The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco has been the site of over 1,800 known suicides since it opened in 1937, making it one of the most common suicide locations in the world. This tragic history has given rise to persistent reports of paranormal activity on and around the bridge. Pedestrians crossing the bridge have reported hearing disembodied voices crying for help or calling out names, particularly on foggy nights when visibility is reduced. Some walkers have described the sensation of a hand grabbing their arm or pressing on their back as they cross, and at least one person has reported seeing a translucent figure climb the railing and leap before vanishing. Workers who maintain the bridge have described hearing screams below the roadway on calm nights when no incidents have been reported, and some have seen lights bobbing beneath the span in the waters of the Golden Gate. The fog that frequently envelops the bridge adds to its haunted atmosphere, reducing the 4,200-foot span to a narrow corridor of orange steel emerging from white mist. Whether the reported phenomena are genuine hauntings, psychological effects of the location's known history, or tricks of the fog and wind, the Golden Gate Bridge's supernatural reputation has become part of San Francisco's broader relationship with the otherworldly.
