Photo #7
OBAKE HAND AT INFAMOUS MORGAN'S CORNER
Morgan's Corner is without a doubt the most infamous haunted place
on O`ahu. Just mention the words "Morgan's Corner" and you'll get a rise out
of any kama`aina who knows and loves ghost stories.
In 1971, when I began in earnest my study of Hawai`i's supernatural
lore, I was introduced to two Morgan's corners: One at a hairpin turn on the
Nu`uanu Pali Drive (near the Morgan estate) and another one on the winward
side of the Old Pali Road at another hairpin turn. I've never determined
why there would be two Morgan's Corners, except that as the Nu`uanu site
became more populated and therefore "tamed," ghost enthusiasts went out
looking for a newer, scarier place to attach all their urban legends.
One night on April 10, 1974, a group of University of Hawai`i
students and I drove out to the Windward Morgan's Corner. The story of the
haunting was a classic urban legend. Many years ago, a young local couple
parked at the corner. Later, when they started to leave, the car wouldn't
start. So the young boy left the car to get help, telling his girlfriend
to keep the doors and windows locked. While he was gone, the girl heard
drops of water on the roof---the leaves of the tree were dragging
over the car. Her boyfriend did not return and she fell asleep.
When she awoke that morning to the knock on the door, two policemen
motioned her to get out of the car. As she did, they grabbed her and rushed
her to their patrol car, keeping her head from turning back to the
boyfriend's car. Glancing back out of curiousity, she saw the car covered
with blood and her boyfriend hanging by his feet from a tree limb above
the roof, scraping the roof with his fingertips.
Photo #7 was taken that night at Morgan's Corner at approximately
11 p.m. It is a photo looking up at the tree taken by one of the students
that night. The authenticity of the photograph has been verified by the
photographer, 10 witnesses and the chemical laboratory that analyzied it
for processing errors. The large white object to the right has no logical
explanation. Nothing physically appeared in the tree resembling this large
white object. It is neither the hand of the student or anyone else who
was at the site that night.
Is the object a large white hand, pointing up the tree, its thumb
and knuckles visible? A woman looking at the photograph sideways recently
noted to me that it does look like a body hanging by its feet from the
tree. The thighs, crotch, torso and elbow are visible. Whatever it is, it
was in the tree at Morgan's Corner in 1974. It is not there now.