Creatures, Myths & Legends

Did US troops encounter Bigfoot in Vietnam ?

By T.K. Randall
September 12, 2015 ·  91 comments

Could a new species of ape be hiding in Vietnam's jungles ? Image Credit: CC BY-SA 2.5 Diliff Stories of large hairy hominids have cropped up in many parts of the world - most notably in Russia, North America, Australia and the Himalayas. One of the lesser known such legends however hails from Vietnam - in particular from the time of the Vietnam War from the 1950s to the 1970s.

Known by the locals as "Nguoi Rung" or "the people of the forest", this Bigfoot-like creature was allegedly encountered on numerous occasions by US serviceman in Vietnam's jungles.

One such incident was reported by Gary Linderer who, while on a six-man patrol with the 101st Airborne, came across a creature that he described as being "5ft tall with long, muscular arms".

In another case army Sgt. Thomas Jenkins reported that his platoon had been attacked by a group of unidentified ape-like creatures throwing rocks.Even the Vietcong reported encounters with ape-beasts covered in reddish-brown hair.

Following the war a number of notable scientists traveled to the remote jungles of Vietnam in an effort to track down the creature that the soldiers had been seeing.

Both ornithologist Dr. Vo Quy and Vietnamese scientist Tran Hong Viet managed to discover and document footprints that didn't seem to match any known species of native primate.

Zoologist John MacKinnon, who had previously found evidence of a similar creature in the wilds of Borneo, described the area as a "tiny, pristine corner of the world unknown to modern science."

To date however no new species of ape matching the soldiers' reports has ever been found.

Source: We Are the Mighty | Comments (91)

Tags: Vietnam, Bigfoot