Ghost Elevator
I will now post thestory about the elevator in the Mary Reed building, and how itran by itself. This I actually witnessed, so I know it's true. Iwould _very_ much like to hear what other people think of thisstory, and possible explanations-- although I haven't been ableto come up with any...
About the Elevator:
I must post this if you are to be able to understand how thesystem works. The elevator is old (came with the building),small, and comes with an iron gate that slides over (closes) whenyou choose your floor. On each floor, on the wall by theelevator, there is a button that you use to call the elevator andit has a light above it that lights up and says "In Use"when the elevator is running. The elevator shaft runs from thebasement to the seventh floor.
So, to call the elevator, you press the button, you listen to thegate close (sounds in that shaft travel _very_ well; I couldoften listen to people's conversations while waiting for theelevator), then the "In Use" light comes on and theelevator comes up to your floor. The system is old; it won't takecommands in succession (if I want the elevator and someone on thesay, fifth floor wants it, whoever pressed their button firstwould get the elevator). The guy on the fifth floor would see his"In Use" light come on, and stay on, and would get tosee me pass by his small window in his door on my way down. Thiswould piss many people off, but there was nothing you could do--theelevator would not "hear" your call until the elevatorstopped, the gate slid back, the person got out and the doorclosed, shutting off the "In Use" light. Also, when anydoor was open (obviously the elevator has to be there... :) noone could call/use the elevator--people who propped open the doorfor any reason were instantly hated).
For example: I would ride the elevator up to the seventh floor,unlock the door, and get out. The elevator would stay thereunless called by someone else. Now, if someone DID call theelevator, the gate would slide over, the light would come on, itwould go to whatever floor (after working there awhile you couldtell which floor it was on), the gate would slide back, the lightwould go off momentarily, then come back on when the personopened the door, then go off while they pushed the button fortheir floor, then the gate would slide closed, and the lightwould come and the elevator would go to whatever floor, the gatewould slide back, the door would open, and you could hear itclose, then the light would go off. (Whew! Sorry about thelength, but I want people to understand...)
I worked crazy hours due to a full course load, so would findmyself in the building late at night (10pm-1am). The janitorsdidn't start in that building until 3:00am or so (nice shift,huh?). I honestly didn't notice it for the first few months, butI finally realized that the elevator was being called to otherfloors, but no one got on it. I chalked this up to the usual frat.jerks,etc. walking by and just hitting the button. But, on someoccasions, the light came on, and I could hear the door closing (theyare heavy metal doors on weak, old springs--they would literallyslam shut on you--not a nice feeling when you are in a coffin-sizedbox..:-) ), the gate would slide over (closed), the elevatorwould rise to another floor, the gate would slide back, then...nothing.The "In Use" light went off, and stayed off--no oneopened the door to get out. I would have heard it, and the "InUse" light would have come on when the door was open.
I thought someone was confused, or couldn't find their keys, etc--butnothing happened for a long time. So, on this occasion, I wentover and pressed the call button. The elevator instantly startedup, and came up to my floor. I peeked through the little windowin the door--nothing. I opened the door-- nothing. I was puzzled,to say the least.
Well, I finally realized that this happened fairly often. I spoketo the day janitor about it, and he said the guys on the nightshift often complained about the elevator going to other floorsby itself. They chalked it up to some mechanical error. I toldhim that I witnessed it, and distinctly heard a door open, as ifsomeone got on, but didn't hear the door open on the new floorfor them to get off. He kind of laughed nervously and saidsomething like "Well, that's what I've heard, too--butwhatever"... I let it drop with him.
Is there some mechanical answer to this? I don't know. It nevercame up to my floor and stopped (that would have sealed it forme, and I would have quit!! :-) ), so I wonder... It alwaysseemed to stop on the fifth floor, which was not in use when Iworked there... I never got any "creepy" feeling aboutit, just an odd sensation that I chalked up to curiosity.
Well, sorry for the length.