What's the strangest thing you've seen on late night watch?

Capt Byron Chen — Wed, 20 May 2015 23:01:34 -0400

Ever stand watch in the middle of the night and see something you just couldn't explain? Or creepy? Or just was not sure who to report it to and wouldn't know what they'd do if you told them anyway?

What do you think you saw and how did you respond?

Response by GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad made May 20 at 2015 11:03 PM

GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad — Wed, 20 May 2015 23:03:57 -0400

Yes I have ... still can't explain it.

Response by SGT Richard H. made May 20 at 2015 11:07 PM

SGT Richard H. — Wed, 20 May 2015 23:07:48 -0400

Mice. Let me explain:

One night (in Northern Saudi) while watching the horizon in the Bradley thermals I see this guy running from right to left in a crouch...fast as hell. The second time he appeared, he was going left to right, and getting a little closer, still crouching. This time I caught him in the stadia lines just long enough to figure he was at about 2000 meters out. I figured I'd keep an eye on him for a couple of minutes before I alerted anyone since he was way out and I wanted to be sure. After a few minutes and a few more dashes, I figured out that I was watching a mouse running around about 20 or 30 meters away!

Response by Capt Richard I P. made May 21 at 2015 12:41 PM

Capt Richard I P. — Thu, 21 May 2015 12:41:56 -0400

UFOs (in the literal sense) through a thermal over Marjah, Afghanistan. They were probably aerostats, but I had never seen aerostats before, and hadn't seen them in the daylight either.

Response by PO2 Anthony Burton made May 8 at 2017 9:12 PM

PO2 Anthony Burton — Mon, 08 May 2017 21:12:37 -0400

A ghost on my sounding and security watch,and when the ship was sold to the Australians they had the same experience,I just thought it was one of my shipmates till about thirty years later and the Aussies saw the same guy.

Response by LCpl Jared O'Neal made May 9 at 2017 1:35 AM

LCpl Jared O'Neal — Tue, 09 May 2017 01:35:37 -0400

GuarD duty on the dock in Okinawa looking down at two what I think were two cuttlefish glowing and I swear they were both watching me as I was looking at them not a big deal but was awesome to see!

Response by CPT Chris Loomis made May 9 at 2017 4:02 AM

CPT Chris Loomis — Tue, 09 May 2017 04:02:33 -0400

Okay, so there I was.... on guard duty at the front gate of JFTB Los Alamitos.... looking down the street from the gate putting a dip of Copenhagen in my lip when at my 9 o'clock walked up a raccoon who then sat down in the open doorway.

Because I'm the asshat that I sometimes am, I promptly tossed the pinch of chew at the raccoon that was sitting up on his hind legs. The chew hit the raccoon center mass and he caught it! He then tasted the chew, or maybe even put it in his mouth, and walked off westbound.

I swear to it....you just can't make this shit up!

Response by Maj John Bell made May 9 at 2017 4:51 AM

Maj John Bell — Tue, 09 May 2017 04:51:46 -0400

Once during the day I kept seeing a woman's hair blowing in the wind over the top of the shutters on a window. She was tapping on the window and screaming for help. I'd run out the door to see what was going on, and to help; but when I got outside she was gone. I would search the yard but not find her or any sign of anything going on. This happened perhaps half a dozen times over an hour and a half. I finally hid myself on the porch and waited.

It turned out to be a crow attacking its own reflection in the window and what I thought was hair, was just the tips of its wings showing above the shutters. But for a while, I was starting to believe in ghosts.