Fallout 3 fans finally solve urban legend that's stumped the RPG's community for 15 years

Fallout 3 helmet
(Image credit: Bethesda)

A popular Fallout 3 community myth has been proven true after a long 15 years. 

As content creator ShadesofSlay lays out in the video below, fans have been reporting ghost sightings in Fallout 3's Arlington Cemetery since the game was released in 2008. People seldom take you seriously in the real world regarding ghost sightings, and the same proves true in the Fallout community. While plenty of players swear they saw a ghost in the RPG, others haven't paid it much notice after visiting themselves and finding nothing. 

Many years later, someone has gotten to the bottom of it. Upon looking through the game's files, a fan going by WestVirginiaLoner noticed that there's an NPC called Poey that spawns when you enter Arlington. Clad in combat armor and a helmet, they're coded to spawn and salute to a grave of flowers before disappearing if you come too close. 

The catch, though, according to WestVirginiaLoner, is that the "godawful draw distance on console" alongside a PC glitch means he's basically impossible to see. "He is there, but he doesn't have a [level of detail] model," they say.

While a technical goof is a pretty likely story, fans have stepped in before with other possible explanations. Some said that dust clouds did enough to evoke an eerie feeling that one was watching, whereas others reckoned it could be another NPC called Mister Crowley, a ghoul resident of the Underworld, who made his way over.

Now that one community myth has been busted, we could well see another. As you can see in the video above, there are still plenty to go. 

Bethesda’s next big game, Starfield, releases tomorrow (or today for some parts of the world) - check out our Starfield launch coverage for all the news as it happens.

Deputy News Editor

Iain joins the GamesRadar team as Deputy News Editor following stints at PCGamesN and PocketGamer.Biz, with some freelance for Kotaku UK, RockPaperShotgun, and VG24/7 thrown in for good measure. When not helping Ali run the news team, he can be found digging into communities for stories – the sillier the better. When he isn’t pillaging the depths of Final Fantasy 14 for a swanky new hat, you’ll find him amassing an army of Pokemon plushies.