Since mid-October 2005, the Outcast Earth team has been investigating the rumors of a ghost that inhabits an isolated atoll in the southern park of Chuuk Lagoon. Although it is considered an idyllic vacation spot today, sixty years ago Chuuk Lagoon was a stronghold for Imperial Japanese who were waging a war of conquest throughout the South Pacific. American naval forces obliterated the Japanese presence there in 1944 when a series of devastating aerial attacks sent dozens of planes and ships to the bottom of the lagoon. No one has any real count on how many human lives were lost… but many of these wrecks are considered haunted by their former crews.

The belief is ghosts and the spirit world is a long and enduring one in both Oceania and throughout Southern Asia. Island dwellers seem particularly frightened by haunting activity and many taboos exist that keep people away from haunted locales. Several weeks into their visit to Chuuk Lagoon, the OCE team was told about a tiny atoll where a Japanese Zero fighter plane crash-landed sometime during the latter part of World War II. Native stories tell of the ghostly pilot who still roams the beaches, waiting for rescue.

In light of this ongoing investigation, Outcast Earth is pleased to present this look at other haunting phenomenon from islands and atolls around the region.

Kuala Selangor, Malaysia: A house here that acted as the quarters for Japanese officers during the war years is said to retain one of its former occupants. At night, echoes of heavy-booted feet can be heard walking up and down the hallways.

Corregidor, Philippines: This island was a hotly contested prize during the war of the Pacific, with many soldiers on both sides losing their lives. Philippine fishermen have spoken for years about the ghostly "patrols" of Japanese soldiers that wander the beaches at night.

Hollandia, New Guinea: This port was the scene of a major military defeat for the Japanese in April 1944. In his crusade to retake the Philippines, American General Douglas MacArthur devised a surprise attack on Hollandia that he would later use as a supply port and headquarters. MacArthur’s amphibious assault was supported by warplanes launched from aircraft carriers under the command of Admiral Chester E. Nimitz. Badly outgunned, the Japanese abandoned the port and fled east… at least, most of them fled.

In 1956, however, Reuters news services reported that many of the residents of Hollandia were petitioning the Japanese War Graves Commission to perform a religious exorcism of a rusted antiaircraft gun that still sat on the beach. The natives claimed that every night, haggard ghosts dressed in torn Japanese uniforms and rusted helmets crept out of the forest and manned the inoperable gun as though still fighting off American invasion forces. The Reuters report does not state whether the Japanese War Graves Commission complied with the request.