# Giant Alaskan bird spotted??? Anybody know more? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 17, 2002, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-alaskan-bird-spotted-anybody-know-more/132728 "2002-10-17T20:19:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2002, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-alaskan-bird-spotted-anybody-know-more/132728/1 "2002-10-17T20:19:49Z")
I heard one of those “throw-away” news stories on the radio about an hour ago about a pilot (and his passengers) who spotted a GIANT bird flying over Alaska. (This was a credible big-timenews radio station, not some goofball shock jock.) I did a fast search on the web and turned up nothing. Anybody know more? Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2002, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-alaskan-bird-spotted-anybody-know-more/132728/2 "2002-10-17T20:53:50Z")
[Here you go.](http://www.anchorage.com/front/story/1962481p-2066841c.html) ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2002, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-alaskan-bird-spotted-anybody-know-more/132728/3 "2002-10-17T20:59:09Z")
[Here you go.](http://www.anchorage.com/front/story/1962481p-2066841c.html) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2002, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-alaskan-bird-spotted-anybody-know-more/132728/4 "2002-10-17T22:05:14Z")
I’m sure it would be wonderful to discover such an animal, but I strongly suspect this is going to turn out (actually it probably wont; it will likely never be spotted again) to be one of those cases where a familiar object looks much bigger than it really is because of the lack of contextual cues. I remember reading about a scientist running for his life as he glimpsed what he thought was a polar bear approaching across featureless terrain; it turned out to be a rabbit. ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2002, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-alaskan-bird-spotted-anybody-know-more/132728/5 "2002-10-17T23:44:23Z")
here is anohter story that basically repeats most of the first one [http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=BIGBIRD-10-15-02&cat=AN](http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=BIGBIRD-10-15-02&cat=AN) ---
**Author:** ![brachyrhynchos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brachyrhynchos/32/376_2.png) [@brachyrhynchos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brachyrhynchos)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2002, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-alaskan-bird-spotted-anybody-know-more/132728/6 "2002-10-18T01:07:41Z")
And here’s a website showing some [Steller’s Sea-Eagles](http://www.otterside.com/htmfiles/steagle.htm) with a Carrion Crow in their midst. These eagles are large, as in **HUGE** , birds. I agree with **Mangetout** (“Brother Maynard! Bring up the Holy Hand Grenade!”) about context. Even as an experienced ornithologist, I can easily be confused about the size of an unknown bird if I have nothing to compare it to. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2002, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-alaskan-bird-spotted-anybody-know-more/132728/7 "2002-10-18T02:12:55Z")
Could it be the mysterious…_[thunderbird](http://www.cryptozoology.com/cryptids/thunderbird.php)_? (_dun dun dunnnnn_!) No, I am not seriously proposing that’s what it is. The news story just sounded awfully familiar. ---
**Author:** ![Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milton_De_La_Warre)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2002, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-alaskan-bird-spotted-anybody-know-more/132728/8 "2002-10-18T11:13:57Z")
Thanks for turning me on to the Steller’s Sea Eagle! It’s beautiful, and I’d never heard of it before. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2002, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-alaskan-bird-spotted-anybody-know-more/132728/9 "2002-10-18T11:45:58Z")
A bird with a 14-foot wingspan? That would be a damn big bird, but I don’t see how this is impossible, or even improbable. I’d keep my pets indoors if such a thing was around, but I wouldn’t be worried for myself or my loved ones.