Thunderbirds
Tonight, we’re turning our eyes to the skies and our ears to the thunder. In the deep valleys and mountain ridges of Pennsylvania, generations of witnesses have reported seeing enormous birds. Their wings stretch twenty feet or more, their talons gleam like knives, and their shadows darken the ground. These creatures are said to be powerful enough to carry off deer, livestock, and even people. They call them Thunderbirds.
But the Thunderbird is not just a modern cryptid. It has deep roots in Native American mythology and has been part of Indigenous belief systems for thousands of years. Across many tribal traditions, the Thunderbird is not a mere animal but a spiritual force, one tied to storms, justice, and the natural balance of the world. Among the Lakota, the Thunderbird is a guardian of the skies. Each beat of its wings creates thunder, and lightning shoots from its eyes. In Algonquian traditions, which influenced many tribes in the Great Lakes and Northeastern regions, the Thunderbird lives high in the mountains, far above the clouds. It is both feared and revered, a protector and a punisher. These aren’t just legends told for fun. As archaeologist David Dye once explained, Thunderbird stories are more like sacred instruction manuals. They carry power and meaning, and that knowledge is treated with care and secrecy.
When European settlers arrived in Pennsylvania, they brought their own stories of giant birds. Over time, those tales blended with the Indigenous ones. By the late 1800s, sightings were being reported across the state. In 1892, Fred Murray claimed to see a flock of enormous birds with sixteen-foot wingspans near Dent’s Run. In the 1920s, retired postmaster Hiram Cranmer said he saw Thunderbirds at least five times across northern Clinton and Potter Counties. In 1940, writer Robert Lyman encountered a massive brown vulture-like bird near Coudersport. Using the road for scale, he estimated its wingspan to be over twenty feet.
In Pittsburgh’s South Side in 1944, residents said they saw a bird so massive it blocked out the sun. One witness described it as bigger than a plane. In 1969, in Clinton County, a sheriff’s wife said she watched a bird with a wingspan nearly as wide as Little Pine Creek. Around the same time, hunters reported seeing one carry off a fawn near Kettle Creek.
During the 1970s, as interest in Bigfoot and Mothman exploded, Pennsylvania found itself in the middle of a Thunderbird flap. Local researcher Stan Gordon documented a wave of sightings, especially in rural western counties. Witnesses described massive birds with features resembling condors or even pterosaurs. In Greene County, a creature perched on a barn roof with talons like steel hooks. In Somerset County, hunters claimed they saw one feeding on a deer carcass.
The sightings didn’t stop there. On June 13, 2001, a resident in Greenville, Pennsylvania, watched a massive grayish-black bird soar overhead for nearly twenty minutes. It was so big that he initially mistook it for a small plane. A neighbor saw it too the next day. In July of that same year, someone in Erie County described a similar creature with a long beak and unusual markings under its head. Then in September 2001, a young man in Greensburg heard a sound like flapping flags and looked up to see a bird with a fifteen-foot wingspan flying low above traffic on Route 119.
In 2020, Greensburg saw another spike in sightings. One afternoon in April, a man reported a huge shadow passing over his car. Another in May watched a massive bird glide silently across the sky for nearly a minute, estimating its wingspan at over fifteen feet. He described the wings as pointed and stiff, and the tail came to a single sharp point.
On May 23, 2021, a woman at a stoplight in downtown Greensburg watched a creature fly overhead that she initially thought was a vulture. But it flew closer, and she saw it had leathery skin, no feathers, and a sharp beak. She described it as having a tail like a lizard that curled when it turned. With her background in wildlife, she was confident it was not a known species of bird.
In 2024, sightings continued. In January, someone on the Derry side of the Chestnut Ridge reported a huge white bird with a black crest. In March, near the Ohio River in Allegheny County, a massive black bird was seen flying low in the afternoon. That same month in Washington Township, a man saw a bird with a wingspan wide enough to cover the entire road. In May, a witness in Fayette County reported a featherless-tailed bird with long, skinny wings. And in the Latrobe area on May 16, a man coming home from work saw a creature with scale-like feathers and a wingspan possibly over twelve feet. The next day, a woman in Greensburg described a large, black bird with a sharp beak and leathery skin that reminded her of a prehistoric pterosaur.
For decades, residents across Pennsylvania have reported sightings of a bird far larger than anything in the known animal kingdom. Skeptics point to mistaken identity, exaggeration, or even optical illusions. Turkey vultures, eagles, and herons can appear massive in flight, especially against low skies. Some believe it’s tied to our fascination with fossils and ancient life, or maybe it’s a psychological echo of old legends passed down through generations.
But for many, these explanations fall short. The sheer consistency across time, geography, and detail suggests that something unusual may be soaring over the ridges, forests, and river valleys of Pennsylvania. Whether it is a true Thunderbird, a misidentified animal, or something stranger, the skies above this state hold stories that have never quite come down to earth.
So the next time thunder rolls through the hills, don’t just check the weather. Look up. You never know what might be flying overhead.
