USS HORNET Ghost Stories

Do you have any GHOST Stories to tell. Weather you served on the HORNET or not, and you experienced a ghostly encounter, please send me your story for addition to this page.

Send to drmiles at caltech dot edu, or go to the Ghost Story Submission Page and fill out the form, I will then add them to this page.
You can also send them to me via U.S. Mail at:
Dwayne Miles
Sr. Stage Technician / Network Administrator
(Mail Code) 332-92
Pasadena, California 91125

In general, an aircraft carrier is considered to be one of the six most dangerous places in the world to work. The Hornet was powered by super-hot steam that exceeded 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Sometimes the room temperature would exceed 125 degrees, causing crewmen to die from heatstroke. If a steam pipe ruptured, it would release an invisible stream of intense heat capable of killing sailors instantly before they were aware of what happened. Their blood was instantly boiled beneath their skin, causing their skin to fall off their bodies. One crewman had his arm severed by one of these invisible steam jets, causing him to pass out. He bled to death in this room and when fellow shipmates found him, they discovered that the steam had boiled his blood and peeled his skin from his body. Now his ghost inhabits this room, sometimes accompanied by engine sounds. The ghost has been detected by the master control panel.
bj stead
oopy90@hotmail.com

In World War II, the U.S.S. Hornet was in a battle near Japan. In this battle, the Japanese understood they were overpowered by sea. As a solution, kamacaze pilots were sent to crash on the carriers. One being the Hornet. One particular pilot missed the carrier and crashed nearby in the sea. He was saved and then sent to a cell on the Hornet in which he spent the rest of his life. While living there, he went mad in his cell and then, a month or so later, he died. It is rumored that he still haunts the cell that he spent his life in, unable to get out. Stuck like he was when he was alive.
aaron
evil_goku@hotmail.com

I visited the USS Hornet with my family this past summer on reunion day. Because my grandfather had served on her in WWII, we got a "private" tour by one of the guides and off we went below decks with a video camera going and my grandfathers small WWII notebook with the layout of the ship in it. Then we took a regular tour with a group of people. We videotaped our whole time there, several hours worth. When we ran the video, we noticed what appeared to be a flash of light down by what was the medical treatment area in WWII. I thought it was just a reflection off a fixture or something. But there was no light attached to the video camera. And no one else was down there except my family and the tour guide and they were all next to me.When we slowed the video down frame by frame, it isn't a flash of light at all. What you can clearly see is a sleeve of a white uniform with dark stripes at the end of the sleeve and a hand in reaching across the hallway. It is a side view and it appears at the far end of the hall slowly, then is pulled back suddenly. We were standing still at the time.This is in the background far back in the hall. What you find in the frame in the foreground just past the doorway near where we are appears to be faint, but you can make out one sailor, with his white hat cocked back on head and a pack of cigarettes rolled up in his short sleeves cradling an injured man's head in his lap that is sprawled out on the ground. There is no doubt about the sleeve I spoke about in the background being there. As for the sailor in the foreground, several of us watched it in slow motion alot. Some here felt it might just be a reflection off the floor. But we all agreed we could clearly make out the pack of cigarettes rolled up in the short-sleeve shirt. None of this is visible when you watch the video normally except for what appears to be a brief flash of light. You only see this when you go frame by frame.
Dan
tiny@proaxis.com

There was a recent edition of MTV's show FEAR in which teenagers are sent to inspect Haunted Locales to see if they are haunted. One such locale Was the USS Hornet, and the episode recently aired this past week on Sunday, April 1, 2001. It migh be replayed, so check MTV.com for the time postings of the show and an additional page on different haunting stories in the USS Hornet in the FEAR show section of the web page. I must say that it was one of the scariest of the episodes I have seen thus far, and had some rather convincing haunting activity that was video taped. A must see for Hornet and/or haunting enthusiasts.
Sean Wharton
swhart02@providence.edu

