America’s adoption of long-range one-way attack munitions like the Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (LUCAS) is evolving quickly. Training on how to fold these relatively low-cost, but potentially highly destructive systems into a joint force playbook for targeting adversaries on land and at sea, from the Pacific to Europe, and anywhere in between, continues.

How exactly LUCAS drones, and other types to come, will be used in future fights globally was highlighted during a panel at the Association of the U.S. Army’s (AUSA) main annual symposium earlier this week, at which TWZ was in attendance. The discussion was centered on how Army training is changing to meet the extreme combat demands of the future.

The U.S. military first announced it had begun fielding LUCAS, which was reverse-engineered from the Iranian-designed Shahed-136, in December 2025. This came just months after TWZ laid out a detailed case for why the U.S. military should start acquiring Shahed-136 clones in large volumes. LUCAS made its official combat debut in the opening phases of major combat operations against Iran earlier this year. The pusher-propeller, combustion-engine-powered kamikaze drones, which are employed from static launchers that can be positioned on the ground or installed on ships, and with the help of a small rocket booster, were subsequently praised as “indispensable” by America’s top commander in the Middle East.

With all that in mind, “long-range strike drones like LUCAS, how is that fitting into your planning and training?” our Howard Altman asked the panelists at AUSA.

“We’ve taken our Bayonet Academy, as we call it, a training area at JBLM [Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State], and have started incorporating the employment of long-range one-way attack. Like, how do I maintain it? How do I employ it? How does that then get orchestrated in order to achieve that effect?” Maj. Gen. Bernard Harrington, head of the 7th Infantry Division, responded. “So we see that playing a key role in order to be able to achieve that effect at mass, … [and] in an affordable manner, while also being able potentially to preserve something that’s more exquisite for something that requires an exquisite munition.”

Earlier this year, the Army brought the 7th Infantry and the 1st Multi-Domain Task Force together under the umbrella of what it now calls the Multi-Domain Command-Pacific (MDC-PAC). Maj. Gen. Harrington is also now the commander of MDC-PAC, and has talked previously about how he sees uncrewed capabilities as critical to overwhelming adversaries in future conflicts. The service’s MDTFs, of which there are now four, have been at the leading edge of fielding new long-range strike and other advanced capabilities.

In his response to Altman’s question, Harrington elaborated more on how he sees long-range one-way attack munitions like LUCAS factoring specifically into future fights in the Pacific, such as one against China. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has already established extensive anti-access and area denial (A2/AD) bubbles in the Western Pacific and is continuing to expand on that strategy.

“So as we start modeling out what it looks like to be able to penetrate a portion of the anti-access/area denial network in support of the joint task force in the PACOM [U.S. Pacific Command] area of operations, we started looking at, well, how do I bend – how do I achieve mass at a cost curve?” the 7th Infantry and MDC-PAC commander explained. “What effect am I really trying to achieve on a system in order to provide that window of opportunity for that joint force commander?”

“So maybe I don’t necessarily need to sink a ship, but if I take out certain systems on that vessel, well then it creates this temporal window opportunity,” he continued. “Then that joint force commander can surge in that carrier strike group or bomber task force.”

What the general is describing here is typically referred to as a mission kill. For years now, TWZ has repeatedly highlighted how long-range one-way attack drones and loitering munitions could be used in exactly this way against even larger warships. Damaging or destroying radars, communications antennas, and other subsystems could severely degrade a ship’s combat effectiveness and increase its vulnerability to follow-on attacks. The time and effort required for repairs could keep it sidelined for a protracted period of time.

“So when we started looking at that, we saw great value. That maybe I don’t have to use specifically or unmask an exquisite system to achieve that effect,” Harrington added. “If I can achieve [the] effect of mass utilizing lower cost systems, hey, maybe that will get me there. So we modeled that, and what we saw was, particularly with our unmanned surface vessels [USV], long-range one-way attack, long-range launch effects, the ability to synchronize and mass that could potentially get us to achieve that effect.”

As with long-range one-way attack drones, the adoption of kamikaze USVs by the U.S. military is evolving rapidly. America’s first use of this capability in real combat also came against Iran in July.

The term “launch effects” that Harrington used here is a catch-all term the U.S. military now routinely applies to a diverse array of uncrewed aerial systems designed to be launched from other platforms in the air, on the ground, and/or at sea. This includes loitering munitions, but also designs configured for surveillance and reconnaissance, electronic warfare, signal relay, and other tasks. The lines separating long-range one-way attack drones, launched effects, and traditional cruise missiles and decoys are in many cases now very blurry.

None of this is limited to the Pacific region or the Middle East, either.

“So, in terms of launch effects, I think you mentioned LUCAS. Covenant’s out there. There’s other systems that are out there,” Brig. Gen. Steven Carpenter, head of Multi-Domain Command-Europe (MDC-E), another one of the panelists, also said in direct response to Howard Altman’s question. “In Europe, we like that, more than accepting risk in an area, maybe we’re disintegrating an anti-access/area denial bubble in the center, and then way up north, we’re going to go ahead and accept some risk there. We like to use those systems to create counter-fire parity, long-range fires parity with an adversary.”

Similar to the establishment of MDC-PAC, MDC-E was formed last year by blending together the 56th Artillery Command and the 2nd MDTF, both of which are forward-deployed in Germany.

