Haunted NASA Launch Site

On the morning of January 27, 1967, three astronauts, Gus Grisson, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee, were sitting in the Apollo 1 capsule for a pre-launch flight test at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Gus Grisson, right, Ed White center, Roger Chaffee left.
Science Society Picture Library via Getty Images

A faulty wire caught fire under Command Pilot’s Grisson’s seat. This fire, because of the “pure oxygen” in the cabin spread quickly. The crew was trapped and could not escape—killing all three men. It was just two weeks before they were scheduled to blast off.

This tragic accident led NASA to make significant design changes, which made Apollo spacecraft’s safer for future journeys to the moon.

Launch Complex-34 abandoned.

Launch Complex-34, near the Atlantic Ocean, where this accident happened was shut down a year after this accident in 1968.

All that remains at this site today, 52 years later, is a concrete launch platform and rusted steel—a grim reminder of this ill-fated day. 

But some believe that something else remains at this site--the spirits of these three astronauts.

NASA refuses to officially acknowledge this haunting but soon after this site was closed down they no longer allowed their tour buses to drive past this launch pad.

They also no longer allow people to visit Complex-34 because of what they state are “unusual occurrences.” There is one exception to this rule—they have let paranormal teams in to investigate the area.

The cause for all this secrecy is because visitors and space coast workers state the area is haunted.

Plaque to honor the three
lost astronauts.

Two plaques and three granite benches were placed at the launch site as a memorial to these fallen astronauts. It is here where people have heard agonizing screams.

A former security guard claims every time he patrolled the area at night, he would get an eerie feeling. He never mentioned this to his bosses feeling they would think he was crazy.

But countless others have also reported feelings of sadness, dread, and even fear overtook them while visiting Complex-34.

There are reports that witnesses have seen “floating apparitions” near the launch pad.

More specifics about this and paranormal team findings can be found in the book by Joanne Austin entitled, Weird Haunting: True Tales of Ghostly Places.

Burnt Mill Road Ghost

For over fifty years in Atco, New Jersey there is a rite of passage that many of the teens in this small town have participated in. It involves a haunted road that dead ends at the Pine Barrens. *

The following story like most ghost lore is part rumor and part true haunting.

Burnt Mills Road

For decades Burnt Mill Road has been considered haunted by a pale little boy dribbling a basketball. It is said that one Christmas night many decades ago this boy was playing with his new ball when it rolled out into the middle of the road.

A drunk driver not seeing him struck him. This driver then headed toward a dead end, he was forced to turn around and head back passing the small body of the boy he had just killed.

Since many witnesses have seen the apparition of this boy along this road. The youth of the town, since the 1950s drive out to Burnt Mill in hopes of catching a glimpse of this sad ghost.

From the way, this apparition behaves when cars drive along this road the locals feel he is trying to find the man who hit him. As a result, there are several rules that people are encouraged to follow to increase their chances of seeing this ghost.

One must drive to the end of the road and turn their car around as if they are about to head back. They then must turn off their car engine and lights and exit their car. It is said this is when the ghost will appear.

Most witness sightings have happened after dark for this is when the accident occurred.

Burnt Mills Road Dead End

After one young man exited his car, he spotted the apparition walking toward him, but it was if the boy was, “walking in place” for the ghost never reached where he stood. Another account states this ghost just sat down next to the witnesses’ car and didn’t move—as if dejected that they weren’t who he was looking for.

A common description of this ghost includes the fact this boy is still seen dribbling his basketball.

One group that went out looking on a misty night gave up when nothing happened but when they reentered their car and turned on the ignition a figure of a small child broke through the fog. As they left in a panic, this low-lying fog swirled around behind them faster and faster.

Most witnesses who have seen this ghost are not ashamed to admit they were frightened and left Burnt Mill Road quickly.

*  The Pine Barrens are known for the Jersey Devil and other specters.

Killed for Revenge

This story is an old legend that is told in Maine.