Since the 1960s, paranormal investigators, psychics and researchers have been drawn to investigate the bizarre stories of the USS Hornet. Spirits of dead sailors and officers wander the intricate labyrinths of narrow passageways and quarters throughout the giant vessel. Doors open and close on their own, objects move across floors and fall off of shelves, and sounds from the past echo through the stairwells. Men in naval uniforms appear out of thin air to patrol compartments as if they're still carrying out their daily orders. People have been pushed and grabbed by some invisible force. Psychics and professional ghost hunters agree that these are the souls of suffering men, cheated out of their lives after spending their final days in hell.
Mat

I was on the junior crew sleepover on april 7th and 8th, but I was in a girl scout troop. My friend Becca and I were coming out of the doorway closest to the kitcen when we heard somebody scream help, we looked around, but no one was there, and if you don't beleive, me ask Bob Fowler and ask about a girl with a really big pillow. He was with us and he heard it. That night at ghost stories, my troop and I saw someone in our cabin. He was the man in kakhis and he was in our cabin. We threw a deck of cards (yea I know its dumb) the cards went threw him and then Bob came in and told us "lights out", when he turned out the lights 5 min. later, our reading lams went out!
Michelle
rockerbaby2714@aol.com

I was aboard the Hornet from 1965 through March of 1969. I came aboard as a Machinist Mate striker, but was told that my help was needed in the fire room for a few months. Well, you know the rest of the story, #3 fire room became my domain. In the fire room you become accustomed to the sounds of the machinery in that space. Cold Iron watch seemed to be the time that strange things would happen. Any Snipe can tell you, a machinery space is a different place during Cold Iron. It's during this down time when no machinery is running, that you hear all the squeaks, creeks, bumps, thumps, moans, groans, and assorted sounds in that space. These are normal Cold Iron sounds, scary, but normal. It also became normal to occasionally have the feeling that you were being watched, hear muffled voices, or even out of the corner of your eye get a glimpse of someone walking to the back of the boiler, only to find no one there. In order to make it through the watch, you just tell yourself,! "it's my mind playing tricks on me." That's the only explanation you have! Well, for me those mind saving denials came to a screeching halt one watch. I had a Cold Iron watch in #2 fire room (not my domain). Repairs were being made and it was in disarray, some deck plates up, boiler front open, etc. So I started my lonely watch, a little reading, a little singing, a dance move or two, anything to get through the watch. Somewhere along the way the hunger pains started. I had some snacks stashed, so I decided to make a mad dash to my locker. Five minutes max, I was back in the fire room, sitting at the bottom of the ladder eating my Cheese Whiz or what ever. I could hear someone working in the boiler firebox. Being a BT, I had worked inside a boiler firebox before. I knew that no one just climbs into a boiler firebox unless they had work to do inside. So figuring that someone from #2 fire room was inside working, I sat there eating my Cheese Wiz. After about ten to fifteen minutes, I walked over to let them know that I was outside. Within about two feet of the boiler front, I heard the sound of a paint scraper drop to the firebox floor. I figured they heard me coming, so I stuck my face in the opening. There in the middle of the firebox floor was the paint scraper, but missing was the person that was using it. There was no one there! I was caught completely off guard. There I am, standing with my head sticking through the opening, where only seconds before, I had heard someone working, now there was no one. The thought of a guillotine crossed my mind. At the top of the ladder, in the safety of the passage way, where I finished my watch, I laughed about what had occurred. But from that day on, the explanation, '' it must be my mind playing tricks, '' just didn't work for me anymore.
Dan Brisker
danlbc562@aol.com

On this grey ghost in the cafteria area a man was severly beaten but he accidently bumped into someone and he was jumped and as beaten soo bad he blead to death.....on MTV's Fear you can still see him haunting this area through a thermo camera...
Chris
Ludachris719@aol.com

Dad was laying in his rack, and a guy walked up and told him, "I used to sleep their", and walked away. Never saw him after that.
Bo Mosher
bojoe1975@yahoo.com