The “Covenant” mentioned by Carpenter is a U.S.-Israeli company that has been developing a long-range strike weapon system called Anthem. It was just confirmed in September that the U.S. Army has been actively engaged in testing of Anthem. This includes a live-fire demonstration in Morocco earlier this year. You can read more about Anthem and the current plans for it here.

“The reason we like those types of systems is because they’re EMI [electromagnetic interference] resilient, they’re longer range, and they’re higher yield, so they can go ahead and destroy like SS-26 systems, SS-21 systems,” the MDC-E commander added.

SS-26 Stone and SS-21 Scarab are the NATO reporting names for Russia’s Iskander-M and the older Soviet-designed OTR-21 Tochka short-range ballistic missiles, respectively. They are both fired from road-mobile launchers. Russia and Ukraine have employed Tochka in the course of their ongoing conflict, though their role on both sides has steadily diminished amid shrinking inventories. Tochka is also increasingly limited in service elsewhere globally. Iskander-M is a much more capable design that has factored heavily into U.S. military planning in Europe for years now. The U.S. military has previously acknowledged that war in Ukraine has led to improvements to that missile that make it even more dangerous and difficult to intercept.

Long-range one-way attack munitions like LUCAS are well suited to striking surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missile launchers, along with other high-value and time-sensitive targets, as TWZ highlights regularly. It’s also worth noting that Iran’s Shahed-136, specifically, traces its roots back to pioneering Israeli developments in munitions of this kind, where the focus initially was explicitly on finding new avenues to neutralize hostile air defenses. Iran has shown Shahed-136s and other related designs being employed in exactly this way in large-scale exercises in the past, as seen in the video below.

More recently, Iranian forces demonstrated just how effective these capabilities could be in a real-world context in retaliatory attacks on prized air defense radars on the opposite side of the Persian Gulf after the United States and Israel launched their open waves of strikes back in February. TWZ previously explored the far-reaching ramifications of this in a detailed feature that you can find here.

Overall, as we’ve previously written:

“When it comes to this class of drone, speed and advanced guidance concepts do not define its utility. Range and cost do. Survivability comes in numbers, and due to their smaller size, use of composite materials, and small internal combustion engine, as well as their slow speed. These attributes, along with their low-altitude flight profile, mean they possess a reduced signature and general level of detectability that can be a challenge for traditionally configured ground-based radars. Despite their smaller signature, the fact that they are still somewhat vulnerable to interception is actually a positive, but we will get to that in a moment.”

“Above all else, the Shahed-136 and other long-range one-way attack drones exist to put a relevantly-sized warhead on a target far from their launch position at the lowest possible cost. It was previously estimated that the Russian Shahed-136 variant costs around $50,000 per copy, with some estimates being far lower. This cost has also likely declined significantly since Russia has mastered the design and drastically ramped up serial production. By comparison, traditional cruise missiles with similar range have costs in the millions of dollars per round, so the price differential is very dramatic. The Shaheds are also just far easier to build and can be produced in much less time than a typical cruise missile.”

The ‘mass’ afforded by LUCAS and other long-range kamikaze drones also imposes problematic cost calculations for opponents when it comes to the air defense equation, and offers a way to rapidly drain an opponent’s stocks of vital interceptors. These are realities the U.S. military is currently grappling with after expending thousands of anti-air interceptors in conflict with Iran and in other crises in the Middle East in recent years, as well as supporting allies and partners, such as Ukraine.

LUCAS, specifically, is already in line to become even more capable through the introduction of a swarming capability, made possible by the Hivemind autonomy software package from Shield AI. As we’ve explained before:

“Using the software, multiple LUCAS drones will be able to share tasks and maneuver cooperatively, making saturation attacks even more effective. As well as the drones dynamically rerouting, avoiding air defenses, and otherwise adapting to changing battlefield conditions, an AI pilot makes it easier for missions to continue despite hostile jamming or loss of datalink connectivity. Indeed, using AI, drone swarms can maintain near-perfect combat efficiency even if it loses members. Drones can be configured with all different payloads, with the swarm’s makeup tailored to each mission, and the AI system can maximize their collective effectiveness at all times.”

The U.S. Army still has many questions to answer about how it will field LUCAS and other long-range one-way-attack drones on a more widespread basis, as well as train personnel to employ them. As evidenced by the establishment of the MDTFs, and now the MDC-PAC and MDC-E formations, the underlying force structure that will go along with all of this is still evolving, as well.

The remarks from Maj. Gen. Bernard Harrington and Brig. Gen. Steven Carpenter at AUSA this week show senior Army leaders are working hard now to lay the groundwork to answer these questions. A clear vision for how LUCAS and similar weapons will be employed in future fights against land-based and maritime threats is taking shape already.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

The post The Army’s Plan For Employing LUCAS Kamikaze Drones Against Its Adversaries appeared first on TWZ.

• There are places all over the country that are said to be haunted.
• The Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, now a museum, is said to be haunted by ex-inmates.
• NBA players have also reported seeing ghosts at the Skirvin Hotel in Oklahoma City.

From homes and hotels to churches, theaters, and cemeteries, there's no shortage of supposedly haunted places across the US.

Nearly every state has its own eerie legends — stories of restless spirits, mysterious footsteps in empty hallways, and unexplained flickering lights that locals swear attest to these spots being haunted.

Many of these sites are also steeped in history, with tragic pasts or notorious events.

