Marine Corps Air Station Miramar -- As people across the country flock to haunted houses for a safe scare this Halloween season, the Aerial Refueling Transport Squadron 352 "Raiders" have an active KC-130 Hercules airplane that some believe really is haunted. 

During the Vietnam War the haunted house with wings carried wounded fighters to safe havens and dead bodies back to America.  Since the early 1980s, aircraft No. 149800 has allegedly served as a home for the spirits of those same souls.  Today the aircraft still flies missions as one of VMGR-352's 14 aerial-refueling transport airplanes, and is affectionately known as "Boo."

"We call it Boo because the eight on the nose number can look like a B, making the nose number B00, which looks like Boo," said Sgt. Jason J. Casanova, maintenance controller, VMGR-352.

The nickname Boo suggests that perhaps the plane was destined to be haunted from the day it entered naval service with VMGR-352 on May 3, 1962.  In October of that year, Boo was designated as a KC-130F and fit to fly Marine Corps aerial-refueling and transport missions.

Boo continued building its legacy throughout the Vietnam War, when its duties included transporting the wounded and dead bodies of U.S. troops back to America.  This grim duty kept the plane extremely busy. 

The aircraft logged more than 4,000 flight hours between 1971 and 1978 and made more than 2,000 landings according to Sgt. Angela J. Villa, quality assurance analyst, VMGR-352. After the war, in 1977, Boo transferred to VMGR-152, based in Okinawa, Japan.  From there it made a trip to Air Asia, a major repair facility in Singapore.

"It went there because of long cracks along the wings, a lot of corrosion and other things.  It was pretty banged up," said Villa.

The cracks in the wings were caused by the many landings with heavy loads.  The plane made 2,036 landings from 1971 to the time it was repaired.  The plane was so overused that Air Asia had to replace the angles that hold up the wings according to Villa.

Air Asia sent the repaired plane back to Okinawa in July of 1978, and two years later it was transferred back to the Raiders.  That is when spooky things started happening. Ghost sightings, strange voices or noises and unexplained electrical problems while Boo wasnÕt connected to a power source were among the mysterious occurrences throughout the 1980s.  It seems like everyone in the maintenance section has heard at least a half dozen Boo stories.

"One guy in my old shop told me an 800 ghost story," said Staff Sgt. Christopher M. Hanson, flight mechanic, VMGR-352. 

"As they were flying a guy with his head down sat up and looked to the side and saw a guy sitting next to him," Hanson continued.  Then he put his head back down.  When he looked up again a few seconds later the guy was gone.

"I heard a story about a person who was walking toward the back of the aircraft making sure all the doors were secured as he was leaving," said Casanova.  "When he walked toward the back he saw someone dressed in old fatigues sitting in the parachute seat looking out the window.  When he looked again, the figure was gone."

The ghost stories have been passed down to younger Marines in the Raiders maintenance section and still strike fear in today's crews.

"I believe all the stories," said Villa.  "I don't like going near it.  There's just something about 800 I don't like.  It's just a feeling I have." On the other hand, not every Raider believes the plane is haunted.  Gunnery Sgt. Anthony Villa, Sgt. Villa's husband and maintenance control staff non-commissioned officer, thinks the ghost stories are false and no spirits have ever haunted Boo.

"Haunted?  That's hogwash," said the gunny.  "It's a fine aircraft other than the fact that it is 35-years old."

A rumor circling the Raiders' hangar is that Boo's spirits may have been removed during a major maintenance evolution in 1994 when the plane's floorboards were torn up and repairmen found a large amount of dried blood crusted on Boo's belly.  It seems no one in the squadron can remember any significant ghost stories since those repairs, but the maintenance Marines are still weary around 800, especially at night.

"All these big planes can make a lot of noise when the wind hits them just right," said Casanova.  "In the dark, especially when there is some fog, they can be pretty spooky.  The wings shake and rattle.  If the wind blows them far enough the struts will pop and you'll hear a loud boom.  It can shock you."

Not all scary encounters with the aircraft can be attributed to Vietnam-era spirits.

"Right after I heard a lot of ghost stories I had to walk out and do something on the aircraft. It was pitch dark and the fog was rolling in as I started walking down the flight line," said Hanson.  "As I was walking back out something reached up and grabbed a hold of my foot.  It was my boss, thank God, I just about crapped my pants."

Whether they are afraid of a lost soul or just overly cautious, most of the Raiders do not seem anxious to be around Boo at nightfall. Perhaps the ghastly spirits were washed away with the dried blood beneath the floorboards in 1994.  Perhaps they are watching and waiting for the perfect time and place to unleash their terror on another Marine.  Only time will tell.