Mystery of the Giants of Kandahar: As new photos emerge from the deep cave, here's the truth behind the legend
It was the year after the September 11 attacks and the hunt for Osama bin Laden was in full swing. In the mountains of Afghanistan, US troops were becoming accustomed to terrifying encounters as they battled the fleeing Taliban and took on al-Qaeda fanatics.
But nothing could have prepared them for being confronted with a far stranger and even more fearsome adversary: the so-called Giants of Kandahar.
Accounts of the creature - or creatures - have been circling among veterans for 20 years but 'photographs' reportedly taken by villagers living on the remote edges of the mountains and widely shared on social media last week have reignited interest.
And, while the images themselves may turn out to be fake, crudely created with artificial intelligence, the man who brought the 'existence' of the giant to wider attention is adamant that the enormous humanoid is very real. He also believes that the 'deep state' tried to kill him for speaking out.
'Look at some of the stuff in Vietnam,' said LA Marzulli, a YouTube host and filmmaker specializing in the paranormal and Biblical prophecies. 'Look at some of the stuff in World War Two. If you have something and you want to keep it secret, and you've got the power to keep it secret, you can create any story that you want as a cover story.'
Much of Marzulli's work stems from his 'born-again, spirit-filled Christian' faith. Based in California, he describes himself as non-denominational, aligning with 'prophecy watchers', and virtually attending a church in Oklahoma: New City Church, led by Pastor Matt Freeman.
Fundamental to his belief is a rejection of evolution and Darwinism, and a literal interpretation of the Old Testament: Goliath was real and the Earth was once populated by a tribe of giants, born of fallen angels and human women, named Nephilim.
Marzulli has been investigating reports of giant skeletons and creatures since the 1980s. So when his colleague Richard Shaw received a phone call in 2015 from a man claiming to have encountered a giant in Afghanistan, he leapt on the lead.
Soldiers prepare to inspect a cave for a potential weapons cache in May 2008
In the mountains of Afghanistan, US troops were becoming accustomed to terrifying encounters as they battled the fleeing Taliban and took on al-Qaeda fanatics. (Pictured: Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan)
Taliban security personnel of Afghanistan military's 205 Al-Badr Corps
'Mr K,' as Marzulli calls him in his 2016 documentary Watchers 10, served in Afghanistan in 2002. Marzulli says he met him several times, and reviewed his military ID to confirm his identity.
As Mr K's story has it, a patrol of men - around ten to 20 personnel, according to Marzulli - had gone missing in Kandahar in 2002. His unit, he said, was sent to find them.
Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch's The Fall of the Rebel Angels. Believes say the giants were born of fallen angels and human women, named Nephilim
'We flew in, and were hiking through the scenery,' said Mr K in the documentary, 'and before we left, there was all kinds of 'what happened, was it an ambush?' - and that was odd because if it was an ambush you'd call in for close air support. No calls were made.'
Speaking with his back to the camera and his voice disguised, Mr K said that his team followed a goat trail in the mountains and came upon a cave. Flesh-covered bones lay outside, and he claimed to have spotted the missing patrol's radio equipment.
'We were thinking: ambush, maybe animal, it could be anything,' he said. 'And then he comes out.'
Mr K described the creature emerging from the cave as a man 'at least 12 to 15 feet in height', with flaming red hair and double sets of teeth. Each hand had six fingers, each foot six toes, and he carried a ten-foot-long spear and a shield.
He claimed that a friend, who he called Dan, was 'skewered' by the creature's spear, and the rest of the soldiers then opened fire with the kind of lethal force normally reserved for armored targets, eventually killing it.
A helicopter was called in, Mr K said, and the giant was flown back to Kandahar air base in a net. All involved were told to rewrite their official report of the incident, to appease army censors.
Marzulli believes him to this day, and insists that the truth will come out when US government reports are declassified.
'He tells the story the same way,' said Marzulli. 'I've heard the story from him now three or four times. It's not embellished. He's not adding in anything. He's not looking for notoriety. He's coming forward because he believes that the American people and the people of the world have a right to know what's out there.'