Business Insider examined local legends and historic sites to determine the most reportedly haunted locations in every state, with many having reported ghost sightings, strange occurrences, or bloody histories. 

Whether you believe in ghosts or just love a good scare, these haunted places across the US have earned spooky reputations.

Madeline Diamond contributed to an earlier version of this story.

ALABAMA: Sloss Furnaces, Birmingham

The Sloss Furnaces are now a historic national landmark, but in the late 19th century, they produced iron, which was then turned into steel.

James "Slag" Wormwood was the boss at the furnaces, and it's said that he subjected his employees to some inhumane working conditions.

Labor laws didn't exist at the time, and furnace temperatures often exceeded 100 degrees. A total of 47 men died with Wormwood as their boss, and even Wormwood himself lost his life in the furnaces when he slipped and fell into the iron ore, causing his body to melt, Travel South USA reported.

Wormwood and his workers are believed to haunt the furnaces to this day.

ALASKA: Kennecott

Kennecott is a remote Alaskan town that's been mostly abandoned since 1950.

The town was a hub for copper mining from 1911 to 1938, but after the area's copper supply was diminished, Kennecott's population dwindled.

Today, many rickety wooden buildings still stand in Kennecott, and many people believe that they are haunted by former miners and railroad workers, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

ARIZONA: Lost Dutchman State Park, Apache Junction

The Lost Dutchman gold mine is believed to be situated in a state park in Apache Junction, Arizona, although its exact location is unclear.

The park is said to be haunted by the spirits of people who died over the years searching for the mine, the Phoenix New Times reported.

ARKANSAS: Crescent Hotel, Eureka Springs

The Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, takes pride in its reputation as a haunted hotel.

Guests can join ghost tours and catch a glimpse of several ghosts who reportedly haunt the property, including one known as "the girl in the mist."

CALIFORNIA: Bodie

According to the California Department of Parks and Recreation, Bodie, California, is a ghost town turned state park that offers a taste of life during the gold rush of the late 1800s.

Many homes and other buildings are still standing in the town today. Some people believe that the town is haunted by former residents, Legends of America reported.

COLORADO: St. Elmo

St. Elmo, Colorado, was a thriving mining town in the late 1800s, though it was abandoned as soon as the area's mines shut down, History Colorado reported.

The ghost town has been well-maintained, allowing visitors to get a sense of life in the late 19th century. They might even catch a glimpse of ghosts of former residents.

There's a particularly popular ghost story about Annabelle Stark, a woman from St. Elmo who is said to have continued living there even after the town was entirely abandoned.

CONNECTICUT: Old Newgate Prison, East Granby

Connecticut History reported that the Old Newgate Prison was the first prison in the state of Connecticut, operating from 1773 to 1827. Most notably, it once held prisoners of war during the Revolutionary War.

Many people believe that the site is haunted by soldiers and prisoners who died while trying to escape from the prison. 

DELAWARE: Fort Delaware, Delaware City

Fort Delaware is situated on its own island, accessible only by ferry. It was built as a Union fortress during the Civil War and was later used as a prison for Confederate soldiers.

Many prisoners died while held captive, and their ghosts are believed to haunt the property today, the Delaware News Journal reported.

Paranormal tours are currently being offered on Friday and Saturday nights, but visitors need to make a reservation.

FLORIDA: Old St. Johns County Jail, St. Augustine

The Old St. Johns County Jail no longer houses inmates, although the spirits of many of St. Augustine's violent criminals reportedly still haunt the historic jail.

The jail is now a museum, and visitors can go on nighttime "Old Jail After Dark" tours to try to spot the ghosts for themselves. 

GEORGIA: Lucas Theatre, Savannah

Aside from being a beautiful Southern city with tons of history, Savannah, Georgia, is also said to be haunted.

The Lucas Theatre is just one of the city's haunted locales.

According to a local tour company, visitors to the historic theater have reported ghost sightings, including shadowy figures and sounds of applause, even when there's no one around.

HAWAII: 'Iolani Palace, Honolulu

The 'Iolani Palace was once home to Hawaii's royalty, although today it serves as a museum of Hawaiian history.

Queen Lili'uokalani and other Hawaiian royals are said to haunt the palace. One room in the museum is notorious for supernatural activity — visitors have reported hearing mysterious music and chanting, Honolulu Magazine reported.

IDAHO: Old Idaho Penitentiary, Boise

According to the Idaho State Historical Society, the Old Idaho Penitentiary housed some of the area's most dangerous criminals for over 100 years until it closed in 1973.

Visitors can now explore the expansive property in Boise, including jail cells that are reportedly haunted by former inmates.

ILLINOIS: Congress Plaza Hotel, Chicago

The Congress Plaza Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, has almost too many ghost stories to count. The hotel was built for the World's Fair in 1893, and there have been tales of paranormal activity ever since.

For example, the serial killer H.H. Holmes is said to have lured his victims to the hotel. Hotel guests have also reported seeing the ghosts of Al Capone and a ghost called Peg Leg Johnny around the property, Choose Chicago reported.

And if all that isn't spooky enough, the hotel is reportedly the inspiration behind Stephen King's short story, "1408."

INDIANA: Indiana Medical History Museum, Indianapolis

The Indiana Medical History Museum is situated in the oldest surviving pathology building in the United States. It is also said to be haunted by the spirits of former patients of Central State Hospital.

