uss hornet history mystery tour

Alameda's USS Hornet Sea, Space and Air Museum offers ghostly tour that will give you shivers up and down your spine

ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Do you believe in ghosts? The USS Hornet in Alameda is filled with history, from World War II to greeting the Apollo 11 astronauts from their return from the moon.

Whether you believe in the paranormal or not, there is no denying the eerie sensation you get when you walk through the corridors of the USS Hornet. If you dare to attend the History Mystery tour, spirits are sure to communicate through electronic voice phenomena or blinking flashlights.

Many docents and visitors have had spine-chilling experiences but what is more intriguing is the amount of history that has happened on the aircraft carrier.

The USS Hornet was built from 1942-1943 in Newport News, Virginia. She was a full-size fast attack carrier in World War II, Pearl Harbor, and the Vietnam War. She had a crew of 3,400 people and her crew set Navy records that will never be broken.

Today, she is docked in the city of Alameda, across the bay from San Francisco.

Like many ships at the end of the war, she was on her way to be scrapped but was saved by the Hornet Foundation and was turned into the museum that she is today.

During the beginning of the restoration process, a painter felt as if he was being watched.

As soon as the painter turned around, he noticed two men in sailor uniforms with faces that didn't have any definition. After having a number of ghostly encounters, the ship hired a professional paranormal investigating team who also experienced plenty of paranormal phenomena.

The USS Hornet Sea, Air and Space Museum offers a number of tours but the popular tour is the History Mystery Tour, an evening tour where the docents take you to eight different locations in the dark.

"You will hear voices and you'll see shadows," said docent Bob Friedman, who has volunteered on the USS Hornet for 16 years. "When I have been here with investigations and we have had a lot of voices through E.V.P.'s (electric voice phenomena) devices, spirits answering questions but I have heard voices out loud too."

The USS Hornet is known to have three different kinds of spirits roaming through the corridors. Residual spirits are described as a playback of a past event that is in a constant loop. Residual spirits cannot see anything around them, living or dead. The second type of spirits are the "intelligent spirits." They can see you and other spirits but what is most shocking is that they can communicate in the afterlife. The third kind of spirits are visitors, who have worked on the ship during their lifetime and spirits who are just passing by.

"Spirits coming to visit us is a good thing, always," said Mike Gordon, docent on the USS Hornet Museum. "I am confident that the spirits are friendly. We always ask our guests to keep an open mind and an open heart and good things will happen."

"I have been working here for almost two years and I have had too many paranormal experiences to count," said Faye Navarro, overnight program liaison. "I have had my face touched on certain occasions and seen shadows like someone is peeking their head. I am never afraid because the way I look at it is I want to help them and get their stories across. I do acknowledge them when I hear them and continue the communication."

The USS Hornet's History Mystery Tour docents use a number of tools to communicate with spirits. An Electric Voice Phenomena (E.V.P.) recorder is used to pickup supernatural sounds and voices. A K2 Meter, also known as a "spirit detector," will flash a light if there is a fluctuation in nearby electromagnetic fields. The most popular used with spirits are the Maglite flashlights that have the twist on and off knob, creating a loose connection.

"Spirits can't push a button so we take the flashlight to where it is just barely off, we turn it on fully and we rotate it back and we set it down gently," said Gordon. "The flashing lights mean that the spirits are able to make a connection. The spirit uses the energy that they carry with them. When a spirit decides to turn it on, it turns on."

During the History Mystery Tour, visitors are encouraged to ask yes or no questions and wait for a response.

"The spirits love to hear conversation and join in," said Gordon. "Once when I was with my friend, we used the E.V.P. device where we go around the room and every answer was "get out" and that's when we said, "We're leaving." And we did leave."

If you are a skeptic or do not want to have a spooky experience, the USS Hornet offers educational and behind-the-scenes tours. If you are willing to kick it up a notch, the museum offers an overnight tour that includes dinner and an investigation that goes into the wee hours of the night.

"The Hornet is considered a peaceful and safe place and she is sitting peacefully in San Francisco Bay, her home," said Friedman. "When you start tell people the amount of history is on this ship,from being attacked by Japanese planes, to the Apollo 11 and 12 astronauts and then you just realize the amount of history that is on this ship and how awesome it is."

The museum is open daily. To schedule a tour at the USS Hornet Sea, Air and Space Museum, visit their website .

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A visit to the haunted USS Hornet in Alameda

A visit to the USS Hornet in Alameda is like taking a trip back in time. The ship served in both World War II and Vietnam, and it famously recovered the Apollo 11 astronauts from the Pacific after the 1969 moon landing. Today, the Hornet’s a museum. Its docents are veterans who served on the ship, or other aircraft carriers like it. And according to them, that it’s not just old artifacts and displays that reveal the Hornet’s history—they say the ship is also haunted.