Major Thomas Means fought bravely during the Revolutionary War. He was at Valley Forge with General Washington and served under “Mad” Anthony Wayne at the battle of Stony Point.

He returned home to North Yarmouth, Maine in 1779 having reached the rank of Major. Years before, in 1756, he had lost his father and other family members when the Micmac Indians attacked the settlement.

The Means farm was a half-mile from the settlement’s fort. When news of a pending Indian attack was spread most of the community took refuge at this blockade. The Means family decided to wait until the next morning --they were attacked before they could leave their farm.

Thomas’ father Thomas Sr. was killed instantly his mother was wounded. Months later she gave birth to a baby who was named after his dead father. Thomas Jr. at the age of 18 joined the army as a private. As mentioned, he fought bravely alongside the other Colonial forces.

In 1807, now a respected gentleman, his peers still called him Major, Thomas bought a home once owned by the town’s minister. Situated on Main Street he opened it as a tavern.

Yarmouth Harbor

One evening Means and his patrons watched as a tall older Indian entered his establishment. This man ordered rum. As Thomas served him this man bragged about being a member of a war party that years before had massacred a family that lived near the fort.

As Thomas served him several glasses of liquor the Indian talked more. It dawned on Thomas and his patrons that this was the man who killed his father. Once the Indian was drunk Thomas escorted him to a small guest room above the tavern known as the “monitor room.”

None of the townsfolk saw this Indian again. Shortly afterwards, Thomas began to be awakened by “flashing lights and uncanny sounds” coming from the monitor room.

He then began to see the figure of the Indian moving back and forth across this small room. This activity was relentless especially during storms.

These sightings continued for years and almost drove the Major crazy. On his deathbed in 1828, Thomas confessed to his son that he had killed the Indian with a hatchet. Seeking revenge he had scalped the man as well.

Means confession did not settle down this activity. The small monitor room continued to be haunted for 50 years after his death.

It wasn’t until the late 1970s after the new owners of the tavern renovated the upstairs that this troubled ghost finally settled down.

Terrifying Tales: Mary Shaw and Her Dolls

“Beware the stare of Mary Shaw. 

She had no children, only dolls,

If you see her in your dreams, 

Make sure you never scream . . .

For she’ll rip your tongue out at the seam.”

The poem above was shared in a film entitled Dead Silence. This poem is based upon an old ghost story that was told in Ravens Fair for generations.

It was told to children to keep them in line, but some claim that there is some truth to the story. Regardless, it has evolved into a terrifying tale to tell at Halloween.

Is the curse that Mary Shaw placed real?

Outside of Ravens Fair, there is an old theatre—the Guignol—that sits near Lost Lake. It was 1941, and Mary Shaw was performing her ventriloquist show on stage.

A boy in the audience, Michael Ashen made fun of Mary. He called her a fraud and stated he could see her lips moving as the dummy talked. The audience then laughed.

Several weeks later, Michael went missing. The townspeople and the Ashen family became convinced that Mary had something to do with his disappearance.

A group of men, including Michael's family, and locals, challenged Mary one night. What had she done with Michael?

She screamed her innocence when they would not believe her claims that she had nothing to do with it. They grabbed her, cut out her tongue, and left her to bleed to death.

The local mortician noticed Mary had several odd requests in her will, but he followed them. 

She requested her dolls, which she called “her children” should be buried with her, and she stipulated her body was to be made up to look like a doll.

Several days after Mary was buried the killings began.

Each man who was involved in her murder was visited by one of the dolls. They were found dead, with their tongues ripped out.

Mary’s ghost then began to visit the wives and children of these men. As the years passed, their children’s children were visited. All were found in mid-scream with their tongues ripped out—dead.

The residents of Ravens Fair, still refuse to utter Mary Shaw’s name. For they are terrified Mary and “her children” are waiting in their grave for their next victim.

This begins a series of stories on Seeks Ghosts under the Terrifying Tales title that will be shared
between now and Halloween.