The museum, located in Indianapolis, is home to recreations of amphitheaters and laboratories that were once used by the hospital, which treated a variety of different mental-health-related illnesses from 1848 until the late 1990s, according to the museum.

IOWA: Villisca Ax Murder House, Villisca, Iowa

According to the house's official website, six members of the Moore family, plus two houseguests, were brutally killed by an ax murderer who was never identified on June 10, 1912. Their restless spirits are said to still haunt the grounds.

Guests can visit the house during the daytime, but to experience it in its full creepiness, you can make a reservation to spend the night.

KANSAS: Stull Cemetery, Stull

A haunted cemetery? No surprise there. However, Stull Cemetery in Kansas is known to be particularly spooky. 

The cemetery is located in a tiny, nearly abandoned town outside of Lawrence. It has reportedly been the site of witchcraft and other supernatural activity over the years.

KENTUCKY: Waverly Hills Sanatorium, Louisville

The Waverly Hills Sanatorium started as a one-room schoolhouse in the late 1800s. The Board of Tuberculosis Hospital later purchased the land and built the sanatorium, which opened in 1910 as a small quarantine for tuberculosis patients.

The large building that now stands abandoned was built in 1926 to meet the need for a larger facility; the sanatorium could house over 400 patients, according to its website.

Waverly Hills was its own community, complete with a ZIP code, post office, and water treatment facility. Everyone in the sanatorium — patients, nurses, doctors — was cut off from the outside world. It closed in 1961 after the discovery of an antibiotic that cured tuberculosis.

However, it's believed that some patients never left and still haunt the grounds. Visitors can participate in ghost tours on the hospital grounds during the fall season.

LOUISIANA: St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, New Orleans

One of the most notable people buried at the St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 in New Orleans is Marie Laveau, a voodoo priestess who died in 1881, according to the New Orleans Historical Society.

Given her unique profession, many people believe Laveau's spirit remains present in the cemetery to this day.

Atlas Obscura reported that actor Nicolas Cage bought a burial tomb in the cemetery, so there's no telling about the cemetery's haunted future.

MAINE: Wood Island Lighthouse, Saco

The Wood Island Lighthouse is one of the many beautiful lighthouses on Maine's coastline. It differs, however, in that it's said to be haunted.

In fact, the television show "Ghost Hunters" visited the lighthouse in 2006 to investigate paranormal activity in the area, according to the official Wood Island Lighthouse website.

MARYLAND: Antietam National Battlefield, Washington County

Many people visit the Antietam National Battlefield in Washington County, Maryland, to learn about the history of the Civil War.

However, others visit to explore the supernatural activity at the site of the bloodiest battle of the Civil War.

Given the site's history, it's understandable why many people believe the battlefield is full of spirits. The area is said to be haunted by the ghosts of the soldiers who were killed there in 1862, the Akron Beacon Journal reported.

MASSACHUSETTS: The Mount, Lenox

The Mount in Lenox, Massachusetts, is a historic estate that was once home to the writer Edith Wharton. Aside from being a beautifully restored architectural masterpiece, the estate also has a haunted history.

When she was alive, Wharton herself often wrote about ghosts, so it's no surprise that her former home may be haunted.

Visitors can see for themselves on one of the estate's ghost tours, both online and, hopefully, in person later this season. 

MICHIGAN: Detroit Masonic Temple, Detroit

From cold spots and doors slamming to odd shadows, the Detroit Masonic Temple reportedly has it all.

One ghost in particular said to haunt the 1,037-room building is that of George D. Mason, one of its architects, according to the Detroit Historical Society.

However, while legend goes that Mason, distraught over financial losses and the death of his wife, died by suicide by jumping off the top of the 210-foot building, the historical society says this isn't true. 

"While the story makes for a great Halloween horror tale, it is not true," the Detroit Historical Society states on its website. "George Mason died in 1948 at 91 years old in his home in the Wilshire Apartment building on Grand Boulevard."

MINNESOTA: Fitzgerald Theater, St. Paul

The Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, Minnesota, is the oldest surviving theater in the city, and its rich history is accompanied by some ghost stories.

The theater is perhaps best known for its production of Garrison Keillor's variety show, "A Prairie Home Companion," which began in 1974.

Over the years, visitors to the theater have reported sightings of a ghost named Ben, who apparently used to work on the site as a stagehand, Minnesota Haunted Houses reported.

MISSISSIPPI: King's Tavern, Natchez

King's Tavern in Natchez, Mississippi, now operates as a cooking school where Chef Regina Charboneau hosts cooking classes and dinners, although it once had many stories to accompany its hundreds of years of history, including some that involve ghosts.

According to one blog, the ghost of the mistress of the tavern's first owner — who is said to have been murdered there — reportedly haunted the restaurant.

MISSOURI: Governor's Mansion, Jefferson City

The Governor's Mansion in Jefferson City, Missouri, is one of the state's most beautiful historic buildings, dating back to 1871.

In 1882, the governor's family experienced a tragedy when their 9-year-old daughter, Carrie, died from diphtheria.

Years later, a construction worker who was renovating the mansion reported seeing a young girl playing in the attic, the News Tribune reported in 2014.

Some people believe that he saw the ghost of Carrie.

MONTANA: Daly Mansion, Hamilton

Now a popular wedding and event venue, the Daly Mansion has a reportedly haunted history.

