America is dotted with one-of-a-kind wonders bursting with history and pride.
And, if eyewitness accounts are to be believed, they're also incredibly haunted.
The Smithsonian
As one of the premiere scientific research institutions in the United States, there are
a number of mummies and skeletons inside the halls of the Smithsonian.
And with mummies and skeletons come ghosts, of course.
Apparitions matching the description of early Smithsonian researchers have been spotted,
including its first curator Spencer Baird, paleontologist Fielding Meek, and most importantly
of all, founder James Smithson.
While he died before the Washington D.C. museum was built, Smithson's ashes were interred
on its grounds in 1904.
His ghost has allegedly been sighted so many times, it raised quite a few eyebrows when
the Smithsonian temporarily moved his remains off the premises in 1973, supposedly to inventory
the contents of the casket.
Liberty Island
Before the Statue of Liberty's construction necessitated a name change to Liberty Island,
the landmass in New York Harbor was called Bedloe's Island.
There was also a military installation there called Fort Wood, where, as the New York Times
reported in 1892, two soldiers named Gibbs and Carpenter were stationed.
The soldiers had heard an old tale that legendary pirate Captain William Kidd had buried his
treasure there in the late 1600s.
Gibbs and Carpenter wanted that loot, so they snuck out of their barracks in the middle
of the night, went to the spot where they were told, and started digging.
They found a box, a skull, and a terrible beast that made Carpenter scream loud enough
to wake the other soldiers.
Gibbs said it had black skin, horns, huge wings, and a barbed tail.
Carpenter said that it was red and wingless.
Nevertheless, when the site was explored come daybreak, the treasure chest and skull were
gone.
Golden Gate Bridge
Fog is a regular hazard of living in and around San Francisco, particularly as it gathers
around the Golden Gate Bridge.
In 1853, a clipper ship called the Tennessee ran aground at Golden Gate Strait, crashing
onto the rocks at the beach because the crew couldn't see land, due to the thick fog.
Every now and then, especially when the fog is as thick as it was that day in 1853, witnesses
say the Tennessee is visible passing under the Golden Gate Bridge.
Even creepier, in November 1942, the U.S.S.
Kennison military ship was sailing by the famous bridge, and reportedly passed the Tennessee
up close.
Witnesses say the Tennessee's decks were empty, and it disappeared after about a minute.
The Hollywood Sign
Peg Entwistle was an early 20th-century actress who enjoyed a few minor successes on Broadway,
so in 1932, she moved out to Hollywood to try her luck in the burgeoning film industry,
but didn't find much success.
In a highly symbolic gesture, perhaps, of how the movie industry chews up and spits
out its starlets, Entwistle climbed to the top of the 50-foot "HOLLYWOOD" sign that overlooks
Los Angeles and jumped to her death.
Her ghost has supposedly been spotted many times near the sign, with some witnesses claiming
to smell gardenias, Entwistle's signature perfume scent, even though there aren't any
gardenias planted there.
In 1990, a couple was hiking near the sign in Griffith Park, and reportedly encountered
a blond woman wearing 1930s clothes, who suddenly vanished.
The White House
President Ronald Reagan was very fond of telling White House guests the many times that his
family had encountered the ghost of President Abraham Lincoln.
One evening, Reagan's dog wandered into the Lincoln Bedroom, only to quickly back out,
whimpering.
A few nights later, Ronald and Nancy were watching TV in their bedroom when the dog
stood up on his hind legs, started sniffing toward the ceiling, and then barked.
The White House staff didn't find anything out of the ordinary.
Then, some time later, Reagan's daughter Maureen, and her husband, Dennis, came for a visit
and slept in the Lincoln Bedroom.
Dennis claims he saw a tall, translucent figure standing at the window, before it suddenly
disappeared.
Disneyland
Forget the happiest place on earth, Disneyland is the spookiest place on Earth!
That's because it's supposedly haunted by its creator and namesake, Walt Disney.
Above the fire station in the park's Main Street area is an apartment where Disney would
sleep when he was working late at the park.
Legend has it that one day, after Disney's death, a park employee went into the apartment
for some routine cleaning and turned the lights off when she left, but then noticed the lights
were on again.
This happened two more times, and when she went to turn the lights off for the third
time, she heard a voice say: "I am still here."
Some say the lights have been kept on since then, a kind of "perpetual flame" honoring
Uncle Walt's memory and influence.
Alcatraz
As a military stockade in the 19th century, and a federal prison in the 20th century,
Alcatraz Island has seen a lot of brutal punishment, along with the incarcerated looking for any
possible way out, including those who tried and fatally failed to escape the island by
braving the frigid waters.
But no area of the island is spookier than cell block D, also known as "solitary confinement."
In the 1940s, so the story goes, one unlucky inmate was thrown in there and screamed all
night long, not because he found solitary that torturous, but because he wasn't solitary
at all.
He yelled and pleaded that something with glowing eyes was in the cell with him.
Eventually, the screaming subsided, but when the guards went to check on him in the morning,
they discovered the prisoner had been strangled to death.
Graceland
Elvis Presley spent much of his later years holed up in his fortified Memphis estate Graceland,
living, working, eating, and shooting TVs.
In 1977, he died in one of the house's many bathrooms at just 42 years old, and some say
Elvis has never quite left the building.
Graceland is now a Presley museum and tourist attraction, and sightings of his ghost are
commonplace, with many guests claiming to have captured an image of the ghostly King
on film or video.
Even Presley's widow, Priscilla Presley, says she feels like she's going to run into her
husband's ghost whenever she visits.
The Empire State Building
The 86th floor observation deck on the Empire State Building in New York City provides amazing,
panoramic views of the Big Apple, and until a suicide-prevention fence was installed in
the late 1940s, people used to jump off it.
In 1947, just before the fence was installed, there was a rash of jumpers, including 23-year-old
Evelyn McHale.
A photo of McHale ran in Life magazine, capturing her as she had landed on top of a limousine.
McHale's ghost is said to haunt the Empire State Building to this day.
Observers say they've seen a woman dressed in 1940s-style clothes on the observation
deck, her eyes wet with tears.
And then, she floats through the security fence and disappears again and again.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255)