LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. –
Disembodied footsteps in Quesada Hall, an unseen child's laughter in Building 90, and electronic voice phenomenon in the Matthew Jones House are all reported incidents that lead one to believe that Joint Base Langley-Eustis may have more than just the living inhabiting the installation.
With Langley Air Force Base established in 1916 as Langley Field and Fort Eustis established in 1918 as Camp Eustis, the rich history of the installations gives way to much ghostly speculation.
According to a 1999 article in the former Langley AFB newspaper, The Flyer, by Vic Johnston, Community Relations officer, Langley has several locations that have documented ethereal events.
One of most notoriety is Building 90, the oldest building on Langley, and its resident ghost, Natalie, a little girl still looking for playmates. Natalie occupies the home of the 633rd Contracting Squadron, and she's given some of the employees a fright.
Early on a Saturday morning this past winter, 1st Lt. Mary Farren, Specialized Flight deputy flight commander, was working alone on the second floor of Building 90. She began to hear the laughter of a young girl down the hallway, but when she looked, no one was there. After asking Natalie to play somewhere else, Farren finished her work and left the building soon after.
"The hairs on my arms and neck were at attention," said Farren. "I've not been back in the building by myself since. Even though I believe (Natalie is) just looking for someone to play with, I'm not ready to have proof that ghosts exist."
Cynthia Lewandowski, Services and Commodities Flight chief, experienced Natalie is another form in the spring of 2010. Working late one evening, she was alone in the building when she heard a noise that sounded like someone rushing down a stairwell. When she went to investigate the noise, she saw what appeared to be smoke hovering in the door of the stairwell. As she approached the smoke to see where it was coming from, it began to form into an apparition that started moving toward her.
"At that point, every hair on my body stood up, and I froze in my footsteps," said Lewandowski.
She was eventually able to move, and quickly turned and made her way back to her office. As Lewandowski walked away, she spoke out loud that she was leaving. When she looked over her shoulder, the apparition had disappeared.
Other apparitions have been witnessed in another building on the base. In front of Building 90 is the 633rd Dental Squadron. Rumored to have hosted a resident ghost of a young girl named Katy, these days just phantoms make appearances.
Master Sgt. Stephen Gamble, the Periodontal Element supervisor, has encountered odd happenings, such as noises and shadows, in the building for years, but he's learned just to ignore them and continue with the mission. One such happening, though, he couldn't just shrug off.
Recently, Gamble saw a man standing in the restroom, motionless and silent, with his back to the door. Assuming the gentleman needed some privacy, Gamble went to another area of the restroom. When he returned, the gentleman was still standing in the same position, just as silent and motionless as before. As Gamble went to use the sink, the man disappeared.
"He never made a sound," said Gamble. "The automatic (water the man stood in front of) didn't activate, and the attention getter was the door never opened."
The male phantom is also mentioned in The Flyer article from 1999 when he was seen in a Dental Squadron conference room by another Airman.
Sometimes even death, no matter its tragic circumstances, doesn't stop the desire to continue occupying the living realm.
Quesada Hall, now the home of Air Combat Command Public Affairs, maintains rather violent ghost stories. According to Johnston's article, in the fall of 1981, an officer working in the building was murdered by her estranged husband, who then committed suicide. Also, according to legend, when the building was previously used as a warehouse and had a supply boom attached to the back, a distraught Airman hung himself from the boom.
Lori Martin, ACC/PA executive assistant, has experienced unexplainable events in the building since beginning to work there in 2004. From cold spots to phones ringing all at once without any callers, Martin says spirits still roam.
Before renovation took place in the Quesada Hall two years ago, there was an internal staircase between the second and first floors. Martin said colleagues reported hearing footsteps on the staircase when no one would be coming down or up the staircase. Johnston's 1999 article also records phantom laughter and music coming from inside.
Martin's most memorable experience came in the fall of 2010. She came in one morning early, before anyone else arrived. The door to her office, which is directly outside the ACC public affairs officer's office, is locked and the lights are automatic to only come on when someone enters. When she opened the door to her office, Martin heard a loud knock and saw the door to her boss' office swing open and the lights come on in that space.
"It spooked me because there wasn't a soul in the office but me," said Martin. "These are really heavy doors and they just don't open on their own."
Disembodied footsteps and noises are spooky enough, but what if you were to hear an ethereal voice in the middle of the woods? That's what happened on Fort Eustis one late night in the spring of 2004 to Capt. Charlene Campbell, 733rd Security Forces Squadron operations officer.
Campbell was on a midnight shift when she responded to a call for a disabled vehicle at the ammunition supply point off Mulberry Island Road. After calling for backup and assisting the driver, the officers heard the low voice of an older man calling out. After further investigation, the owner of the voice was nowhere to be seen.
According to Campbell, since the ammunition supply point is a secure area, no one else should have been out there that night. To this day, she says, when a patrol car with radar approaches the area, the radar will begin flickering and there's nothing out there that would activate it.
"I think ghosts exist, but I don't want any part of them," says Campbell about her experience and belief in the supernatural. "If I can't shoot them, I don't want them around me."
So, do ghosts or spirits really exist? And if so, why? According to Ray Savino, founder of R.T.L. Paranormal, there are many reasons why spirits can be detected walking among the living, such as tragic deaths, turmoil over things left undone in life, and attachment to objects. There is also the belief that certain earthly elements attract spirits. Water is one of the most attractive energy magnets
"When spirits feel uneasy, when their homes are disturbed, this can bring them out," said Beth Massie, R.T.L. Paranormal case manager.
Savino and his team conducted an investigation at the oldest still-standing structure on Fort Eustis in the fall of 2010. The Matthew Jones House was constructed in the 18th Century and now serves as the home of the Fort Eustis Cultural Resources Management Program.
During the investigation, the R.T.L. Paranormal team collected audio recordings known as electronic voice phenomenon from the second level of the house, and using full spectrum cameras, shadowy figures were captured outside the house. Without further investigation, though, Savino says the findings are non-conclusive to determine if the Matthew Jones House is indeed haunted.
JBLE is full of history, and with that comes stories of those who tell no tales. This Halloween, take a second glance around the outside of the Matthew Jones House for shadowy figures or listen carefully outside Building 90 for laughter. Just don't get too scared and end up in cahoots with those who've walked before you.