Is the Martlesham Heath Control Tower Haunted?

Reproduced by kind permission of The Evening Star.

By Tracey Sparling of The Ipswich Evening Star

Whilst we would never knowingly transmit SPOOKY stories of wandering airmen, a kitchen people refuse to enter after dark, and historical relics providing ghosts with a link to the present day, have attracted paranormal investigators to Martlesham Heath Control Tower Museum. Features editor TRACEY SPARLING dared to join the ghosthunters, from dusk til dawn.

I REALLY didn't think I would see any ghostly goings on. Or was I just telling myself that, to stave off some off any sinister side to my assignment as I drove up to the Martlesham's former air traffic control tower - and unwittingly parked my car on a route regularly trodden by the spirit world. Inside the tower was a cheery crowd of paranormal thrill seekers, made up of aviation society members, family and friends. None had seen the ghosts they spoke of, but they were united by a consensus to keep an open mind.

They hoped to glimpse an apparition, guided by experts Richard Keeble, 55, from Hadleigh and his son Peter, 24, who lead Suffolk Paranormal Investigations and Research. So has Richard seen a ghost? Was it frightening? did he think they would see one tonight? He answered all questions with a casual air. "I've seen all sorts of things, lots of things which can't be explained," said Richard, who is a digger driver by day, but has hunted ghosts by night for 30 years.

"I have been interested in the paranormal since I was a child. I often wondered where ghosts and spirits went when they are not around, and that was a good reason to become an investigator, to seek out ghosts and evil spirits hiding in the dark and damp shadows of this land and to find out the truth. "I've seen apparitions in the shape of a person, luminous balls called orbs - you just don't know what might turn up. The infrared cameras should pick up a lot more than the naked eye can, and also sounds we can't hear.
The tapes can reveal voices shouting, swearing. Peter said: "My first memory of ghosts was in a house where my dad used to live, there was a long corridor, although I could never see anything, I could always sense something there."

Richard said audio and visual evidence rarely coincide. "If there's an apparition you don't usually hear anything, and if there's a sound you don't see anything. I saw a pair of red eyes on a tape, on heir own just looking at into the camera, drifting around - I'd never seen them while I was there. "I've never been frightened in 30 years, never been hurt or anything. I'm not saying there aren't nasty things out there, but I've never come across one yet. "In my opinion, there are opposites with everything, which we need to keep equilibrium. I believe this applies to people, ghosts and spirits. Every single one of us has good and bad points that balance each other out, sometimes where most of us lean towards 'good' others will go with 'bad.' When we die I think we take these traits with us and retain the personality we had in life, so there can be good/bad ghosts but generally not 'evil'. "On an investigation, you are with experienced Investigators and if something does occur, then you are too busy trying to find rational explanations, testing the area and taking photographs that you don't have time to get scared. Sometimes we are not even aware of the occurrence until we review the photographs and tapes away from the location. Saying all that, it's totally different if you are alone, in a dark area and you see something floating towards you or wake up in the night to find a transparent figure standing at the bottom of your bed! "Are we mad? In a word...yes! I guess we have to be a little odd to spend our spare time hanging around old churches and cemeteries in the dark."

Investigations have been done at Great Yarmouth, Mistley, Mersea Island, and the group is busy at locations every weekend at the moment. It has been asked to start a similar group in Norfolk, and has been inundated with requests for visits across Suffolk. Richard said investigations are free and confidential, and added: "People want proof about what they see and hear." But isn't the power of suggestion a strong force? Doesn't the darkness play tricks with your eyes? And don't some people say they feel a presence, just so they can be special? Richard laughed in agreement: "Especially pubs, because it works as great publicity for them. People do want to believe. In the old days people even used to get paid for making up stories about ghosts for the newspapers."

As we talk, we are surrounded by the museum's photo displays and mannequins in US air force uniforms. The plastic face sitting in the signals office is particularly creepy, maybe because it's one of the few to have a head - unlike most of the others lurking in darker corners. Each faded photo on display harbours its own silent story, of characters and adventure born of this historic site, not to mention the tragic and inevitable loss of life it witnessed during wartime.

Richard said: "There is quite a lot of memorabilia here, like uniforms and parts of crashed aeroplanes, which are tangible items which can attract apparitions."

Aviation society chairman Martyn Cook said there could be many spirits lingering from people who died at Martlesham. He said: "72 of the 356th were killed in violent skirmishes and accidents, and some people died on this airfield. "I've been here to 11pm for committee meetings and not heard or seen anything but Ethel and Roy do the refreshments and Ethel won't go in the kitchen - she's a sensible lady who has worked all her life, but she will not go in, particularly after dark because it feels like someone is watching. "People have been seeing figures in uniform, including a WAAF, walking across the car park towards this tower, from the site where a hangar used to be." "I've also heard stories of an American airman who was seen playing the games machine in the bar at police headquarters. When the receptionist spoke to him he simply faded away. There are all sorts of stories - Tesco is built on the site of B-flight's hangar and BT must have some stories too."

