The University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities Campus is east of downtown Minneapolis.
(612) 625-5000
Fatal Step
It took seven million man-hours to construct the most famous building in our country. And it takes 1,860 stair steps to reach the top. Yet, it takes just one step to end a life.
Since the completion of New York’s Empire State Building in 1931, nearly three dozen troubled people have taken a fatal step off the building.
In one irreversible step into empty sky, they believed they were saying good-bye to their pain. Unfortunately, nothing is that easy, for the ghosts of suicide victims have long been seen in the 102-story building.
If they had only let time take care of their woes, their hurt may have eventually vanished. But because they could not bear to wait it out, they are stuck in their torment indefinitely.
Photographers have gotten fascinating anomalies in shots taken from the top of the building, including spirit-like streaks that appear to be exiting the structure. Among the wraiths that are said to be wandering the Empire State Building is that of a broken-hearted young woman in 1940s fashion.
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THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING IS IN MIDTOWN MANHATTAN BETWEEN 33RD AND 34TH STREETS AT:
350 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10118
(877) 692-8439
www.esbnyc.com
This 1930s postcard depicts the Empire State Building, where many suicide victims are stuck indefinitely. (author’s collection)
Ghosts in the News
Closing Time
SUICIDE DID NOT END the sad saga of a woman on North Dixie Drive in Dayton, Ohio, according to the October 28, 1999, issue of the Dayton Daily News. The specter, known as the “lady in red,” appeared in the Odd Lots store on North Dixie Drive and liked to handle the merchandise.
Employee Lorna Boggs told reporter Martha Hardcastle that toys sometimes flew off of shelves when no living person was near them.
Store employees believed the ghost may be that of a woman who allegedly hung herself in the warehouse portion of the building when it was operated as Liberal Market.
One evening after hours, Lorna Boggs was doing her paperwork when she saw a woman lingering in the store. She was about to open her mouth to announce that the store was closed when she stopped herself.
It was not a shopper; it was a ghost.
“She had a red dress hanging out from a black coat, and she was wearing black shoes and a black straw hat,” Lorna told the reporter.
The “lady in red” may not be aware she has already checked out.
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Victims of War
When it comes to killing, there is one instance where many consider it to be a noble deed.
War.
Millions of people have killed each other for things such as honor and land and have been heralded as heroes. Indeed, these folks may very well be selfless and brave with nothing but the best intentions in their hearts. But that fact does not diminish the ugliness of violent death or the grief of those who lose loved ones in battle.
War has probably produced more earthbound spirits than any other type of death. The sheer number of war victims and the fact that most dead soldiers were cut down in the prime of their lives result in a mind-boggling number of stuck souls. Here are a few cases of mortally wounded warriors who remain.
Reporting for Duty
One location that may harbor the ghosts of war victims is a forty-five-minute ferry ride from Seattle. The naval shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, is a place where old submarines go to die. The following are excerpts of a correspondence from a witness to strange goings on there.
Hello Leslie,
I guess that one would classify me as a “sensitive guy,” in that I always felt a deep closeness to religious and spiritual matters and could somehow feel things about certain people, houses, and situations.
Two of my experiences that involve the paranormal occurred while I was employed with the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington. Both occurred in Dry-dock #3, aboard nuclear submarines that were undergoing inactivation and recycling.
The first happened on the SSN-665 Guitarro on 8/16/94. I worked blowing down the engine room section of the submarine, following abrasive blast operations to remove surface contaminants. The metal had to be cleaned prior to being cut and sold for scrap.
On this warm August day, there were only two people in the area. No sooner had I started blowing down with the blast hose when I heard my name called. …
So began the letter from Roger Maggert, who went on to explain that though the equipment produced noise louder than a jet engine, the voice was clear. He climbed off the submarine and asked his puzzled coworker if he had called to him.
Roger went back to work but heard his name called several more times. Sure that someone was playing a trick on him, he checked to see if someone was hiding atop the submarine. When he found no one there, he returned to work, shaken. As I continued with the blow-down, he wrote, I became aware of fifteen to twenty voices all talking at once. It was as if a party were happening inside that sub. …