Hoosac Tunnel: The Bloody Pit, Part ll

Many workers died during the twenty-four years this tunnel was under construction in Massachusetts.

In 1868, a gas explosion on the surface near Hoosac Tunnel set hot debris shooting through the tunnel turning it into an inferno.

Dead men were found inside heaped together. Most horrific were the cries of the men who were wounded and suffering. 

The remaining workers set about the gruesome task of clearing the debris and bodies from the partially constructed tunnel.

For months after more bodies and body parts were found.

This accident reconfirmed the worker's belief that the tunnel was haunted. Local villagers began reporting strange sights around the tunnel entrance and forest that surrounds it.

Semi-transparent figures of miners were seen all over the mountain. These figures were described as walking slouched low, carrying pickaxes or shovels slung over their shoulders.

These phantoms were seen wandering around, when spotted in winter it was discovered they never left footprints in the snow.

More terrifying encounters were reported. Witnesses stated that some of these disfigured ghosts, with bloody wounds, would rush at them. Again leaving no sign in the snow, they had actually been there.

These reports were shared so often that storytellers dubbed the Hoosac Tunnel with a new name.

The called it the "Bloody Pit."

Train engineers also heard the phantom moans in the tunnel, after the construction was completed. Several reported hearing human screams over their train engines as they passed through the tunnel

Hunters and hikers walking near the Hoosac entrance report similar sounds of cries coming from the dark tunnel.

Two hunters, Greg Jefferies, and Ian Bolt passed by the tunnel in the fall of 1874. They went inside when they heard the moans of a man they thought must be hurt.

They knew that the Hoosac was considered haunted so they were curious--they got more than they bargained for.

Continuing to hear the moans, Bolt called out, “Hello! Are you badly hurt?” The cries stopped so Bolt continued to question, “I said Hello there! Tell us where you are so we can help.”

The two hunters heard slow, heavy footsteps approaching them. They waited, holding their lanterns high. In the next moments, they saw a light coming down the tunnel swaying gently.

A dark figure, six feet tall, stopped just outside the circle of light their lanterns provided.

Horrified, both men realized this figure was covered in blood and had no head. The two men didn’t say a word as they ran out of the tunnel.

After this, many people questioned this story--they felt the two men were exaggerating. Today this story about the “headless miner” is one of the most enduring ghost folklore tales told about the Hoosac Tunnel.

In contrast, there have been many witness accounts that indicate this old railroad tunnel is haunted. Some consider these spirits benevolent.

More than one railroad worker has claimed the spirits in this tunnel saved their lives.

Geoff Graig’s life was saved in 1972, when he heard a sudden warning shouted from the darkness.

“I was inspecting the tracks about 80 yards into the tunnel when a shrill voice I never heard before began screaming at me. It was a man’s voice, screaming Run! Run! Run! over and over again. I ran without thinking, just as scared of the voice as I was of whatever danger it was warning me against.”

After Graig reached the tunnel entrance, he heard the roar of a train approaching. He had made it out of the tunnel just as the train caught up to him.

“I’ll never know for certain who saved my life that day, but I’m convinced it was one of those workers who died digging the tunnel so many years ago.”

Many other modern-day workers in the tunnel believe just like Graig that something unique protected them. 

Thanks to the spirits that still reside in the Hoosac Tunnel other men have heard warnings that have saved them from being electrocuted, disfigured or killed while working.

It appears that these ghosts do not want to see any more deaths occur in this tunnel.

In Part l of Hoosac Tunnel: The Bloody Pit, I share the reason why so many workers lost their lives in this tunnel and two other stories why it is considered to be haunted.

Dan Asfar, Haunted Highways, Ghost Stories and Strange Tales, 1973 here.

Somebody Murdered in Every Bed, Part l

Past midnight on June 10, 1912 a horrific crime was committed that remains unsolved today. Villisca, Iowa at the turn of the century was the typical peaceful American small town.

