The Ghosts of Pearl Harbor

On the morning of December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service conducted a surprise attack against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. The island chain was annexed as a territory of the United States in 1900 during the nationalistic fervor of the Spanish-American War, but even though it was a major naval center for the US, it wasn't a state yet. In the attack, almost 2,400 Americans were killed and 1,000 were wounded. The Japanese damaged or destroyed over 20 American naval vessels, including eight battleships, and over 300 airplanes.

The attack was carried out in two waves. The first wave was detected by radar at 7:55 AM, but it was mistaken for an expected group of American planes. The bombing started a minute later.

The second wave was more devastating than the first. It was launched at 8:40 AM. The USS Arizona was hit four times by a bomber and eventually sank, with a loss of 1,177 officers and crewmen.



Pearl Harbor was the deadliest attack on American territory up to that point. President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan in his famous "Infamy Speech” the very next day and led to the United States’ entry into the Second World War.

Of course, as a location with such significance in history, over the decades it has become the source of numerous ghost stories. Today, the souls who were lost at Pearl Harbor are remembered at the USS Arizona Memorial, which sits over the sunken battleship. Many visitors and locals have claimed to witness unexplained phenomena that some believe are the spirits of those who perished during the attack.

One of the most frequently told tales is about the ghostly noises reported on the USS Arizona Memorial. Visitors and staff have reported hearing inexplicable sounds - footsteps when no one else is around, hushed voices and whispers, and even the sounds of distant explosions. Some believe these sounds could be the residual echoes from the day of the attack.



In 2011, an Australian family visiting Pearl Harbor captured a chilling image beneath the waters above the USS Arizona, that went viral. Susan De Vanny and her family noticed what looked like to be a young and sad face in the shimmering oil above the ship's wreckage.

According to military magazine Task & Purpose, one of the most chilling ghost stories from Pearl Harbor involves a sailor who was shot after abandoning his post during the bombings. It is said that his spirit now haunts the deck of the sunken USS Arizona during low tide.



On a special episode of the television show 'Ghost Hunters’ in 2011, the team made their first visit to Hawaii to investigate claims of paranormal activity at the Pacific Aviation Museum in Pearl Harbor. Led by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson from The Atlantic Paranormal Society, they explored the original airplane hangars from the morning of the 1941 attack, which still bore the scars and bullet holes from that day. The reported paranormal activities included hearing voices and music, seeing or hearing movement around the artifacts, objects being moved overnight, equipment turning on and off on command, visual apparitions, and interaction with people not appearing on security footage. Even Josh Gates from Destination Truth  joined the team for this special investigation.

Ford Island, which was the naval hub that served as the target of the first wave of the Japanese attack because the American battleships were circled around it, is now part of the Pearl Harbor National Memorial. Tales of unusual phenomena are widespread, with residents and visitors alike recounting experiences that seem to connect with the tragic events of December 7, 1941.

Residents of Ford Island have shared eerie tales of unexplained voices and footsteps in their homes, objects that move without reason, and lights and electronics that switch on and off of their own accord. Shadowy figures that disappear upon approach have also been seen wandering the island aimlessly.

Even the island's airstrip has a reputation for the inexplicable, with visitors frequently describing a palpable sense of panic and a mysterious glowing mist that drifts around the area.

Perhaps the most famous of these spectral entities is the ghost known as Charley. The frequency of encounters with Charley is such that officers often dismiss reports of strange occurrences with a casual "That's just Charley". Instances of water faucets turning on by themselves, radios switching on and changing stations, and heavy doors swinging rapidly back and forth have all been attributed to this ghostly presence, often accompanied by the sound of jangling keys and loud footsteps echoing down empty corridors.

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