"The Catapult" was a very powerful machine that was used to "catapult" the planes off the flight deck, giving them the instant velocity for lift-off. The Catapult room is concidered one of the most dangerouse places aboard an aircraft carrier, because the wire used to hook in and catapult the plane has a tendencey to snap. When it snaps, it spins around the room at 500 miles per hour, slicing through anything in its path. There were many such accidents aboard the Hornet. Several people have reported seeing a headless crewman pacing up and down in this area. Other times, only his footsteps can be heard walking across the floor. They believe it's the ghost of crewman whos head was decapitated by a snapped wire. People who have seen this decapitated soldier report it to be the most frightening and distubing experience of their lives. A visiting psychic reported the presence of a male spirit of a particularly malevolant nature whos nature is to harm people near the catapult room. A former sailor reported an incident durring the war when a sailor tried unsuccessfully to jump into an elevator near the catapult room, which severed his body in half. Near the catapult room, a snapping tow cabble instantly killed a crew member on deck by decapitation. This occurrence was not uncommon, as many crew members reported casualties from whipping towlines.
Andy
Andy_Moonshadow@hotmail.com

My grandpa was on the USS Hornet in WWII. He had told me of many things about it. So one night I got to spend the night there. It was neat. But I got up from my bed and went way down low in the ship not knowing where I was going. I saw a big room with what looked like a prison bed. It was The Brig. I didnt know my way back up the ship. i was afraid and since I could go back up I went and laid down in the bed and went to sleep. 20 minutes later i felt like i was being beaten to death I screamed very loud and i heard strange noises. I ran out of the brig as fast as I could only to find a strange cluster of lights. I still have no idea what happened.
Tommy Jacobi
blaklabl111@aol.com

I work aboard the USS Hornet Museum as a Docent, Helicopter Restoration Lead and I work with the Live Aboard Program, where Boy and Girl Scouts sleep over on the ship. At 10pm every Live Aboard we tell ghost stories in the Foc'sle. I have yet to see what I could say is a ghost, but I did see something I can't explain. We have been having more and more sightings by multiple witnesses during these ghost stories over the last year. So, this particular night we had 30+ visitors in the darkened Foc'sle as our ghost stories proceeded. As our story teller was in the middle of a story, I witnessed a deep blue light crawl across the over head bulkhead, from starboard to port. It moved with the kind of showerglass look to it you see when looking into the bottom of a pool on a sunny day. Just about the time I asked myself if I had really see it, the vast majority people yelled "Look at that!". I could not see what they were seeing since I was up on a platform. They all described it as an deep blue Ameoba-like plasma thing that wrapped around the story teller's flashlight beam as it was directed at the Ameoba. After a few seconds the plasma dissipated and went away. Strange
Joe Martinez
JMH3guy@hotmail.com

Recently, my husband and sons stayed on the ship during a boy scout outing. My sons went through a hallway of many lockers and was exploring a room off this hallway. When they returned about fifteen minutes, all the lockers were open, but nobody was around. An adult with the group could hear the lockers opening, but did not see anyone also nor hear anyone moving in the hallway.
Stephanie Edgbert
onedge84@yahoo.com

Ghost story skeptic
I'm not a total skeptic, but I have good reason to be after spending four months of below decks "Cold Iron Watch".
From the very first week or so aboard the dry-docked Hornet in Bremerton, in March of 1956, I was assigned to the "A" division. At that time, about the only activity in the "A" division was "Cold Iron Watches".
I was given a quick tour of my watch posts and how to fill out my nightly log. I can remember Chief Leblanc telling me to "be observant". What ever that meant_!
The "Cold Iron Watch" was a 4-hour tour of 5 or 6 of the "A" division's auxiliaries. Air Compressors, O2N2 plant, Ice Machines, Machine Shop, Diesels, and probably other ghostly places I can't remember.
Walking the cold halls every night for 3 months, climbing up and down ladders with only a flashlight would certainly stir up any left over spirits, wouldn't you think__!
If they were there, they weren't on my watch_!
Walt Marks
Steam Heat Gang
1956-1959