Over the years, the staff at the estate have reported occurrences of paranormal activity, including a gold picture frame that is frequently found removed from the wall and placed on the ground, the Billings Gazette reported.

NEBRASKA: Ball Cemetery, Springfield

With gravestones in Ball Cemetery dating back to the late 1860s, this historic cemetery is one of the oldest in the state.

Multiple spirits have reportedly been sighted here, including a tall, angry man who has been seen kicking over gravestones and a woman named Mary Mumford, who is said to tug at visitors' clothes, according to Nebraska Haunted Houses.

NEVADA: Bowers Mansion, Washoe City

The Bowers Mansion is a stately home in Washoe City, Nevada, with a spooky history.

The home once belonged to local millionaires Eilley and Sandy Bowers, and, as legend has it, after Sandy died, his wife held seances to try to conjure his spirit, Nevada Ghost Towns and Beyond reported.

It's unclear whether she ever managed to reach her husband, although visitors report seeing mysterious figures around the property to this day. 

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Alton Town Hall, Alton

This historic government building in Alton, New Hampshire, is not only a beautiful landmark but also the site of reported paranormal activity, as New Hampshire Magazine reported in 2020.

Locals have reported seeing furniture that moves, doors that open and close on their own, and hearing mysterious voices. 

NEW JERSEY: Pine Barrens

The Pine Barrens in New Jersey are one of the state's spookiest locations.

Condé Nast Traveler reported that the forest spans seven counties and is home to numerous ghost towns.

During the colonial era, the area was bustling with sawmills, paper mills, and towns to accompany them; however, these industries were all abandoned when coal was discovered in Pennsylvania.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that it's also said to be home to the infamous Jersey Devil, a beast that the Pinelands Preservation Alliance describes as "a kangaroo-like creature with the face of a horse, the head of a dog, bat-like wings, horns, and a tail."

NEW MEXICO: The Luna Mansion, Los Lunas

The Luna Mansion, a historic 19th-century estate near Albuquerque, New Mexico, operated as a restaurant until closing in 2020. In 2026, the property began preparing to reopen as an event venue under new ownership, with a haunted-house experience planned for October, according to a local news website.

When the site operated as a restaurant, visitors reported seeing ghosts from the estate's past, including a woman named Josefina, who was the home's interior decorator.

Legends of America reported that one sighting included a rocking chair — placed under her portrait — rocking without anyone in it.

"I hear things," general manager Farid Himeur told KOAT in 2017. "I see things that aren't supposed to happen."

NEW YORK: Letchworth Village, Thiells

Letchworth Village is a former psychiatric hospital that has fallen into a state of complete disrepair, Hudson Valley Magazine reported in 2020.

Located in Thiells, New York, the campus spans 2,000 acres and features various medical buildings, dormitories, and a synagogue.

Like many hospitals and institutions, Letchworth Village is allegedly haunted by the spirits of former patients, and was even featured on the Travel Channel's popular series "Ghost Adventures."

NORTH CAROLINA: Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, Hatteras Island

The Cape Hatteras lighthouse is an iconic fixture on the North Carolina coastline, said to be haunted by a woman named Theodosia Burr, according to a local travel website.

Burr, the daughter of Founding Father Aaron Burr and a character mentioned in the hit musical "Hamilton," was killed in a shipwreck in 1812.

She is believed to haunt the lighthouse and the surrounding shore.

The lighthouse is closed for climbing through at least the end of 2026, with plans to potentially reopen in the summer of 2027.

NORTH DAKOTA: Fort Abraham Lincoln, Mandan

Fort Abraham Lincoln's history dates back to 1872.

George Armstrong Custer, a lieutenant colonel in the Union Army during the Civil War, built the fort but died just four years after its completion. 

People who visit the fort today have reported seeing the ghost of Custer and his wife on the property, local news station KX News.

OHIO: Moonville Tunnel, Vinton County

Now overgrown and covered in graffiti, the Moonville Tunnel is a favorite spot among urban explorers and ghost hunters in Ohio.

The tunnel was once used by the local railroad, although it has been in disrepair for years. According to a local legend, some of the ghosts that haunt the tunnel include an old engineer and a railway brakeman.

OKLAHOMA: The Skirvin Hotel, Oklahoma City

The unique architecture of the Skirvin Hilton Hotel, which dates back to 1911, is striking. The hotel reportedly even offered a private room where guests could drink alcohol during Prohibition, Historic Hotels of America reported.

Opposing NBA teams often stay at the Skirvin Hilton Hotel when they visit the city to play the Oklahoma City Thunder. Over the years, many players have reported ghost sightings, specifically of a woman named Effie who died at the hotel, The New York Times reported.

OREGON: The Shanghai Tunnels, Portland

Travel Portland reported that the Shanghai Tunnels in Portland get their name from the practice of kidnapping and selling men as workers on ships headed to East Asia.

Restless, agitated spirits of men who were drugged and trafficked in the city's ports during the early 19th century are said to haunt the underground tunnels through which they were reportedly sold.

Legend has it that the local saloons had entrances to the tunnels, enabling swindlers to prey on unsuspecting patrons and bring them directly underground before they even knew what was happening.

Visitors can take walking tours to learn more about the dark history of the tunnels.

PENNSYLVANIA: Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia

During its heyday, Eastern State Penitentiary was one of the most expensive and well-known prisons in the world. According to the official Eastern State Penitentiary website, it was built in 1829 and housed notable criminals, including Al Capone and the bank robber known as "Slick Willie."

