John Wayne’s Haunted Yacht

Wayne was a prolific actor in the 20^th century. He starred in 142 films of which 82 were Westerns. He was a top box office draw for over 30 years. For millions of Americans, he became a symbol that represented the countries’ frontier heritage.

Wayne as cowboys and The Quiet Man.

Two of my favorite films he starred in were not Westerns, The Quiet Man in 1952 and Hellfighters in 1968.

The Wild Goose

In Wayne’s later years his favorite possession was his yacht, the Wild Goose.

I wrote a post about John Wayne’s ghost being seen at the Alamo in Texas, here, but it said his spirit appears more often on his beloved yacht.

This is not surprising since Wayne considered this yacht his home away from home. He bought this cruiser in 1962, just seventeen years before he died of cancer.

He docked the Wild Goose in Newport Beach Harbor near his home but he often sailed to Mexico, Alaska and Avalon. On these trips, he included his drinking and poker buddies—Bob Hope, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Jackie Gleason.

Shortly before Wayne’s death in 1979, he sold the Wild Goose to Lynn Hutchins, an attorney. Within a few months of her purchase, she began to see Wayne’s ghost.

A portrait of Wayne
that is displayed on
the Wild Goose.

Several of Wayne’s possessions remain onboard, including, portraits, furniture, and prized mementos.

She often heard his ghost rattling beer glasses, and pacing loudly across the yacht’s decks. His spirit would block doorways, and she would see his image reflected in mirrors and through portholes.

In 1983, a psychic, Patricia Hayes arranged a séance on board the ship. Wayne’s spirit told her he visited, “because it is his favorite place.” He also explained to her he knows he is dead.

John Wayne onboard the Wild Goose.

Since Hutchins’ sold the Wild Goose to Hornblower Cruises and Events in 1991, the paranormal activity has continued.

Female passengers on these charters report that bathroom doors lock mysteriously and strange noises are heard.

A captain on another ship reported he saw lights on in the Wild Goose’s stateroom late one night when she was docked and empty. The next morning the maintenance crew arrived to find the dock gate locked and all the lights off.

In one bizarre incident, the ship slipped its lines in the middle of the night. It was found the next morning across the bay, at the old dock near Wayne’s former home.

There were no signs that the pilothouse or engine room had been entered. The rope lines were intact; they had not been cut or broken.

Wild Goose

Josh Reeves the event manager and maître d’ for Hornblower Cruises states he hears the sounds of an ice machine that no longer is on the yacht. He has also seen Wayne’s image through portholes.

The companies’ chef, Said Lassia, working alone one night saw a flashing light, like a candle, in the yacht’s main salon. He left, too frightened to stay.

Hutchins’ engineer, Elser Morales, who worked on the Wild Goose for 13 years, tells the story of what happened to one former captain of the ship. This man was abruptly awakened one night as he slept in Wayne’s bedroom. Something rudely “threw him out of the bed.”

Since Morales heard this story he has never stayed on the ship alone.

A Cruel End

I’ve encountered many stories about ghost children over the years, each one sadder than the last.

Child abuse is often the reason for this type of haunting. These stories sometimes involve manifestations that include heart-wrenching cries and pleas. When heard, these calls are to gain the attention of the living.

One story that occurred in the late 1940s includes all the elements above.

In September of 1948, Thelma Cockrell, recently widowed, moved into a smaller house near her daughter in the town of Princeton, Kentucky.

This home had been abandoned for years. Mrs. Cockrell’s discovered the last owner had left town quickly after his wife died. No one at the time thought to ask him what
happened to his stepdaughter.

Since the house was in such poor shape, the widow had to have the whole place renovated before she moved in. She was content in her new home for three months, but this quickly changed.

One cold December night at 11:00 p.m. as Mrs. Cockrell dozed in her favorite rocker she was suddenly awakened by a distressed child’s voice.

She heard the weak voice calling, Help me, help me.”

She turned toward the fire where the voice appeared to be coming from, only to see the flames shoot up in an unusual manner. She was shocked to see an emaciated face floating above the fire.

As she sat frozen to her seat, this face disappeared, but the pleas for help continued. Finally, the flames settled down, and the disturbing voice faded.

Terrified, the widow called her daughter. This woman immediately came and stayed with her mother for the rest of the night. In the morning, the two women called the police.

However, the officers after a thorough search of the fireplace and chimney assured the widow nothing was there.

Mrs. Cockrell, afraid to be alone, convinced her daughter to stay the next night. Both women, this time, heard the cries and pleas and saw the agonized face in the fire. Again the flames shot up.

