'Haunted' police station in New Zealand

The self-illuminating light bulbs, the self-opening doors and the noises in the hallway are the phenomena of a police station in New Zealand for over 20 years.

Everyone felt Hornby police station in Christchurch, New Zealand like every other police station. But the policemen here said they had witnessed countless strange events. For example, in a recent evening, the police heard footsteps on someone's stairs, then the lights turned on and off. When they reached the place where the noise came from to find out, they saw the doors opened, even though they had closed them before.

"If you stay in the fort, you will feel mysterious phenomena , " said Sergeant Pete Laloli, who has worked at Fort Hornby for the past two decades.

Police officer Gary Malzard often heard strange noises in Hornby station.

Gary Malzard, who has worked at the station since 1993, said that the mysterious sounds often echoed in the station.

"The light bulbs keep shining even though no one switches the switch. It's a really unusual phenomenon. It makes our hair stand up , " Malzard said.

Once Malzard and a colleague heard footsteps on the hallway upstairs. But when they ran up two different stairs to go upstairs, they didn't see anything.

Fiona Clark, a female police officer in the station, also often heard footsteps on the floor.

Semiconductor radios and other electronic devices in the station often start automatically, though no one touches them.

Hornby police station was built in 1989. Laloli said a church once located on the base of the fort, but people did not find any nearby cemeteries.

"A police officer working at the station never got alone here," Mr. Laloli said.

Mr. Malzard said that 50% of the police reported rumors that ghosts caused mysterious phenomena in the station. 50% of the remaining police dismissed the hypothesis.