People who have served in the military, what are some paranormal experiences that you have had either in the US or overseas?

1. Stationed in Okinawa on the base Camp Kinser. One of the Marines that was in my shop lived in room 101 or 102 in the barracks and he would mention seeing a "lady in black". It was a young Japanese woman dressed in a fancy dress that would just stare at him at night. I end up becoming roommates with him a few months later in that same room and a few times when I slept facing the wall I could just feel something standing behind me, but whenever I looked I saw nothing. We ended up getting out of the room when a glass sitting on the medicine cabinet above the sink just mysteriously fell and shattered the it. Fast forward to the sink getting repaired and another Marine moves in to that room, he also mentions seeing that lady and I would hear him screaming at night " Who are you!!?" "What do you want!!?" Weird stuff....
   — Mpoo1994


2. Flying back from Okinawa, way out over the Pacific somewhere, at like 2am, me and my buddy were looking out the window and saw a bunch of amber lights in the sky. They were stationary and we were flying right over them. We were at whatever high ass altitude a commercial jet cruises at and they seemed to be about 2/3s as high as us based on how quickly they came and went as we flew over. It was like some kind of city in the sky over the ocean. There was also a night where similar stationary amber lights would appear and reappear out in the desert past the runway. They never changed elevation but they would change position, and our runway lights flashed once while we were watching, so the tower must have seen it too or maybe that was a weird coincidence. We were close enough to the runway to know that nothing ever landed though.
   — axypaxy


3. Was stationed in Japan and lived in the dorms. Nice dorms, even! So nice that I had a door to my bedroom and bathroom. But I only slept in my bedroom a handful of times. You see, I was on the toilet, chilling with the door open because I live alone, so why not? Then I looked up and saw it. Something had ducked quickly into my bedroom and I had no idea what. My brain couldn't process it, but clearly something went into my bedroom. When I left the bathroom I carefully went to my bedroom and looked around... Nothing, of course. I slept in my living room on the recliner that night. Then, days later, it happened again. The same situation. Something was peeking at me from around the corner of the door and was in my bedroom. It was pale and had dark hair. A blur, strange and alien, but somewhat human. And thus I never slept in my bedroom the entire 8 months I was in that dorm. I slept on my recliner every night. Because f that. Didn't tell anyone because I figured I was just seeing things and my brain was trying to fill in pieces.
   — ingr






4. I am an Air Traffic Controller in the Marines. I was working by myself in the control tower around 2am one night, when a jet came into land. I cleared him and he proceeded to the runway. But before his wheels touched down he came over the frequencies sounding distraught, saying that there was a female standing in the middle of the runway and he was going around. I called Airfield operations to have them go out and take a look. After 30 minutes of searching there wasn’t anyone on the airfield, anywhere. So much happened while working in that tower, such as randomly hearing the elevator start going, doors slamming, and even screams. Working the mids through the night was scary at times.. although I am sure some of the stuff was other asshole marines playing jokes. But a pilot without a doubt say he saw a women on the runway always kinda freaked me out.
   — DamonBPFcurry


5. Am Air Force, was stationed in Osan AB in South Korea in '07-'08. This wasn't me, but a friend of mine. Back then, during exercises, it was common for those of us in the QRVs (Quick Response Vehicles) to hide in a local HAS (Hardened Aircraft Shelter) during simulated attacks. It was common knowledge that there was one HAS, on Bravo Diamond, that you did NOT hide in. When I asked him why, he said they broke that rule once, because they couldn't find another HAS that was empty. So they squirreled themselves away, and during the next "missile attack", they shut the doors and sealed themselves inside. Apparently, during the entire 90-minute attack and post-attack recon, they heard creepy noises, from random shuffling to voices. He swore he heard someone very clearly say "Please, no." The generally accepted cause for this was something of an urban legend; apparently, during the Korean War, the pilots left the maintainers behind on the air base that was about to get overrun. When captured by the North Koreans, they were tortured and hung by their necks with safety wire. And their spirits still supposedly inhabited that hangar. When I came back years later, the HAS in question was gone, and a new building is currently being constructed where it once stood.
   — ACES_II