The daughter then called in several female friends and told them what she and her mother had seen. These women agreed to stay for the next few nights. They were curious to see the strange events for themselves.

The group was not disappointed. Each night at 11:00 p.m. for the next three days, the fire became agitated, the pitiful cries were heard, and the face was seen.

At the end of the week, Mrs. Cockrell hired several men to dig behind the fireplace. When the dirt was removed, a small skeleton was found behind the hearthstone.

The bones were piled in a manner that left little doubt the body had been shoved in the space, as opposed to being buried there.

The widow arranged for the child to have a decent burial. After this, the pleas for help and the face were never seen again.

Sometime later, when the former owner was dying he made a deathbed confession. He stated he had starved his stepdaughter after his wife had died--on the fifth day no longer patient, he had finished the job himself.

Five days was the exact number of days Mrs. Cockrell, and the other women had seen the girl's ghost. It was also discovered that the dates of the five nights she had appeared matched the dates of when she had been starved.

More Kentucky Ghost Stories by Michael Paul Henson

Thetford Priory

Thetford Priory as it once was.

Founded by Roger Bigold the 1^st Earl of Norfolk in the 1100s this priory today is in ruins. On this site, several witnesses have seen what appears to be the ghosts of black-robed cluni monks.

In 1937, terrified witnesses heard the sounds of monks reading, chanting and singing in Latin.

In 1992, scared teenagers hanging out at this old priory heard the clinking of keys before they watched an apparition of a monk run straight past them.

However, the most famous sighting occurred in 1987. Christian Jensen-Romer and three of his friends watched through an archway as a monk descended some stairs. When they approached, the monk and the stairs they were no longer there.

Christian Jensen-Romer

This group of male teens, Jensen-Romer was 18 at the time, were driving through the town of Thetford in Norfolk on their way to a wargames meeting.

The call of nature interrupted their trip. As they looked for a loo or restroom they stumbled upon the ruins at the end of one lane. A sign informed them that they were at “Thetford Priory, a victim of Henry Vllls’ “Dissolution of the Monasteries” in the mid 16^th century.

It was a warm August night around 8:30 p.m. They found a secluded spot behind a bush to relieve themselves, as they turned to leave they looked at the ruins one last time.

Archway in ruins.

All four spotted a figure that at first, they thought was playing a joke. This figure was peering at them from an upper window. Then the group saw this figure through an archway below. It was wearing a black sheet that billowed behind it as it walked down a staircase.

The group charged forward toward the figure. Jensen-Romer remembers running up a few steps only to then slam his head against the side flint wall. In the dark, the teens quickly realized there was no staircase in the archway. The dark figure had disappeared as well.

A feeling of coldness enveloped the group and two of the teens became nauseous and threw-up. As they left the priory, they eerily got the sense the stone walls were somehow rebuilding themselves around them.

Thetford Priory

As they ran to their car it felt as if the ground beneath their feet turned to wet sand and they all stated their legs became unsteady. All four afterward wrote down what they saw in the archway.

Their accounts differed in the description of the figure, but they all agreed it appeared to be a “black-robed figure that appeared to be a monk.” They also agreed that what they saw was more than just a product of their fear.

Christian Jensen-Romer who later became a writer and Parapsychologist states this experience changed how he looks at the world. He understands why people claim to see ghosts.

He is not certain what they saw that night—but all four men today state they did see something that was “real.”

In a program entitled, Ripples in Time met with these four witnesses 10 years later at the priory. Three are scientists, and one is a psychologist today. They recount what they saw in detail on this video.

Another witness to this phenomenon, Margaret and her daughter are residents of Thetford. One warm summer’s day as they sat on a bench near the ruins they saw a monk.

He had his head bent and his arms were tucked in his habit. He glided by oblivious to their presence. Margaret followed this figure around one wall only to find no one.

She admits she has never gone near the ruins since.

One pamphlet in the town tells stories of people trying to speak to this monk only to see the figure vanish in front of their eyes instead.

Several of these encounters point to the fact that this might be a Residual haunting but the four male teen’s experience seems to be more a time slip.

Prison Hospital Ward

Sometimes people confuse Guardian Angels with just nice people who return as ghosts. This story is about a helpful spirit that returns to a place where she helped out while alive.

Denver’s Hospital Unit 8 was once a children’s wing but in the 1990s it was used as a prison hospital ward.

These patients—mostly lifers-- were locked away in individual rooms—they all had terminal illnesses and so they were brought to this unit to die.

Two nurses and two deputies worked each shift in this unit. But this unit according to a nurse, Sandy Maxwell often had another visitor—one with a more altruistic motive.

