HONOLULU, HI (KHON/CNN) -
An Australian family claims they captured an incredible image from above the USS Arizona of a face beneath the waters of Pearl Harbor.
Susan De Vanny and her family said the face appeared in the shimmering oil in the water above the wrecked ship where it remains as a memorial to the sailors who died during the Dec. 7, 1941 attacks on the Hawaiian harbor.
After taking the haunting photo, De Vanny showed the picture to her husband.
"I said just have a look at the photo, and he said, 'Oh my gosh, it's a face,' and then the kids saw it, and they go, 'Oh wow'," De Vanny said.
De Vanny described the ghostly figure in the water as looking very sad and young.
More than 1,100 sailors died aboard the USS Arizona during the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941.
Most of the bodies were never recovered.
The USS Arizona is the famous United States Navy battleship that was sunk in the infamous attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii which put the United States into World War II. The sunken hull of the ship now serves as a national monument. There are only a few bits of the ship that still remain above the waterline, including the deck. Below the waterline contains the hull where the remains of the dead sailors from the day of the attack on December 7th, 1941, still lay. The hull still leaks oil from the bunkers even after all these years.
Many people believe that the ship is haunted.
Some people believe that the ship was cursed before it first ever went off to sea. This was because when the ship was launched, it was christened by a bottle of water, rather than a bottle of whine. Any old sailor will tell you that not following the rules of the sea is not a wise decision, and more often that not, nothing good will come out of it. The story of the ghost goes that on the morning of December 7th, 1941, the officer of the deck wasn’t at his post due to personal reasons. In his absence, the Japanese began their attack, and the officer died in the blast. The guilt-stricken officer is believed to haunt the ship, walking the deck at low tide and looking out at the water near the flagpole. Also, many pictures that are taken of the ship reveal orbs, foggy spots, and shadowy mists.