6. Twenty years ago I was at a small Army camp just outside of Uijongbu, South Korea. The city is north of Seoul but south enough of the DMZ that I figured we'd have some heads up if the north attacked. At least time enough to jump in the humvee and do whatever the plan was. One night I was on the airfield and instead of the usual Uijongbu skyline I was used to seeing 15 miles away, all I saw was an orange glow as if the city was consumed by fire. I remember seeing pillars of smoke and flashes of light I thought were explosions in and around the city. I honestly truly thought the North Koreans were invading. I thought Uijongbu was burning. I ran back into the office and told the shift supervisor that Uijongbu was being attacked and I started going down the list of things we had to do and wondering if the humvee had fuel and stuff like that that I was supposed to be in charge of. And just generally freaking out but trying to stay focused on what I was supposed to be doing just like we trained for. Well the supervisor asked me to go outside with her and show her what I saw but of course we go out and nothing. The night is dark and starry with clear skies and the city lights are still there off in the distance. I thought I was going crazy. I was not on drugs and the shifts were overnight but not long so it wasn't sleep deprivation. I was in the groove of working mids. The environment was tense but I loved Korea and had a good time there on my time off. I was not obsessed with war or anything like that. I was not a mental case who had hallucinations. I know what I saw was not fog or haze obscuring the city lights. I thought I was seeing the razing of Uijongbu. It looked like war. I really don't know what it was.
   — obzerbee






7. While living in old military quarters on Ft. Gordon GA in the early 2000s my very young daughter would tell us about the red eye boy who would talk to her while sitting up against the ceiling in the corner of her room. I dreaded going outside at night as I frequently felt as though something was following me around the perimeter of that house in the darkness. I've never felt that sensation of being hunted in any other place I've lived.
   — Annakha


8. I was at Al Udied, Qatar and one night after a long shift (we'd do 16-18 hour shifts 1 day a week so one of us could get a day off) I was walking to my room and this little creature bolts right through my legs. It scared the absolute shit out or me because it was so fast and so sudden. It just didn't compute with how tired I was and my mind immediately thought demon dog or ghost dog...something insane like that. I jumped inside the nearest building and peeked outside. It turns out it was a fennic fox and I had been walking over an area where he'd buried some food. It was adorable to watch him proudly dig it up and move it along, I'm sure he thought he won the battle that night.
   — TheBeardItches


9. This is probably a bit more grounded and not really what everyone here is expecting because being in the military doesn't predispose you to spooky cool shit, but I can tell the story of Princess. During my deployment to Niger (Africa) I, and the rest of my team, befriended a bunch of wild dogs who would follow our convoys when we did perimeter checks. The FAN (Forces Armed Nigerians) because of cultural difference, all treated the dogs like pests. A lot of countries treat dogs like rats. They hit them, poison them, shoot them, make them fight for food and so on. It is a culture difference that I, as a son of an animal control office and long time animal lover, just can't fucking stand. And almost got into some serious fights with our interpreters when they would try to hit our dogs. (Also you really aren't *suppose* to feed wild life on deployments. But fuck that rule.) Anyways, so after befriending our squad of dogs for a couple months, the local fan just *decided* to poison them while we were out on patrol. And they all started dying, one by one. Simon, Phillip, Shaggy, and Beast. Then it got to *my* dog, Princess. These guys poisoned my dog 4 times. *Four times*. And she never fell. The first two times they got her by surprise, she started to wise up so the last two times they held her down and forced her from what I heard. Each time upping the dosage. What's weirder is that I never saw her vomit up the poison. She got visible sick, would lie around and foam a little bit at the mouth like it was over, but after that she would get up like nothing had happened. After that she would only take food from me, only sat next to me, and I am happy to say she was, alive and tail wagging like she never even sick when I hopped aboard the C-130 to leave. Definitely not spooky, but I was thankful that my dog was immortal. **TL;DR: My dog princess had infinite lives or just a really great immune system.** **Edit:** I got a little reminiscent while writing this at work, so I decided to share who Princess was. Because of the treatment dogs get out there, they are often skiddish, frail, and defensive. Most Americans want to pet a dog, but if you approach one that has sustained a lot of abuse like it is just an everyday dog, you aren't going to get much results. My mother taught me how to be a dog whisper of sorts, and very rarely do they not like me, but that didn't matter to Princess at all. Princess just ran right up to me, and the rest of my fire team, the first day I met her. Didn't want food, wasn't escaping the FAN or anything like that. She just wanted some love. She was friendly to everyone, didn't beg for food (despite being noticeably malnourished), and did this thing where she always sat between my legs like an ever vigilant guard. If I was sitting on my HMV, she would sit down in front and stare at me until I hopped down so she could be between my legs. She was a *good* dog, and I hope the new team we did change over with treats her like what she truly is. A Princess. **Tactical Edit:** Damn everyone, I wrote this just to get emotional about a dog. Didn't expect such kind words and so many of you to read it. I am sure she is still strong down there. She is too kind of a dog to go so poorly.
   — Allenxander






