Duane Hodgkinson

Duane Hodgkinson, an American World War II veteran, played a key role in living-pterosaur investigations from 2004 through 2007 by giving a detailed description of the "pterodactyl" he and another soldier saw in 1944 in New Guinea (now Papua New Guinea). Interviews in 2004 (by Jonathan Whitcomb through letters, email, and phone conversations) were followed by a videotaped interview in 2005 by Garth Guessman.

Investigators believe his sighting is one of the closest daylight encounters with a creature that may be the same as, or a similar species to the ropen of Umboi Island. It was inland from Finschhafen on the New Guinea mainland. Hodgkinson described the wingspan as similar to the Piper Tri-Pacer private airplane that he then owned (about 29 feet). The tail was "at least ten or fifteen feet" long, but he concentrated on the appendage on the back of the creature's head: a long straight appendage that was parallel to the beak.

Other References
Does a Living Pterodactyl Fly Over Papua New Guinea?

Hodgkinson's "pterodacytl" and the Umboi Island ropen (press release)

YouTube video of Hodgkinson (interview by Guessman)

Hodgkinson and Hennessy (two similar sightings compared)

More details about the Duane Hodgkinson sighting of 1944