The Ghost of Peliliu

Promised I'd share this story with some of you, so here goes. We were spending the night on the beach in Peliliu about 15 years ago. In the middle of the night I woke up and saw a very bright light just over the water. My first thought was a silent helicopter- until I remembered where I was and realized that there were no helicopters of any sort in Palau. It wasn't the moon because I could see the moon on the other side of the island. I watched it for a while and then it floated up and disappeared. It was completely silent.

The next day coming back to Koror I shared the story with some friends from Peliliu. They told me the story of the light- which I probably don't remember completely. But it had to do with a fire and someone running into the water many years ago. The girl died. Since then she appears on occassion to either protect or try to injure people (I told you I didn't remember the story completely.) Last year when I was back I was talking with some other Palauans about this and they told me that it also is seen sometimes off the coast of Balbedaob.

It was quite spooky and was not swamp lights or a flying saucer- although that was my second original guess. Not many non-Palauans see it I gather.

The other "haunted" place is in the water across from the church in Anguar. I saw nothing there but was definately spooked by the place one night when we were out star watching (THE best Milky Way sighting ever ever- new moon, couldn't see my hand in front of my nose but the stars all but lit the way.) Again sharing the experience with friends I was told that that is where Palauans go when they die to take a final dip in the sea- I think that is why they go there. I had never heard anything about this as you rarely hear a lot about the local religion unless you specifically ask questions.

So, those are my two ghost stories.

PS- I don't remember which beach in Peliliu it is, but do remember that it is the only place in Palau which is known for its dangerous encounters with sharks. I learned that after spending some time in the water snorkeling just outside the shore reef. Three sharks came up and started circling me. I began to swim the short distance into shore and realized that one was following me rather closely. What I WANTED to do was to rise out of the water like a cartoon character and using my flippers as a propeller, fly back to shore. What I DID was to turn and face the shark and scream at it in terror. Then managed to get over the reef without scraping myself. I was met on the beach by friends who were shouting and calling me to get in, and only THEN did they tell me that the sharks were nasty there. Usually in Palau the sharks have better things to do than to bother with people.

Similar stories occur in the Cooks. The "Grey Lady" ghost who appears on the road near the airport on foggy nights, etc. Perhaps truer, stories of cold, icy feelings by people if they are inland on the island of Mangaia after dark, at one specific spot on the road back to town. Exact same spot, turns out it is right near where the original wooden church was built in the 1850's, before all the islanders moved to the coast at the goading of the missionaries. So, no one lives inland anymore---except, perhaps, the ghosts of the former pre-1850 villagers.

I wasn't really worried about the Grey Lady near the airport, even on a foggy night. Being on a motor vehicle meant I could avoid her and get away pretty easily. Plus, not many sightings recently.

But when I was on Mangaia, and it was getting dark, and I was still inland, I revved up the motorbike and quickly headed over the hill to the coastal village before the sun had set!

Any other TT'ers have similar stories of when they lived/stayed in the islands???

We have an old Hawaiian lady dressed in white who is meant to show up in the back seat of your car as you drive down a dark country stretch of road between our country town and the next. I havn't seen her but a guy swore to me that when he and a couple of friends were coming home late at night their car broke down on that stretch. Two of the guys got out and starting pushing the car when suddenly the old lady was there pushing the car with them. They all took off running to the next town and the next day found their car parked about half a mile down the road. This old Hawaiian lady ghost has the reputation of being a prangster.

In Samoa, there was meant to be a ghost who drove her car up our road very fast. If a car came roaring down the road late at night people would say....there goes Telesa ( or some name close to that). She was a deceased member of an important chiefs family who had their family home at the corner where the road started.

Aloha! What a great topic....it will be interesting to see what comes up.

UUG- to try and get further tales of the Pacific.

OK, what's "UUG"??

Ghost stories of the South Pacific islands... I love it!!

Here's a chilling one I was personally told 2 years ago in Samoa...

I was told a story by one of the local villagers in Sa'anapu village of how a possession by an 'aitu' (spirit) had taken grasp of a certain young lady many years ago and how the village "taulaitu", or "exorcist" had to come to clear the house. (I found it ironic in such a Christian country, that all was abandoned in favour of traditional ways of dealing with the occult)

He talked of how dishes flew out the window, furniture moved and the young woman spoke in "strange tongues and ancient ancestors"... A classic demonic possession.

