Aviation Ghosts and Mysteries
German Pilot
Location: Gravesend (Kent) - Private house on the River View Park estate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: The site of a former RAF base, investigators belief that the pilot was shot down whilst on a bombing run over the area.
Parachutist
Location: Great Driffield (Yorkshire) - Driffield RAF base
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Post-Second World War
Further Comments: A pilot who bailed from his aircraft above the airfield landed on the tower while in a controlled descent, though died falling from the tower onto the ground. His shade has been seen slowly parachuting onto the building.
Three Men
Location: Great Waldingfield (Suffolk) - Road to Sudbury, close to the public house
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2012
Further Comments: Three men wearing long coats and large boots were spotted on the road by a driver. Convincing they were going to hit one of the men, the driver slammed on their brakes; the figures vanished, leaving the witness quite shocked. The witness was later told that the area was once a US air base during the Second World War, and that other people had encountered phantom airmen and even heard old aircraft in the area.
Airman with Hand Grenade
Location: Grimsby (Lincolnshire) - Former RAF Waltham (aka RAF Grimsby)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1969 (airman), 2020s (white light)
Further Comments: Several former pilots walk this old RAF base, both along the aging airstrips and the perimeter road. One of the ghosts that has chosen the perimeter to haunt is said to have blown himself up with a grenade after being declared unfit to fly (and may have been seen in a bungalow in 1969). Another spirit has appeared by the memorial laid for the Number 100 squadron. More recently, a dull warm white has been spotted drifting along the old runways, and a man walking his dog was later asked about the person dressed in dark clothing who had earlier walked by his side; the man had not encountered any other person during his walk.
Headless Airman wanting Lift
Location: Hadstock (Essex) - The B1052 leading into Hadstock
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: After losing his head in a flying accident, the apparition of an American pilot has been seen thumbing a lift on the roadside.
US Airmen
Location: Harrington (Northamptonshire) - Road leading to Lamport
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Heading towards an old USAAF airfield, this car full of military personnel slowly fades from view as travels the road.
Furniture Mover
Location: Haverfordwest (Dyfed) - Unnamed house in RAF Brawdy
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: A family living in a semidetached house were kept awake for several nights by loud knocks coming from their neighbour's home. One night the sounds were incredibly loud, so the following morning they went next door to complain, only to find their neighbour now arriving home after spending the evening away. Upon investigation, it was discovered that all the furnishings in the house were moved around, though no money or credit cards were stolen. The RAF took the case so seriously they called in a bomb squad to ensure that an explosive device had not been planted by the mysterious intruder.
Engine
Location: Hawkinge (Kent) - Skies over the area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Sounding like it belongs to a Second World War aircraft, the engine has been heard in the skies, but nothing ever seen. One witness claimed it sounded like a doodlebug - a World War 2 German rocket. Another witness has seen a ghostly figure strung up in a parachute that is currently on display.
Bomber?
Location: Hayward's Heath (Sussex) - Rocky lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1995, 13:15h
Further Comments: Driving home for lunch, this witness watched a large aircraft, possibly a Second World War bomber, pass overhead and descend towards a railway line. The witness thought the craft had crashed, so climbed out of the car and ran over to a brick wall which had obscured the view of the falling aircraft. There was nothing there, and then the witness realised the aircraft had been completely silent as it passed above.
Pilot on Fire
Location: Hemswell (Lincolnshire) - RAF Hemswell
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Two ghosts have been reported at this former Second World War airbase. A pilot who crashed on landing runs down the runway with his clothes on fire, while an engineer who lost his arm in machinery staggers around screaming. A ghostly rendition of the Missouri Waltz is also reported.
Henry
Location: High Ercall (Shropshire) - Former airbase
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Spoken about by locals, the ghost known as Henry, an USAF pilot in flying kit, is said to have ginger hair.
Pilot?
Location: Higham (Kent) - Canal Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Several times in 2010s, between 19:00h - 20:00h
Further Comments: Several dog walkers had seen a man dressed in black with a white stripe on his outfit along this road, his silence when spoken to a topic of discussion between the pet owners. One dog owner then reported that the man had disappeared in front of their eyes and refused to walk his dog in the same area. One person researched the area and found that a German aircraft had crashed here, speculating that the man in black was a pilot.
