Haunted Objects: Stories of Ghosts on Your Shelf (9 page)

You never know if someone with haunted wheels will be on the road.

It all supposedly started with a life lesson all people need to heed:
Listen to Obi-Wan Kenobi
.

As part of his fast-paced and dangerous reputation, Dean spent much of his time acquiring and racing fast cars. His favorite became a rare Porsche 550 Spyder he had customized and detailed to his specifications. In what would become a series of fateful moments, the car he originally wanted was delayed, and the Porsche was only supposed to be driven in the interim. It was nicknamed Little Bastard and according to sources, Alec Guinness (best known as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original
Star Wars
trilogy) warned Dean a week before his death to get rid of the car or risk dying in it.

Seven days later, Dean was dead. On the afternoon of Sept. 30, 1955, shortly after being ticketed for speeding, James Dean collided head-on with a car going the other way on Route 446 in San Luis Obispo County, California. All others involved in the crash survived, but the legendary rebel expired before he reached the hospital. Since then, his image has appeared time and time again as an example of wasted youth and suave uncaring. Stories of that crash have grown as well.

The original rumors began with a common motif in urban legends: James Dean still alive but so disfigured by the accident he dare not show his face and limit the potential earning power of his image. Similar things have been said about Elvis Presley, Tupac Shakur, and Heath Ledger, who, along with Dean, is on the short list of actors to receive an Academy Award nomination after his death.

The story that has persisted is more about the car, the murderous “Christine” of its time (some say the Little Bastard inspired Stephen King’s tale of a killer car). It was salvaged by a used car dealer and used as a moneymaker and cautionary tale. According to
Snopes.com
and several other online sources, the vehicle was then bought by car customizer George Barris, whose mechanic suffered a severe injury as it was unloaded from the truck.

Barris allegedly stripped the car and sold off the parts. Troy McHenry and William Eschrid, two doctors living in the Beverley Hills area, got into an accident with each other immediately after using some of those parts to repair their own cars. McHenry died, as did another man who bought the tires from the doomed Spyder—they exploded the first time he took the car out.

Where are the car and its parts now? No one seems to know. One legend tells of it being transported by 18-wheeler to serve another stint as an example of how not to drive. On the way to its destination, the truck got into an accident, killing the driver, and the car was stolen. Another tells of it being transported but never arriving at its destination, even though the truck arrived late but in one piece.

Of course, none of this can be faithfully tracked to any reputable source. Barris spoke publicly about it, but was never able to have his version verified. Troy McHenry did die in a car accident, but in an actual car race, not racing a fellow doctor who also had parts from Dean’s car. Instead, the circumstances of the crash and the legends of the cursed car feed one another, and while there may be no proof that either is true, they stand as an example that Hollywood stories are always made from a little bit of truth and a little bit of imagination.

The Confirmed Curse

Decades before Dean’s crash, the hunt was already in full swing to reclaim another cursed car. This one was never as glamorous as Dean’s car, but it saw more history than the Porsche. When some people look at its most infamous moment, they think the car might have had something to do with the death of more than nine million people. All this from a second-hand limousine, a questionable driver, and a curse no one can quite explain. Just like World War I was not “the war to end all wars,” the car that sparked it continued to live past its prime.

The car was a 1911 open-topped Gräf & Stift Bois de Boulogne tourer owned by Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. Although he was the heir to the throne of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, he had gained his titles and prestige more by accident and through family mishaps than through leadership and proving his worth. He married outside of his station (and was shunned by some of his own family for it), and seems to have played things close to the vest. This might have been one of the reasons he died on that fateful day in June 1914.

Ferdinand’s country had annexed Bosnia, and while visiting there, several attempts were made on his life. Then on June 28, 1914, his new limo took center stage. A grenade was thrown at the car, but the device was poorly timed and ended up exploding behind the car. The Archduke and his wife drove on, eventually making a wrong turn. They were ambushed as they tried to back up and straighten out. A shot in the neck killed Ferdinand and forced Austria-Hungary to declare war. A short time later, ties and pacts threw most of the Western world into battle.

The tourer was too nice to get rid of, so it continued to be driven during the war. General Oskar Potiorek, who was also in the limo the day Ferdinand was shot, inherited the car—but maybe he should have just bought a new one. He was beaten back in several battles by inferior troops, something outside of the highly decorated officer’s usual modus operandi. He returned to Austria shamed and was stripped of his command. There are several stories of what happened to him upon his return, but according to
Snopes.com
, the most prevalent is that he lost his honor, money, and maybe even his sanity. He also lost the car, which went to his captain, who died a short time later: He killed two bystanders on a country road before hitting a tree and killing himself.

Again, the stories that followed the car in the next few years bounce between legend and fact. The next owner was known for getting into constant accidents with it until the last one resulted in his arm being amputated. A wealthy doctor was crushed and another lost his clients and wealth because people were starting to whisper about the curse of the car. Another man committed suicide in it. It then went on to kill a race car driver and a farmer before being retired to the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum in Vienna.

There are many ways to explain it. Bosnia, Serbia, and Yugoslavia, all places where the car killed, are not the safest places in the world, especially at the time the deaths took place. The poor quality of roads and the lack of driving skills back then could have contributed to the accidents as well. Not much is known about the drivers, either.

