THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 27, 1996 TAG: 9610250227
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: COVER STORY
SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 203 lines
DAVID KENT CAHOON is the collector of Chesapeake's X-Files.
He's no Mulder or Scully. He doesn't work for a secretive branch of the FBI and he's no alien spy from another galaxy. He's a lifelong Chesapeake resident interested in things that go bump in the night.
For the past 18 months, the 34-year-old Chesapeake city employee has been collecting strange tales from Chesapeake and beyond.
Several months ago he put out a flier asking citizens to share strange tales, legends, ghost stories or unexplained mysteries. Cahoon placed these pleas for help at the Chesapeake Central Library, the same place where he will present a free program about his findings at 7 p.m. on Halloween.
He plans to compile the tales into a book chronicling the unusual, the strange, the paranormal, the unexplained and the weird that occurred in this city from its days as Indian hunting grounds to the eve of the 21st century.
``I want to get all of these stories in written form,'' said the 1980 Great Bridge High School graduate. ``I've gotten stories or been referred to other people who knew some stories. I got a lot of help from my family, colleagues and friends and quite a bit of kidding, too.''
Cahoon said hopes eventually to have the book published, but meanwhile he will donate a copy of the stories to the Chesapeake library.
So far he's gotten stories on hauntings, ghosts, unsolved murders, spiritual healing, UFO sightings, angelic sightings, dreams and premonitions. And no, he's gotten no accounts of alien abductions or Elvis sightings, he said with a laugh.
``Many times when I finally speak to someone who may have a story, the first thing they ask me is, `Are you for real?' '' he said.
Cahoon hardly fits the profile of a ghost hunter.
He's an unassuming, distinguished-looking man who's well spoken and well read. Besides collecting tales of the weird, Cahoon is a student of martial arts and martial arts weaponry, particularly the history, tradition and way of life behind those Asian disciplines.
An avid reader, he also loves local history and folklore.
``I'm no stranger to the Wallace Memorial Room,'' he said, referring to the special local history room at the Chesapeake Central Library. ``And I'm probably one of the library's best customers.''
He said his interest in folklore, legends and history was born when his folks took him as a child to Manteo, N.C., to see a production of ``The Lost Colony.''
``That really got to me,'' he said. ``I've gone back many, many times to see the play and visit the museum and the historical site. I was fascinated about this mystery of so many people ending up missing.''
From there he said he read everything about the Lost Colony he could get his hands on. That led him to read about other tales of disappearances and unsolved mysteries. And from there he began to read about ghost stories, hauntings, the paranormal.
``I began to enjoy all of those `In Search Of' and `Unsolved Mystery' shows on television,'' he said. ``I then started looking at stories from our own area.''
Besides offering a collection of indigenous tales, myths and folklore, Cahoon said he initiated his project to rekindle interest in the art of storytelling.
``In this age of television, videos and electronic games, we've lost the art of storytelling, where families get together to share and enjoy stories,'' he said. ``I think it's one aspect of our heritage that we should re-discover. And I think local folklore, local legends and unsolved mysteries will help that. Hopefully, it will stimulate the imagination and get people thinking and talking.''
In collecting these tales Cahoon said he's noticed some interesting facts.
A lot of the tales come from the Great Dismal Swamp and the swamp canal area along Route 17.
He found several variations on one story - the strange Dismal Swamp lights. ``One tale said it was a witch,'' he said. ``Another said it was an Indian, yet another claimed it was a hunter, and another I heard said it was a woman searching for her husband.''
Many of the tales point to the strong religious convictions and beliefs still held by many people in this city, where the local congregation still holds sway over a community.
Not all of the stories are set in bygone times. Many of them date to the 20th century.
Cahoon said he's learned quite a bit of trivia about the city. ``There's a lot of history in these stories,'' he said. ``I found out the canals around here were used by many bootleggers and moonshiners. I also found out that Money Point was named for a huge cache of Confederate gold that was buried there. Supposedly, to this day no one has found it yet.''
Are any of the stories true?
``Many are so fantastic, and there's no way they can be proven,'' Cahoon said. ``But even if they aren't true, you'd like to believe they are. This is folklore, myth, mystery and legend. And the bottom line for all of these tales is entertainment. Since they're from this area and have happened at familiar places and sites, they're a part of who we are as Chesapeake citizens. They're a part of the fabric of our lives.''
Here is just a small sampling of some of David Kent Cahoon's strange tales from Chesapeake: The green flash
DURING THE EARLY 1980s in the late summer or early fall, two men in their early 20s were driving along West Road in the Deep Creek section of Chesapeake at about 9:30 in the evening.