It’s Friday night on the Alameda waterfront. The sun has just gone down over the bay. I’m standing on the hangar deck of the USS Hornet—it’s essentially an airplane hangar on a ship, and it’s huge. From front to back, it’s the length of three football fields.

I’m here with a group of about twenty other people for one of the museum’s three hour History/Mystery tour. It’s part history lesson—and part paranormal investigation.

My guide for the evening is docent Bill Fee, who served on a sister aircraft carrier, the USS Bon Homme Richard, in Vietnam.

Bill leads us below deck, into the dark. He tells us to stick together and not wander off—unless we want to become ghost stories for the next tour.

Throughout the night, Bill takes us to different parts of the ship, and tells us stories. Bill lives on the Hornet part-time, and one of his first stories is about a night he spent on the Hornet alone.

“One particular Friday night, everybody went home,” he says. “I locked the door, I’m the only one here on the ship.”

Bill was alone with a flashlight, so he didn’t bother turning on any of the red lights that usually illuminate the ship at night.

“But about two thirty in the morning, I woke up, because I heard the click of the nightlight at the end of the passageway. Then I heard the next nightlight click on. So I got up, opened my stateroom door, looked down the passageway, and sure enough, all the red lights were on.”

It sounds creepy, but Bill says he wasn’t afraid. He and the other docents believe that most of the spirits on board are fellow servicemen. The night that all the lights turned on, Bill says the spirits were just trying to help: “They knew I was here, so they turned the lights on for my safety.”

Also in our group is Justin Dimig from the Alameda Paranormal Researchers. In each room we stop in, he sets up K-II meters, devices used by electricians to detect electrical activity in walls. Ghosthunters, on the other hand, use K-II meters to detect the presence of spirits. There’s a row of green lights on the meter; Justin says if a ghost passes by, the lights will flash red.

He and Bill also place Maglite flashlights around each room. They loosen up the battery caps, so it’s easy for spirits to turn them on when they want to communicate.

Throughout most of the tour, there aren’t many signs of paranormal activity. Occasionally one of the K2 meters goes off, or the flashlights turn on. At one point, one of them starts to roll back and forth across a table.

Bill tells us that some nights are more active than others.

“When we first started coming into this area, for doing investigations, one of the ladies in my group was a lieutenant on the San Francisco Homeland Security,” he tells us. “They had just received their new thermal imaging cameras.”

Thermal imaging cameras (also known as infrared cameras) form images of heat. The lieutenant brought the camera with her on the tour, and everyone got to look to look through it. In an old office on the ship, the camera showed heat residue on a lot of the furniture.

“We had a lot of teletype keys that were thermally hot,” Bill says. In another room, “the desk drawer pulls, the chair cushion, and the chair back were all thermally hot.”

It was as if someone had just been in there, working.

Another docent, Mike Gordon, tells me he’s also met spirits on the Hornet. He served on another one of the Hornet’s sister ships, the USS Hancock, and says the first time he came on board, he felt at home.

“You know, it’s thousands of guys over the years. It’s old steam, it’s old oil. It t just smells like an old ship.” The first time he came on board, he says, he took a deep breath in, and asked, “Where do I sign?”   Before then, Mike says he’d never felt the presence of a ghost--that changed once he started working on the Hornet.

One day, he visited the sick bay, or hospital. It’s made up of several rooms, and they’ve all been restored to feel like it’s the 1940s. There are typewriters, old rotary phones, and vintage medic helmets. In one room, there are actual x-rays of a skull and a ribcage hanging on the wall.

Lots of people have had weird experiences down here. Mike had his in one of the old operating rooms.

“I walked in here, and I got to about here, and this where I couldn’t go any further,” he says, showing me around the area. “It was not like a physical presence was pushing on me or anything like that. My body just wouldn’t move forward. I don’t know what it was, I can’t explain it. But I couldn’t move forward.”

The USS Hornet is full of stories like this. People say they see, and hear, and feel strange things on the ship all the time. But for some reason, it doesn’t really feel scary to me. And it doesn’t for anyone else that I talked to, either. Docent Bill Fee has a theory.

“None of our  spirits here are evil spirits,” he says. “They’re all heroes. Some of the spirits that are here, died on this ship. And some of the spirits that we have passed away not during war or battle, but just [of] old age.”

The Hornet, he says, is a safe haven for them. And they’re still here, on the ship.

