The Crimean War, which raged from 1854 to 1856, was fought between Imperial Russia and the alliance of France, the United Kingdom, the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Ottoman Empire. The majority of the Crimean War took place on the Crimean peninsula, with additional actions occurring in western Turkey, the Baltic Sea region and in the Russian Far East. This war is generally considered to be the first modern conflict; introducing technical changes which affected the future course of warfare, things like bunkers, telegraphs and the tactical use of railways were first used in this war.

The Crimean War, a bid for supremacy in the Turkish Holy Land, produced more than its share of bloody carnage, it also produced one bizarre account of a yet to be identified avian anomaly. As the story goes, during a vicious 6 day battle, troops from both armies realized that it was March 14th and the following day would be March 15th, the legendary Ides of March. Soldiers on both sides, choosing to observe the age old superstitions involving the Ides, implored their commanders to declare a twenty four hour truce. The men were granted their wish and both sides withdrew to their respective camps leaving the corpse strewn battlefield dead silent.

As night fell a small band, reported to consist of five Russian soldiers, two of them brothers, planned an ambush they would carry out after midnight, out of modest respect for the established 24 hour truce. According to the tale of Crimean War Creatures, this band crept toward the enemy lines, using the lantern light from their own camp as markers. As they neared the center of the battle field the skies above them turned pitch black, the men looked up to see, what the sole survivor of the event would describe as, a gigantic, headless, crow like animal soaring in tight circles above them.

The men reportedly were so distracted by the sight of this giant creature that they lost their barring and unknowingly began to creep back toward their own camp. According to Franco-British reports, Russian sentries, who were posted on the outskirts of the Russian camp, mistook the dark figures for enemy troops and opened fire. Three of the men were killed instantly and the fourth to be killed slumped down into his brothers arms, where he slowly bled to death. The Russian sentries continued to fire upon the group forcing the loan survivor to use his own brother’s corpse as a shield.

This event was also documented in a Russian report that unfolded in a much different fashion. According to this report, the five soldiers who were lurking in the battlefield that night were not Russian, but Turkish. The sentries on duty even described their uniforms as being like robes, complete with turbans. According to these sentries they were shocked by five approaching, and screaming, Turkish soldiers running directly at them from out of the pitch black night. The sentries opened fire on the screaming Turkish thinking that they were attacking soldiers but soon saw the reason for their screams, when, out of the darkness, seemingly chasing the Turkish, the Russian sentries saw a gigantic swarm of bat like creatures. According to historical accounts, at midnight, the official end of the truce, the Turkish discovered the fate of their men and retaliated, a retaliation which became one of the bloodiest battles in the history of the Crimean War.

Some modern researchers have linked these events to perhaps the first sighting of a creature which would later become known as the Mothman and the Black Bird of Chernobyl, an apparent bringer of ominous disaster to come. Other, more skeptic, researchers have suggested that the reported accounts of this large creature circling over the emptied battle field may have been nothing more than large vultures, which would be more than interested in a field or corpses. To this day the real identity of the Crimean War Creatures remains unknown, and with the sands of time on its side we may never known.

The Evidence

There is no physical evidence to support the existence of the creatures which became known as the Crimean War Creatures.

The Sightings

The only sighting of the Crimean War Creatures occurred in the waning hours of March 14th when a small group of Russian or Turkish soldiers, depending on which account you believe, encountered a large flying anomaly over a bloody battlefield.

The Stats– (Where applicable)

• Classification: Avian
• Size: Unknown
• Weight: Unknown
• Diet: Unknown
• Location: Turkey
• Movement: Flight
• Environment: Unknown