Residents of Joplin, Missouri found out their local ghost story was just “a pipe dream” according to the Joplin Globe (1929). A disembodied voice that sounded like it was coming from the “bowels of the earth” was repeatedly heard near a cottage at 12th Street and Michigan Avenue. A ghost moving around in a pasture next to the cottage was also reported. The cause? Child’s play!
A brother and sister found that talking into a drainage pipe in their yard would frighten their playmates and neighbors as it created spooky sounds. The kids even took it to the next level by creating a ghost with a broomstick and a sheet.
Source: 27 August 1929, Joplin Globe, Joplin, Missouri (pg. 2)
It Was Not a Ghost 