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ghost.elevator
ghost.elevator
I posted the story of the haunting of the Mary Reed Building
at the Univ. of Denver, and how my friend swore he saw the
ghost one night while visiting me in my office.
Well, that was a "friend of a friend" or FOAF-type story, and
I can understand people being skeptical of it. So I will
now post the story about the elevator in the Mary Reed building,
and how it ran by itself. This I actually witnessed, so I
know it's true. I would _very_ much like to hear what other
people think of this story, and possible explanations--
although I haven't been able to come up with any...
About the Elevator:
I must post this if you are to be able to understand how the
system works. The elevator is old (came with the building),
small, and comes with an iron gate that slides over (closes)
when you choose your floor. On each floor, on the wall by the
elevator, there is a button that you use to call the elevator
and it has a light above it that lights up and says "In Use"
when the elevator is running. The elevator shaft runs from
the basement to the seventh floor.
So, to call the elevator, you press the button, you listen to
the gate close (sounds in that shaft travel _very_ well; I
could often listen to people's conversations while waiting
for the elevator), then the "In Use" light comes on and
the elevator comes up to your floor. The system is old;
it won't take commands in succession (if I want the elevator
and someone on the say, fifth floor wants it, whoever
pressed their button first would get the elevator).
The guy on the fifth floor would see his "In Use" light
come on, and stay on, and would get to see me pass by his
small window in his door on my way down. This would
piss many people off, but there was nothing you could
do--the elevator would not "hear" your call until
the elevator stopped, the gate slid back, the person got
out and the door closed, shutting off the "In Use" light.
Also, when any door was open (obviously the elevator has
to be there... :) no one could call/use the elevator--people
who propped open the door for any reason were instantly
hated).
For example: I would ride the elevator up to the
seventh floor, unlock the door, and get out. The elevator
would stay there unless called by someone else. Now, if
someone DID call the elevator, the gate would slide over,
the light would come on, it would go to whatever floor (after
working there awhile you could tell which floor it was
on), the gate would slide back, the light would go
off momentarily, then come back on when the person opened
the door, then go off while they pushed the button for
their floor, then the gate would slide closed, and the light
would come and the elevator would go to whatever floor, the gate
would slide back, the door would open, and you could hear
it close, then the light would go off. (Whew! Sorry about the
length, but I want people to understand...)
I worked crazy hours due to a full course load, so would
find myself in the building late at night (10pm-1am). The
janitors didn't start in that building until 3:00am or so
(nice shift, huh?). I honestly didn't notice it for the
first few months, but I finally realized that the elevator
was being called to other floors, but no one got on it.
I chalked this up to the usual frat.jerks, etc. walking
by and just hitting the button. But, on some occasions,
the light came on, and I could hear the door closing (they are heavy
metal doors on weak, old springs--they would literally
slam shut on you--not a nice feeling when you are in a
coffin-sized box..:-) ), the gate would slide over (closed),
the elevator would rise to another floor, the gate would slide
back, then...nothing. The "In Use" light went off, and stayed
off--no one opened the door to get out. I would have heard
it, and the "In Use" light would have come on when the door
was open.
I thought someone was confused, or couldn't find their keys,
etc--but nothing happened for a long time. So, on this
occasion, I went over and pressed the call button. The elevator
instantly started up, and came up to my floor. I peeked through
the little window in the door--nothing. I opened the door--
nothing. I was puzzled, to say the least.
Well, I finally realized that this happened fairly often. I
spoke to the day janitor about it, and he said the guys on
the night shift often complained about the elevator going to
other floors by itself. They chalked it up to some
mechanical error. I told him that I witnessed it, and
distinctly heard a door open, as if someone got on, but
didn't hear the door open on the new floor for them to get off.
He kind of laughed nervously and said something like "Well,
that's what I've heard, too--but whatever"... I let it drop
with him.
Is there some mechanical answer to this? I don't know. It
never came up to my floor and stopped (that would have sealed
it for me, and I would have quit!! :-) ), so I wonder...
It always seemed to stop on the fifth floor, which was not
in use when I worked there... I never got any "creepy"
feeling about it, just an odd sensation that I chalked up
to curiosity.
Well, sorry for the length.
Kip
kguinn@diana.cair.cu.edu
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