Sightings of Real Dead Ghosts

Stories About Sightings of Real Dead Ghosts

It can be easy for many people to feel skeptical or incredulous when others tell tales of seeing ghosts, but it is often much more difficult to discredit those stories when witnesses learn the real names of those ghosts.

Hal The Axe Murderer in Pascagoula, Mississippi

Along a desolate stretch of Mississippi highway where a haunted motel once stood, drivers report that on rainy nights they are frightened when they believe they've struck a person crossing the highway. After stopping to investigate, they quickly discover that no one is around. Since the 1970s, before the motel was demolished, guests reported that on very rainy nights they experienced hearing a loud knocking on the front door accompanied by the sound of a man sobbing. When a few guests were brave enough to open the door, no one was there.

Pascagoula locals understand why the area is haunted, and relate it back to Hal, a worker at the Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula who was laid off from work one rainy Friday night. Relocated from New Orleans, Hal's wife and five children stayed at a local motel in Pascagoula waiting for Hal to finish his night shift. The next day the family had plans to spend a day at the beach, and Hal and Susan were hoping to put a deposit down on a new home in the area.

Even before losing his job, co-workers described Hal as an unstable man. On the night Hal lost his job, his sanity slipped completely. Upon returning to the motel, some say he made up a story about being let go from work early because of the storm. Waiting in agony while his family gradually fell asleep, Hal finally slipped out into the rain and found a fire axe. Returning to the room, Hal murdered his entire family as they slept. Afterward, Hal went from room to room pounding on each door and sobbing with despair over what he had done. As he ran out into the highway still swinging his axe in the rain, a shipyard truck barreling down the highway struck and killed him. Rainy evenings along this stretch of Mississippi highway remain touched by the horrible events of that night long ago.

Anne Boleyn, the Executed Wife of King Henry VIII

The Tower of London is reputedly one of the most haunted buildings in the city. Several tower guards reported seeing the ghost of an elegant woman leading a procession in the tower. In a second incident, a tower guard even attempted to stab the apparition only to feint from fear. At his trial (for sleeping on duty), several additional witnesses came forward to support his story and all charges were dropped. Others report witnessing the ghost sometimes carrying her own head. In all cases, witnesses recognize the apparition as Anne Boleyn, the famous wife of King Henry VIII.

Anne Boleyn was King Henry's second wife. A few years into the marriage, King Henry began having several affairs. After Queen Anne had several miscarriages, the marriage began to break down. By 1536, King Henry accused five men of being Anne's lovers, one of them including her own brother, and forced Flemish musician Mark Smeaton to testify under torture that Anne was unfaithful. All four other men testified to her innocence. Anne was locked in the Tower of London and accused of witchcraft, incest, treason and adultery. All five men were executed on May 17, and Anne was beheaded two days later.

Even today, it's said the Tower of London continues to hold Anne's tortured soul trapped within the restless space between this world and the next.

The Real Ghost of Opera House Usher Richard Miller

Patrons and staff of the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis report seeing the ghost of an usher pacing along row 18. Visitors spot this ghost along the catwalk as well, and witnesses describe a ghost that stares at them but doesn't say a word. Similar to other sightings of real dead ghosts, this one is identified. Richard Miller was an usher who worked at the theater in the late 1960s. Miller, remembered as a misfit, was a University of Minnesota student during the time he worked at the theater. On Saturday, February 5, 1967, Miller shot himself in the parking lot of the local Sears store where he'd purchased the weapon and ammunition only moments before the suicide. Apparently, the loneliness was too much to bear for young Richard Miller. Today, his ghost allegedly finds some comfort in the opera house where he spent so much time during his final years.

Identifying Real Dead Ghosts

Ghost hunters around the world always make an attempt to identify ghosts whenever possible. The ghost hunting enthusiast's website Hollow Hill lists the methods that investigators can use to identify ghosts.

These include:

• Identifying the time period of a ghost's clothing
• Researching local history of a town or a house
• Scouring newspaper articles and court records for information

Other Famous Sightings

Every region of the country has its own stories and legends, and many of them are based on true stories. Residents often claim that cemeteries, houses and roads are haunted by real people who lived in the community in the past. Below are some examples of these stories from around the world.

• Reverend Harry Bull: The Borley Rectory in England
• Thomas Whaley: The Whaley House in San Diego, California
• The Captain of the USS Constellation: Baltimore, Maryland
• Stephen Jumel and his wife: The Morris-Jumel Mansion in New York City
• Former Governor Peter Stuyvesant: St. Mark's in NYC.