'Mr K', as Marzulli calls him in his 2016 documentary Watchers 10, served in Afghanistan in 2002. (Pictured: Marines in southern Afghanistan November 29, 2001)
Mr K described the creature emerging from the cave as a man 'at least 12 to 15 feet in height', with flaming red hair and double sets of teeth. (Pictured: Fighters guard Taliban cave complex in December 2001)
The filmmaker refuses to say which regiment either Mr K or the missing patrol were from - 'we will not divulge that for all the tea in China' - or give a specific date.
Their claim raises obvious questions: How could an entire patrol just disappear?
The US military recorded 18 hostile deaths in Afghanistan in 2002. The deadliest month was March, when seven Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, Air Force Combat Controllers and airmen were killed fighting al-Qaeda forces in the infamous Battle of Takur Ghar, in Paktia province.
Kandahar province was the scene of sporadic shootings and attacks but there is no report of ten to 20 personnel being killed in a single incident.
And wouldn't their families have been informed?
Marzulli believes the US military could have covered up the circumstances and relatives would have been told only that their loved one died, perhaps months later.
But how is an entire unit kept quiet, as well as the helicopter crew, their command structure and anyone else who handled the giant's remains?
'These guys sign NDAs [non-disclosure agreements]. They're threatened with fines and jail time and all sorts of things,' said Marzulli.
He acknowledges that Mr K could have made a fortune from telling his story, especially if - as Marzulli insists - he wanted the world to know. Why not write a book?
'That's a good question, and you'd have to talk to the shooter.'
Can I?
'I've lost all contact with him. He's gone dark.'
Marzulli never asked Mr K whether anyone else in his unit could confirm the giant story. He said he would only travel to Afghanistan himself to investigate if he received 'marching orders' from 'the guy upstairs.'
'You're looking for particulars, which I can't in all good faith - I can't provide those,' he said.
'You know, we have the testimony of the shooter, we have the second witness and then we've got a third witness.'
The second 'witness,' Marzulli concedes, was another veteran who heard rumors of the tale.
'If it points that the Bible is accurate, they don't want it,' the unidentified man says in the documentary. 'If it goes against Darwinian evolution, it's not to be spoken of.'
A Marine CH-46 Sea Knight transport helicopter at the Kandahar airport on January 4, 2002
A United States Air Force Special Operations soldier in Khwaja Bahuaddin, Afghanistan on November 15, 2001
He then goes on to discuss how a fallen angel is buried beneath the Euphrates River in Iraq, something that always spooked him.
The third 'witness' that Marzulli spoke to was a man 'expunging his soul', who said his Afghan grandmother was a witch who left offerings at the Kandahar cave for the giant.
Another 'source' who Marzulli did not speak to - but cites frequently - was a pilot claiming to have flown the 1,100lb corpse from Kandahar to Qatar. He speculates it then went on to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.
Marzulli believes that the US government kept the body and studied it.
And he claims that, shortly after the 2016 documentary was put online, a 'deep state' official came and told him at a conference not to pursue the investigation.
'About three months after that, I had a near-fatal accident with the car, where the timing belt was cut in three different places,' said Marzulli.
'The tow truck driver comes up and I have the belt, and I go: 'Hey, what do you make of this?'
'He takes the belt from me, looks at it and goes: 'Do you have any enemies?''
Nick Orton, not his real name, is an active-duty service member who runs the Tails from the Grid Square brand that collects and shares strange stories from military personnel via Instagram, podcasts and books.
Orton, 33, told the Daily Mail that he is fascinated by paranormal activity so started collating tales from his fellow soldiers - including that of the giant of Kandahar.
Coming from a military family, he recalled hearing the tale as a teenager, even though he never served in Afghanistan.
But he does not share Marzulli's conviction.
'For me, personally, the story just doesn't really pass the sniff test,' Orton said.
'It's very convenient to say a whole squad of 12 people vanished, MIA. Well, what unit were they from? Where's that detail, their names. Of course, the explanation is all: The government covered it up. The military covered it up.
'Okay, true. They could do that. But, you know, having dealt with military myself, it's very hard to keep people quiet. Especially now in the modern day.'
But Marzulli remains adamant, and believes that the tide is turning. Soon, he says, we will know the truth.
'We are now living in a window of time which is absolutely unprecedented in all of human history. There's no doubt about that,' he insisted.
'And we no longer can ascertain or discern what's real and what's fabricated. Truth is literally thrown to the street. We don't know what the truth is anymore.
'I think it moves us into an area which the Bible predicts. The last of the last days.'
