The ChillX Zone

Echoes of a Fallen Pilot and the Phantoms That Follow

“He came out of the water again.”

July 17, 2025 — Evanston, Illinois — Motorists along Sheridan Road in Evanston slammed on their brakes. It happened on the night of July 16, 1995. They saw a man, dripping and wrapped in seaweed. He was wearing a vintage Navy flight suit and staggering out of the waves of Lake Michigan.

That event occurred exactly 30 years ago yesterday. Locals knew the figure well—“Seaweed Charlie,” the ghost of Lt. Laverne F. Nabours, a World War II Navy flight instructor who died in a plane crash just offshore in 1951. The ghost was seen heading toward the locked gates of Calvary Cemetery, vanishing just before crossing the threshold.

Now, in 2025, the reports are surfacing again.

Last night, multiple Evanston residents claim to have seen the same soggy figure crawling out of the lake. But this time, something was different. A low-flying, unmarked aircraft was also spotted above the water. It glided silently with no running lights before vanishing in plain view.

It’s the latest incident in a long history of phantom planes and spectral sailors along the Great Lakes. Here, the line between history and the hereafter is often blurred.

The True Story Behind the Ghost

Lt. Nabours, 26, had been training pilots in early May of 1951. During this time, his aircraft—a Grumman F6F Hellcat—experienced engine failure. It plunged into Lake Michigan. His body washed ashore weeks later, just outside Calvary Cemetery’s fence. Some say he was trying to reach the gates before dying.

The first known sighting of Seaweed Charlie occurred in 1955. Since then, he’s been spotted always around July, always wet, always drifting toward the cemetery—never inside. But on July 16, 1995, the sightings peaked, reported by dozens of drivers and pedestrians. And now, exactly three decades later, the specter appears to have returned—along with something else.

Ghost Planes: A Second Mystery Overhead

Eyewitnesses from last night, July 16, 2025, described a black aircraft. It was noiseless and running dark. It circled above the water shortly after the ghost was seen. There were no scheduled flights or radar traces in the area. The FAA confirms no flight activity over Evanston at the time.

This follows a pattern. Similar ghost aircraft have been reported over Lake Michigan in 1969, 1980, 1994, and now again in 2025. These occurrences always happen near tragic aviation anniversaries. always near tragic aviation anniversaries. In some cases, these ghostly sightings have preceded strange weather, equipment malfunctions, or reports of missing time.

Could these be spiritual echoes from downed wartime planes, or—as some believe—interdimensional bleed-throughs of aircraft that never made it home?

The Lake Michigan Triangle: A Paranormal Nexus

This stretch of water is part of what researchers call the Lake Michigan Triangle. It is a loosely defined zone extending from Manitowoc to Benton Harbor and then to Ludington. It’s the Great Lakes’ answer to Bermuda, a place where ships vanish, planes go down, and compasses spin.

The most famous case is Northwest Flight 2501, which disappeared over the lake in 1950, taking 58 people with it. No wreckage was ever found. Some theorists believe the area is home to time rifts or magnetic anomalies. Others say it’s sacred ground—and the spirits simply refuse to leave.

Phantom Ships Answer the Call

Local fishermen also reported hearing foghorns late into the night, despite clear skies and no vessels nearby. Paranormal researchers think this may signal the presence of phantom ships. One example is the famed SS Milwaukee, which sank in 1929 with 52 souls on board.

When spectral air and sea activity coincide—ghosts like Seaweed Charlie tend to follow. And they seem to be arriving right on schedule.

Final Thoughts: Echoes from Below and Above

The return of Seaweed Charlie on July 16, 2025 is accompanied by a phantom aircraft and strange maritime sounds. It marks one of the most dramatic reactivations of this legend since 1995. The identity of this phenomenon is still debated. It could be the spirit of a lost aviator retracing his final steps. Alternatively, it might be part of a broader pattern involving ghost planes, spectral mariners, and time-locked echoes. In In In Evanston, this isn’t just legend—it’s a dark cloud from the past that never lifted.