Society member Tarkey Barker added: "I really want to see something." We all do, but won't this crowd and all our chatter scare away the spirits? Richard is confident any ghosts will just continue doing what they've done for years, so we pull up a chair knowing there is a long - and potentially frightening - night ahead

 

TIMELINE
8.30pm: When I arrive, people immediately start telling stories of the ghosts which supposed to inhabit the site.
8.45pm: Cups of tea all round. A crash in the kitchen makes us all jump, but it's nothing paranormal, just a dropped cup.
9.05pm: I spot a large fox running across the grass towards the site where a hangar used to be. Photographer Phil Morley sees it too and when I remark on its unusual grey colour Tarkey's eyes light up as he suggests: "It could have been Jeep." He tells the story of American airman Bill Crump who flew with his pet coyote Jeep in the cockpit of his plane. Jeep was eventually hit by a jeep and killed.
9.15pm: A Muntjac deer ventures onto the grassland by the tower - when we all rush to the balcony to see, he bounds away.
9.35pm: We take a trip to the roof by twilight. Under the half moon we enjoy a panoramic view of the area.
9.45pm: We explore the wartime bunker, which is dripping damp and cold but it's not the chill of the spirit world. Peter lights a gas lamp and turns it down to a glow and it's all too easy to imagine sheltering in here as bombs fall outside.
10.10pm: A fireworks display starts in the distance, behind trees which have grown since the airfield stopped operating.
10.15pm: It's nearly dark now and Peter hangs small brass bells from fishing wire, in the kitchen, and the display room. Richard has known mischievous ghosts to ring the bell, only for him to rush into the room and see nobody there.
10.25pm: By the last of the daylight, Richard and Peter set up video cameras on the balcony, in the kitchen, and at the bottom of the staircase.
10.30pm: I tell a story I've heard, of how an American airman in uniform was seen walking the perimeter road. Martin and Tarkey show me the track on a 3-d model of the site, and decide to walk it later.
10.40pm: I see the grey fox lope across the grass for a second time, or is it my eyes playing tricks on me? It's hard to see into the gloom beyond the orange glow of security lights.
11pm: Peter, Martin's daughter Sarah and I venture down the dark stairs and walk to the site of the hangar. The light on Peter's handheld electro magnetic field meter changes from green, to halfway into the red which he says shows a presence was here, but has now gone. He takes pictures of the area on his digital camera. I realise we might have a long wait, when he says that 3am is the optimum time to see ghosts, as that's the most common time for people to die when their bodies are at the lowest ebb. We hear a rustle in the undergrowth, and Peter warns us to run if anybody appears. I assume he means human, not spiritual - surely we would stop and take pictures if we saw a ghost? But it's hard to say how you would react. I like to think I'd freeze and watch, rather than turn away or shout to the others.
11.25pm: We return to the tower and see that photographs on Peter's camera show mysterious coloured spots floating above the high grass. There appears to be a particularly clear one on my neck. These orbs are unexplained, but some say they are the first manifestation of a spirit before it has learned how to adopt the form of a figure. Richard says: "There are many different theories as to what an orb is, from particles of dust or water droplets, to the first manisfestation of a ghost. We have experimented with dust, water and a digital camera many times and believe that a good percentage of orb pictures can be attributed to dust/water/insects etc. "There are also a few that are not so easily explained, it does seem interesting however, that these type of orbs are common in haunted locations and will sometimes appear if asked!" I wonder might they just be pollen we had disturbed, or dust, caught in the flash of the camera? At work later the deputy picture editor remarks they look like pollen, or spots of rain on the lens, but it was a dry warm night.
12.03am: I'm amazed to still be awake! A hollow bang disturbed us as we sit in dark control tower, but it's only Richard's foot knocking the balcony railing outside. As I sit in the darkness, next to a mannequin, I feel tense. The hairs on the back of my neck prickle, so I move on to the cooler balcony and hand out Jaffa cakes.
1.20am: A pinprick of green light in the bushes below attracts our attention. We send Richard to investigate and he reports that it is a glowworm, so we all troop down to see, and start to notice more glowworms scattered in other bushes.
1.25am: We walk back to the hangar site by a different route, then go through the trees to a blast site Martin knows. We are virtual strangers but we are glad to hold hands in the blackness. I shine the feeble beam of my tiny torch back and forth, looking for eyes. 1.35am: The longest hour of waiting. The tick of the museum clock sounds very loud. Peter suggests we try a Ouija board to draw spirits in - he has one in the car - but the rest of us decline.
2.20am: Two boys ride past on bikes. Richard, Tarkey and Martin go to see what they are up to, at this time of night. A scared Sarah returns from monitoring her video camera downstairs, saying: "I just saw three shadows gliding past the window - tell me it was you?" Her relief, when she hears it was her dad, Tarkey and Richard, is huge.
2.37pm: The first birds start singing. The clouds show pale blue cracks, as dawn begins. 3am: Martin, Richard and I take a last walk to try to get some more 'orb' pics.
3.15am: Richard and Peter start to pack up their camera equipment and bells. They rarely see ghosts after the birds have awoken. We haven't seen any ghosts, but as Martin remarks: "It's been an experience." We won't know until they review the tapes, whether any spirits had been watching over us tonight. Richard and Peter spend hours poring over the tapes, and it turns out there were no ghosts prowling on the night we spent at Martlesham - at least none that we could detect...