The Paranormal Database

Photograph of a spitfire flying overhead.

Spitfire

Location: Outer London: Bromley (Greater London) - Biggin Hill Airport & village
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 19 January (spitfire) (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Observed flying overhead, and sometimes heard, a phantom Spitfire haunts the skies of Biggin Hill - January would appear to have become its favourite haunting month. Airmen dressed in trench coats have been reported in the village; they stop people and ask directions before disappearing.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2002-06-13   Last updated: 2026-09-05   ID: #1187

Faceless Motorcyclist

Location: Outer London: Croydon (Greater London) - Roundshaw Housing Estate, Waddon
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1971
Further Comments: The motorcyclist was seen early in the morning, dressed in old clothing. It is thought he was stationed on this site, an RAF base during the Second World War. Other airfield ghosts reported around the area include a Dutch pilot killed when his airplane crashed in fog in the 1930s and three nuns who died when their plane crashed in 1947. Phantom singing has also been reported on the estate.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2002-08-21   Last updated: 2026-09-05   ID: #2234

A phantom German pilot in Surrey.

Pilot

Location: Outer London: Croydon (Greater London) - Area around New Addington, and Queen Elizabeth's Drive
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghost of a German pilot shot down over the area during the Second World War is said to remain in the neighbourhood. One story says that a man looking for his lost wallet along Queen Elizabeth's Drive had the object handed back to him by the pilot, who appeared quite solid.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2012-04-08   Last updated: 2012-04-08   ID: #10820

Pilots

Location: Outer London: Croydon (Greater London) - Forte Posthouse, Purley Way
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: post-1945
Further Comments: It was said a chambermaid working at this hotel quit after spotting a phantom RAF pilot. A guest also reported seeing a group of pilots sitting and singing around a fireplace in the restaurant.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2012-04-08   Last updated: 2012-04-08   ID: #10824

German Pilot

Location: Outer London: Croydon (Greater London) - General area, Addington
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Killed when his aircraft crashed nearby, the Second World War pilot is still occasionally seen walking around the former village.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2002-09-26   Last updated: 2026-09-03   ID: #2327

Digger Harry

Location: Outer London: Croydon (Greater London) - Wooded area near Courtwood Lane, Addington
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1932
Further Comments: Harry was so upset when his wife died that he buried her close to his cottage without telling anyone. The authorities, believing Harry had killed her, locked him up for several months before releasing him because of his age. During his incarceration, Harry forgot where his wife was buried, and spent the remainder of his days trying to find her. His tragic phantom was said to continue to roam the area carrying a shovel.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2012-04-08   Last updated: 2026-09-03   ID: #10821

Lost Pilot

Location: Outer London: Ealing (Greater London) - RAF Northolt
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2003 / 2004 (seat / presence), others unknown
Further Comments: Seen walking along the east/west runway of this former fighter base, a ghostly figure wears a pilot's uniform dating back to the Second World War. The residence of the station commander is also reputedly haunted, with one occupant hearing someone sitting on a creaky seat throughout the night and feeling its presence (although it was described as non-malevolent). One story says the Officers' Mess is home to a couple of ghosts, while on a road outside the base, a phantom Polish pilot from the Second World War asks for directions - the man died when his aircraft crashed a short distance away.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2004-10-02   Last updated: 2026-09-03   ID: #5498

Children Playing

Location: Outer London: Havering (Greater London) - Site of RAF Hornchurch (no longer operational)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: One witness reported hearing schoolchildren playing on the site, although it was late at night, and seeing pilots walking around the area.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2010-12-31   Last updated: 2026-09-05   ID: #10090

Heavy Breathing

Location: Outer London: Hillingdon (Greater London) - Heathrow Airport, general area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: This ghost was heard several times, breathing heavily around female members of staff, but never being seen. A second entity wears a bowler hat and has been known to ask about the whereabouts of his briefcase - both case and man were in an aircraft that crashed in the late 1940s, killing all on board. A phantom Dick Turpin rides a brown horse across the runways (or cargo sheds), while cleaning staff during the 1970s reported a presence which held them down, applying pressure around their throats. Finally, prior to the airport being built, a phantom Saxon prince reputedly haunted the area close to a pond where he drowned.

Source: Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2002-06-25   Last updated: 2026-09-03   ID: #1488

Wet Footprints and Droning

Location: Parham (Suffolk) - Disused Airfield, and Control Tower
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: October 2006 (airman)
Further Comments: Locals have reportedly heard the droning of phantom aircraft over the disused airfields, while the control tower has reappearing 'wet footprints', which begin and end in inexplicable places. One female witness reported seeing the reflection in glass of a man in USAAF uniform who smiled at her. The witness said 'hi' and turned to the figure, but no one was there.

Source: Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2000-08-27   Last updated: 2000-08-27   ID: #814

Burning Spitfire

Location: Pocklington (East Riding of Yorkshire) - Airfield
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom burning spitfire was claimed to haunt this airfield. Another ghost reputedly at home here is a pilot who frequents the control tower, although his history is unknown.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2012-04-08   Last updated: 2012-04-08   ID: #10818

Spitfire

Location: Postling (Kent) - Postling Wood
Type: Other
Date / Time: 21 June 2012
Further Comments: The story of a ghostly spitfire appearing here was carried in the local press; it was actually Spitfire BM597, owned by the Historic Aircraft Collection, and was operating from Pent Farm Aerodrome on the day in question.