Villisca Axe Murder House

June 9^th was a Sunday and Josiah “Joe” Moore a Villisca businessman accompanied his wife, Sarah, and their 4 children, Herman 10, Katherine 10, Boyd 7, and Paul 5 to the local Presbyterian churches’ Children’s Day service. The Moore children among other Sunday school attendees performed speeches and recitations.

The Moores, their
children and the
Stillinger girls.

It was a special night made more exciting by the fact that two neighbor children, Lena 12 and Ina Stillinger 8 attended with the family and were given permission to go home with the Moore children for a sleep over.

The church service ended around 9:30 p.m. and the Moore’s and their 2 guests walked home. The children were treated to milk and cookies and then put to bed for the night.

The church service was the last time these 8 people were seen alive. Even today not all the facts are known including who committed the murders. Tragically, sometime between midnight and the early morning hours each person sleeping in the Moore house was brutally murdered.

Two cigarette buttes where found in the home’s attic so it is speculated that the murderer or murderers waited in this room until the family returned and settled in for the night.

The following morning an elderly neighbor, Mary Peckham became concerned when at 7:30 a.m. the Moore house was unusually quiet and deserted. Joe’s brother Ross arrived and spotted two figures in the back bedroom covered with a sheet--he also saw blood.

The town’s Marshall, Hank Horton was sent for and he announced that there was “somebody murdered in every bed.” The murder weapon an axe that had been partially wiped clean was found leaning against the wall in the back downstairs bedroom.

There are still dents in the ceiling
from the upswing of the axe.

Horton had found the two Moore adults and the six children all in bed, they were covered with bedclothes. Each of their skulls had been bludgeoned 20 to 30 times with the blunt end of the axe.

One Possible Murderer

The Reverend Lyn George Jackline Kelly was tried and acquitted twice for the murders of the Moore family and the Stillinger girls.

In the early morning following the murders he boarded a train in Villisca headed westbound. He allegedly told his fellow travelers that there were 8 dead souls back in Villisca--butchered in their beds as they slept. At the time he made this statement the bodies had not yet been found.

Kelly had arrived in Villisca for the first time on the Sunday morning of the murders. He had attended the Sunday school performance given by the children. Two weeks later he arrived in Villisca again. He posed as a detective and joined a tour of the murder house with a group of investigators.

The authorities initially became interested in him several weeks later after being alerted by several people who had received “rambling letters” from him.

Rev. Kelly

Kelly was the son and grandson of English ministers. He suffered a mental breakdown while still in adolescence. After immigrating to America he had preached at several Methodist churches across the Midwest.

At the time of the Villisca murders he was preaching in several small Iowa towns just north of Villisca. He had developed a reputation for “odd behavior.” He had been convicted of sending obscene material through the mail and had been committed to a mental hospital for a time.

In August, two months after the murders Kelly signed a confession to the murders. He stated God had whispered to him “suffer the children to come until me.”

During his trail Kelly recanted his confession--eleven of the twelve jurors acquitted him. A second jury was convened and Kelly was acquitted again in November.

Several bizarre items where left at the murder scene. The first was a 4-pound piece of bacon that was found propped against the wall next to the axe.

The murderer had taken items from the bedroom dressers and covered all the mirrors in the home. He also covered the entry doors. He left a plate of uneaten food on the kitchen table along with a bowl of water stained with blood.

Henry Lee Moore
suspected of being
serial killer.

Some speculate that the murders were actually done by a serial killer. At the time of the Villisca murders over the course of two years from 1911 to 1912 at least 20 other people had been bludgeoned to death with an axe across the Midwest--none of these crimes were ever solved.

Read Somebody Murdered in Every Bed, Part ll here. I talk about the hauntings that have occurred in the home since the murders.

The Haunting at Duffy’s Cut

The Watson twins eagerly anticipated Thanksgiving every year for their grandfather, a retired Pennsylvania Railroad worker shared his favorite ghost story with them. 

