For decades, sightings of a strange humanoid were seen wandering the Swiss forests in Maules. Clad in camouflage and masked by an antique gas mask, the figure now known as Le Loyon or the Ghost of Maule turned into an urban legend.
Deep in the dense, brooding woods of the Gruyère region in western and French speaking part of Switzerland lies the village of Maules, a sleepy Swiss hamlet surrounded by pastoral hills and ancient forest with around 350 people.
Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Switzerland
For over a decade, locals and hikers whispered uneasily of something else among the trees: a tall, silent figure in a gas mask known only as Le Loyon. Shrouded in mystery and dread, this eerie entity became one of Switzerland’s most unnerving urban legends, known today as The Ghost of Maules.
A Forest Stalker in Camouflage
Le Loyon was first reported in the early 2000s where most sources state 2003 as the beginning of it all. But there are those who claim that the sightings of Le Loyon goes back to the late 1990s by residents and ramblers who ventured into the Maules woods near Sâles, in the Canton of Fribourg.
Witnesses described the figure as well over six feet tall, clothed in an olive-green or camouflage military-style boilersuit or gimp suit, draped in a dark cloak, and most disturbingly, wearing an antiquated gas mask that obscured the entire head.
This combination of industrial, military, and being faceless struck terror into those who glimpsed it. The mask, resembling those worn in chemical warfare, gave Le Loyon the unsettling appearance of something not entirely human. It never spoke. It never chased. But it watched.
It was most often spotted along a particular forest path known to locals and most often on Sundays. Reports recounted how the figure would appear in the distance and then vanish into the foliage without a trace when spotted, almost as the Ghost of Maule wanted to remain a secret.
In one of the first reported sightings, a local woman claimed to have seen Le Loyon in June, picking flowers on a clearing close to the trail, startled when it was seen and clutching the bouquet of wild flowers. According to the woman, Le Loyon dropped the flowers and fled. Who was the most frightened?
A Community Gripped by Fear by Le Loyon
Although Le Loyon never displayed aggression, fear spread through the area. Parents told children to stay away from the woods. Hikers changed their routes.
For around two decades, there were at least twelve encounters with Le Loyon. As Marianne Descloux said when she encountered Le Loyon: “It was a rainy Sunday. He had a hood, a dark pilgrim and his gas mask. What can go through his head? I don’t know, but it was impressive and unpleasant. I hope I never run into him again.”
The local authorities were contacted several times, but without concrete evidence of a crime, there was little they could do. Some speculated Le Loyon was simply a hermit with a strange sense of fashion. Some believed the figure was a mentally ill recluse; others insisted it was a supernatural being — perhaps a spirit of war, a forest warden cursed by time, or even a personified trauma from Switzerland’s hidden past.
The Photo That Made It Real
Everything changed in 2013 when a photograph of Le Loyon was captured and published in a regional paper, Le Matin. Taken by an anonymous hiker, the image shows the eerie figure standing alone on a woodland path, facing slightly away from the camera, cloaked and masked exactly as described.
‘I came across him near the marches,’ said the unnamed photographer who tracked it down. ‘I approached him up to a dozen metres away.’ ‘He had a military cape, boots and an army gas mask – an antique type, I think. He measured more than 1.90m. He stared at me then turned its back on me and left in silence.’
The photo quickly went viral giving hard proof to a tale many had dismissed as folklore or just seeing things. The local community was now more afraid than ever. Women and children didn’t want to venture into the woodlands by themselves.
Not long after the photo’s release, another strange discovery was made: Le Loyon’s clothes and gas mask were found neatly folded and left in the forest along with a disturbing note.
The Final Message from The Ghost of Maules
According to Le Matin, the note contained a cryptic and bitter farewell titled: “Death Certificate and Testament of the Ghost of Maules” and was first posted on a local bulletin..
In it, the author expressed anger at being hunted by the media and misunderstood by society, claiming that the forest was once a sanctuary — a place of peace — that had been taken from them by fear and judgment. The message hinted at emotional turmoil and deep loneliness but offered no identity. The way it worded the letter also left someone believe it was a suicide note.
Death certificate and testament of the Phantom of Maules (Translated into English from French)
Dear nickname Patrick du Matin, not only are you a moron but you are above all an assassin.
You murdered a very harmless being, who found, in his walks, a real therapy of happiness, a cerebral resourcing allowing him to face the responsibilities and the vicissitudes of his “normal” life and he had some!
The ghost cannot explain this happiness, but you do not seem to know Sacher-Masoch; you will discover that it takes everything to make a world.
Then you are an assassin of freedoms.
To hear you, we find ourselves in the Middle Ages, at the time of the witches. Why don’t you rise up against the little toads, helmets and hoods, dressed in leather, who backfire on their motorcycles, in these same forests, them in violation!
Do they take the time to meditate in front of the little Oratory, to ask for a better world? I terrorize children, make me laugh! Why are they not terrified by the horrors and the crimes, very real these, that they see on television, in the media?
Who is in charge of setting the Tolerance and Freedom button in this company? These beautiful notions benefit more dealers, pimps, burglars, rapists and hooligans!
Switzerland is small, anything that is not in accordance with the garden gnome must be eradicated. I thought, during these years, while I was always left alone, until you, that these feelings were evolving, you give me the opposite proof, unfortunately.
The Phantom disappears, the risk of a Beast hunt is too great. It will come back to haunt the narrow minds of your kind, for ultimately a ghost never dies.
To the amiable walker or mushroomer who will discover my tinsel: Deliver this letter to Mr. Syndic or Vice-Syndic, or even to a journalist, capable however of discussing Freedom and Tolerance.
Since the clothing and note were found, no further sightings of Le Loyon have been reported. The legend, however, has only grown.
Specter or Sad Soul?
To this day, no one knows for sure who — or what — Le Loyon was. Was it a reclusive individual driven to hide behind a mask for personal or psychological reasons? A mentally ill woman, a gigantic man or perhaps a strange survivalist or someone suffering from a skin condition?
Perhaps it was simply a person enjoying dressing up or playing a prank? A 4chan thread on the board /r9k/ appears to have Le Loyon themself posting. The thread was about an anonymous poster who was contemplating doing scary things in public for fun, which ‘Le Loyon’ posted in talking about what they did, Another poster quickly recognised it looking eerily similar to that of Le Loyon legend. If the poster said the truth, ‘Le Loyon’ would simply be a bored person looking for some fun.
As time progressed and the legend grew, some started to believe that the Ghost of Maule could be something far stranger than a person enjoying dressing up. Was it something closer to a ghost, or guardian of the woods, or some sort of other, specter wrapped in humanity’s forgotten horrors?
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References:
Le Loyon a décidé de «se suicider» – lematin.ch
«Le Loyon» ne fait rire personne – lematin.ch
