The Headless Airman of Plattsburgh

Firelight illuminated our little sandy bowl area
The waves lapping the beach ten yards away
Uncle Tom's face was lit spookily by the flames
And he spoke in a voice only a bit louder than the water sounds

"I've never been one to believe in ghosts, children
But one day I became a believer

It all had to do with the Headless Airman of Plattsburgh"

Uncle Tom's eyes glinted in the firelight
Eager to share his story

"I heard about her
And it was a woman, make no mistake
When I was a young Airman in the Air Force
Not even ten years older than you

I was stationed at Plattsburgh Air Force Base
With my main duties taking place in the Black Hangar
Which was this enormous hangar with eight aircraft bays
Four to a side

On each side were stacks of hangar doors
That rolled individually
Each with their own electric motor and movement buttons
Sixteen of these doors for each half of the hangar

Now all of these doors could roll at least halfway down the building
If you wanted to do that
And the doors were staggered so that one would roll behind the other
Like shuffling a stack of cards almost
In the end
You could have four doors stacked on top of one another

The story went
That one day a female Airman was helping to open the doors
As an airplane was going to be coming into the hangar bay
And there were three or four other Airmen helping to do it as well

She chose a door
As did the other Airmen
And things went normally
Stacking up one side of the doors quickly

Then when she went over to the other half of the doors
And pressing the button to travel her door to the left
She thought that she heard her name being called outside

So she stuck her head through the tall opening to see who it was

And before you could say 'Look out!'
The neighboring door caught up to her door
And chopped her head clean off like a guillotine!"

The children all looked at Uncle Tom with wide eyes
A couple of them fingering their necks at the thought
And he continued

"That all happened ten years before I got there
At least that is what I was told
And people pointed to different stains on the concrete near the doors
Claiming them to be the Headless Airman's death spot
Saying that they had seen her ghost near those spots on quiet nights in the hangar

But I didn't put much stock in that talk
Until one hot summer night
When I was all alone closing up the hangar
Just before a long holiday weekend

I was walking around making sure the doors were chained securely
When I heard a noise
It sounded like someone trying to talk while choking
And that's when I saw her

Her headless body standing and pointing at me
With her head on the ground sitting on it's ear
Mouth moving
Trying to say something

Let me tell you
I ran out of that building as fast as I could!
And could barely bring myself to come back after the three day weekend"

Uncle Tom looked at all of the children's frightened faces
Looking a little nervous himself

"I never saw her again
Though others did

I also heard tell that she would occasionally appear in other places
To those that had seen her once before
On nights just like this........"

And just then
A headless person stumbled out of the woods
Stumbling it's way to the campfire
Making horrible groaning choking noises

The children screamed and ran for the lake
Ending up waist deep in the water
Looking back at Uncle Tom
Who was still sitting by the fire

Now joined by Cousin Bobby
Who had his sweatshirt pulled back down to his neck
And clearly did have a head

They were both laughing at their clever joke
And looking out at the kids in the lake

Meanwhile in far upstate New York
On the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base
On a flat concrete pad that used to be the Black Hangar

The Headless Airman wanders
Moaning irritably
Knowing that she was being made fun of

Again