His story was a harrowing version of ghosts who appeared in the woods near the railroad tracks in a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The boys listened with rapt attention as their grandfather described how a large group of Irish immigrants who had all died in a Cholera epidemic were seen glowing brightly and dancing on their graves in an area called Duffy’s Cut *.

Up until their grandfather died, Frank and Bill Watson thought the story they had heard for many years was just a local legend. But within the papers they inherited from their grandfather was an old document that was marked private by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. 

In 1837 there actually had been a cholera epidemic that had killed fifty-seven Irish immigrants. They were all buried in the woods in an area near the railroad tracks called Duffy’s Cut thirty miles from Philadelphia. The file also mentioned the story had been covered-up.

This document also included eyewitness accounts from people who had seen some unusual sights in the woods. One man as he walked home from a tavern in late September of 1919 saw something he later agreed was hard to imagine. Before him were green ghosts dancing in a mist. This witness swore in a written report that he saw spirits of the dead Irishmen, who had died in the Cholera epidemic.

“A-dancing around the big trench where they were buried: its true, mister, it was awful. They looked as if they were kind of green and blue fire, and they were hopping and bobbing on their graves…”

The document also mentioned that the locals felt the Irishmen haunted the place because they were buried without the benefit of clergy. 

It dawned on the Watson twins that the legend that was based on this ghost story might just be real. Within the old papers, there were clues as to where these immigrant graves were located. 

So in 2002, the brothers started to search. One clue led them to where the original railroad bridge once stood. They first uncovered an old shanty, and then in 2005, they found an old pipe with an Irish flag on it. This encouraged them to continue.

Realizing they had too much territory to cover the brothers requested help from the University of Pennsylvania, in 2009. 

A geophysicist from this school used equipment to scan the area. He sent out electrical currents into the ground to determine if items might be buried beneath the surface. This saved time and money since the brothers now had a better idea of where to dig.

At first, one human bone was found then seven skeletons were unearthed. Four human skulls were found as well. With these bones, a forensic expert was able to start putting the various pieces together. 

To the surprise of all, she found that these men and one woman had died not of Cholera but from several sharp blows to the head. Bullet wounds and ax nicks were found in the four skulls recovered.

The Irishmen at Duffy’s Cut probably were suffering from Cholera, but it appeared they all were murdered. It is now believed that these Irish railroad workers who had only been in the country for six weeks at the time Cholera broke out were probably killed out of ignorance. 

Some feel a local vigilante group killed them **, afraid the Cholera would spread. 

The Watson brothers now became even more motivated to make sure these Irish worker's story became known. The twin’s formed "The Duffy Project" their goal is to preserve the memories of these 57 Irish immigrants who came for the American Dream and instead lost their lives.

In March of 2012, the remains of five men and one woman were given a respectable burial, a West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. 

The Amtrak Railroad who owns the property today would not issue additional permits for more digging at the tracks near Malvern, PA, since the next site they wanted to dig was too near the train tracks.

* It is called Duffy's Cut because the man who brought these Irishmen and women to work in the area was named Philip Duffy. Duffy was an Irish contractor whose task was to hire men and build this section of the railroad--he was not liked by the 57 immigrants. His contract with the railroad made him a wealthy man. 

** It is speculated that a local vigilante group who met near the Irish immigrant's Shantytown did not like the Catholic Irish immigrants, so they attacked and murdered them--hence the cover-up. For years afterward, Irish railroad workers told their story, including the part about the unsettled ghosts, in hopes that the truth would come out.

The Chester County Paranormal Society (CCPRS) received permission to do EVP sessions with a Franks Box at Duffy's Cut. They found some ghosts remain in the area. The following link is to a page where you can listen to their results. Here is a sample:

Question: Do you know Duffy?
Answer: Yeah, the devil
Question: What about those homes up there?
Answer: Cursed
Question: Are you with God?
Answer: No..no...abyss.

Duffy's Cut EVP's

The following link is to a 55 minute PBS video that tells these Irish immigrants story in-depth.

Death On The Railroad