We were mesmerized by this creepy tale being told as the sun had gone down, the candles flickered and the flying foxes croaked from the trees.

The next day we were shown the abandoned house (creepy in itself) where the family had lived... Once the exorcism had taken place, the family apparently fled.

goosebumps form on islandboi's back

uh- the was supposed to be uyg- up you go. someone here taught me this a while ago when you want to keep a thread up and reasonably current. sorry- worked but came out wrong.

And islandboi- ghost stories of the pacific islands- micronesia is north pacific. flying foxes croaking in trees- that's pretty creepy sounding all by itself.

(and i wonder what happened to the capital letters tonight?)

There is an island in Tonga's Vava'u group also reported to have a ghost - I heard the stories AFTER spending a couple of nights there and have no real desire to go back. It is an unihabited island where people from Wallis and Futuna supposedly stayed for some time and there is meant to be a graveyard on the island. There was also a story of two brothers who caused havoc and went there and at least one died of a shark attack (although I am not clear on those details).

I was out one night taking a stroll along the moonlit beach and I saw a human figure standing in front of me. It was like a shadow but it was completely clear from the shadow that was coming from the trees (i.e., it can't have been a tree shape I ran in panic from). But, I did run back in panic to the other person staying on the island with me.... We went back to check - it was gone and there were no footprints. There was also no boat on the one clear access way through the reef surrounding the island. I also had a few odd incidents happen while on that island, e.g., I was working and tape (like a ribbon I tie to mark an area) I had tied and never had a problem with before would somehow come undone. Supposedly where I saw the figure is where the graveyard was.....

Great topic 5 Waldos!

Yikes- being just 2 on an island with things like that would certainly make me nervous!

Whoops, Waldos! You're right, that should read "Pacific Islands". Mea culpa. :)

What exactly is a flying fox- I think I remember it isn't actually a fox, and in fact doesn't fly? I always imagine a classic fox, pointed faced, with tale used as a rudder. Surely that isn't quite the image???

It's basically just a bat. But they live in trees, rather than in caves. They are pretty hairy, so it looks like fur, and they have kind of a pointy face, so they look a little like a fox. Colonies are in the NW of Tongatapu (that's the famous one), but also on Rarotonga, up in the hills.

They hang upside down in trees most of the day, start getting active near dusk.

flying foxes are kind-of cute too, but stink. Can't imagine why anyone would want to eat them. That's what we were working with on 'our' ghost island. Lots of colonies all over Tonga. They can fly very far and feed among islands every night.

P.S. I was meant to say - they are the largest fruit bat. Eating them is considered to be a possible cause for a type of dementia in Guam, at least I think it is Guam.

Yeah...we had the botanist Paul Cox talking about that in a lecture here in Hawaii. Apparently the flying foxes in Guam eat the fruit/cone of the cycad tree and there is a substance in the plant that gets concentrated in the flying fox meat and causes this dementia. This same cycad fruit is also used to make a kind of flour to make tortillas but because in this form it is not so consentrated it does not cause a problem...it is only the bats.
Anything to help the local flying fox population is good. Tonga has long protected theirs....royal ownership I think. In Samoa, 30 years ago, you would see flying foxes every evening even in Apia. Now you are lucky to see one. No doubt out in the bush of Savaii it is better. People eating them was part of the problem. Growing number of people with guns. Forest being replaced with plantation. Hurricanes knocking down the fruit trees in the forest....which by the way are pollinated by the flying foxes. Then for awhile there a lot of flying foxes were being shot and shipped to Guam for big bucks. Lots of protective laws these days.....but like with the lupe ( native pigeon) they are still being eaten. The Tusitala hotel in Apia used to have a few in a large walk in cage....do not know if they still have them....but it was a good place to see them up close. I did have a few bites of a barbecued one many years ago.....a lot of singed hair and a stong smell as already mentioned. Aloha

Tonga protection is not so solid though... they are still eaten, but not in huge amounts. I think it is just the Kolovai population that is protected. I think Paul Cox is yet to prove his theory definitively though?

When one hears what sounds like a backfire on Rarotonga at about 10pm to midnight, it is someone up in the hills shooting the bats with a shotgun. sometimes they end up aiming a bit downhill, and on a few occasions the pellets have landed on the tin roofs of inland valley houses. There do not seem to be a lot left, used to be many 20 yrs ago.