Source: Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2015-06-21   Last updated: 2015-06-21   ID: #11861

Black Cat

Location: Poynton Green (Shropshire) - Field in the village
Type: Other
Date / Time: 22 October, every ten years since 1941 (next in 2021) (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Two Czech pilots died here on 22 October 1941, crashing in the field as they ran out of fuel. A local farmer rushed to the field trying to save them but was beaten back by the flames. He did, however, see a black cat emerge from the burning wreckage. The creature made its home with a local old woman, and when she died, the cat vanished, but appears once every ten years at the crash site.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2002-10-03   Last updated: 2002-10-03   ID: #2508

MP

Location: Raydon (Suffolk) - Second World War Airfield
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Seen by huts near the former Officer's Mess, a ghostly Military Policeman is said to walk around the area. There are also reports of phantom aircraft, including a P-47 and a B-17.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2008-01-06   Last updated: 2008-01-06   ID: #8130

Empty huts at the former Ridgewell airfield, Essex.

Crashing Aircraft

Location: Ridgewell (Essex) - Second World War Airfield
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century?
Further Comments: Now little more than a collection of old huts, the area is haunted by the sounds of crashing Second World War aircraft, shouting airmen, and other wartime noises.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2000-08-27   Last updated: 2020-10-09   ID: #148

Hugh Ripley

Location: Ripon (North Yorkshire) - Wakeman's House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Horn still blown today
Further Comments: The town has a famous ritual which involves blowing the Charter Horn, traditionally used to warn against Viking raiders before its use became ritual. Hugh was the first mayor of Ripon and was obsessed with ensuring that the horn was blown correctly, watching over its use every day. If the horn is not blown correctly, Hugh will appear and gaze out of the attic window disapprovingly. Some say the town will be hit by disaster if the horn is not respected.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2020-07-31   Last updated: 2020-07-31   ID: #13865

Lancaster Bomber

Location: Rishworth (Lancashire) - Saddleworth Moor, along M62
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 15 August 1995, around 14:30h
Further Comments: A father and daughter driving eastbound spotted a Lancaster bomber flying nearby, smoke coming from a left right hand engine. They passed under Scammonden Bridge, and after coming out were no longer able to see the aircraft.

Source: User Submission
First added: 2006-06-27   Last updated: 2006-06-27   ID: #6883

The site of old air force base at Rougham.

Disappearing L'il Butch

Location: Rougham (Suffolk) - Old USAAF base
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: 1945
Further Comments: Towards the end of the Second World War, L'il Butch was shot down during a bombing run on Germany, but briefly reappeared at the air base a few months later, as if it had just landed. Little exists of the airfield now - an industrial site now stands on the area, and fields cut off access to the runways.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2001-09-06   Last updated: 2001-09-06   ID: #320

Lancaster Bomber

Location: Rowsley (Derbyshire) - Road by an unnamed retail outlet
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 03 August 2015
Further Comments: Richard and Helen Jephson were reported in local news as having witnessed a Lancaster bomber which flew low and silent above them. They expected the aircraft to crash into a nearby wooded area, but it did not happen.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2015-08-08   Last updated: 2015-08-08   ID: #11883

B-17 Crew?

Location: Royston (Hertfordshire) - Former RAF Bassingbourne
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1960s, 1994, and 2004
Further Comments: There were a handful of reports of a phantom aircrew made during the 1960s, at this base once used by the USAAF. The B-17 may have been seen in 1994, moving silently overhead. More recently, a man who lived on the site of the former airfield reported seeing a pair of legs in dress uniform which manifested in his home, and the sounds of aircraft starting up.

Source: Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2004-12-01   Last updated: 2025-06-14   ID: #5679

Pilots in Hangar

Location: Rufforth (North Yorkshire) - Rufforth Airfield
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: A disastrous bomber landing resulted in almost a dozen deaths, a wrecked farmhouse, and three more bombers ruined as they sat on the ground - the crew of the aircraft responsible have been observed in a hangar on the site.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2002-09-04   Last updated: 2002-09-04   ID: #2398

USAAF Pilot in Car

Location: Saffron Walden (Essex) - B1052, between Saffron Walden and Hadstock
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: November 1993
Further Comments: Exactly fifty years after dying in a flying accident (1943), the ghost of an USAAF pilot appeared in the back seat of a woman's car, as she drove past the old crash site of the plane in which he flew.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2000-08-17   Last updated: 2000-08-17   ID: #464

Pilot

Location: Salcombe (Devon) - Hope Cove Bunker
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This former Second World War radar station, and later nuclear war bunker, is reputedly home to a pilot who walks around the staircase after dark. Disembodied footsteps have also been heard.

Source: Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2021-05-06   Last updated: 2024-05-25   ID: #14123

Sitting Airman

Location: Sawbridgeworth (Hertfordshire) - Former RAF Sawbridgeworth
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: This lonely airman sits by the side of the road, patiently waiting for a lift which has never yet arrived.

Source: Needs Review
First added: 2005-04-17   Last updated: 2005-04-17   ID: #6206

Lt Peter Salter

Location: Scampton (Lincolnshire) - Old RAF Base
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: 7 December 1916
Further Comments: During the First World War a pilot reported greeting Lieutenant Salter as he walked into the officer's mess, and the Lieutenant responded in kind; unbeknown to the witness, Salter had just died in an air crash many miles away.

Source: Published Media
First added: 2002-09-04   Last updated: 2002-09-04   ID: #2395