History Mystery Overnight

Fri Jan 21 2022 at 06:00 pm

USS Hornet - Sea, Air and Space Museum | Alameda, CA

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Aboard the Hornet

The USS Hornet in Alameda, California, has a storied history  – from its service as an aircraft carrier during battle, then picking up the Apollo astronauts after the first moon trip, to its current role as a museum.   

It also is said to be one of the most haunted sites that can be easily visited. We went on the ghost tour . We were expecting a standard experience with stories of hauntings and the ship’s history. We got something different.

Our tour was led by two veteran sailors who served during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, and in the waters near Korea after the Pueblo was taken. One of them has worked as a docent on the Hornet for over 20 years. They knew the ship inside and out and had several strange experiences. Both the “history and mystery” were fascinating and I returned with new respect for those who actually served. The main stars, though, were the spirits.

We were led to various areas of the ship, where we sat and talked — but the guides also addressed the spirits and encouraged the tour group to do the same. We were told later that things were particularly active — even more so than with the other groups that night — perhaps we were lucky.

In response to questions, either mag lights or the K-II electrical frequency meter often reacted. One of the guides asked if it was the same spirit that had touched someone on another tour — immediately a light went on, with no one standing near it. The same thing happened when a second related question was asked.

When we visited the infirmary my wife learned that Mr. White had been young when he passed, but was content. She felt a particular chill in the burn unit, but even thinking about massive burns gives me the chills. On a lighter side, the spirits seem to have appreciated some of the jokes our guides told.

We put a flashlight on the shelves or tables when we came into a room to talk. One of guides asked the spirits to turn it off because things were a bit too bright. It turned off (after a couple of requests). When he thanked them, the light flashed. No one was within several feet of it and I was looking at it the whole time.

In the secret high security radio room, one of the guides tapped out some code. We asked if there was any who had once sent messages there. One of the frequency meters made a pitched noise that sounded like Morse code, again with no one nearby. I wish I had a recorded it. We were told that was very unusual and it was certainly the only time we heard it on the tour.

I am not certain what to make of the evening. An old friend used to tell amazing stories that defied my belief system. I enjoyed listening to them, I had no reason to doubt that I was being told what he experienced, but I did not have any need to believe or disbelieve him. They were in a separate category. I feel the same way about the ghost tour and don’t feel any need to construct an explanation from either a skeptical or paranormal perspective.

It might be possible to program certain effects into the lighting or meters but I did not see evidence of that, and don’t know how a simple mag light could be that responsive. In the end, I told one of the guides that we had enjoyed the tour. He said that is what it was about.

We plan to return, with the understanding that each tour is different and they make no guarantees that anything will happen. Sometimes things are active, other times they are not. The shortest explanation is that onboard the USS  Hornet , anything or nothing might happen. It’s a good place to suspend beliefs.

I think our guides could make the tour interesting even if they just talked about their experiences on aircraft carriers, on patrol in combat, or told corny jokes. The tale about the one time the ship brought beer aboard, and why it was limited to the one time, was worth the admission.

During the tour we asked if either Ellis Richards was there or if the spirits knew him. The answer was “No.”

The Tour Aboard the Hornet  

View of the Deck

Mr. White’s Bed

With Mr. White

For Secret Messages

Secret Room Phone

Secret Communications

Secret Room Switches

Electronics

Linus Helped Stop Planes

Anchored Entry

Navy Helicopter

Museum Plane

Hornet chaplain

Secondary Wheel

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• USS Hornet History Mystery Tour

Our specialty tours let visitors explore areas of the ship that have not yet been opened to the public or have limited tour capacity. Highlights include Combat Information Center, Radio Central, Brig, Special Weapons Locker, Boiler Rooms, and other spaces on the 3rd and 4th Decks. HISTORY MYSTERY TOUR Is the USS Hornet really haunted ? Do you dare explore Hornet after hours ? Receive a special tour of areas onboard Hornet that have not yet been opened to the public or have been reported to host unseen visitors . The three-hour evening tour begins at 7:00pm; cost is $35 per person ($30 for museum members). All participants must be at least 12 years old. USS Hornet Museum members, please enter your membership ID# to receive your $5.00 discount. Need to cancel? Your reservation(s) are not refundable but may be used on any future History-Mystery Tour up to one year from the date of purchase.

PLEASE BRING A FLASHLIGHT!!!!!

Please note this tour is not recommended for anyone with difficulties climbing or walking!

QUESTIONS? Call the Education Department at (510) 521-8448 ext. 224 or e-mail us at [email protected]

The USS Hornet Museum is a 501-C3 non-profit organization. All proceeds from the Ship's Store go directly toward the restoration and preservation of this national historic landmark.

