At a later inquest, witnesses
expressed puzzlement as to why this car did this. They stated the driver
appeared to be trying to avoid hitting something but they did not know what.
Other witnesses came forward
with an odd explanation. They also saw the car swerve off the road just past
the intersection but they saw the reason why.
They claimed to see a red
double-decker bus with the number “7” on its side careening straight
for the car at which point the car then swerved into the building. They said as this bus
continued down the street it just mysteriously vanished.
Besides the odd fact this bus
just vanished, the fact witnesses saw it at this hour was strange for London
buses do not run this late. It was also pointed out that no buses in the city
in 1934 were labeled with just the number 7.
After this first sighting,
others came forward to state they saw this bus at the same intersection for
the next 56 years.
This red double-decker was seen causing road accidents around 1:15 a.m. in the morning. It was
always seen traveling in the middle of the street heading toward the
intersection at a break neck speed.
Witnesses reported seeing the
number 7 on its side as well as the word “General,” the name of a bus line that
stopped running in 1933 the year before the first accident.
The witnesses all reported
seeing cars desperately trying to avoid being hit by this mysterious bus. They reported the drivers often just barely missed hitting the sides of
buildings or lampposts as they swerved out of the way. Several drivers
sustained minor injuries in these accidents.
Most of these reports
included the fact these witnesses saw the buses' interior lights shining brightly on both levels but there were no passengers on this bus. Even more strange drivers in the cars that
had to avoid hitting this bus mentioned that as this out of control bus passed
it then just disappeared.
The last report of this phantom bus was given in 1990. In this same year the decision was made to straighten the deadly curve that led up to this intersection. Since then there have been no more unusual sightings reported.
I saw this bus in November 1967. It was #7 and was parked half way between the station and the bend at the other end. 200 yards. No lights. We were walking west and noted the dark bus parked "in strange place". Two minutes passed the bus I joked, lets go a ride in the bus. We turned around .... It was gone. Disappeared. It was only 20 years later visiting London from Canada, that I heard of this Phantom Bus on the radio.
ReplyDeleteThe driver of this bus although unseen was probably trying to set a message that the road was ot safe and was probably killed himself on that stretch of road so he deliberately made people crash to get the authority's to change the layout thus making it safer when it was done he stopped haunting the road as his message had been heard
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