MAIR PARK GHOST MYSTERY

It's time to put old ghosts to rest.
Whangarei's Symon Drake, whose parents almost caught the infamous Mair Park ghost more than 40 years ago, is hoping someone will finally come forward and confess to the hoax ... if that's what it was.
For several scary weeks in July 1961, young couples courting in their cars at Mair Park were terrified by a luminous, two-metre-tall ghost.
Mr Drake's parents, Burton and Eileen, teamed up with her brother John Lawrence and friend Donald Jenkins in a bid to stop the ghost. Acting as decoys, the Drakes - then a newly-engaged couple - parked in Mair Park with the engine and headlights off, and the doors firmly locked.
Hiding nearby, Mr Lawrence and Mr Jenkins prepared their ambush. They didn't have to wait long.
"I saw a glowing white, very tall form gliding along towards our car with a shroud or cape," Mr Drake recalled.
Mr Lawrence and Mr Jenkins rushed from their hiding place and gave chase.
"John was only a few steps behind it when it took off to the bottom of Mair Park. He came back white as a ghost himself, saying he was right behind it and couldn't hear any footsteps and all of a sudden it disappeared," Mr Drake said.
The Drakes believe it was most likely a hoax, because the hauntings ended suddenly after a July 15, 1961, Northern Advocate story warning that vigilantes were preparing to take on the ghost with guns and dogs. At one stage Whangarei police became involved.
There were several more attempts to catch the ghost, but all failed. The death knell for the ghost was a hideous effigy found hanging from a tree and streaked with fake blood.
Almost 50 years later, Mr Drake is hoping the mystery will finally be solved.
The youth pastor believes in supernatural events but, as to the theory that ghosts are human spirits trapped between our world and the next, he said: "I believe that once you die, you die - my hypothesis is ghosts may be demons in disguise".
If you're the ghost, Symon Drake is keen to hear from you. Call us at the Advocate on (09) 4702 875 or for more information on the Mair Park ghost visit www.symon drake.com.