"I emerged a changed man...." (BBC Radio producer Gwynne Richards after spending a night on RF398).
Ghost Club attention was initially drawn to the haunting of RF398 in February 1991, following the broadcast of a BBC Radio 4 documentary on the subject. The show 'Strange Stories: The Haunting Of RF398' was broadcast on Saturday the 16th of February 1991. This led to a visit to the Museum by group members Darren Simpson and Nick Duffy, about a month after the show was initially aired.
The Lincoln Bomber was built by the A. V. Roe Aircraft Co. and was designed as the successor to the Lancaster. It was introduced in 1945, but development and production came too late for the plane to see active service during WWII. Built as the last piston engined bomber to be used by the Royal Air Force, the advent of the jet engine soon rendered the model obsolete and the usefulness of the Lincoln was relatively short lived.
RF398 itself is one of only two Lincoln Bombers left in existence. (The other apparently languishes somewhere in South America). The aircraft is 78 feet 3 inches in length, 17 feet 3 inches in height and has a wing span of 120 feet.
One of the first reported paranormal happenings associated with RF398 occurred in 1979 when two engineers were renovating the plane in an otherwise deserted hangar. One of the men claims to have spotted a mysterious figure approaching the bomber, which disappeared as he turned towards it. His work mate had been hard at work in the cockpit area of the aircraft at the time of his encounter and there was no possibility of anyone else having been in the building at the time.
Next morning, the same two men returned to continue their work and were baffled to discover machinery parts underneath the bomber that were certainly not there the night before. They had been the last to leave the hangar and the first to arrive that morning.
Since then, a number of people have reported seeing the figure of an airman - in battle dress - inside the hangar, while others claim to have spotted a 'head in a flying helmet' visible through the plane's astrodome. (The glass dome behind where the pilot sits in the Lincoln).
Other paranormal happenings include the movement of objects, temperature variations inside the aircraft and the sound of footsteps in the vicinity of the Lincoln. One visitor to the museum in 1980 reported seeing a fair haired man in a white polo neck sweater and forage cap seated in the cockpit of the plane. In 1984, the phantom pilot was even spotted by a cameraman working on an edition of the T.V. programme 'Wish You Were Here'!
Tales of 'ghostly airmen' and 'unexplained noises' being heard inside the vintage aircraft inevitably led to a certain degree of interest from the paranormal research fraternity. Initially, Cosford Museum would appear to have been sympathetic to requests for access to RF398 and a number of investigations (of varying intensity and reliability) were allowed at the site. (A postcard - depicting a transparent, 'ghostly pilot' seated at the controls of RF398 - can still be purchased at the museum shop today!).
Paranormal researcher, Ivan Spenceley, first visited the Museum in 1987 with the Chesterfield Paranormal Research Group. On this occasion, Ivan set up his tape machine inside the aeroplane and left the empty hangar locked for some 40 minutes. When he returned, he allegedly found that the perspex lid of the machine had been mysteriously lifted, the two reels removed, and the tape they contained scattered around the floor of the plane like a mass of black spaghetti!!...... The tape had actually jammed the machine - which was supposedly un-jammable - and it took him an hour to unscramble the mess....
Over the next 4 years Ivan was to visit Cosford some 20 times and a number of the audio recordings he produced during these investigations contained some truly remarkable sounds. Muffled voices and the sound of droning engines appear on some of his tapes, along with switches and levers moving of their own volition and a noise very much akin to someone tapping out morse code. (These recordings were to be the basis for the aforementioned BBC documentary).
Unfortunately, during the early 1990's, Cosford Museum now began denying any further paranormal research activities on the aircraft. One of the last investigations conducted on RF398 - as far as we know - was arranged by veteran researcher, Peter Underwood. This apparently took place 'after' the Museum had put an end to research on RF398, but, as Underwood somewhat smugly explains in the relevant chapter of his book 'Nights In Haunted Houses': "....He [the Museum Curator, Mr. L. Woodgate] had felt it necessary to refuse any more recordings inside the aircraft....... Fortunately, however, he investigated the Ghost Club and, finding it to be a 'serious research group', felt able to reconsider our request..."
Members of the West Midland Ghost Club have - over the years - visited RAF Cosford on a number of occasions.
During one visit to the site - Friday 8th March 2002 - I spoke briefly to a member of museum staff who told me that nothing of any real (paranormal) significance had been reported for some months. He did, however, say that one of the Security Staff - responsible for locking up the hangars at night - had recently experienced 'something strange' in the vicinity of RF398. Despite the fact that he was a 'big chap' (like yours truly, so I was told!) the guard apparently took to his heels and fled.....!
Cosford Recording Hoax!?!
Michael Hicklin, veteran researcher and founder of the Chesterfield Paranormal Research Bureau, wrote to the Ghost Club in January (2003) after reading of our interest in the Cosford haunting. Ivan Spenceleys first visit to the Museum - during which many anomalous sounds were allegedly recorded - was with Mr. Hicklin and his group in 1987. Speaking of the recordings, he told us:
I would inform you that the original rash of publicity engendered by Spenceley from 1987 - appearing in many national newspapers - was wholly without foundation. His claims were entirely fraudulent......"
Mr. Hicklin strongly refutes all of Ivan Spenceleys claims and firmly believes that the B.B.C. were completely duped by Spenceley. While he admits that 'The Haunting Of RF398' sounded entirely convincing at face value, he assures us that there was a great deal more to the matter than met the eye!!
At the time of first writing about this intriguing matter, the WMGC were kindly given permission to publish Mr Hicklins manuscript on our web site. Unfortunately, within a short time of the piece being used, we received first a letter of complaint from Ivan Spenceley himself and, subsequently, a most threatening letter from Blueyonder. The latter informed us that they too had received a note of complaint from Spenceley and told us that, in no uncertain terms, the future of our web site would certainly be under question if we failed to remove the offending article! Typically, we were not given a chance to put an argument forward....... So much for freedom of speech (and the simple fact that the service concerned seem to forget who actually pays the bills at times!!!)
Web-site address: www.rafmuseum.com