Did Troops In Indochina Or Vietnam Really Talk About “Rock Apes”?

[Cacique Caribe]

I’m just trying to figure out the origin of the stories, and NOT asking about whether the apes really exist/existed.

A) Were they just tales told by locals solely to spook GIs? 

B) Or perhaps just a part of their ancient local folklore?

C) Or were the tales of Vietnamese “Rock Apes” just stories made up later, by imaginative people back in the US?

https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2016/01/the-mysterious-rock-apes-of-the-vietnam-war/

Audio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpFahWLEq78

Thanks

Dan

[carlos marighela]

It’s unlikely. Rock apes is the collective noun for members of the Royal Air Force Regiment and the nearest one of those would have probably been in Singapore or Aden. The term itself comes from an unfortunate incident in Aden in the 1950’s.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

It’s unlikely. Rock apes is the collective noun for members of the Royal Air Force Regiment and the nearest one of those would have probably been in Singapore or Aden. The term itself comes from an unfortunate incident in Aden in the 1950’s.

Interesting, the Army Rumour Service wiki had a different and  completely unbiased explanation of the source of the name.

Back to the post, it is not a cryptid I was aware of.

[dadlamassu]

Whether they exist or not, like Bigfoot, Yeti etc, they appear in folklore.  New species are regularly found in the Vietnam, Laos, Thailand area.  So it is likely that some soldiers may have talked about the "Rock Apes", "Batutut" or whatever just as folk discuss Yeti in Himalayas and Bigfoot in the Rockies.  Add in the "old hand" - "New Guy" wind ups, a bit of marijuana and a whole mythology can be created and gain a life of its own.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Add in the "old hand" - "New Guy" wind ups, a bit of marijuana and a whole mythology can be created and gain a life of its own.

Like a Tulpa?

[dadlamassu]

Like a Tulpa?

Possibly, but there appears little interaction or companionship involved.  I'd still go for a mix of local folklore with barrack room tales told to impressionable new kids.  A bit like bogeymen stories, I suppose, to keep children alert and away from danger?

[Cacique Caribe]

I'd still go for a mix of local folklore with barrack room tales told to impressionable new kids.  A bit like bogeymen stories, I suppose, to keep children alert and away from danger?

Mixed with a little bit of rural PSYOPS, perhaps?