The Giant of Kandahar: A Strange War Myth

By ANONYMOUS
Staff Writer

The war in Afghanistan brought with it many tales from those soldiers fighting on the front lines. From the horrific to the heroic, many of these have become an integral part of these returning servicemen as they resettle back into civilian life. However, sometimes these tales take a turn for the stranger and it won’t take you long to find conspiracy theorists talking about one of the most notorious rumors to ever come from Afghanistan. That giants from the biblical era roam in caves deep in the least populated regions of Afghanistan. The most well-known event was the giant of Kandahar, which was credited with killing one U.S. soldier with a spear before being brought down by a hail of gunfire. According to these believers, the giant corpse was then quickly picked up by the military via Chinook, and the soldiers were forbidden to ever speak of it again. Now, obviously, these giants are not real, and I don’t typically like to speak in absolutes. However, where these stories originate from is interesting.

The giant of Kandahar was the match that started this whole flame, and to adequately address these claims of giants, one must look at the source. The seemingly first mention of this event came from Coast of Coast AM, a pseudoscientific and conspiracy talk show. Its guest, Steve Quayle, was and still is a devout believer in giants, aliens, and other cryptids. While it is unknown where the idea of the Kandahar giant came from exactly, another popular cryptozoologist, L.A. Marzulli, has been credited with heavily influencing this legend. It gained so much popularity and notoriety that in 2016, Snopes released a fact check, which is quite telling that such a ludicrous event might even need one. Of course there never has been any official reports from the Pentagon or from any reputable military personnel, meaning that for all intents and purposes, it is a hoax. It is not surprising that this myth has its roots in many pseudoscientific circles all echoing off each other in a chamber.