Up until overcrowding became a problem in 1913, prisoners were kept in complete solitude at all times. Even when prisoners left their cell, a guard would cover their heads so they couldn't see and no one could see them.

Today, the decaying penitentiary offers ghost tours and a museum. Condé Nast Traveler reported that shadowy figures, laughter, and footsteps have all been reported as paranormal activity within the prison walls.

RHODE ISLAND: The Breakers, Newport

The Breakers Mansion is a popular museum for tourists in Newport, Rhode Island, but is said to have paranormal activity.

Alice Vanderbilt, the matriarch of the wealthy Vanderbilt family in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, lived in the mansion for many years after her husband, Cornelius, died.

Her ghost is said to still roam the giant home, Nostalgia Providence reported.

SOUTH CAROLINA: Poinsett Bridge, Greenville

Besides bearing the distinction of South Carolina's oldest bridge, Poinsett is also believed by many to be a particularly spooky spot, Condé Nast Traveler reported.

The bridge, which was built entirely out of stone in 1820, is rumored to be haunted by multiple ghosts.

There's the story of the mason who died while building the bridge; his body is said to be entombed inside it. There's also the story of a man who died here in a car accident in the '50s and an enslaved person who was lynched near the bridge.

SOUTH DAKOTA: The Historic Bullock Hotel, Deadwood

The Bullock Hotel in Deadwood, South Dakota, is reportedly haunted by Deadwood's first Sheriff, Seth Bullock.

According to the hotel's website, guests and staff have seen items "inexplicably moved by unseen hands," and showers turn on out of nowhere.

TENNESSEE: The Orpheum Theatre, Memphis

The Orpheum Theatre in Memphis has survived bankruptcies, a fire, and a threat of demolition since it opened in 1928, according to the theater's website.

Furnished with 2,000-pound chandeliers and gold leafing, its stunning interior seats 2,000 people, but there's also plenty of room for spirits.

A little girl named Mary is one of six ghosts that have been spotted in the theater, according to The Tennessee State Museum. Performers onstage have spotted her in the audience of their shows, and theatergoers have seen her dancing in the lobby.

TEXAS: The Alamo, San Antonio

The Alamo is one of the most iconic monuments in the US.

Given its extensive history, it's understandable why many people believe the site is haunted.

History buffs interested in paranormal activity can go on ghost tours of the site in hopes of catching a glimpse of the spirits of those who died there during the 1836 Battle of the Alamo. 

UTAH: Fort Douglas Military Museum, Salt Lake City

The Fort Douglas Military Museum was formerly known simply as Fort Douglas. Located near the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, the military fort dates back to 1862.

The Daily Utah Chronicle reported in 2014 that visitors to the museum spoke of sightings of a ghost named Clem, a soldier who died at the fort.

Reports of paranormal activity include seeing a figure in Civil War military garb and people feeling something — or someone — breathing down their necks. 

The museum is temporarily closed but will reopen on November 14th.

VERMONT: Emily's Bridge, Stowe

New England is known for its beautiful covered bridges.

However, Emily's Bridge in Stowe, Vermont, is said to be haunted.

According to the Vermont Historical Society, local legend has it that sometime between 1849 and 1949, a young woman named Emily killed herself on the bridge after she was jilted by her lover.

Local lore holds that her spirit has haunted the area ever since, although the historical society claims there is no evidence to suggest that anyone died at the site.

VIRGINIA: Oak Grove Cemetery, Lexington

This cemetery was originally named after Stonewall Jackson, the Confederate general who is buried on the site, but was renamed to Oak Grove Cemetery in 2020.

Located in Lexington, Virginia, the cemetery is said to be haunted by Jackson and other Civil War soldiers, according to the official Visit Virginia website.

WASHINGTON: Northern State Mental Hospital, Sedro-Woolley

Located in northern Washington, this former hospital was once a fully self-sustaining psychiatric facility.

The Northern State Mental Hospital operated from 1912 to 1976, and although it has been closed for many years, many of its buildings still stand today.

It's said that thousands of patients may have died here, and a graveyard behind the old gymnasium has many unmarked graves.

However, the Seattle Times reported in 2023 that two never-before-released death registers contain information on patients who died at Northern State Hospital between 1911 and 1963.

Some of the hospital's expansive property now operates as a recreational area, although it's said to be haunted by former patients. 

WEST VIRGINIA: Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, Weston

Originally built as a place of healing, the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum welcomed its first patients in 1864.

According to the hospital's official website, it hit its peak in 1950 when the psychiatric hospital was home to 2,400 patients, many of whom endured lobotomies and electroshock therapy.

Mental health reforms and the building's poor condition led to the hospital's closure in 1994. However, many patients died there during the facility's 130 years of operation. Some are believed to haunt the building's halls, which is why it attracts visitors and ghost hunters.

Visitors interested in exploring paranormal activity can join ghost tours on the site.

WISCONSIN: The Pfister Hotel, Milwaukee

The Pfister Hotel is popular among professional athletes who visit Milwaukee for games, although the hotel's haunted history has made many guests skeptical about staying there.

Guests have reported hearing mysterious knocking sounds and voices.

The Los Angeles Times reported in 2005 that Adrián Beltré of the Los Angeles Dodgers said he couldn't sleep during his stay at the Pfister because of the strange noises. 

