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Around the world, numerous cultures maintain legends of cryptids that all appear to be subspecies of Bigfoot. For example, you’re probably familiar with some of the lesser known varieties, such as the Australian Yowie, but what about Batutut?
The Batutut, also known as the Nguoi rung, is a lesser known bipedal creature inhabiting the forests of Vietnam. While many locals have reported seeing the creature, US serviceman during the Vietnam War also recorded sightings of the cryptid adding some credibility that perhaps these creatures are more than mere legend.
The first documented Batutut sighting was reported in 1947 by Dr John MacKinnon in the Vu Quang Nature Reserve. Dr MacKinnon was searching the area for undiscovered wildlife and came across tracks that he likened to those of the Meganthropus hominid. Locals described the creature as rather tall, approximately six feet in height.
The Batutut’s entire body was covered in hair apart from its hands, feet and face. The hair colouring varied from grey, brown to black. These creatures walked on two legs and were observed both on their own and with small groups; often foraging for fruits, leaves and catching small prey.
In his book, Kregg PJ Jorgenson details an encounter with the creature by a team of US soldiers, which they called a Rock Ape. As the soldiers described it, the creature was smaller than normal, only around five feet tall with a reddish tinge to its hair. Jorgenson theorized that possibly it was a juvenile Batutut.
Tribesmen were also said to have captured two of the creatures in the Dak Lak Province in 1971 while the North Vietnamese General Hoang Minh Thao mounted an expedition to find them in 1974 but was unsuccessful.
However, to date, there’s been no physical proof that the Vietnamese Bigfoot exists beyond reported eyewitness encounters.
