Navy Boot Camp Story

I’ve only told this story a few times...never written it down. I wrote it as an email to the guy of the other Navy boot camp story because we had a similar experience. Since its written down I might as well submit it.

I joined the Navy after high school in 1994. I was originally scheduled to attend boot camp in Orlando, FL but it was in the process of being shut down so I was now headed to Great Lakes RTC near Chicago, IL.

We had a completely uneventful experience for the first 6 weeks in the division 6 bldg. We were one of the few bldgs with laundry facilities in our head so they gave us the boot to make room for the girls once they decided to completely shut down Orlando RTC. Our new home was the division 2 bldg.

Anyway. Boot camp was easy for me. I never had anything &rquo;ghostly&rquo;, spooky, or silly happen. I’d never experienced any supernatural shenanigans and was pretty naive to the whole idea of ghost.

So, new home in 2nd division bldg seemed like a smooth transition...the very first night we came back from galley duty week (remember how damn bad that sucked?), went to grab a shower and found myself the last one in there finishing up. I had a shower facet turn on next to me and then the air temp got COLD and a little foggy. No one really knew much about this stuff back in the 90&rquo;s. I felt uneasy and left in no big rush. I thought people were just playing a joke on me. I left the shower room (which was completely open showers back then) and headed into the long portion of the bathroom with rows of toilets and sinks. This room was also empty. Odd. I sat down to use the head and the toilets around me started flushing. Remember I’m the only one left in here.

Apparently my shipmates all felt uneasy and left all at once and forgot to mention something to me. This is not common place. It takes along time for 80 people to do their business.

So, I am aware now that something bizarre is happening.

After that night I laid low and tried to ignore everyone’s stories about stuff that happened to them. You now...ignorance is bliss right?

Wrong. Next night I had a 2 hour night watch. About 30 minutes into my watch I heard some commotion in the aft part of the berthing. I investigate...nothing. On my way back I hear what sounds like fingers or something scratching on the ceiling from where I originally heard them move to the front of the berthing and saw light from the bathroom door opening as the noise went into the bathroom. Guess who’s didn’t go in that bathroom? It was humid that night...windows along 2 walls were open. First thing I did next morning was check out the ceiling, this ceiling is 10-12 feet high and concrete. I noticed there were 4 fingers marks in the condensation that ran the length of the berthing. That was all the proof I needed.

My senses were definitely heightened after that.

I had a rev watch a couple days later. Went to the lounge for a roving tour and to shut some windows that were open over night. I left the door open, when I approached the door to leave it slammed in my face. Everyone was still asleep.

Now, only a couple days had past sense we moved berthings. It was like a switch flipped. Everyone’s personality had changed including mine. People were fidgety, short with one another. There was a noticeable change in the air. The rumor mill was going around too. Funny, in a typical environment people might not openly talk about this kind of stuff with people you barely know... That all changes when it affects a majority. There was talk of a single suicide, an accidental death, murder, and of a fire that killed a number of recruits. I also remember hearing someone mention demons and how the feed off an area with so much transient negative energy. That struck a chord with me. It seemed like the most likely given these buildings were constructed at the turn of the century on Indian lands...I mean look around; there’s Indian names everywhere up here.

Couple more days go by...had the day watch now. Easy enough,... or so i thought until I had someone &rquo;march in place&rquo; next to me. I could hear clothes rubbing together, boots hitting the floor. Nothing, absolutely nothing next to me. It continued, clear as day for a good 15 seconds. Shortly after I heard what seemed like an entire company walking up the stairs...which I thought was funny because everyone should’ve been in class. A scan of the stairway indicated no one was there and the noises stopped abruptly.

I never thought to call the OOD on any of this stuff. Sorry, but no way im bringing that kind of crazy attention to myself.

Now, all this stuff was alarming but it didn’t really bother me. I guess I was tolerant of ghost. What happened next crossed that my threshold of tolerance.

Something had woke me up early in the morning. Still dark, I looked around, nothing... also didn’t see the watch sentry so I assumed he had made some noise by walking into a different room. Laid back down...with covers drawn, over the head of course. hahaha and felt the weirdest feeling come over me. It was not a good feeling but like a heavy pressure like swimming in deep water. it seemed like it started around my lower legs...but i couldn’t move. I was paralyzed or incapacitated. Couldn’t open my eyes. I said the lords prayer and while it did stop moving closer it did not let up, It just came stronger and stronger, like waves. I literally said &rquo;oh the heck with it&rquo; in my head tired and wanting whatever was going to happen to just finish so I can get on with my life but also curious. I immediately felt the most evil, sorrowful feeling come over me. It surrounded me, it was in me and all around me. I don’t know how to explain it but it was a really bad feeling. Never felt anything like it since, don’t ever want to.

I kind of lost track of time after that...but I was still awake. When it finally dispersed I could open my eyes. I mustered the courage to pull the covers off and looked around. What I saw has haunted my memories to this day. I can’t talk about it without getting goose bumps or teary eyed. I looked and saw nothing. To my right was a shadow at the foot of another bunk. The way this shadow looked and moved. The closest thing I’ve seen on TV to what I saw would be the demon from the first Paranormal Activity...consequently that movie scared the mess out of me when I saw it. The size, depth, movements, and shadow translucence was all very similar. It was horrible. I called home and, being a good catholic, requested a rosary from home. At this point I just wanted it to stop. I wanted to be done with boot camp and leave this place. I wasn’t interested in it anymore. I don’t know why I thought a rosary would help but my faith is all I had. I some some other things happen after that. The guy in the bunk below me swears he was possessed. Other people had similar stories as well. The rosary couldn’t come soon enough. When it did everything stopped for me. Nothing, not one thing more. I’m not much of a religious person anymore, be that as it may...but I am intensely spiritual. I remember a couple guys got pushed to other companies because they just wanted out of the berthing so bad.

I’ve never written any of this down until now. Hope u enjoyed it.