Haunted Airfields
For Halloween, a collection of weird tales about airports and aircraft.
- By Rebecca Maksel
- AirSpaceMag.com, October 25, 2011
USAF
According to Jayne Hitchcock, who has written a book on the topic, Okinawa, Japan is crawling with ghosts.
Of the former Naha Air Base (pictured ca. 1966), she writes, "A U.S. military base gate on Hwy 58 (rumored to be the old Makiminato gate 2) used to have a frequent visitor, a GI from WWII. Each Friday and Saturday night at the same time, the GI in full combat gear would approach the gate, which was manned by Marines. When he reached the gate guard, he had a cigarette in his hand and would ask, 'Gotta light?' After the gate guard lit the cigarette, the GI would disappear into thin air. When this happened many times, Marines refused guard duty at this gate and it was finally closed. One theory about why the GI showed up every weekend is that sometimes when people die, their images are caught in a kind of time warp 'record player.' A certain thing could trigger this record player so that an event the person did when they were alive is replayed. Some say if you go to the area where this gate used to be you can still see the GI ask for a light, even though the guardhouse is no longer there."
Since the book's second edition, which was published in 2000, the story has morphed a little, and the ghost now wears a "bloody uniform," and is said to appear at Camp Hansen's Gate 3.
Hitchcock's book includes stories about Kadena Air Base, including ghostly Japanese marchers from World War II, and a house (now used for storage) that apparently hosts several different ghosts, including a woman washing her hair at the sink, a samurai riding a horse, and the voices of several children laughing or crying.
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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