Pastor hunts Mair ghost

The tale of locals chasing a ghost with a shot gun has always intrigued Whangarei youth pastor Symon Drake.

Symon has worked as a pastor for 10 years and in that time he has been to four ‘haunted’ houses where he has helped get rid of ghosts by praying.

He says this works because ghosts are not dead people but demons who take on the appearance of people who have passed.

"I believe there is a supernatural realm but I don’t believe there is anything like a friendly ghost," says Symon.

He has also blogged about his experiences, written an 11-page paper titled Haunted Houses, Ghosts and Demons, and enjoys reading about the supernatural and telling ghost stories to his four children.

The interest started with his father, Burton, telling the tale of the Mair Park ghost which has been around since his grandfather, Frederick John, was young.

The Mair Park ghost started making headlines in a local paper in July 1961, when people began to stake-out the park.

Burton, who was courting his now wife Eileen, went to the park one night with two others, John Lawence and Donald Jenkins.

"Bizarre events rarely happen in Whangarei, so when stories started circulating that a ghost was being sighted at Mair Park, my mum, dad and their friends did what any normal, sane Kiwi would do. They attempted to catch it," says Symon.

The four drove to the park, turned the engine and headlights off and waited. It wasn’t long before they sighted a tall, ghostly figure gliding towards them.

"My parents describe it as being seven foot tall, all white and moving in a very frightening manner," says Symon.

Burton and his two friends ran after the ghost but returned saying that the ghost seemed to float down the track while making no sound and then disappeared.

After this, more sightings of the ‘ghost’ were reported and a mannequin was found hanging by a noose from a tree in the park.

Even reports of the ghost peering into nearby house windows were reported.

"It is pretty disturbing someone or thing looking into someone’s house," says Symon.

The sightings stopped but what actually happened to the ghost is still a mystery.

Symon says his dad believes the ghost simply disappeared because people started entering the park with guns in an attempt to shoot it.

But Symon says another person has told him a local rugby team went to the park one night and caught the ghost, who turned out to be an athletic man who knew the park well, making it easy for him to disappear.

"It is time to put this Mair Park ghost mystery to rest," says Symon.

- © Fairfax NZ News