Pterodactyl: A Friday Funny

A recent live-streaming of Wild and Weird Radio made me remember a rather strange incident that happened back in 2007. When you think about the gravity of the situation (how this young man could have really hurt himself or someone else and the idea that there may be some underlying mental health issues involved) it isn’t really THAT funny, but the whole incident is absurd enough to classify it as a Friday Funny. Plus, I’ll admit that when I did first hear this story, I may have laughed just a little too hard. 

Anyway…

The date was Thursday, December 27th, 2007. A 29 year old man from Wenatchee, Washington was driving northbound on Wenatchee Avenue around 11:30pm. According to witnesses, the man drifted into the southbound lane, drove for a little less than a block while on-coming traffic pulled over to accommodate him… and then crashed into a street lamp. 

Fortunately, there were no serious injuries in this single-vehicle crash, and after being treated at Central Washington Hospital, the man was released into police custody, where he was charged with negligent driving. When police asked what caused the man to drift into the wrong lane and ultimately crash, he would only respond with a one-word answer: pterodactyl. 

Obviously, the man was given a breath-alcohol test on the scene, but according to Sgt. Cherie Smith, there was only a minimal amount of alcohol in the man’s system. I’ve never seen a follow-up as to whether a full toxicology screen showed anything else in his system, and the press seemed to have dropped the matter after the initial story. 

So what happened? Did this guy really see a pterodactyl, or was this just a spur-of-the-moment excuse for the accident? There were witnesses to the incident and no one else reported a long-extinct flying reptile, or any similar creature, either on the scene or in the general area that night. However…

Washington State does apparently have quite a few sightings of pterodactyls/pterosaurs, reported before AND after this event, especially in the vicinity of Olympic National Park, according to crypto-researcher Loren Coleman.  That’s interesting, but I’m not sure it’s enough to prove that this guy really did see a pterodactyl anywhere outside of his own mind. Happily, no one was hurt and this story became just one in a long list of head-scratching, chuckle inducing WTF moments. 

*As far as I can tell, this story first appeared 28 December 2007 in the  Everett Herald in an article written by Rachel Schleif…which is where the info came from. Stay spooky ya’ll…and keep your eyes on the skies, EXCEPT while trying to drive!