FORT SILL, Okla. Oct. 15, 2015 -- My husband loves scary movies. I, on the other hand, get scared too easily to enjoy them. I once agreed to watch a scary movie with him but after watching the opening previews for other movies had to stop. It was too much. The previews. I'm a chicken.
The truth is, I don't mess with "spirits." Maybe you believe in them, maybe you don't I just know I'd rather not deal with them at all. That's why my husband was surprised when I told him I wanted to go ghost hunting. I didn't use those words exactly but it was pretty close. I'd heard Fort Sill was haunted and I figured, why not? It's October and if there's a month to be extra spooky, this is it.
A few years ago, former Cannoneer writer, Marie Berberea, wrote a story which mentioned a ghost-encounter of sorts at the building next to mine. I should have tried earlier to gain access to the building but didn't and so I had to settle with Sheridan Hall, the building I work in, which is next to the "haunted" building.
I unlocked the back door late one evening and walked inside. All the lights were off and the doors closed. I walked through the small hallway leading into the lobby area of our building. Then, rather hastily, climbed the stone stairs to the second floor and turned down my hall (which, let me tell you, is super creepy even in the middle of the day).
I made my way down the hallway to my office and fumbled with my keys to unlock the door (why didn't I have the keys ready before I got to the door?). My senses were heightened and I could feel my heartbeat picking up speed. I finally got the door unlocked and walked in.
I just knew the ghost was going to come get me then. I was vulnerable and alone. This was the perfect time. I picked up my notepad from the desk, anticipating them being slapped from my hand or a whirlwind surrounding me. Now, I'm much too scared to stay the night in any of these supposed haunted buildings, or even just a creepy one like the one I work in, but I will hang out for a minute ... literally.
One minute.
With my notes in hand I took off, fumbling again with the keys to lock my door (seriously, why didn't I have them ready before I got to the door?) and then walking briskly down the hallway, down the stairs, through the lobby and out the back of the building. Total inside time: four minutes max.
No encounters with the dead happened. If they do exist, and if they hang out in Sheridan Hall, they don't work on your deadline.
So, unfortunately I don't have any ghost stories of my own to share, but I did talk with a woman who had some unusual activity in her home on Fort Sill. As she tells it, shortly after her family moved into their home in ... I hesitate to say ... Academic Heights, strange things began to happen.
They were taking a break from unpacking and watching a little TV. They could hear footsteps sounding like they were coming from down their hallway. Even the dog got up to check it out, but nothing. They assumed the noise was from having people live above them.
But then it happened again the next night.
"This time we knew the people above us were not home," said Megan Bergfeld. "Again the dog got up to check it out, stood there for a few seconds, then turned back around. Our only thought at that point was that it was kind of creepy and we just didn't think much about it."
Not long after that, Bergfeld noticed the cat would act like she saw something in the hallway, and would even sit in a doorway and slowly move her head back and forth like she was watching something. It was weird but Bergfeld said the cat was odd anyway. Occasionally she thought she saw something in the hallway but not often.
"The next thing that happened was definitely the creepiest," she said. "My husband was in the living room and I had decided to go to our room and settle in for the night. I was laying in bed watching TV when all of a sudden the screen went completely white and SIRI (Apple's voice-controlled personal assistant) came on my phone that was not anywhere close to my hands. So strange.
"During the middle of that same night, the door in our room that led to the sunroom slammed shut really hard. It woke me but not my husband."
The door slammings continued but were random. Bergfeld's husband would ensure everything was shut before they went to sleep. Still, the unusual events continued.
"My husband put the dog in his kennel and did the two latches. Nothing out of the ordinary," she said. "In the morning when I woke up the kennel door was wide open and my dog had squished himself into a back corner and acted a little frightened to come out. I asked my husband if he let the dog out in the middle of the night and he told me he hadn't. Lastly, after a door slamming event, I said out lout, 'alright already. You live here, too. We get it.' After that we never had another incident."
The Bergfelds have since moved out of that home, although she said it wasn't because of the "ghost." I can say with certainty ghost or no ghost, I would have been out of that house immediately after the dog incident. That stuff creeps me out.
So my OBL to go ghost hunting didn't really pan out the way I planned. Maybe I'll look into a ghost tour somewhere nearby. One where there's a really big group of people that maybe takes place during the day. If you know of one, let me know! Also, if you have ghost stories of your own, head over to our Facebook page and share them with us!
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