WYOMING: The Historic Occidental Hotel, Buffalo

A stay at the Historic Occidental Hotel in Buffalo, Wyoming, is like taking a step back in time to the Old West.

Famous figures from the era, like Butch Cassidy, Calamity Jane, Buffalo Bill, and even President Theodore Roosevelt, have visited the hotel over the years.

Given the hotel's rich history, it's no surprise that some people believe it is haunted by former guests, and it was even featured on the Travel Channel's "Dead Files."

A plan for a new military weapons “super range” test center in Montana announced by President Donald Trump Wednesday night seeks to address a growing concern about the need for more such facilities. As the U.S. races to develop autonomous capabilities, hypersonic munitions, laser and directed energy weapons and improved electronic warfare systems, a limiting factor has been the lack of suitable locations for testing.

While the U.S. military has a wide array of installations where it can test these systems, it’s still not enough. In addition to the massive increase in weapons development and the need for more realistic training, the changing nature of war is outstripping the capacity of existing facilities as future kill webs will extend thousands of miles, not hundreds. There are only so many places with enough space to try out these systems even to a limited degree without butting up against statutes and regulations while also avoiding interference with civilian air traffic and communications, all in an environment remote enough to avoid prying eyes. The need for more and bigger testing grounds is an issue TWZ has long raised.

In addition to the backdrop of the increase in a wide range of weapons testing, much of it aimed at China, Trump’s super range announcement was delivered as the Pentagon and services are specifically creating commands dedicated to autonomous weapons. On Tuesday, during the annual Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) conference in Washington, D.C., attended by TWZ, the acting Army Secretary unveiled one such new command, which we will discuss in greater detail later in this story.

“I’m pleased to inform ​you and announce that right here in Montana, the Department of War is ⁠going ⁠to establish a new ⁠”super range” ​for testing advanced weapons and technologies, technologies including potential autonomous weapons, space, and electronic ​warfare technology, supersonics and ⁠hypersonics,” Trump said during a campaign rally in Kalispell. “Montana will help ensure the American military always reigns supreme.”

Trump provided no additional details about where this new “super range” will be located, when it will come online, exactly which systems will be tested or how much it will cost.

Thursday morning, the office of U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy noted that he has been “a strong advocate for building an advanced training range in Montana, securing $10 million for a feasibility study in the FY27 National Defense Authorization Act that passed the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this year.”

“The 21st-century battlefield is being redefined by new weapons and evolving technical frontiers that require a novel approach to how America will resource its warfighting capabilities,” the senator said in a statement. “Contested spectrum, electronic warfare, hypersonics, space capabilities and enhanced targeting require a new class of testing and evaluation facilities for our military. The U.S. faces a clear choice: adapt and expand our development infrastructure to the realities of modern warfare, or risk falling behind adversaries who iterate faster.”

The Montana Republican highlighted the value of his state’s huge swaths of undeveloped land for this effort.

“By combining our state’s vast landscapes, innovative spirit, and proud tradition of military service, we are the Last Best Place to ensure America’s fighting men and women have the technological edge they need to dominate the battlefield and win the wars of tomorrow,” he explained.

Like Trump, Sheehy offered no specifics about exactly where in Montana the “super range” will be located, when it will come online or how much it will cost. We have reached out to the White House, Sheehy and the Pentagon for more details. The Pentagon deferred us to the White House, which referred us back to the Pentagon. We also contacted the office of U.S. Sen. Steve Daines and Gov. Greg Gianforte.

There are already a number of facilities in Montana conducting the kind of military weapons testing described by Trump. One that closely matches what would be needed from such a location is the Montana Spaceport & Test Range and the affiliated Limestone Hills Innovation & Test Campus. A public-private aerospace and defense initiative, it already conducts testing for next-generation space vehicles, hypersonic, supersonic and ballistic weapons, drones and counter-drone systems and electronic warfare equipment.

Another potential site could be an expansion of the Big Sky Autonomous Systems Range (BSASR). Located near Bozeman, it is “the Lobo Institute’s primary training and testing facility for U.S. and allied military, federal, and partner organizations.” Operated under the Lobo Tactical division, BSASR is “a 6,000-acre, fully fenced complex purpose-built for advanced unmanned aerial systems operations, full-spectrum live fire, mounted and dismounted mobility, and full mission profile exercises grounded in the latest tactics, techniques, and procedures from active conflict zones,” according to the Lobo Institute. “The range pairs realistic terrain with the regulatory, infrastructure, and instructor depth required to train against the operational realities of today’s and tomorrow’s battlefields — and it does so in a remote, controlled environment where units can push hard while keeping risk to acceptable levels.”

We have reached out to both facilities for more details.

The new super range could also leverage existing range space on the ground and in the air. There is also the large Hays Military Operations Area (MOA) which could be expanded for this new test range effort. MOAs are blocks of airspace designated for military training. Malmstrom Air Force Base and its ICBM fields could also potentially be utilized. Overall, it’s possible a number of existing range areas could be interconnected, both digitally and via airspace corridors, to create a larger complex, as well.

The Pentagon has long realized the need to increase the areas where it can test out these systems, especially to evaluate them under combat-like conditions.

