Another Possible Thunderbird Sighting in Derry Township, PA
May 17, 2013-Afternoon
Loyalhanna, Derry Township, Westmoreland, County, PA
On May 17, 2013, the witness decided to do some fishing at Loyalhanna Lake in Derry Township. It was between 4 and 5 PM that afternoon that the man had packed up and was riding his motorcycle down the country road heading toward New Derry. He estimates that he was moving down the road at a speed of about 40 mph.
He was about 3-4 miles from the lake when his attention was drawn to a huge bird that crossed his path from left to right about 50 feet ahead of him. The huge flying creature was only about 8-10 feet above the road. The man, who was only able to observe it for several seconds, described it as very dark brown or black in color. The neck was short, and he didn’t get a good look at its head, but the body itself was very large and he noticed a huge tail.
What did catch his eye were the wings, and he stated to me, “the wingspan was gigantic.” He saw the bird flap its monstrous wings twice as it moved steadily toward a thickly wooded area to his right. The witness, who only saw the huge bird from a side view, estimated that the wingspan was about twenty feet or more in length.
The witness could not hear any sound due to the noise of his motorcycle engine. The witness is quite familiar with the common large birds of Pennsylvania. He said that he has never seen anything like this and is quite amazed at what he saw. The man reached the location where the bird had flown into the heavily wooded area in a matter of seconds, but he could not see the large flying creature at that point.