While motoring along the road the two men claimed the entire sky, horizon and the light all around them turned into an almost blinding, bright green. So bright was the light that the solar sensitive street lamps went out.
Naturally the two men were shaken. They finally stopped their car to see what was going on. They thought maybe it was a meteor or possibly the Rapture, with the Lord coming to take his charges up to heaven.
Whatever, the two got out of the car to see what it was and in a flash the green light vanished as quickly as it arrived.
A meteor? The weather? Light from a UFO? Who knows? The hanging tree
THERE WAS A large, old tree that once stood in the designated hunting area of the Naval Security Group Activity Northwest off Ballahack Road.
In the early morning mists, hunters have claimed to be able to hear the commotion of a crowd. They also claim to see a hanging party around the tree witnessing a lynching. When approaching the mysterious tree, the entire scene always disappeared into the mist. Chesapeake exorcist
A WOMAN WHO still lives in the Norfolk Highlands area has the ability to recognize demonic possession in a person. She uses intense prayer and Bible verses to expel the demon from the suffering individual. Once the person is rid of the satanic power, the woman then sets that person on a daily regimen of prayer and Bible study to keep the evil at bay.
He said she keeps a very low profile for fear of becoming a curiosity. Many who have sought her help claimed they could see a ring of angels around her house and felt immediate peace and relief upon entering the home. The guardian angel
A MAN WAS motoring to work along Volvo Parkway. He stopped at the light at the Greenbrier intersection. The light turned green and the man stepped on the accelerator. The car moved forward a few feet then - all of a sudden - the engine died. The ignition, motor, radio and everything stopped working.
Just as the driver realized what was happening, a huge dump truck ran the red light and stormed its way through the intersection. As soon as the truck passed, the man was able to re-start his car and drive through. He thought about what had just transpired and shook with fear at his job all day long. He swore it was a guardian angel that protected him from almost certain death. Deep Creek hauntings
AN OLD, CIVIL War-era house located in Deep Creek is said to be haunted.
Cahoon said the house is still standing, and many people who have been inside claim to have seen apparitions at various sections of the dwelling.
These ghostly appearances usually have no real shape or form, just wispy clouds of ectoplasm. Haunted house
IN THE EARLY 1960s a house was built in Great Bridge, using lumber that came from some old buildings from Norfolk's Main Street. After the family moved in, the children said they saw at the foot of their beds the ghost of a women dressed in a Victorian-era nightgown.
The children got out of their beds to get a better view of this ghostly figure. She appeared to be a nurse tending to an infant in a baby carriage. The visitation reappeared to these children over a seven-year period.
The sightings finally stopped but when one of the children grew up and moved back into the house as an adult, the ghost was seen once again. Eventually another family moved into the same house and never saw any kind of apparition.
The house, incidentally, is still standing. Mysterious red lights
IT WAS SUMMERTIME in Great Bridge during the late 1960s, when a boy, who was throwing rocks at bats with his friends, saw a ball of red light in the dark sky.
The red light moved very slowly, made a 90-degree turn, moved and made several other 90-degree turns until it flew in a perfect square pattern.
The boy ran into the house to fetch his parents. When they all came back out to see what it was all about, the light had disappeared. An unsolved murder
SOMETIME AROUND 1886, there was a hotel and general store near the Dismal Swamp close to the North Carolina border. The owner of both businesses lived in a detached house on the same property as the hotel and store.
One late evening, four North Carolina men, who were obviously drunk, demanded to rent a room. They failed to sign the register, but the proprietor, wanting to avoid any trouble, didn't press the issue and went to sleep.
A few hours later the men banged on the innkeeper's home, demanding he open his store so he could sell them some liquor. He refused, and the men became violent. Again, wishing to avoid any trouble, the man relented and walked to his store with the four drunken, bellicose men following a few feet behind.
As the proprietor was unlocking the store, the men noticed that he had a hidden revolver. The four flew into action and fired at the innkeeper at close range. He died not long after the shooting, and the four escaped into the swamp.
The murderers were never caught, and the innkeeper's family was eventually forced to sell the property and the business. ILLUSTRATION: ON THE COVER
Staff illustriation by John Earle.
Staff photo by MORT FRYMAN
David Cahoon plans to compile the tales into a book of the unusual,
the strange, the paranormal, the unexplained and the weird that
occurred in this city from its days as Indian hunting grounds to the
eve of the 21th century.
Graphic
AT A GLANCE
What: ``Mysterious But True Happenings in Hampton Roads.''
Who: David Kent Cahoon.
When: From 7 to 9 p.m., Halloween night.
Where: Chesapeake Central Library, 298 Cedar Road.
KEYWORDS: GHOST STORIES CHESAPEAKE TALES by CNB