Ghost in the Darkness

Authors note* This incident happened in Hawaii and is one of my favorites.


We were assigned to Kunia Point Satellite tracking station on the Island of Oahu in Hawaii. It was about a thirty minute drive from our regular base. When you get there, there’s a guard shack at the bottom of the entrance near the beach.
The guard shack is usually manned by two DOD (Department of Defense) guards. We manned the top portion. From the bottom of the hill to the top, it takes about ten minutes to drive along a narrow winding roadway. Once on the top, the view is breathtaking; it’s beautiful.
On any given day, you could actually drive through the clouds. The point sits so high on the mountain top that the clouds cover it some days. The first time you see this, you feel like a kid. Walking in the clouds is something I’ll never forget; it feels damp, like fog.
Our job was to patrol the area on top which housed all the satellite buildings. They tracked everything coming and going from airplanes to missiles. It’s really a boring job once you get over the beauty of the place.
However, with all that beauty comes something else, and I learned it the hard way. One night, both the DOD guards called in sick; instead of just one security specialist, they sent two of us.
Since I had the higher rank, I assigned my co-worker to work the guard shack on the bottom of the hill and I took the top. I did this primarily because I wanted to get some sleep.
At the top, I found a clearing where I could park my truck. Then I prepared for some serious shut eye. But, for some reason, I couldn’t sleep and the wind kept blowing the truck back and forth. I don’t know why, but I also had an eerie feeling that I wasn’t alone. I rolled up the windows of the truck and locked the doors, and tried again to settle down for a little sleep.
I nodded off for about an hour, but, for some reason, I awoke. I remember looking at my watch, perturbed. It was only 0200 hours and I still had six hours to go before we’d be relieved.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw some movement. Once I got my eyes focused, I observed a man on a black horse riding down the side of the mountain.
The crazy thing wasn’t that he was there; it was the strange way I reacted. I remember saying to myself, “What the hell is this idiot doing in a restricted area at two o’clock in the morning on a damn horse?” Then, I unlocked my door as the horseman got nearer, and I exited the truck. I looked over the truck and he was standing, still looking at me. I reached down to grab my m-16 rifle. When I lifted my head to check on him, he was gone! Disappeared!
Hell, I did the exact same thing. I jumped back into that truck and hauled ass. By the time I arrived at the gate shack at the bottom, the truck’s brakes were smoking.
I slid up to the gate shack and ran inside where my co-worker was busy typing out the shift blotter. I think I scared him by the way I came in because his eyes were big as mine. He later asked me what had happened. But I couldn’t tell anyone; I didn’t know how to explain it.
Later, when we got back to our regular base, I located my boss and requested that I return to the Point for the next several nights. I never told him why but he approved it. I had to know for myself if I’d actually seen what I thought.
One thing bothered me the most. When I replayed the image in my mind, I realized the man on the horse looked like one of the old Hawaiian Warriors from the paintings I’d seen. No shirt, a black cape and a wooden helmet.
The next night, I returned to the Point. This time, the two DOD guards were back. Before I headed for the top, I also checked out a pistol from the shack. This, with my m-16, made me feel a little better.
I was using an old patrol car since the truck, because of its brakes, was due for maintenance. After a little chit chat with the guards, I slowly made my way to the top of the mountain. I went back to the place where I’d seen the man on the horse. Of course, I saw nothing this time. So, I decided to make my rounds.
I was on my way up to the water tower when, off in the distance, in the bushes, I heard something moving toward me. The closer it got, the louder the sound became. I could tell it was big because the bushes were moving. I stopped the car and I knew I couldn’t get my M16 because it was under my legs. So, I was trying to get my revolver out, but, my seatbelt was over it. I was tried like hell to get that seatbelt off as this thing got closer and closer to the vehicle. I started screaming when it was a few feet away in the bushes and I kept screaming while I tried to pull my revolver out! All of a sudden, a large wild Hawaiian Pig came out of the brush. The pig ran across the road, in front of my car, and into the bushes on the other side. The thing was so damned big it had to have been four feet high to the top of his back. When it was all over, I almost fainted. In my mind, I thought something was really going to get me.
After that scare, I felt I needed some human companionship. I drove back down to the guard shack. The DOD guards were Hawaiian and they’d been working the post for a very long time. I told them about the pig incident and they were a little depressed because I didn’t shoot it so they could eat it. The rest of the night went without incident.
On the third night, the DOD guards called me to return to the gate shack because they wanted to talk to me. I returned and was told that they knew why I was there so many days in a row.
They said they knew I had seen something on the mountain. They also assured me that I wasn’t the only person ever to see something they couldn’t explain. I was told that the location was the point where spirits left this world for the next and that, sometimes, they didn’t go.
I guess I should have felt better but, actually, it made me feel a little more uneasy. I still had two more days at the point and the last thing I wanted was to see someone who refused to be where he was supposed to be.