Ghost stories

Hangar 4909

I was fresh out of basic training and new to my unit. I easily fit in well with my shop, pulling pranks, telling jokes and enjoying lunch together almost everyday. Whenever we walked around the hangar they would tell me different stories about it from the past. The hangar was the oldest and biggest building on the base. It had the best technology and architecture for it's time. It could house 2 stratotankers and few pieces of ground equipment.

It was a cold and rainy Friday. And leadership gave everyone an optional work day. At that time I didn't know I had that option. I was just a new airmen told to come in at 7. So of course it was just me and one NCO in our office. There was one person in the shop right next door to us but he was taking an "extra long smoke break". So the whole day there were just two people in the whole hangar. I spent most of my time on the computers catching up on training. The NCO had an appointment and said he would only be gone an hour or so.

Usually the hangar is quite loud with the jets and tools going on and on and chatter and frequent yelling to get attention or warn others to be careful. Being the only person in a giant hangar seems thrilling but actually it's very eerie and lonely. The women's restrooms felt like they were a mile away and I could hear my own heartbeat in the emptiness whenever I had to go.

I was drifting asleep at the computer when I heard commotions coming from the hangar. I got up to see who was out there, since I thought I was the only one. When I opened the office door to the hangar I didn't see anyone. Strange. I looked around the whole hangar and didn't see a single body. But what I did see startled me. One of the ropes that was attached to the anchors on the ceiling for our safety harnesses was moving. I realized the noise I heard was the anchor moving on the tracks across the hangar.

I just stood there with my heart racing. They're not heavy, but they're heavy enough not to move by themselves and certainly not by the wind, which it was very windy that day. I slowly closed the door to the office and returned to my computer. Just ignore it, it's nothing. I had to keep calm. Watching the clock and waiting for my NCO to return was helping keep my mind occupied.

I watched and watched, waiting for his hour or so to end and he would return so I wouldn't be by myself. Until the lights went off. I let out a yelp and remembered they were automatic lights that required constant movement to stay on. I jumped up out of my seat as fast as I could and waved my arms. It was pitch black in the office and I was terrified. Terrified if not being alone actually. After waving and waving and jumping around, finally the light came back on.

A moment later the NCO came back in and he must've noticed the fear in my eyes. "Are you okay" he had half a smile and the other half was concerned.

I let out a breath of relief. "Don't leave me alone again". I told him about the anchors and he seemed surprised and tried to find plausible causes. But really there weren't any. I told myself I never wanted to be alone in the hangar ever again.

I thought I was fine and I hadn't been alone until a few months later. We were doing an inspection on the plane that was in the hangar. There were several people going in and out of the plane while I was in the pilot seat doing my own inspection. At one point I heard foot steps walking towards the cockpit and I called out to see who it was. No response. I heard the footsteps again which were much louder, like a stomp and again very close to the cockpit. I turned around and saw no one.

I got up and searched the plane only to find no one there. I looked out on the ground and saw everyone I was working with. Once again I was alone. And I honestly have no explanation for the footsteps. The footsteps in the plane are very distinct. They're heavy thuds on wooden platforms.

I later told my leadership and others in my shop about my encounters. One of them said they weren't surprised. It's possible people have died in or around the hangar. Cautions and warning are written in blood anyways.

Another NCO told me he encountered a strange occurance as well. He said he stayed late to work and had an early morning so he decided to spend the night in the office on a cot. He described an eerie feeling like someone was watching him. He looked around the office and saw a face plain as day looking around the corner at him. He said he got up to see who it was and when he turned the corner no one was there.

Towards the end of my enlistment the hangar was scheduled to be torn down and a new one built in it's place. We were all excited of course for a brand new work environment with up to date technology and less mold. But I feared the souls would be angry and wreck havoc.

But surprisingly no one has noticed anything odd. In fact since the demolition everything has been pretty normal. No more eerie feelings. I was no longer scared to be alone. And I just wonder if maybe the spirits of Hangar 4909 aren't angry. Maybe they, like the rest of us at Seymour Johnson, felt trapped and instead of the demolition angering them it actually liberated them.

The new hangar has not been finished and I am no longer in the military. And it could be possible that the spirits, just like the leadership, liked to mess with the new airmen. But it won't be long until someone finds out for themselves if the spirits of Hangar 4909 really moved on.