Some of the stories might have been confused over the years, especially in a place where the records are spotty from that time period. There’s also something to be said for the power of a curse. Those who hear it tend to believe it and put themselves in situations where they are more likely to have bad things happen to them. In those cases, the curse takes on a life of its own.

What can be said is that people close to the car, at least those in the towns and cities where the owner lived, whispered how a single car might have been born to kill.

And the ‘Real’ case

The case of Flight 401 might be the most well known and at the same time the least talked about tale of haunted items. People saw ghosts, but they spoke of them in hushed tones so they could keep their jobs. But what if some of their conversations were loud enough to be heard? What if government agencies confirmed their beliefs? You hear of people in the military talking about their experiences after they retire, but in the case of the people who crewed planes after the tragedy of Flight 401, the vow of silence has gotten stronger with time. In the coming years, the gags might come off, and maybe then we’ll all understand the extent to which the energy from one source might fuel others.

The case has a solid, well-documented side to it. On Dec. 29, 1972, Eastern Airlines Flight 401 suffered what should have been a minor equipment malfunction and crashed into the Everglades of south Florida. More than 100 people died, most from the initial impact. The landscape was a blessing and a curse: It was more difficult to reach the survivors, but many lived because the thick mud and salty water kept infection at bay and helped with blood clotting. To many people looking at the accident from the outside, it was a wake-up call to the dangers of flying. But our country had become a nation of fliers by then, and people still took to the air for both business and pleasure.

The airplane business went on as well. Planes were well built with the best materials of the day. While it has never been fully released how much recycling went on, parts from the downed 401 were salvaged and used as replacement parts in other Eastern Airline planes. (Some parts from Flight 401 are still visible in the Everglades today.) Most were smaller, less vital pieces, but some say they still might have been big enough to store ghostly energy of the doomed flight. As parts passed from one plane to another, so did the spirits of the people who died that night. The accident caused ghosts to be seen in the skies for years.

The most frequently seen apparitions are those of two of the people who manned the plane. Pilot Bob Loft and flight engineer Don Repo were seen by dozens of witnesses in the years following the crash. Some people saw them in the windows or the mirrors of the plane. Others saw them among the people, sitting in empty seats or walking the aisles. There were even times when people interacted with them. While a few of the witnesses were people enjoying a flight, some of whom were later shown pictures and identified the two, others were people who knew them well and had worked with them. Some might say it was grief or suggestion, but people who had seen them in life were now seeing them in death.

One famous incident occurred when a flight attendant saw a face in one of the ovens while preparing meals. She called someone over to confirm what she as seeing, and the person happened to be a good friend of Repo’s. He made a clear identification and was one of several people who heard the words, “Watch out for fire on this airplane.” There was indeed a fire later on that flight, which forced the plane to miss one leg of its trip. Repo has been seen several other notable times as well. In one of the creepiest instances, he appeared to the pilot and told him everything was going to be okay. According to written testimony, he told the man, “There will never be another crash. We will not let it happen.”

The initial reports were enough to warrant looking into, which of course led to books and movies. John Fuller published the most respected book on the subject in the mid-1970s,
The Ghost of Flight 401
, and other works followed. Then came the movies, and of course, the legends. None of these works, which sometimes tend to dramatize the paranormal aspects of the case, can take away the fact that an independent agency, the Flight Safety Foundation, found the stories and witnesses credible enough to issue a statement basically saying the planes might be haunted.

Eastern Airlines wanted nothing to do with the stories and forced people to remain quiet after the first batch came out. The airline always had a rocky existence, but things got worse after that. Eastern officially ended its run in early 1991 and has resisted attempts to get back into the air. For the paranormal world, this might be a good thing. In the waning days of the company, many people associated with it were laid off or fired, making for some disgruntled workers. After so much time has passed, people may be more willing to tell their stories, although many are no longer with us and took what happened to them to the grave. Paranormal researchers like Nancy Planeta are trying to track down people associated with the case to see if there are still stories left to be told.

What happened that night in Florida is the true definition of an accident. Mechanical error played alongside human error, and it cost people their lives. There is another side to the story, however. Those who saw the spirits of their old friends again must have lived the rest of their lives knowing something the rest of us don’t, something that could not be forgotten with a gag order: some part of us exists after we die.

The Lady of the Lake

I
t is common for things in a haunted house to be moved around. In fact, people often dismiss the first signs of a ghost because they think they misplaced something or someone else has simply moved it. They ignore the signs, even when they begin happening more frequently, because they figure their mind is playing tricks. After all, everyone has moments where they just forget where they put something.

This displacement becomes a type of gateway haunting: an intelligent haunting that involves a spirit that is still holding onto parts of its human self. This might be the first way it tries to communicate. Things might intensify because there is no response, and that’s when things get scary.

The Scott House in Ocala, Florida, is well known for the ghosts that live there. As part of a larger property known as the Seven Sisters Inn, it has been the focus of ghost tours and paranormal television show crews. Most of the ghostly activity is standard for such a historic property and usually involves seeing the spirits of people who once called the land their home. For the people who come into contact with the spirits there, an old book used as a bit of décor is nothing more than a historical accent, but it proved more than that for paranormal investigator Nancy Planeta.