On April 14, 1964, three technicians were killed at Cape Canaveral when an X-248 solid motor upper stage for the Orbiting Solar Observatory-B satellite was ignited by stray static charges during balance testing at the Cape Spin-Test Facility.
Thorough analysis of the incident led to new safety procedures, so that there has never again been an accidental ignition of rocket propellants at the Cape; but, appropriate for Halloween, this event leads in to one of the best ghost stories I've ever heard. While I can't speak for 'John,' until now I have only related this story to one other person- space historian, Art Le Brun, who mentions the '64 spin test accident in his 2006 Apogee Book, "Go For Launch- An Illustrated History of Cape Canaveral."
Let me preface this with-- I was raised and trained in the sciences- I do not believe in ghosts, witches, little green men, flying saucers.... any of that rot. But- every now and then a story comes along that makes you wonder........
I've know John (not his real name) for over 40 years. We went through Florida Tech (F.I.T. in those days) together, and periodically we have worked on one project or another related to space or ocean science. He's a very competent, no-nonsense, facts and figures engineer and (before CAD took the art out of it) a gifted draftsman. He's certainly not prone to superstition, trickery or any form of paranormal suggestion-- an 'is or is not' kind of guy who does not dwell on 'gray areas.' In short, he's the sort of fellow I would never hesitate to trust my life to- and, during a few training dives back in college days, I probably did.
My last go-round at the Cape was a project for NASA Life Sciences between 1997-99 that had me working out on old Complex 34 for one summer where we'd set up in the old Launch Support Operations building. I live 100 miles down the coast in the Stuart area; John lives in Melbourne. On one of my treks back and forth every few days, I made the time to drop by and say hello, since our only contact for a few years had been Christmas cards. As we sat gossiping about stuff we'd been working on (at that time he'd just started his present job as a marine structural engineer) I told him about my then-current job and casually chuckled that (being the site of the Apollo-1 fire) ' "34" is a creepy place in broad daylight, let alone at night.'
With that remark, I suddenly noticed John appeared uncomfortable- actually noticed goose bumps on his arm.
"Let me tell you about 'creepy'," he said......
Sometime in the early '90's, John was contracted by Loral Space Services on a refit and update of the old Spin Test Facility on the Canaveral side. I forget- if they were regularly working nights, or if the project was winding down and they happened to be pulling a night shift for catch-up stuff--- but he was out there at night with a crew of 4 other guys. At some point in the middle of the night, the crew decided to go for coffee- John stayed behind to go over his checklists. He saw them drive off, and all was quiet.
While I've driven past the sign for the Spin Test Facility a million times, I've never been in there- but it is in a fairly desolate location off the old Lighthouse Road on the Cape, not within walking distance of any of the other pads, workshops or office buildings. In there at night, you would certainly hear a vehicle coming in and see the headlights. John heard nothing- but was walking down an exterior steel staircase when he noticed a fellow at ground level, walking along a wall about 50 feet away. He knew it was not one of his crew- and nobody else was on the Facility nor authorized to be there at that time. He called to the guy- who just ignored him and kept walking. John added that 'the guy just looked out of place- like, his clothing appeared to be an earlier style.' He called to him again with no response or recognition-- and by the time John reached the bottom of the stairs, the intruder had turned in to a door to the rest room. John walked across to the door. There was no other way out of the rest room- so John expected to catch the guy there- find out who he was and why he was on the premises. But------ once inside the rest room---- he was alone. Nobody there.
John didn't elaborate- but apparently in talking around as the project went on he learned that there have been other incidents like this around the Spin Test Facility..... tending to indicate that some how, some way, one- or all of the three techs who perished there in 1964..... have never left.
Again- I don't believe in ghosts.
But I believe John.
With that, I'll say Happy Halloween----