10. While stationed in Pearl Harbor and finishing my rounds as CDO, I was returning to my office around 2300 to pickup some folders. I knew the layout of the open floor plan so the only light on was in the very back of the floor. Halfway across the darken floor, I heard what sound like an old typewriter and someone talking but not loud/clear enough to make out what was being said. All hairs went up and I was out the door. The next day, I was commenting about it to one of the aunties working in my department, and she mentioned that during the Pearl Harbor attack one of the secretaries working on that floor was killed. To this day, the hair on the back of my neck still rises when I think back on it.
    — ForAThought


11. Marines, first duty station was at Marine barracks Washington, in D.C. Lots of strange things happening there in the Commandant's house, like pictures of past commandants falling off the wall when you walk by. Very creepy with some of the old furniture in there, some that people have died on. Then there is the Navy Yard down the road that houses Navy Admirals. In one of the buildings at night a rocking chair would start rocking out of nowhere with no wind. There was reports of a pair of shoes that would magically walk through the halls if not watched but i never saw it myself. These things aren't too over the top by themselves, but with the atmosphere of the place it is very creepy. Lots of people have died in these old buildings, many by suicide. And there is a strange feeling of dread that looms over the entire place. Had me freaked out on nights of post.
    — SickSwanson


12. I was stationed on a base in the northern part Okinawa from 2015 to 2017. I work with ammunition and explosives so I worked inside an area that stored all of it. This place was a gated off 250 or so acre area on the cliff side. Well anyway, this place I worked at apparently had multiple mass grave sites from the world war 2 days. During my time there, an elderly Okinawan women along with a large group came and toured through the area and she pointed some spots for the sites. Pretty wild to think about. So my actual experience that scared the shit out of me... Sometimes shit would happen that would require someone to go there during off hours. Because of my position at the time... it was always me. One night an alarm goes off and standard protocol is the MP's will come get one us from our barracks (me) and we'll head in and reset it. The MP's are there to make sure its not legit and to give you a ride since the area is fucking huge. We make our way to the front gate and get let in by the guards. After driving up for a few minutes we make it to the alarm location. The area is pretty well lit by orange-ish lights on the front of the structure. The rest of the place is pitch fucking black. The only thing you can see is the next lit up structure down the road a ways. I walk up to the panel and reset this alarm that constantly gives us problems. No biggy. Same shit different day. I head back to the car with the MP's and were kinda just standing around shooting the shit before we head back down. As we're getting the car and I'm cramming myself into the backseat of this patrol car I hear the loudest blood curdling scream ever. My blood pressure shot through the fucking roof and we all were wide eyed asking each other "what the fuck was that?!". One of the guys I was with said it must be a mongoose. There was no fucking way. Then again this ear drum shattering scream. We noped the fuck out into the car and start driving slowly away while the driver hit the treeline on the side of the road with his spotlight. Then again the scream! It stopped quickly but this time while the light shined through the wooded area we could hear branches and shit moving. Like someone running towards us from within the jungle. We sped off down road and to the front gate. Told the guards about it and they weren't even surprised. Said they hear crazy shit all the time. Sometimes they see the black figures way up the road just walking. That was my only experience. But I have some friends who have seen and heard wild shit up there too. There are tons of ghost stories for all the bases here. My favorite is the cigarette ghost. I believe on Camp Hansen? One of the gates, during the middle of the night a Marine or Soldier dressed in dirty used up fatigues from the 1940's (sometimes covered in blood on some encounters) or old style service uniforms would walk up the guard shack. He would ask the person standing guard for a lite. He'd then walk away as he got further away only the cherry of the cigarette would be there.
    — capgunbandit






13. God, the weather out on the ocean is weird. I lived in the Middle East serving on a MCM for about two years and that experience in general was decent. Not something I’d do again as I hate the backwards ass ME with a passion, but I made my own fun. January 2013. In the gulf underway one morning at 0600 , I am standing OOD (basically the person backseat driving the ship, responsible for safety of navigation). Captain comes up, sits in his chair, and asks if I want a coffee. Now, I wasn’t going to turn down a chance to have a cup of coffee with the old man, of course I say yes. He calls down to the galley, they prepare a fresh batch and bring up a large decanter of coffee. They forgot to bring up a cup for me, so as captain is drinking his coffee, I do my patrol of the bridge, going out to the port bridge wing, scanning the horizon for new contacts or any unexpected changes in old ones. There’s a few dhows, no more or less than usual. I go out to the starboard side and same thing. Just your usual day in the gulf. The only truly special thing about that day is that the gulf is glass-flat. It happens on rare occasions where the wind is blowing slowly and in the right direction to offset the natural current of the ocean. The gulf is like a big protected harbor so there aren’t ever any waves. The galley attendant (FSA is the technical name) brings up my mug and I park myself by captains chair as the dawn glow starts to lighten the horizon. An hour passed as captain and I talk, and at about 715, after the sun is fully up he leaves. Not ten minutes later, I start to see a change on the horizon. It’s subtle at first, it just looks like the horizon in a certain area is bulging slightly, then noticeably, then I figure out what it is. A fog bank, which is unusual for the gulf. I call captain to let him know the change in weather and he says something the lines of “damn, it was such a beautiful morning too.” I tell him I’m going to sound sound signals in accordance with the rules of the road when we get closer. The bridge team and I are watching this fog bank rapidly approach with a touch of apprehension. At the best of times dhows are manageable but they always do wonky, stupid shit. In thick fog without visuals on them I’d be a lot more on edge. I’m going over what to pay attention to with my team, all the while the fog is growing on the horizon. The water is still flat. The gentle breeze acts as a calming effect. About ten minutes after I first notice the disturbance on the horizon, the fog is noticeably closer, and to my relatively inexperienced eye moving far too quick than can be accounted for by the gentle breeze. I can now tell it is a literal wall of fog. From horizon to horizon in front of me, there is a thick grey line growing taller and closer. Sooner than I expect, it hits us. I’ve never experienced fog this thick. Literal pea soup thickness. It’s so thick that it is actually pouring into the bridge through the two side doors, so we close them. Now when you hit fog, the first thing a mariner does is start listening for noises and gauging distance. Someone with more experience would be able to tell how far something is by just looking. I was lacking in experience so I’d look for something in the fog, and then match it up with the radar contact to get the range. That wasn’t even an option this time. The front part of the ship (foc’sle) has disappeared. On a MCM, there is a spool for a variable depth sonar with two inch thick cable right in front of one of the windows. The fog was so thick I couldn’t see the back half of that spool. I call the wardroom and tell the captain he should come up and see this. He asks if I hear anything, indicating the presence of other ships, to which I say no. He says he’s going to finish eating and come up then. Ten minutes later, he comes up and by that time we can see the entirety of the foc’sle. I tell him just how thick it is, he expresses disbelief, and my conn confirms it. Captain sits in his chair and watches silently. The fog starts thinning quickly now, and in less than 5 minutes we’re out of it. Captain moves to go downstairs when I stop him. I point to the horizon ahead of us at the slight bulge. Another wall of fog. I open the bridgewing doors and step outside. Behind us, the wall of fog extends out to the horizon on the starboard, but on the port it seems to converge with the upcoming wall in front of us at some point over the horizon. Captain asks how long it took the last one to hit and I tell him 15 minutes. He harrumphs and sits in his chair. I’ve annoyed him by disturbing his breakfast. He gives me the silent treatment for the next 15 minutes. I start getting nervous that the wall of fog won’t be as thick this time, that captain will think my inexperience is causing me to be alarmist. Then it hits us, and the fog starts pouring into the bridge again, thick as pea soup. We Can barely see the spool at all this time. We close the doors and ride it out. Captain says it’s the thickest he’s ever seen and thanks me for calling him up. He looks visibly less annoyed now. Over the course of 15 minutes the fog slowly gets less and less thick, and then seems to disappear in a hurry like it did before. I show captain what I looked at on the horizon behind us before, how the starboard side was extending into the horizon, but the port side converged on a point, and as I was pointing I noticed another bulge on the horizon. Three more times that day the thick wall of fog rolled over us, too fast to be pushed by the wind. Three more times it was thick as pea soup, weakened so we could make out the entire foc’sle then disappeared all in a hurry. I’m not religious, but my captain was. He said it was like god had splayed his hand out over the water that day and flattened the ocean for us. I’ve spent my life on the ocean in some manner or another, but I haven’t experienced anything like that ever before or since. Maybe not what you’re looking for, but it’s true.
    — GrinAndBareItAll


14. In the army, I never experienced anything paranormal, BUT 10 years ago in Afghanistan as a contractor in Bagram, I saw some shit. I was smoking a cigarette with this Bosnian and we were surrounded by mountains. We saw 50 planes everyday over our heads. There was this one plane that was going lower and lower. He went straight into a a mountain. No crash. No explosion. Just disappeared into a fucking mountain. Wtf.
    — BluePFC