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Thursday, August 13, 2009

Castle Air Museum's haunted B-29 Superfortress Raz'n Hell

Located outside the small town of Atwater, in Merced County lies the Castle Air Museum which was part of the former Castle Air Force Base. The museum is home to over fifty aircraft ranging from World War II, Vietnam, and Cold War era aircraft. One craft there in particular seems to have some particular activity going on.

On the grounds is a restored B-29 Superfortress (this is the same type of aircraft that dropped the atomic bombs on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki) named Raz'n Hell that is haunted by a spirit nicknamed Arthur. No one really knows who Arthur could be, as the plane was pieced together from three separate planes of the same model.


Nose art from the B-29 Superfortress Raz'n Hell.


There have been reports of the landing lights being on, even though all the wiring had been removed. Also the propellers of the plane have been seen to rotate, even though they have been locked into place. Some people have also seen a shadowy figure moving around the cockpit area. There was another incident of a worker doing some repair work in the cockpit when he asked his friend to hand him a wrench. Not looking, he felt the wrench placed in his hand. Completing his work, he happened to look out the window and noticed his friend was outside the plane, not inside as he had though. Looking around, he found that he was the only person in the plane.


Several paranormal groups have investigate the Raz'n Hell and have reported different occurrences. One group believed they had made contact with the spirit of Arthur as they had brought a geigher counter in and it was making noises akin to that of Morse Code (on of the persons in the group was former military and had recognized the patterns). Other groups have reported knocking on the fuselage while in the cockpit.

No one knows who Arthur is, or why he haunts the Raz'n Hell. Perhaps he was part of a crew from one of the planes used to make the Raz'N Hell. Some thing he might have been the radio operator, which would explain why Morse Code was reportedly heard. Perhaps Arthur was someone who worked on the base and served on a B-29 at some time and feels attached to this aircraft for some reason.

I've been to Castle myself and have seen the B-29 and the plane is absolutely gorgeous. For those who have never been to the museum I'd recommend it. Not just for the story of Arthur, but the amount of history that is here.

Here is the link to the plane's page. At the bottom of that page you can find a link to a paranormal group's investigation of the plane that they did with Channel 30.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have been to castle air museum with my family and got to see the haunted B-29. According to my Uncle, The B-29 Lights up at night and other folks see a black figure in the cockpit. I highly reccomend the Castle Air Museum to anyone who enjoys aviatition history or a good ghost story.

Anonymous said...

I worked at the Museum for many years. I took care of an aircraft directly across from the B-29. I never saw any lights, but did notice that the B-29s co-pilot window would be open, then a few minutes later be closed with nobody working on or around the aircraft. My first trip inside the aircraft I was accompanied by a Old timer at the museum who opened the hatch and said "Arthur it's only us". Apparently Arthur was okay with us being in there since nothing happened.

Whywhowhatwhen said...

My grandfather was on the crew of this plane while stationed in Okinawa. Amazing stuff. He’s 90 now. I’d love for him to see it.

Whywhowhatwhen said...

My grandfather was on the crew of this plane while stationed in Okinawa. Amazing stuff. He’s 90 now. I’d love for him to see it.

Whywhowhatwhen said...

My grandfather was on the crew of this plane while stationed in Okinawa. Amazing stuff. He’s 90 now. I’d love for him to see it.