One female deputy spotted this strange female visitor late one night in a part of the ward that was empty and locked. This deputy told this woman “No one is supposed to be in here. I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

The mysterious woman complied. She walked right through the shocked deputy. According to Maxwell, after this the female deputy refused to work in the ward and had to be reassigned.

Workers that remained in the ward felt this ghost was Mrs. Speers –the wife of a former mayor who used to volunteer in the ward before she died.

The prisoners often reported seeing her—especially in Room 6. These prisoners took comfort from her visits.

Maxwell never saw this apparition but states she did see a male child ghost who liked to play peek-a-boo with her. When she would turn around he then always disappeared.

She often heard phantom noises including toilets flushing and doors slamming when everyone was locked in their rooms. All the employees heard these sounds.

Two other nurses did see the ghost of Mrs. Speers when she sat down on the edge of one of the patient’s beds. This startled prisoner, a man in his forties had AIDS. He and these nurses got a good look at her.

One morning before he passed Sandy entered his room to talk. She noticed he was in good spirits. He told her, “that nice woman was in here again.” Maxwell stated he appeared less frightened about his impeding death after this visit.

This ward was demolished in recent years but some claim they have seen this helping spirit in other parts of this Colorado hospital.

Sara Ann and Fort George, Part ll

In Part 1 of this post a brief description of one battle that occurred during the War of 1812 and the hauntings it caused are shared.

View of Fort George from Old
Fort Niagara on the American side
of the river.

Fort George is located near the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake in Ontario, Canada. It was destroyed by the Americans during a battle in 1813 but was rebuilt as a National Historical site in more recent years.

This fort is considered one of Canada’s most haunted and several ghost soldiers have been seen at this location, but the most active ghost is a little girl by the name of Sara Ann. She is a very precocious spirit.

Sara Ann’s ghost has been seen so often over the years no one has kept count. Her youthful antics elicit smiles as opposed to fear.

Her ghost, when seen, is playful. She engages in games of peek-a-boo, hiding under beds and behind pillars. She is heard giggling quietly to herself.

She is known for tugging on visitors’ clothes. When they turn, they see her running away. She is described as bare-footed with shoulder-length curly blonde hair.

She wears a white dress and is often seen around the fort’s barracks. Three female visitors spotted just her hand resting on a staircase railing in this area.

At other times she appears as just a white cloud with a vague form.

Fort George today.

One summer night in August a group of tourists who were leaving spotted a little girl in the parking lot. She was skipping around a group of guides that worked at the fort.

She appeared to be wearing a white nightgown. Two women watched as she then faded from view. The men in this group did not see this little girl.

But these two women who did not know each other eerily told similar stories of what they saw. The guides despite being closer to this apparition reported they had seen nothing.

One well-documented encounter happened to a guide, storyteller, Kyle Upton who works at the fort. He had heard about Sara Ann's ghost but did not believe the stories.

The tunnel at the fort.

Upton led a group of tourists to the entrance of a subterranean tunnel at the back of the fort one night as storm clouds gathered, and lightning flashed.

When he reached the back of this tunnel, Upton waited for his group to gather around him. This is when he saw a form that was illuminated by a dim green-grey light.

He saw a small figure silhouetted in this light. It was a child standing just outside the tunnel looking in at him.

As he watched she playfully disappeared and then reappeared again. He saw her hop and skip around—then she stopped and looked to see if she was being watched.

At first, Upton thought she was a part of his group but after he took a head count, he realized she wasn’t.

It dawned on him that this must be the little ghost he had heard so many stories about.

Upton had trouble concentrating on his presentation for Sara Ann distracted him. Every time the lightning flashed at the entrance all he saw was the white wall of the nearby blockhouse, but when the lightning stopped, he would see her once more.

When the group exited the tunnel the little girl was gone.

St. Mark's Cemetery

It is believed that Sara Ann was the daughter of Hannah and Thomas Tracey. She died at age seven in 1840. Her grave and tombstone are located at St. Mark’s Cemetery.

Her father was a sergeant major with the King’s Dragoon Guards at Fort George. No one knows how she died or why her spirit lingers at this fort.

In Part l of Sara Ann and Fort George other ghosts seen at the fort are described.

The Grim Reaper or A Prank

This past August 2014 in my hometown, Albuquerque, New Mexico a strange sight

Various photos snapped.

literally stopped traffic along I-25 near the Gibson exit.

An old cemetery, San Jose del El Rosano was divided into separate parts with the construction of this interstate years ago. Because of this sections of this cemetery are right next to this highway. One part even sits between one of the roads’ on ramps and the overpass.

