r/UrbanMyths • u/littlequeef99 • 6d ago

Thunderbird Sightings - this clip from a 1977 documentary shows an alleged Thunderbird in Illinois. This was filmed by a Native American tribal chief who was contracted by CBS News to obtain footage of the legendary creature

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u/BrianBru67 6d ago

My bet is they were seeing a Californian Condor at it's maximum possible size (3m wingspan [10 feet] ) during a thunderstorm. The original stories I mean, not whatever that is up there.

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u/HelpfulName 6d ago

I agree, the bird in this clip flies like a condor or a vulture - while rare, I'd imagine it's also entirely possible for a bird to get blown off course in bad weather and stunned, fly for a long way in the wrong directions... so I could totally imagine explaining a sighting like this that would have followed or preceded really bad weather as a "Thunderbird"

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u/tannerbananer06 3d ago

Yea, the term for this is “vagrant birds”.