Haunted Airfields
For Halloween, a collection of weird tales about airports and aircraft.
- By Rebecca Maksel
- AirSpaceMag.com, October 25, 2011
Peter Thoeny
A number of people claim to have seen ghosts on the aircraft carrier Hornet, a floating museum berthed at Pier 3 at the former Naval Air Station Alameda, California.
As Lily Iona MacKenzie noted in the December 2000 issue of Naval History, a ship named Hornet has been around (in one form or another) since 1775. The modern-day ship (pictured is its Combat Information Center) was commissioned on November 29, 1943, and served as an attack aircraft carrier and antisubmarine warfare support carrier, taking part in World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars. The ship also recovered the Apollo 11 and 12 astronauts (Neil Armstrong's steps are marked on the museum's floor).
Some 300 people died while working on the Hornet during the carrier's active service, which spanned 1943 to 1970.
MacKenzie interviewed several of the museum's volunteers, including electrician Derek Lyon-McKeil, who related a story of five volunteers who slept on the Hornet during Fleet Week in 1995. Lyon-McKeil said, "We'd all just bunked down, and we had a rule. No exploring. All of a sudden, I heard this banging noise like someone was opening the hatches who shouldn't have been. Peter Clayton, our supervisor, came charging around, saying, 'Okay, who's sneaking around opening hatches?' We realized that everyone in the group was there. As we were all standing there staring at each other, we heard it again. At that point, we were pretty secure. It couldn't have been anyone who'd gotten aboard."
In 1998, museum volunteer Keith LaDue and a crewmate were putting up a 15-foot Christmas tree in hangar bay 1. They saw someone run into the tree. LaDue told MacKenzie, "It looked to me like he was wearing one of those long pea coats and a dark blue Navy uniform. [I said to the other crew member] 'Did you see that?' My buddy said, 'Yeah, I did, with my own flashlight. Let's go investigate.' We walked all around the perimeter of the tree, and no one was there."
Museum employee Daphne Tallmadge told MacKenzie, "On my way down [to the flight mess lounge], I saw an image and I said 'Hi.' It was a man. I couldn't really see his age; it was dim down below. I saw a shape and a little of his image. I could see enough to know it was a man, wearing khaki. I thought he was someone from the Hornet. I was sitting down and eating when I thought, wait a minute. He made no response to me. He didn't say anything. He just stared. I saw him full front just standing there, still, arms to his side. Right then I went back to see if the guy was there, but he wasn't. I hadn't heard anything about ghosts on the Hornet before that."
The museum offers flashlight tours and mystery tours; see details here.
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Comments (4)
While I'll admit that I'm a fan of ghost tales and that I like to watch or read them with as little light as possible at night, I'm also chilled to the marrow in broad daylight by these stories of "Haunted Airfields"--even the ones that might simply be--as you so eloquently put it--"a wild ghost chase." Thank you so much for getting into the--uh--spirit.
Posted by Diane Williams on October 28,2011 | 09:51 AM
The two murals mentioned actually depict the children of the world, dressed in authentic native costumes of approximately 26 countries, overcoming the forces of evil and destruction. The positive panels are roughly twice the width of the dark and depressing panels, and are bathed in light and bright colors, showing dancing happy children. In "In Peace and Harmony with Nature", the artist's mother is depicted on the far right dancing in a bright red swirling dress, because, he said, she wasn't allowed to dance in life.
The gargoyles are seated in Samsonite suitcases (made in Denver), one in each of the two baggage claim areas. Gargoyles are not evil, but are protective and are in the baggage claim areas to protect your luggage. They were some of the last artworks to be installed. Had they been in place earlier that baggage system would have worked like a charm! The title of the work, "Notre Denver".
Posted by Marilyn Shaw on November 26,2011 | 08:35 PM
The Hornet story reminded me of when I was younger and had gone to hang out with my then-girlfriend and another couple by a lake near our town.
I went to releive myself and was approached by a young girl who looked to be about 12-15 wearing a flower print dress. She had long hair that looked wet and no shoes. I was embarassed that she had caught me "mid stream" and offered a "hi" to her. She was just staring and she faded from view.
I was totally freaked out and ran back to the van. Thru some research I later found out that a young girl had drowned in the lake back in the 1920s.
Posted by Stan Sikorski on July 14,2012 | 06:58 PM
I read on another website the DIA was built to be shaped like a swastika and had unknown languages written on the floor. They even said the languages may be alien.
Posted by swagdaddy on December 26,2012 | 10:14 PM