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Ghostbusters
- Are military bases haunted - 20081103
By Larry Greenemeier
Military bases appear to be a
popular haunt for wandering spirits, with several attracting
the attention of ghost hunters seeking evidence of paranormal
activity.
The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) in
January checked out reports of unexplained phenomena—mysterious
footsteps, voices and apparitions—in three buildings
at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio for the Sci Fi
Channel show Ghost Hunters. Some base personnel have reported
seeing the ghost of a blond-haired boy in building 219; others
claim to have spotted the apparition of an elderly woman in
building 70.
During the episode, TAPS co-founders Grant
Wilson and Jason Hawes spend time in building 70, where they
claim to hear footsteps one night in the empty office space
after urging any spirits there to present themselves. Derek
Kaufman, a public affairs specialist with the 88th Air Base
Wing, says that the base was happy to have TAPS check out
the reports. He notes that he works in building 70, but so
far has not had any ghostly encounters of his own.
Ghost sightings at Wright-Patterson are nothing
new. Hospital employees working in building 219—a three-story
brick building—in the 1990s reported seeing ghosts (one
they named "Harvey," after a doctor who had worked
at the hospital in the 1930s and took his own life there)
roam the halls daily, according to an October 1996 article
in Wright-Patterson AFB's Skywrighter magazine. Other ghosts
include the boy, who appears to be between the ages of eight
and 10, as well as older men. Those claiming to have seen
the apparitions say they are somewhat transparent but clear
enough to distinguish their sex and age. Most of the sightings,
according to the article, were on the third floor (where the
operating room had been) and in the basement (which at one
time housed the morgue).
Colorado Paranormal Investigation (CPI), a
Denver-based team of ghost hunters, late last year investigated
ghost sightings on F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming using
electromagnetic field indicators, digital cameras and tape
recorders. CPI investigator Karl Holden requested a visit
to the base after reading (in the Fort D. A. Russell edition
of the Warren Sentinel) about base personnel sensing the presence
of a ghost. CPI's investigation turned up recordings of what
they described as "paranormal heavy breathing, whispering
and sobbing" in the base's Civil Air Patrol building,
according to a report by the base's public affairs department.
The investigators also reported that their
camera batteries drained uncharacteristically quickly (which
they attributed to spirits drawing energy from the environment)
in that building. CPI's investigation of the base's 90th Security
Forces Group's Bldg. 34 and Security Forces Investigations
building turned up little evidence of the supernatural, although
investigators report hearing a book slam against the floor
and another flying off a shelf while in the base library.
(Alas, neither incident was captured on tape.)
Although not strictly a paranormal encounter,
Reuters last week reported on recently revealed information
that two U.S. fighter pilots were scrambled at the Royal Air
Force base at Manston, Kent in the U.K. in May 1957 with orders
to shoot down an unidentified flying object.
No shots were fired, but the mission was kept
under wraps until information about it was recently handed
over to the National Archives in London, which has tracked
numerous reports of UFO encounters over the years. The pilots
said that their radar detected a large object in the sky—like
a "flying aircraft carrier"—that at times sat
motionless and then took off at a speed they estimated to
be more than 7,600 miles per hour, Reuters reports. The documents,
however, contain no official explanation for the incident.
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