A Newport Tennessee Ghost Story
“I was used to the paranormal. Coming from a long line of sensitive folks, the sight was passed from generation to generation in my family. It wasn’t something we talked about much, in fact it was something we hid and never talked about unless it was necessary. It was just something we kept to ourselves. I have seen many things in my life, but nothing prepared me for this.
This happened in 2015 It was a nice spring day, mid-April, in East Tennessee. At the time we lived in Newport smack dab in the middle of town. My then boyfriend and I were running errands when I noticed he had a pale expression and looked quite skittish. Though out the day I would ask him what was wrong, but he wouldn’t answer me. Mind you I never really told him of my gifts out of fear of him not believing me or worse making fun of me. He told me that I wouldn’t believe him if he told me, so I left it alone. It was when we stopped at the local supermarket that he really started to act strange. As I watched him, I noticed he was looking at the corner of the clothing isle we were in. I knew whatever was there didn’t want me to see it. Finely it was bothering me so much I asked him “What are you looking at?”
“There is a man, he keeps staring at me.” He whispered. I looked to the corner and signed “What does he look like?”
“He looks older, dirty and so sad.”
I knew spirits don’t always show themselves to me. They pick who they want to see them. They often choose people who are sensitive in their emotions or such and well My boyfriend at the time did have his demons so the fact that he chose him didn’t surprise me. I went on looking at some clothing when I heard him. The man. I felt him next to me as if he was whispering in my ear. “Come see.”
I felt the hairs on my arms stand for a moment. “See what?” I asked, but he was gone. It didn’t stop there, apparently my boyfriend was seeing more people. It wasn’t until we were on our way out the door when I saw one myself. A young man covered in what looked like soot. He looked so sad, I started to tear up. “Do you see him too?” my boyfriend asked.
“Um yeah, yeah I do now.”
We rushed to the car and got in as fast as we could. “What do you think they want?”
” I don’t know, how many have you seen?”
“A lot, at least five”
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I paused “All of them look the same, dirty and sad?”
“Yes.” I thought for a moment. If they are all the same, then maybe there was an accident somewhere? Maybe recent pile up or house fire? I needed to get home and look online. As we drove home, he told me that they are all showing up at the local memorial building that we pass every time we go out. I watched and just like he said there they were. So many of them. All sad, all covered in a dark substance. Their clothing was torn, some missing shoes some barley have clothing on. I told him to get home, I had to do research.
Once we were home, I looked at as many news articles as I could. Nothing happened recently, no wrecks, no fires, nothing. The last resort was any crashes near that area. Everything was telling me there was either a fire or a crash of some sort. Sure, enough, I found one. A plane crash.
That is when it got interesting. Flight 823.
In 1964 a plane crashed near Newport. Over 30 people died. They used the memorial building as a place to keep the bodies for identification. I guess like a makeshift morgue. My stomach dropped. This was insane. Once I told my boyfriend he said he wanted to go to the site.
The next day we left and arrived a bit later at the site. We didn’t go into the woods; we didn’t need to. Once we stopped at the site, we got out of the car and stood at the edge of the road. I see these floating orbs all around us. Obviously, this was a long time ago and now, the place was overgrown with nothing in sight. But it was there, and they knew we were there. There was a peace I felt watching the orbs dance around us. Almost like were just happy we seen them and that we were there.
After this happened, he never seen them again. Neither did I. I’m not sure why they chose us to see where their death took place. Maybe it was some sort of way to make sure people didn’t forget or to just feel acknowledged. It is still a mystery to me. I will never forget that day. It was so strange yet peaceful when all was done. I truly think they just needed someone to visit, to just be there even for a moment. To stand there in remembrance.”
Submitted by R.D.
In research that I did on this story I found that is case is true. Flight 823 was going from Pennsylvania to Alabama when it crashed in Parrotsville. 39 passengers died. Their bodies were taken to The American Legion post 41 building in Newport Tennessee also known as the memorial building. There the victims stayed for identification. I would also like to add that the individual that shared this story was not a Newport native. So, she did not know anything about the history of this building nor did her boyfriend at the time. To this day there have been paranormal investigations held at the building. It is considered a haunted area in Newport. While this is a very chilling story it is important to respect the locals and their privacy. It is always a good thing to learn about history and events that have transpired. This is something that left a mark on the community. We remember the lives lost and stand in remembrance with the families that lost their loved ones.
I encourage looking the story up for yourself. There are plenty of articles online about flight 823. It is a very interesting read. Please remember if you are curious and want to visit the areas. Please be respectful to the community, the locals and the grounds on which these events took place.
Thank you for reading.
-Shadow
