Aug 27

U.S. Soldier views unexplainable subject near Bargi Matal

What the sergeant viewed he saw through an infrared scope (thermal – military grade thermals are far more detailed at distances than commercial grade units). The subject was 500 – 600 meters away (.31 – .38 miles) and it was viewed for 10 – 15 minutes. It was enough of an event that he woke the 5 other soldiers in his troop to look through the scope. None of them could come up with a reasonable explanation for what they were seeing. Only explanation that didn’t sound completely crazy was that a “gorilla had escaped a zoo”.

What he saw was scrambling up a granite shale mountain at a far more agile rate then he could because of the tricky footing as result of the loose fitting rocks. “It looked like a big monkey or ape. It was big and beefy in the shoulders.”

There are Rhesus Macaque monkeys in the area, but their maximum (male) dimensions are a height of 25” and weight of 30 lbs, and they have tails. Characteristically, they are only active during the day and sleep at night and move in troops of 20 – 200.

Locals use blankets as coats and it was clear that whatever it was, was not wearing any clothing because of the heat signature it was giving off. Its body was all one shade of white.

If someone was wearing clothing, whatever part of the body that was covered with clothing would be darker then the exposed skin or hair.

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Example above is of a clothed person being viewed through a thermal imager. Clothed parts of the person are darker than the exposed face. Hands & nose are darker than the face because the person’s hands & nose are colder relative to the face and neck.

 

 

The sergeant stated, if he thought in anyway that the unknown subject was human he would have engaged it and shot it with his M-14 EBR battle rifle.

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6 Responses to “U.S. Soldier views unexplainable subject near Bargi Matal”

  1. James (Waylon) Johnson

    Depends on the optics in use Jill. Standard Army M-14 EBR uses the AN/PVS-4 STARLIGHT, it’s range of detection is 600m but it’s range of recognition is only 400m, so with the distances given the soldiers would have to be using a better system. I would guess perhaps something in the “T” series of advanced combat thermal sights. It also depends on what mode you are running in, sometimes it is easier to distinguish certain features by switching between white=hot and black=hot. BUT some of the more advanced (and expensive) military grade systems allow the use of what is know as “False Color” to make potential targets identifiable more rapidly. As a Marine who spent my share of time on overwatch I find the “if it was in any way human I would have engaged it and shot it” response interesting though. Don’t think my ROE card was worded like that…….

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