During the week of August 12^th during the supermoon people saw something they described as “weird” and “scary.” Many not only stopped their cars but then got out to take a closer look.

Several witnesses snapped photographs and one person took raw video of the dark figure that stood before them. What frightened these witnesses was a very tall figure standing at one entrance to the cemetery.

Most did not know what to make of this dark figure, dressed in black its face completely obscured by darkness. Some stated it appeared to carry a bouquet of flowers in its hands, others stated it carried something green near its midsection that was glowing.

One witness that stopped, Michelle Gonzales stated she moved to approach this figure when another witness stopped her. He felt that was an unwise decision since they did not know for certain what this figure was doing there.

Several witnesses at the cemetery and many more who viewed the photos taken afterwards felt this figure was the Grim Reaper. But most after the fact stated it was obviously just a man perpetrating a prank.

Several witnesses that saw this figure with their own eyes were not so sure this simple explanation was the right one. They stated that this was something more.

Rumors spread afterward that the “man” seen standing in this cemetery that day was arrested--the authorities were called to the scene --but there is no record anyone was arrested.

Later, a local TV news team interviewed this man when he appeared again and it was determined that he was was indeed human. 

The Queen Mary, Part ll

In the first part of this post I share a short history of this famous haunted ship.

RMS Queen Mary while
still in service.

There are many stories told about the paranormal activity on the Queen Mary. The witness accounts shared here are the original sources for the stories that are pointed to today as proof this ship is haunted.

John Smith’s Story

John Smith firmly states he did not believe in ghosts. When the Queen Mary was first docked at Long Beach, Smith a marine engineer was given the task of checking out the ship.

He worked onboard in the evenings because he had a day job.

Over a two-month period, he heard unusual sounds in the ship’s bow. He described these sounds as metal tearing, water rushing in and then many men’s voices screaming.

“It sounded like there had been a rupture in the ship’s hull.”

When he would check out the area where these noises were coming from he found nothing that could have caused these distinct sounds.

Several years later, he read about a tragedy that had involved the Queen Mary during WWll. After being converted to a troop ship, the Queen Mary collided with a British cruiser named the Curacoa.

Over 300 men were killed in this accident. The Queen Mary’s bow sliced the Curacoa in half. Smith came to believe what he had heard was the echo of this disaster. He admits this discovery shocked and overwhelmed him.

In 1987, William G. Roll a noted Danish psychologist and

Parapsychologist who made his home in the U.S. was brought in to investigate the ship. He left a recorder running in the bow area over night.

This tape-recorded an even silence with the exception of a two-minute period around 4:00 a.m. in the morning. For this brief span sounds of metal banging, water rushing and men screaming were recorded.

It was around 4:00 a.m. when this disaster happened.

Mel Meter being used in bow of ship.

An Original Sighting of John Pedder

One full-bodied apparition that has been seen on the Queen Mary many times by both staff and tourists was a fireman named John Pedder.

Shaft Alley

Pedder worked in the ship’s engine room. It is said an he was crushed as Door/Hatch 13 closed in Shaft Alley during a fire drill in 1966.

These doors are used in case of an accident. They are closed in order to make various sections of the ship airtight to prevent it from sinking.

The men on board used to play a game to see how many times they could jump back and forth through these doors before they closed. One story states Pedder jumped through Door 13 one too many times.

The ghost of John Pedder is seen in Shaft Alley near this door and the engine room.

A former tour guide, Nancy Anne a self- proclaimed skeptic encountered his ghost in the late 1980s around 5:30 in the evening.

“I was working in the capacity of a lead guide, which meant my job was to close down the tour route and make sure there weren’t any stragglers left behind.”

Nancy recalls:

“I don’t know why I turned around, but I turned around and standing right behind me on the escalator step was a man. He had blue overalls that were dirty. When I stepped aside to let him go by he wasn’t there. He was gone.”

Nancy has always stated that she does not necessarily believe any other ghost stories that other people have come up with. She only knows what she saw with her own eyes.

Swimming Pool Ghosts

Server Carol Leyden during her 14^th year as a waitress on the Queen Mary was in a dinning room early one morning before it opened. She spotted a lady sitting at one table.

She went over to pour a cup of coffee for this passenger when she noticed her 1940s’ cocktail-style dress. She also wore an old-fashioned hairstyle with her dark hair rolled to the sides.

Carol noted this lady wore no make-up and was very pale. She never saw this woman move. She left the table but turned back to take another look and there was no one in the dinning room.

Carol believes she spotted another ghost in the upper class passenger pool area. One day as she was standing by the stairs to the pool she spotted an elderly woman in her sixties or seventies wearing an old-fashioned swimsuit.

