Ghosts
on a Plane
The earthly visitations of those from
the beyond are not limited to the Earth itself, it seems.
Adding a whole new dimension to the term “Mile
High Club,” sightings of otherworldly spirits
have been reported in and around aircraft – although
usually on the ground. Numerous military airbases seem
to have their share of creepy personnel, and the resultant
spiritual mayhem after plane crashes can linger for
years, it seems.
There is one tale out of Nashville of
a truly unusual sighting – even for a paranormal
experience.
One subject reported seeing a bright,
white airplane hovering over the trees of a major park
in town, sometime in the 70’s. What was truly
strange was that it did not have regular wings but rather
angel wings. The reporter claimed to see at least two
passengers: one was a small girl waving at people on
the sidewalk below, the other a man reading a newspaper.
The witness returned to their workplace
in a high-rise building nearby, only to discover no
one else saw the apparition.
In Illinois, the infamous crash near
Des Plaine apparently resulted in puzzling sightings
of lights bobbing around the crash site a few months
afterwards. At first, it was believed these were nighttime
raiders looking for souvenirs. When police arrived,
they found no one in the deserted field. This game of
cat and mouse with local authorities went on for months.
A nearby mobile home residence area began
having disturbing experiences. Some said within hours
of the crash, they heard knocking on their doors or
windows, only to find no one there.
Weeks later, some reported more of these
nocturnal rappings, finding a confused man at their
doorstep who said he had to get his luggage. He would
turn and disappear into the darkness.
A particularly bizarre experience occurred
later with a new resident in the mobile home park. The
man was walking his dog late at night when he encountered
a young man who said he needed to make an emergency
phone call. The tale has the man smelling of gasoline
and apparently smoldering a little bit.
This alarmed the resident enough as it
was. He turned away momentarily to point out a public
phone, only to turn back and find there was no one there.
According to prarieghosts.com, such unnerving
experiences have continued well into the next millennium
in that area. Several area residents have reported more
mysterious midnight knockings on their doors or encounters
with what may be restless spirits from the 1979 plane
crash.
Another related tale comes from Chicago's
O'Hare airport itself, where the flight originated from.
Some have said they’ve seen a man dressed in business
attire at a phone booth near the gate where the flight
boarded back in ’79. His dress seems oddly out
of date, and he reportedly walks away from the phone
booth and abruptly disappears.
Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii is the
setting for multiple sightings of a spook named “Charley,”
purportedly having happened since the big Japanese air
attack in the 1940’s. The halls of the Pacific
Air Forces headquarters were once a 3,200-man dormitory,
where more than 60 were killed as they were eating breakfast.
Especially in the 80’s, Charley
spooked those stationed at Hickam. Radios were abruptly
turned on, loud footsteps were heard, a janitor saw
a water faucet turn on all by itself, and a heavy glass
door once started opening and closing wildly. One historian
noted security personnel went on record at the time
saying they didn’t like walking the halls at night
because of the “ghosts.”
After many years of these, “Charley”
simply became the nickname they pinned to these unexplained,
odd events. |
