Wartime Stories

Rakes on Night Watch

In remote training areas, far from anything resembling civilization, service members occasionally report encounters they struggle to explain. Most can be written off — stress, exhaustion, or misidentified wildlife. But some accounts are harder to dismiss. Across multiple locations and separate incidents, soldiers and Marines have described seeing the same pale, human-like figure moving just beyond the treeline — watching, tracking, and vanishing without a trace. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wartime Team Stories

Some stories aren’t told until years later — passed quietly between friends, or remembered only after something brings them back to the surface. Within the Wartime Stories team, a handful of these experiences have stayed with us, each one difficult to explain. From abandoned buildings to historic battlefields and training grounds, these firsthand accounts reflect moments that didn’t make sense at the time — and still don’t now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Artillerymen and the Aswang

During a field exercise in the jungles of the Philippines, a unit of artillerymen responded to a nearby village reporting livestock thefts and the disappearance of a newborn child. What they encountered in the forest that evening would become one of the strangest stories ever shared between soldiers. Drawing on accounts passed between servicemen and long-standing regional folklore, the incident raises unsettling questions about what may exist deep within some of the world’s most remote jungles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cursed War Machines

Across every branch of the military, crews depend on their machines for survival — aircraft, ships, and vehicles that become lifelines in combat. But sometimes, certain machines develop reputations that go far beyond normal mechanical trouble. From a Marine Corps helicopter with a deadly past… to a British jump jet plagued by accidents… to a World War I submarine surrounded by tragedy and ghostly sightings, servicemen have long shared stories of war machines that seemed marked by something darker than bad luck. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Far From Gnome

During combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, some soldiers reported encounters that didn’t fit any known threat, animal, or enemy tactic. Small humanoid figures seen at night. Unexplained movement around guard posts. Local interpreters refusing to enter certain villages without explanation. Often dismissed as stress, exhaustion, or superstition, these accounts share striking similarities with regional folklore that long predates modern warfare. From remote outposts to abandoned settlements, servicemen describe experiences they still struggle to explain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices