The Batutut or Ujit is a proposed hominid Cryptid thought to inhabit the Vu Quang nature reserve and other wilderness areas of Vietnam and Laos. The Vu Quang has been the source of a number of newly discovered mammals by Dr. John MacKinnon. Mackinnon claims to have first observed tracks in 1970 that led him to believe that a hominid similar to the Meganthropus lives there. His 1975 book In Search Of The Red Ape describes his experiences and findings. A 1947 sighting by a French colonist refers to the animal as a L’Homme Sauvage (wild man). Vietnamese scholars refer to the animal as the Nguoi Rung [1]. A professor Tran Hong Viet of Pedagogic University of Hanoi reported in 1982 finding similar footprints to those of MacKinnon in 1970, of which he made casts. He had been making an extensive post-war inventory of natural resources. While collecting near Chu Mo Ray in Sa Thay District, he came across the prints. A photo of the cast of the print was later published by Fortean News of the World (Japan Fortean Information Society).
The Batutut has also been spotted in northern Borneo. Witnesses describe it as four feet tall and very aggressive, occasionally killing humans and tearing out their livers. [1]
Sightings during the Vietnam War
In his 2001 Ballantine book Very Crazy G.I. – Strange but True Stories of the Vietnam War, veteran Kregg P.J. Jorgenson relates a sighting of such a creature by a team of LRRPs. The men refer to it as a "Rock Ape" reporting it as being small in stature, about 5 feet tall, and having a reddish tinge to its fur.
References
- Newton, Michael (2005). "Batutut". Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology: A Global Guide. McFarland & Company, Inc.. 39-40. ISBN 0-7864-2036-7.
Source: Wikipedia. Retrieved 13 June 2008.
