“So I don’t doubt or disprove the sighting,” he said.
It’s probably not a stretch to say most bases have their haunted buildings, even airplanes.
Reserve Maj. Matt Cook has had hair-raising experiences at the building where he works. He commands the 433rd Combat Logistics Support Squadron at the former Kelly Air Force Base, Texas. He’s heard doors closing and voices when in the building alone.
No wonder. During the Vietnam War, the building was a temporary morgue. And in the late 1970s, a C-130 Hercules crashed into the building, killing the entire crew. A perfect setting for ghost stories. Late one night, the major heard people talking as he walked to and from his office.
“I heard whispered, hushed conversations — like those you hear in church,” he said. But he couldn’t make them out. “Since then, I’ve made it a point not to go back in the building by myself late at night.”
Given the building’s history, maybe restless souls are still lingering about, unsure of where to go. Major Cook said the theory isn’t that far-fetched.
“You never know,” he said. “That’s always a possibility.”
Friendly Spirits
At F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo., a base that began as a 19th century frontier Army post, ghost stories abound. Some say the ghosts of cavalry soldiers haunt the base cemetery. And as the Air Force’s oldest continuously active military installation, some of its homes date back to the turn of the last century.
Residents of one old home say a cavalryman and his dog pace the attic. In another house, people have seen a little girl in long curly hair looking out the window of the guest room — when the residents are away. And it’s common knowledge that a friendly spirit named Jeffrey makes his home in the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Museum — once the Army post’s headquarters.
Housing officials at Kadena Air Base, Japan, converted a base home into a supply depot because nobody wanted to live there. The reason? Everyone says it’s haunted.
In 1999, Pat Bishop began working at the old commissary at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England. One morning, near the deli, she saw meat flying off the shelf — not because it was on sale, but as if self-propelled. She also saw an “unseen force” tossing loaves of bread about.
Of course, people say the place is haunted. After all, it was once a morgue. No wonder nobody wanted to work late, much less alone. “ I thought it was just a ghost,” she said. “But I didn’t get the feeling that he would hurt us.”
She said “he.” That’s because she took a picture of the ghost. One day, after closing, she pointed her camera at the middle isle and snapped a picture. She hadn’t seen anything, but figured the camera might still capture something. Sure enough, one photo revealed the outlined image of a man taller than the top shelf. Maybe seven feet tall.
“I couldn’t believe the picture I took,” she said. Today, co-workers confirm seeing the photo. Alas, she let a friend borrow the snapshot and never got it back. But the ghost story remains.
The commissary will soon be a new bank. Who knows, with luck, future bank customers may see money flying around.
Just silly ghost stories? Skeptics say they’re hooey. But people who can’t explain things they’ve seen disagree. Nobody will ever convince Mr. Robredo it’s hogwash. He’ll never forget the blood-chilling panic he felt during his close encounter with the unknown.
“Until then, I’d never felt like that,” he said. “And I’ll never forget what I saw.”
Maybe there’s no way to account for the mysterious sightings people witness across the Air Force. But one thing’s certain: People are seeing things they don’t understand. Strange things that scare them. And until there’s a logical explanation for what they’re seeing, they’ll keep telling their ghost stories.
