Haunted Hornet: Paranormal Hot-Spots | Chilling Tales

ALAMEDA, CA — At first glance, the USS Hornet, docked in Alameda, is a hulking piece of American history, from its combat role in World War II to its assignment to pluck the Apollo 11 and 12 command modules and their astronauts from the Pacific Ocean after returning from the moon.

But alongside those exploits, the Hornet has gained infamy for the sailors who were once assigned to the aircraft carrier... and apparently never left. Ghosts, or so many believers claim. They are known to wander passageways, move equipment, and work on the ship, such as scraping paint off of metal.

The stories are so prevalent that the Hornet gives popular History Mystery tours and, for the truly brave, History Mystery Overnight tours where participants sleep aboard the carrier.

The History Mystery tour includes stops in the the Combat Information Center, the Message Center and the Focsle. It is in the latter, that a former dockmaster at NAS Alameda, Chris Bartlett, reported an eerie encounter. He was by himself when he looked at a mooring line and muttered aloud, "That ain't going to work." A voice behind him in the empty room replied, "That isn't right." Ghosts who correct grammar! Bartlett continued, "I turned around and didn't see anyone. I walked to the forward part of the room and checked the WTD — it was chained shut. I shook it off and went back to the line....out of the corner of my eye I saw someone walking by the captsan. I turned and figuring it was a line handler (he was wearing dungarees) I asked him if he had said something. He didn't even look at me, he and bent over looking at something. At that moment something caught my eye and I blinked. When I looked back the sailor was nowhere to be found. I opened the QAWTD and went into the hallway. I was scared. I waited till the line-handlers came back and then went back in with them. I never told them or anyone else a thing. I didn't want to be figured as one of those ghost kooks."

Plenty of former visitors end up as "ghost kooks," even when they didn't know about the ships's spooky reputation beforehand. One man, identified only as Dan, visited with his family because his grandfather had been stationed aboard the ship during WWII. They videotaped the entire tour. When looking at the video back home, they noticed a flash down a hallway in an area that had been Sick Bay during WWII. "When we slowed the video down frame by frame, it isn't a flash of light at all. What you can clearly see is a sleeve of a white uniform with dark stripes at the end of the sleeve and a hand in reaching across the hallway. It is a side view and it appears at the far end of the hall slowly, then is pulled back suddenly. We were standing still at the time. This is in the background far back in the hall. What you find in the frame in the foreground just past the doorway near where we are appears to be faint, but you can make out one sailor, with his white hat cocked back on head and a pack of cigarettes rolled up in his short sleeves cradling an injured man's head in his lap that is sprawled out on the ground."

Other visitors report capturing images of sailors in photos and videos, when no one was anywhere near where the cameras were pointed.

The History Mystery tour, bring your own flashlight, includes other “paranormal hot-spots” including the Mess Deck, Sidewinder Missile Assembly Room, Brig, Catapult Machinery Room, Captain and Admiral’s In Port State Rooms, and the Flight Deck and Island.

If you have nerves as steely as the ship itself, the overnight tour includes all of the hotspots, plus you'll sleep in original crew bunks, have dinner in the crew's mess, take personalized tours and participate in special activities. But some former visitors have scratched the Hornet from places they'd recommend. One wrote, "I was relived that we only stayed there a night. I could not have survived two." While another said they "will never ever go back to that ship!!!!!!!!!ever!!!!!!!"

The ghost stories are collected by a CalTech technician.

The USS Hornet is located at 707 W. Hornet Ave., Alameda, CA 94501. It is open daily, except major holidays. You can purchase your tickets in advance or at the Hornet.

Book History Mystery tours in advance.