--- title: "Some US troops reportedly saw Bigfoot in Vietnam" description: "This wasn't just a one-off sighting. Soldiers on both sides of the Vietnam War reported multiple encounters with a Bigfoot-like ape creature." date: "2022-04-23" modified: "2025-10-04" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/us-troops-saw-bigfoot-vietnam/" categories: - "History" - "Vietnam War" - "War History" tags: - "Halloween" - "Vietnam War" --- # Some US troops reportedly saw Bigfoot in Vietnam ![Bigfoot vietnam]() *They didn't think Bigfoot was a VC, though.* In the Kontum Province of [Vietnam](), near the borders with Laos and Cambodia, there were a surprisingly large number of bizarre reports [from U.S. troops on patrols](). They claimed to have seen a strange, not-quite-human but not-quite-ape creature that the locals call *Nguoi Rung*, or "the people of the Forest." In other words: Bigfoot. ![bigfoot vietnam]() *Low draft number. Sorry, Bigfoot.* [Gary Linderer]() was on a six-man long-range reconnaissance patrol with the 101st Airborne Division when he deployed to South Vietnam. While struggling through some underbrush one day, he ran into "deep-set eyes on a prominent brow... five feet tall, with long muscular arms." The creature "walked upright with broad shoulders and a heavy torso." His battle buddies told him he just saw a rock ape, but Linderer had seen Rock Apes before. They were in the wrong part of the world for a Rock Ape, and Rock Apes weren't that big. This was no Rock Ape. ![bigfoot]() *First, Charlie. Now this. Unbelievable.* Like the Yeti in the Himalayas and the Sasquatch sightings all over North America, the Nguoi Rung is an oft-told tale in the area of Southeast Asia, but despite the endless sightings and folklore attached to the semi-mythical creature, there's no concrete evidence it exists. But Gary Linderer wasn't the only [witness](), either. Army Sgt. Thomas Jenkins [reported]() that his platoon was attacked by these apes, and they were throwing stones. Toward the end of the war, Viet Cong and NVA soldiers reported so many sightings of the reddish-brown hair-covered Nguoi Rung that the North Vietnamese communist party secretariat ordered scientists to investigate. Dr. Vo Quy, a respected ornithologist and environmental researcher from Hanoi, discovered what he believed to be a Nguoi Rung footprint on the forest floor and made a cast of it. The cast was wider than a human foot and too big for any known ape. In 1982, another Vietnamese scientist, Tran Hong Viet, discovered more footprints, which led zoologist John MacKinnon to investigate the region. MacKinnon called the area a "tiny, pristine corner of the world unknown to modern science." ![bigfoot footprint]() *The 1982 Footprint Cast.* In 1969, MacKinnon discovered manlike footprints in the jungles of Borneo, which the locals called *Batatut.* While much of the evidence surrounding the existence of these apes is anecdotal, MacKinnon, known for his discovery of new mammal species in Vietnam, believes there is a possibility that the existence of a previously unknown ape species is real. The account of Nguoi Rung meeting American GIs in Vietnam was first published in Kregg P.J. Jorgenson's [Very Crazy, GI: Strange But True Stories of the Vietnam War](). Though there were many sightings on both sides, with varying degrees of hostility, none reported that the Bigfoot-like creatures joined the fighting or that they were communist sympathizers. ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()