[SIGHTING] : The White Lady

[Fly_Mulder]

[X]SIGHTING - [ ] UNCONFIRMED
[X]FIRST HAND - [ ]SECOND HAND - [ ] QUESTIONABLE

DATE OF ENCOUNTER: 3/7/90
SUSPECTED ENTITY:SPECTER
APPLICABLE MYTHOS: PACIFIC ISLANDS
LOCATION: KAUAI, HI

TRANSCRIPT:
Like many navy brats, my father got us stationed in Hawaii for a few years. We were sent to a base called Barking Sands on the island of Kauai and lived on base. What you need to know is that to get from town to the base, its a 20 min drive through the cane fields.
Late One evening a few weeks after arriving, my mother and I were on our way back to base when we see a woman walking alone in the dark. She seemed young, tidy in a military way, but with long pale hair. Now, the fields aren't particularly dangerous (unless you're afraid of buffos/toads) but it's still no place to be in the middle of the night. Mom stopped to offer her a ride, assuming her car had broken down somewhere. Me, being young and excited greeted her with a hearty "Aloha!". The Lady Smiled and got in the back seat. Mom asked if she was going to base, another smile and a nod. I though it was a little odd, not saying anything, but it was late and likely a stressful day. After the first few min of mom chatting aimlessly but with no reply, she offered our passenger a cigarette, which was accepted with another smile/nod. I didn't quite notice at the time, but I'm not sure how she lit it. With a parent that smokes you're accustomed to the ritual of heating the cigarette ligher in the dash, but when we offered it to her, she was already taking a long, contented drag. The rest of the drive was filled with the sound of smoking and the flash of the sporadic streetlights along the way. At the gate, once the soldier waved us in, mom asked our passenger where she could be dropped off. She was gone.. No woman, no cigarette butt.. We didn't hear the door open/close and there's no way she did so while driving.

It wasn't until later we heard the stories. The White lady is a local legend, purported to be a specter of the Goddess Pele known for taking on the shape of a woman with long white hair, both elderly and young, and both disheveled and polished. Roaming from island to island, rumor has it she has a proclivity for hitchhiking! Believed to ask for favors to test the kindness of strangers, failing to pick up the White Lady – or neglecting to treat her with aloha – results in catastrophe and heartache.

A few years later when Hurricane Iniki hit Kauai in '92, our house came through unscathed even though it was a Category 4 Hurricane. The most distructive storm since records began... and not a scratch to our family.

[p3nr0s3]

Whoa, I remember hearing about Iniki! Totally wild. Especially that your house was okay?! No way that's a coincidence. Maybe this is a silly question but did you ever see her again? Or any possible signs of her?

[Fly_Mulder]

Whoa, I remember hearing about Iniki! Totally wild. Especially that your house was okay?! No way that's a coincidence. Maybe this is a silly question but did you ever see her again? Or any possible signs of her?

Actually yes. A few years later, just before my dad was reassigned to the mainland, we took a trip around the islands. A few days in Oahu to see the Arizona, bicycle trip in Maui, all the tourist stuff. The culmination of course was visiting Kilauea state park to see the volcano.

After a long drive up the mountain, we arrived at the park. It was misty that day, so visibility was low and volcano activity was minimal. Definitely not ideal conditions to say the least. The smell of sulfer was ubiquitous. Missing the Breathtaking views of volcanic vistas, we headed to the Ranger station to see a presentation on the park. Pretty standard park history and videos of the awesome power of lava. The Rangers even warned us from taking any volcanic rocks, not because the legends say they bring bad luck, but because they can't handel the amount of mail from people who are trying to return them due to the superstition!

Next we got to tour the grounds and go up to the cauldera to maybe get a glimpse of something. Now,
I'd done some research at school, Hawaiian history and all. Without my parents knowledge, I had managed to smuggle a small traditional offering to Pele in my backpack. A piece of fruit from lunch and some birds of paradise from the front of our hotel, tied together with some palm fronds. I left it as close to the cauldera as the Ranger would let us. Quietly, I said Aloha, Mahalo and a few words of thanks. Never did see the lava

Normally, I'm not religious, but meeting a goddess does that to you.

As we were leaving, I saw her. Far off, where we had just viewed the crater, was a standing a woman I'd not seen in our group. Her white dress and flowing fair hair topped in a flower/frond crown were blowing in the wind. Though we were ages away, I could feel her gaze, her presence. A low cloud, which were the bain of our visit, blew in obscuring her. When it passed she was gone. To this day, I remeber the scent of sea mist that cleared the ever present sulfuric smell from the air.

A call from my father snapped me back to the present. The sulfur returned and I hurried to the car. After checking my shoes for lodged volcanic rocks, we got in and started back to the hotel. We'd leave for the mainland a few weeks later but I'll never forget my time on the islands.