u/GlassSea2468

In 2022, my brother took his own life during deployment. He was in MARSOC - Marine special forces. Certified scout sniper with numerous deployments and was a Fallujah marine. He left behind his wife and 8 year old daughter. I remember my mother showing me some of their conversations from whatsapp while he was deployed stating that he believes he has PTSD and never went into much detail, but stated that these events would replay in his head. weeks later he took his own life. He was the strongest person i knew which contributes to the entire situation being more devastating. He lived in North Carolina and loved the mountains. he loved hiking. He loved the outdoors. I'm at peace with everything now and have been for some time. In 2023, i was in a terrible place. i just wanted answers. i wanted to see him again. i wanted to talk to him. March of 2023 me and a friend from work planned and executed a 3 day backpacking trip in Burnsville, NC through Mount craig, the Balsam cone, Cattail peak, and Winter Star Mountain before camping on the balds. I had my pistol with me through this trip for safety. At the time i also had thoughts of using it on myself to see my brother again. (sounds crazy, i know.) The last night we were there, we went to sleep as normal in our tents. This area that we were camping in was in a slight valley with a deep embankment. there was zero light pollution and no alternative sources of light. I didn't gauge the time, but in my head i believe it was around 2am. I was asleep on my back and remember waking up and looking to my left. There was a deep black apparition of what looked like the outline of a Marine in uniform wearing an enlisted white dress cap. behind the apparition there was a greenish glow surrounding the body. I could see it from the waist up crystal clear. I don't even know how to describe the shade of green. It didn't look hollow or dim, but it also wasn't bright. I just remember seeing it and immediately falling back asleep. my dog was with me and never became spooked or alert of anything. the next morning i inspected the outside of my tent. there were no additional footprints or signs of any presence other than myself, my friend, and our dogs. From where i had seen the apparition, there was one tree followed by a steep bank. To this day i have not experienced anything like it. I also cant seem to find any clear answers or explanations for it. Has anyone ever encountered this? Heard of this?