The Californian from Salinas, California • 19
- Publication:
- The Californiani
- Location:
- Salinas, California
- Issue Date:
- Page:
- 19
Extracted Article Text (OCR)
Friday, Oct. 2, 1981 Salinas Californian 19 There's something inside museum's n's restored B-29 CASTLE AIR FORCE BASE (AP) Mechanics at the Castle Air Museum tell: a ghost story that's scary enough to raise hair on the necks of several crew members. Airmen started getting the jitters when they told each other about haunting experiences on a restored B-29 Superfortress. And the stories are beginning to accumulate about a photograph of a milky round object, a frightened mascot, inanimate objects that moved and a curious seance. "I don't know what's going on out there," said 2nd Lt.
Doug DeWitt, the museum curator. "I just saw a shadow that shouldn't be The B-29 ghost stories started last year when museum volunteers ventured into a storage yard for aircraft parts at China Lake Naval Weapons Center 200 miles southwest of this Central California base. Two crew members felt a presence behind them, a presence that Staff Sgt. Robert Kraus felt was human. But no one was there.
A tail section, most of a right wing and part of a fuselage were brought back to the base for as- sembly. Parts of three or four happened to me," he said. "I bombers were collected to don't believe in ghosts, but create a new B-29 for the new know there's something there." museum's display, said Sgt. "You know how you can tell Chuck McDonald. when your back is turned, and Other mechanics say they saw someone comes up and looks over or felt something in the plane your shoulder.
I always feel that when the bomber was being in the tail section." pieced together. Stories are con- A color photograph by Kraus tinuing now that exterior work that he swears is authentic was has been completed and workers clouded with an image like sunfinish interior work at an outdoor light filtering through dust partidisplay area. cles in the bomber's aft gun DeWitt discounted pranks as section. the cause of the gremlim stories DeWitt also says that one night because incidents were reported a figure he saw in the cockpit in three different places over a disappeared when began to call period of time. air police.
"We're not saying there is a The creature, shadow or presghost," said Maj. Ernest Wilde, ence also was blamed for moving museum project director. "But materials from the pilot's seat to there are many people who think different parts of the aircraft. there is something in there. Sev- A seance was organized to deeral crew members refuse to termine whether supernatural enter the plane alone, especially forces might be at work.
at night." Participants concluded that a Reports are heaviest from 10 gunner named Arthur Pryor p.m. to midnight, said De Witt. served on one of the B-29s found Recalling his work on B-29 in pieces at China Lake and died pieces at China Lake in January, a natural death in the 1950s. 1980, Sgt. Rickey Davidson said Volunteers are checking Army he and another mechanic Air Corps records to determine watched as a locked door in the whether an airman by that name fuselage opened and closed three served during the bomber's heytimes.
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Rectories 1370 South Main, Salinas 424-5764 "I tell and over that was sunfinish 3 (AP Laserphoto) Robert Kraus and Doug DeWitt say they've seen strange things in aircraft. into service for the Korean War. But the exact histories of planes that went into the reconstituted B-29 museum piece are unknown because tail numbers were not available. a mutt named Major, "came Research will continue, and ap- howling, yelping and running" to parently so will the ghostly his car after walking near the unreports. occupied B-29 one night DeWitt said a museum mascot, recently.
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