong memory and have provided such detailed information has convinced me you did see something out of the ordinary.
Best wishes.

 

[Han]

"Although condors have gone missing in the past, we always hope they will one day return, just as Condor 176 reappeared after being out of contact for nearly five months. This year, however, we added two wild-hatched condors to the “missing and/or unknown” category, which now totals 24 individuals. The ever-increasing independence and utilization of habitats in Utah by the condor flock, combined with the large amounts of inaccessible private property, continue to increase difficulty in tracking and monitoring condor behavior there. We therefore rely on our increased knowledge from our years of study and adaptive management."


A Condor could fly a long, long way in 5 months. they have been known to fly 150 miles a day.

I have also noticed that the reintroduction of the Condor started in the mid 90s and 1996 seems to have seen the release of a number.

*((source)) Conservation Projects | The Peregrine Fund

 

[Mystery-Student]

Thanks. i'm skeptical as well, towards my own brain. I have a vivid memory of the whole incident along with the feelings of awe, excitement and being frightened all at the same time. Yet I still wonder if somehow my brain interpreted the bird as larger than I truly saw and also as I stated before whether over the years my brain somehow added details to the original event that could have come from later experiences with other birds. I personally don't think I remember anything different than the way I saw things that day but there us the possibility and it happens to witnesses sometimes.
From my original post, about the bird seeming like it shouldn't be there, I didn't mean that it flew too far east it was in the wrong place geologically, it seemed more paranormal. The actions seemed wrong, the size seemed way wrong, the whole incident just didn't seem right. As if it were an image if a giant bird flying but wasn't real. I'm not sure this makes sense, but that's the way it seemed, fake. I've watched, studied and am familiar with many birds if prey, especially broad winged bird, and I know their use of thermals for soaring, their movements, but this bird seemed lifeless, flying in an arc without so much as a slant of the body, a slight movement of the tail or wings.

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