Aeroplane Crash
Location: Hockley (Essex) - Woods
Type: Other
Date / Time: Summer 1973
Further Comments: A person called police after hearing a loud crash and screams for help in the woods, which they thought to be an aircraft crash. On investigation, nothing could be found.
Cigarette Smoking Man
Location: Honington (Suffolk) - RAF Honington
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1979/80, and June 1983
Further Comments: In 1983 two RAF police officers spotted a man dressed in Second World War flying kit smoking a cigarette between two barbed wire fences. They challenged the man, who turned, walked through one of the fences, and faded away. Three years prior to this encounter, a converted H block was home to an entity which could be heard breathing heavily and would occasionally attack people in their beds. A local story reports that a USAF bomber exploded on take-off during the war, and one of the crew's bodies was never found.
Second World War Aircraft
Location: Hope (Derbyshire) - Aston Lane, near the railway bridge, skies over
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: April 1995
Further Comments: Witness Tony Ingle watched a totally silent aircraft fly past him, a mere 15 meters above the ground, before it dived behind a hill. Expecting to find the crash site, Mr Ingle investigated but found nothing there.
Children Playing
Location: Hornchurch (Essex) - Site of RAF Hornchurch (no longer operational)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: One witness reported hearing schoolchildren playing on the site, although it was late at night, and seeing pilots walking around the area.
Hitching Airman
Location: Kelstern (Lincolnshire) - Road leading to the former RAF Kelstern
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1983
Further Comments: The man dressed in an old RAF uniform tries to hitch a lift to the now ruined airbase. There are also reports of the sounds of an old aircraft in the skies and along the former runways.
Screaming
Location: Kirton in Lindsey (Lincolnshire) - Former RAF base
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Post-Second World War (screaming), pilot spotted 1990-1995
Further Comments: The phantom screams of pain are thought to date from an air raid which killed many French pilots. One of these men has also been observed lurking by an old hangar and may have been spotted during the early 1990s by two witnesses in the clubhouse.
Smoking RAF Pilot
Location: Lakenheath (Suffolk) - Lakenheath Air Force Base, perimeter road
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: Spring 1951
Further Comments: A phantom hitchhiker was seen along the road, dressed as a RAF pilot. An American policeman picked him up, only to find that the pilot had disappeared a few minutes later.
Australian Pilot
Location: Lakenheath (Suffolk) - Near Brandon Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1945 onwards
Further Comments: Seen walking across the airfield on bright moonlit nights, the ghost here is believed to be that of an Australian pilot who died when his bomber crashed during the Second World War.
RAF Guard
Location: Langar (Nottinghamshire) - Former RAF base
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1973 and 1983
Further Comments: In 1978 one witness watched a man in a uniform walk down a set of steps. The figure smiled at the witness before walking through a wall. While driving away from the site in 1983, a director of a business operating from the former base thought he had hit a uniformed man that had appeared in front of his car. He stopped and looked for what he assumed was an injured person but could find nothing. The same thing happened to him again a few weeks later.
Crash and US Airmen
Location: Langham (Norfolk) - Apple Orchard, once the World War 2 airbase
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: The sound of a crashing aircraft has been reported amongst the trees, and misty figures dressed in US AAF uniform have been seen - always dissipating when approached. Screaming was once heard coming from one end of a former runway, though when the sound was investigated, nothing was found.
Officer
Location: Lee-on-Solent (Hampshire) - RNAS Lee-on-Solent (aka HMS Daedalus)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A witness entering the control tower briefly spotted an RAF officer before the figure vanished. The site ceased being used by the RAF in 1939.
Crew
Location: Leeming (Yorkshire) - Former Airfield
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950s onwards
Further Comments: The crew from a bomber have been seen walking together here, and when not seen they have been heard laughing and joking.
Sounds of Action
Location: Lindholme (Yorkshire) - Former Second World War Air Force Base
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: 1962
Further Comments: A witness recalled how he and a friend were walking across the deserted airfield at night and seeing a strange light in the control tower. Both knowing that the building should have been empty, the illumination unnerved them slightly. As they passed by a hangar, they were suddenly surrounded by the sounds of activity - they could hear the hangar doors screeching open, the engines of aircraft starting up, and the patter of many pairs of feet running by them, though nothing could be seen.
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