This lady appeared to be in black and white like an old film.

Nancy Anne also spotted this lady. She went down the stairs and around a pillar, expecting to see this swimmer but she wasn’t anywhere to be found. She had disappeared within seconds--she could not have moved without Nancy seeing her.

Yet another witness to ghostly activity was a maintenance supervisor, Kathy Love. She and a male coworker late one night heard mysterious sounds in the pool area as they inspected it.

They heard a little girl’s voice giggling and then they heard splashing. They saw this splashing but no one was in the pool. The splashing stopped but the giggling continued.

They watched transfixed as a set of small wet footprints made a beeline for the woman’s locker room.

First Class passenger swimming pool.

Unlike Smiths and Pedder’s stories, the backstory that is used to explain these two pool ghosts does not match the ship’s history. It is said they drowned in this pool but there is no record of anyone dying from a drowning on the Queen Mary.

In Queen Mary, Part l, the history of this famous ship is shared.

Shadow People

Have you ever seen a shadow of a human figure out of the corner of your eye that once you turn your head just disappears? If so, you might just have seen a form of an entity that is labeled a “Shadow Person”. This phenomenon, which has been around a long time, has gained more attention in recent years.

 I first heard this term while listening to an Art Bell’s Coast-to-Coast radio show. This topic was discussed on several of his shows.

Shadow People are considered spirits or entities that often appear at night. They have a human form and are most often seen flickering on walls or ceilings of structures. They are often described as being evil or malevolent in nature. It is said they inhabit places where evil things have taken place. 

Others though describe them differently. They state these entities are actually neutral in nature and some even believe they are extra dimensional inhabitants of another universe.

One encounter with Shadow People happened to a family who were visiting Florida. The father had just finished taking group pictures of the family in a park when a storm hit. He stated the thunder claps quickly got louder and there were flashes of lightning so the family took shelter in a three-walled enclosure. As it started to rain the father continued to snap photos.

To his surprise a human shadow figure appeared in his camera lens moving across the eastern wall of the structure. He pointed it out to his family and they all watched as this figure climbed up the tall wall. The father was baffled considering the sun was hidden behind storm clouds. 

In the next moment as there was another flash of lightning and a loud boom of thunder the whole family saw a second and then a third human shadow on the same wall. Needless to say, rain or not the family left the park in haste.

Another family witnessed a similar phenomenon. A father leaving his wife to take a nap took his dog and toddler son for a walk. He carefully set the families’ home alarm since their had been burglaries in their neighborhood recently. 

When they returned home and entered the father noticed the afternoon sun cast their living room in odd shadows. But immediately he spotted a dark shadow figure sitting in one of the chairs in the room. His dog started to bark at this figure and his son frightened grabbed his leg and pointed to the chair. He immediately yelled out, the figure that was faceless seemed to be surprised by their presence. It got up and went through the dinning room and into a back bedroom moving along the walls.

The father went quickly to awaken his wife and then searched the house but found nothing. He told his wife that the figure was a shadow as opposed to a black mist. She told him that it was strange because she had not had a peaceful nap. She stated she had woken up several times to see a black figure on the wall in their bedroom. 

The house alarm had not gone off. The father stated afterwards that he didn’t know whether this figure was evil or just a ghost but the memory of it still disturbed him.

Researchers have attributed sightings of Shadow People to hallucinations, sleep deprivation, sleep paralysis, or a side effect to medication. In some cases one of these very well might be the cause. But in the two witness accounts above they don’t seem to have been factors. 

One interesting note in many Shadow People sightings people report seeing these entities in their peripheral vision but in the two cases above the witnesses saw these figures right in front of them.

Heidi Hollis’ appearances on Coast to Coast helped make the phenomena of Shadow People popular. She describes them “as dark silhouettes with human shapes and profiles that flicker in and out of peripheral vision.” Hollis shared stories from witnesses that had contacted her that stated that these dark figures even jumped out at them, attempting to choke them.

Here is Hollis’ advise to people who may encounter one of these Shadow People--her point of view is religious and she feels these entities are evil in nature. She state, "let go of your fear, stand your ground, deny them access to your person, focus on positive thoughts, use the name of Jesus to repel them, envision a light surrounding yourself, and bless the room with spring bottled water."

If you want to do more research into shadow figures I suggest you get a subscription to the radio show Coast-to-Coast archives--there are several witness accounts on this site.

The following link is to an hour plus video that presents a variety of people talking about "Shadow People" including Art Bell, George Noory and Stephen Hawking etc.

Shadow People, Hat People...