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Haunted hornet: paranormal hot-spots | chilling tales, do you dare take a nighttime, flashlight tour of the ship or spend the night on a history mystery overnight tour.

Bea Karnes , Patch Staff

ALAMEDA, CA — At first glance, the USS Hornet, docked in Alameda, is a hulking piece of American history, from its combat role in World War II to its assignment to pluck the Apollo 11 and 12 command modules and their astronauts from the Pacific Ocean after returning from the moon.

But alongside those exploits, the Hornet has gained infamy for the sailors who were once assigned to the aircraft carrier... and apparently never left. Ghosts, or so many believers claim. They are known to wander passageways, move equipment, and work on the ship, such as scraping paint off of metal.

The stories are so prevalent that the Hornet gives popular History Mystery tours and, for the truly brave, History Mystery Overnight tours where participants sleep aboard the carrier.

Find out what's happening in Alameda with free, real-time updates from Patch.

The History Mystery tour includes stops in the the Combat Information Center, the Message Center and the Focsle. It is in the latter, that a former dockmaster at NAS Alameda, Chris Bartlett, reported an eerie encounter. He was by himself when he looked at a mooring line and muttered aloud, "That ain't going to work." A voice behind him in the empty room replied, "That isn't right." Ghosts who correct grammar! Bartlett continued, "I turned around and didn't see anyone. I walked to the forward part of the room and checked the WTD — it was chained shut. I shook it off and went back to the line....out of the corner of my eye I saw someone walking by the captsan. I turned and figuring it was a line handler (he was wearing dungarees) I asked him if he had said something. He didn't even look at me, he and bent over looking at something. At that moment something caught my eye and I blinked. When I looked back the sailor was nowhere to be found. I opened the QAWTD and went into the hallway. I was scared. I waited till the line-handlers came back and then went back in with them. I never told them or anyone else a thing. I didn't want to be figured as one of those ghost kooks."

Plenty of former visitors end up as "ghost kooks," even when they didn't know about the ships's spooky reputation beforehand. One man, identified only as Dan, visited with his family because his grandfather had been stationed aboard the ship during WWII. They videotaped the entire tour. When looking at the video back home, they noticed a flash down a hallway in an area that had been Sick Bay during WWII. "When we slowed the video down frame by frame, it isn't a flash of light at all. What you can clearly see is a sleeve of a white uniform with dark stripes at the end of the sleeve and a hand in reaching across the hallway. It is a side view and it appears at the far end of the hall slowly, then is pulled back suddenly. We were standing still at the time. This is in the background far back in the hall. What you find in the frame in the foreground just past the doorway near where we are appears to be faint, but you can make out one sailor, with his white hat cocked back on head and a pack of cigarettes rolled up in his short sleeves cradling an injured man's head in his lap that is sprawled out on the ground."

Other visitors report capturing images of sailors in photos and videos, when no one was anywhere near where the cameras were pointed.

The History Mystery tour, bring your own flashlight, includes other “paranormal hot-spots” including the Mess Deck, Sidewinder Missile Assembly Room, Brig, Catapult Machinery Room, Captain and Admiral’s In Port State Rooms, and the Flight Deck and Island.

If you have nerves as steely as the ship itself, the overnight tour includes all of the hotspots, plus you'll sleep in original crew bunks, have dinner in the crew's mess, take personalized tours and participate in special activities. But some former visitors have scratched the Hornet from places they'd recommend. One wrote, "I was relived that we only stayed there a night. I could not have survived two." While another said they "will never ever go back to that ship!!!!!!!!!ever!!!!!!!"

The ghost stories are collected by a CalTech technician.

The USS Hornet is located at 707 W. Hornet Ave., Alameda, CA 94501. It is open daily, except major holidays. You can purchase your tickets in advance or at the Hornet.

Book History Mystery tours in advance.

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• 707 W Hornet Ave, Alameda, CA 94501
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History Mystery Reservations 

• History Mystery tickets may be purchased on our website (please see link for available times and dates)
• History Mystery Tours will be capped at 35 for capacity with 4 different tour groups
• Some spaces may not be available for touring for safety modifications
• All ship safety protocol must be followed, including wearing of masks if mandated

History Mystery Tour

Your behind the scenes tour includes areas aboard the ship that have not yet been opened to the public, virtually untouched since the ship’s decommissioning over forty years ago, as well as other eerie spaces that have been reported to host unseen visitors.  Tour participants must be at least 13 years old. 

For those more interested in history than spirits, be sure to arrive on time and request to join our “history” tour group that evening!

Please remember to bring a flashlight!

7 PM to 10 PM. 

$40.00 per person Advance Tickets Required