“The current open-air range space should be increased and better integrated to support system-of-systems assessments of air, land, and sea combat systems with capability for emerging long-range fires, hypersonic missiles, EMS warfare, unmanned systems, nuclear effects, and directed energy (DE) weapons,” the Pentagon’s Director of Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E) stated in a report last year. “The DoW needs to invest in and coordinate expanding and connecting the airspace available to the open-air ranges enabling testing and training of advanced capabilities.”

The current facilities are inadequate, DOT&E further explained.

“Threat systems and our own capabilities far exceed the current available air space on the open-air ranges,” according to the report. “The ranges need support and assistance to coordinate additional airspace and corridors with the FAA and industry. Expanding and connecting range air space is necessary to facilitate testing and training critical long-range capabilities that our warfighters need and to replicate the threats they will face.”

In addition, the report states that “to test missiles with longer ranges and gather data to support simulation validation, including for hypersonic missiles, the DoW should invest in long-range, overland missile flight test corridors with land-based impact areas and mobile hypersonic-specific range instrumentation to produce the required lethality data against threat-representative targets for terminal area assessments.”

The Defense Department had largely been conducting the testing of hypersonic weapons — those that can reach speeds of Mach 5 and above — at sea given the need for the long ranges for evaluation. Still, even that was limited. The Pentagon restricted the number and location of hypersonic tests it carried out each year because of the aging fleet of ships it used as its primary data collection assets to track the capabilities while in flight.

Retired Block 20 and Block 30 RQ-4 Global Hawks belonging to the U.S. Air Force, reconfigured as RangeHawks under the SkyRange hypersonic weapon testing infrastructure program, would help address some of those restrictions. You can read more about that in our story here.

However, if testing moves to an overland phase, the need for expanded air corridors could grow increasingly critical. Last year, the Pentagon’s Test Resource Management Center (TRMC) identified three candidate locations to perform those tests, one over Alaska, another at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico and a third in Australia, Defense News reported at the time.

Hypersonic testing in Australia is already underway. Earlier this month, we broke the news that the U.S. Air Force’s scramjet-powered Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM) had finally reached the flight test phase, with at least one “release” having been carried out so far over a range in Australia.

The military is also looking to expand where it can test electronic warfare systems to help ease the bottleneck at White Sands and a few other locations. Such testing is limited due to U.S. restrictions on jamming, which can interfere with civilian systems.

Before he resigned after tensions with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, former Army Secretary Dan Driscoll in June said the service had plans to set up at least two domestic ranges that mimic realistic conditions on Ukraine’s battlefields, where the electromagnetic spectrum is a highly contested domain. This spectrum would be even more heavily disputed in a fight with China.

“You can have a kind of electronic warfare and all of the contested environment created, and you can have drone manufacturers and counter-drone tool-builders engaging together,” Driscoll told reporters. “Then, we also want soldiers to be able to go there, so that they can strengthen their skills and work hand-in-hand with developers.”

Driscoll said there are already places in the U.S. where the Army can test safely, and separately, the service is looking at a global range outside the U.S. to do “much more aggressive testing,” including with hypersonics. When asked, Driscoll declined to say where these ranges would be until planning is farther along. 

“At least some of the current counter-drone training for soldiers, like one CBS News saw in April, does not include electronic jamming — in part because the U.S. restricts jamming domestically,” CBS reported.

In August, the Army opened premier test ranges for the use of private industry to conduct internal research and development. Additionally, the service co-hosted a Denied, Disrupted, Intermittent and Limited testing environment, at Camp Grayling in September, and there are three more scheduled for Fiscal Year 2027, an Army spokesperson told us.

Trump’s news about the “super range” was delivered as the Pentagon and the services are working to ramp up the development and production of a range of autonomous systems.

Last month, as we noted earlier in this story, the Pentagon announced plans for a new functional combatant command, very broadly akin to U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) or U.S. Space Command (SPACECOM), but for operational activities involving autonomous and robotic capabilities. In addition, Hegseth also announced new initiatives to help further accelerate the fielding of uncrewed systems in the air, at sea, and on land, as well as to explore future warfighting challenges. All of this builds on previous and long-overdue efforts to prioritize the fielding of various tiers of drones, as well as artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies, across domains, but there are questions about how these new efforts will translate into tangible developments.

On Tuesday, acting Army Secretary Adam Telle announced the creation of the service’s Futures and Autonomous Systems Command (FASCOM).

“This is our way to make sure that we take all of the great work that’s been happening with the resources that we have today, and we centralize it,” Telle said. “We’re pushing autonomy down into our units, but when it comes to having and making sure that the left hand in the Army knows what the right hand of the Army is doing, this happens at FASCOM; then FASCOM feeds up into AutoWarCom.”

Telle added that FASCOM “will work with the other services to create scale for purchasing power and share best practices on autonomy.”

“It is too soon to speculate about anything related to FASCOM,” the Army told us. “Specifics on structure, command, mission, etc. will be announced at a future dates [and] will require the kind of additional testing facilities that a new Montana super range could provide.”

The use of highly cooperative autonomous weapons platforms that can swarm and operate collectively over large areas will also tax existing ranges beyond their capacity.

Details about the new range proposed by Trump are scant, and it remains to be seen whether it will live up to the hype or even be built. As we noted earlier in this piece, a feasibility study, which hasn’t even been funded yet, is still needed before major work can begin. However, if and when it does come online, a new Montana test range will be welcomed by a military in need of additional places to test out its latest capabilities.

Contact the author: howard@twz.com

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