(KRON) -- Do you believe in ghosts?
If not, the USS Hornet in Alameda could change your mind.
The USS Hornet is no secret to the Bay Area natives. The ship served as an active US Navy aircraft carrier in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. It also acted as the primary recovery ship after NASA's infamous Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 moon landing missions in 1969.
The ship was opened to the public as a museum in 1998 and was designated as a California State Landmark in 1999, according to the USS Hornet website.
Riddled with history, the ship holds a large secret that visitors might not catch before stepping aboard.
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For centuries, visitors have experienced unexplainable sightings and sensations aboard the USS Hornet that aren't tied to reality.
"Sometimes you will hear conversations, and you know no one is there. You will hear music playing. You will get phantom smells like a cigarette or cigar," said Faye Navarro, a USS Hornet Volunteer and Paranormal Investigator.
According to Haunt Bound, a website dedicated to the most haunted locations in America, the USS Hornet ranked fourth on the list of most haunted places in California.
The USS Hornet has embraced its paranormal persona by offering educational tours that take guests through areas of the ship that were otherwise restricted.
Once a month, the USS Hornet offers an after-hours tour called "History Mystery," where attendees get to tour the ship, learn a brief history, and get a chance to have a paranormal encounter for themselves.
If you are feeling especially brave, once a quarter the USS Hornet offers an overnight experience, "History Mystery Overnight."
Similar to the "History Mystery" tour, guests get the opportunity to learn more about the ship, but once it concludes, you are left to investigate the ship's second deck alone and sleep on the ship.
Navarro says spiritual encounters have occurred on the ship at all hours of the day, but attendees of the overnight tours typically leave with a story to tell.
"People have slept in Sick Bay, and occasionally they would hear someone try to help them. 'Are you doing okay?' 'Do you need help?' I have also witnessed someone wearing sweatpants; you can actually see the hand impression on their pant leg after asking, 'Oh, my leg hurts, can you help me?'" said Navarro.
Navarro described an experience of an overnight guest who came up to her the morning after the tour concluded to ask why staff were moving airplanes in the middle of the night, complaining that it was loud. Navarro said the planes have been in the same place since the museum opened, and no one was adjusting their position.
"People hear the hustle and bustle of moving planes on the Hangar Bay because everyone is sleeping below decks, and nothing is happening," she said.
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On the tours, communicating with the spirits is encouraged, but not via a Ouija board as you might imagine.
Guides utilize different tools that can read magnetic energy and even detect motion that might not be visible to the naked eye.
Music box motion detector: plays sound when internal sensor detect motion.
Maglite flashlight.
REM-POD: Radiating Electromagnetic Pod.
K-II Meter: small device that measures electromagnetic fields.
"A lot of times I will set it on the little shelf in the passageway, and there are times it will just go off, and you don't see anybody. Yeah, it's motion-activated, but there are no insects on the ship, so it's not like something is flying in front of it, making it go off," said Navarro.
One of the most active locations for paranormal activity on the USS Hornet is the Admiral's in-port cabin, where crew members go for important meetings. Navarro says that the Admiral's Cabin was most likely where the crew discussed the logistics of the Apollo mission.
Although it's not known who the spirits are aboard the USS Hornet, guides have described chilling experiences where they have communicated with past crew members who are still hanging out around their old stomping grounds.
"I love to always ask if they are a crew member, and if we get a response, I try to ask what position... This particular night, we were communicating, and of course we got a response to Admiral. We have these pictures of the different Admirals who were in charge of the ship," Navarro described.
She said that she was talking to her coworker, and he approached the photos of the Admirals on the wall. He decided to randomly name the different Admirals pictured in the frame when the Maglite flashlight lit up.
"He came to this one name, and the flashlight went on. He went back through randomly again, and when he came to the name, the flashlight went on," said Navarro.
The flashlight lit up when the name Donald C. Davis was mentioned.
Navarro said guests who may want to visit but are fearful about encountering a ghost shouldn't be afraid.
"Just think about it: if they are crew members, they were always here to protect the ship. So they are going to protect you because you are a part of the ship," said Navarro.
