Top Ten Famous Ghost Pictures
Psychic Medium Craig Hamilton-Parker reveals the ten most spooky ghost pictures of all time. Are they real or fake, phantom or fraud? You decide.
I have a monthly newspaper in Take a Break’s Fate and Fortune Magazine called ‘Phantoms on Film’. Have you got a snapshot that’s spooking you out? I have studies thousands of paranormal photos, so send yours to the magazine and I’ll give you my expert verdict. You’ll get £50 if you snap gets selected. You can send in your pic at the magazine’s website.
Now it’s your turn to analyse the Top Ten Famous Ghost Pictures of all time. I have given my verdict – what do you have to say? Are these real ghost pictures with a psychic origin or are they just oddities that we can explain away or should simply ignore? Please post your comments at the bottom of this article. You may also be interested in another article on a similar topic.
MORE: Check out my post about whether Ouija Boards are safe to use. What do you think about these horror stories?
GHOST PICTURE 1
TITLE: THE GHOST ON THE STAIRS
In 1966, a retired Canadian Clergyman Ralph Hardy photographed the staircase at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London. He saw nothing unusual at the time of taking the picture but was horrified to see the strange ghostly figure lurking in the shadows.
Craig’s verdict: Although experts at the time concluded that no one had tampered with the negative I have my doubts. The picture smacks of trickery as it is just as you would expect a ghost to look. During nearly 30 years as a medium I have never had a communication from a spirit dressed in spooky hooded clothing. This is the stuff of fantasy.
GHOST PICTURE 2
TITLE: BACKSEAT DRIVER
In 1959 Mrs Mabel Chinnery went to the cemetery to visit her mother’s grave. She took a photo of the grave, then a picture of her husband who was sitting alone in the car waiting for her. When the snap shot was developed Mrs Cinnery’s mother appeared in the back seat of the car. An expert who examined the photo and negatives declared: “I stake my reputation on the fact that the picture is genuine!”
Craig’s Verdict: This could be a real spirit communication. I believe it is possible for a spirit to appear on film in order to give comfort to their loved ones and this could be one of those instances. Or could it be that this is a case of a mother-in-law nagging from beyond the grave.
MORE: ORBS – HAVE YOU SEEN A DEAD PERSONS FACE IN AN ORB?
GHOST PICTURE 3
TITLE: The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall
This photo was taken on September 19th, 1936 at 4 P.M. during a photo shoot for Country Life Magazine at Raynham Hall in Norfolk, England. The ghost had been seen on a number of occasions by credible witnesses.
The photographer reportedly saw her coming down the stairs, and began yelling to a colleague, who claims she did not see anything.
It has been argued that this photo is a double exposure but many other photography experts think otherwise.
Craig’s Verdict: I have seen similar effects to this caused by a smudge of Vaseline or fingerprint on the lens. At the time a professor was asked to look at the photos and claimed they we fakes. I am however a bit sceptical of the sceptics used in this debunk. The ‘professor’ was not a ‘professor’ of photography or of ‘hard science’, but of English. The jury is still out on this one.
TITLE: BORLEY RECTORY GHOST
The Borley Rectory near the river Stour, Essex, was known as the most haunted house in the UK until it mysteriously burnt down in 1939. At least two thousand Poltergeist phenomena were experienced at the Rectory between October 1930 and October 1935 during the tenancy of Lionel and Marianne Foyster. Many of these were investigated by the famous parapsychologist Harry Price. The picture here is claimed to be of the ghost caught on camera.
Craig’s Verdict: Poltergeist activity may not necessarily be caused by spirits. Often it is the energy of living people that is projected into the environment and causes objects to move. There was so much press hysteria about the haunting at the time that is now hard to sort the real phenomena from the fantasy.
TITLE: GHOST ON EBAY
This modern photo was featured as part of an auction of an item on EBay. There are two strange figures near the grave one appearing to lean over the grave and the other of a woman who appears to be looking at us from beside the tree. Both are in modern dress and very life like.
Craig’s verdict: It is certainly an intriguing image that has done its rounds on the Internet but without more background information it is hard to know if the image has been faked. I would class this picture as a ‘Simulacra’ – is a Latin word originally meaning an object representing something for example when you see faces in the clouds or the face of Jesus in a slice of burnt toast.
GHOST PICTURE 6
TITLE: GHOST TRAIN
This photos was taken in 1960’s on the last trip of the famous Alberta Steam Train made before being retired from service. Some of the train driver believed that the train was haunted and this picture appears to reveal the culprit. Nearby and just out of shot is a pub called The Flying Scotsman which has had a long history of alleged paranormal phenomena. Look in the cab window. Could this be the ghost of the train?
Craig’s verdict: This picture was sent to my website by the son of the man pictures and I will vouch for the fact that there was no trickery involved or photo retouching.
GHOST PICTURE 7
TITLE: RAINFOREST SPOOK
This photograph became famous when millions of people forwarded it to one another on the Internet. Part of the message read: “ We were three friends Gaurav, Akshat and Chetan. We went on summer holidays to Sunderbans (INDIA) a rainforest reserve. We were taking each others photographs when Chetan asked us to take his photograph. We took his photograph but suddenly after that he said why did u take this photograph when u could see this lady standing next to me. Three days later Chetan died.”
Craig’s verdict: An obvious a fake.
GHOST PICTURE 8
TITLE: GHOST OF LORD COMBERMERE
This photograph of the Combermere Abbey library was taken in 1891. The figure of a man can faintly be seen sitting in the chair to the left. His head, collar and right arm on the armrest are clearly discernable. It is believed to be the ghost of Lord Combermere – a British cavalry commander in the early 1800s who had investigated the the famous “Moving Coffins” of Barbados.
Craig’s verdict: This is probably an accidental double exposure cause when using a slow shutter speed. A servant might have come into the room and sat briefly in the chair, creating the transparent image.
GHOST PICTURE 9
TITLE: GHOST SQUADRON
This photo is a group portrait of Sir Victor Goddard squadron, which had served in World War I aboard the HMS Daedalus. However an extra face appeared on the photo which the sitters claimed was the face of Freddy Jackson, an air mechanic who had been accidentally killed by an airplane propeller and whose funeral was taking place on the day the picture was taken.
Craig’s verdict: During WW1 it was commonplace to use the new and exciting technique of superimposing images of family members who had been killed at the front into family photographs. These images were not claimed to be supernatural but a token of remembrance. Maybe the photographer was trying to be helpful? Or maybe the ghost of Freddy dropped in to reassure his friends that he had survived death.
GHOST PICTURE 10
TITLE: MURDERER CONFESSES
This is a very early photograph from a glass plate and was taken in Brazil. These early pictures required the sitters to remain still as the image was taken. The photographer was not a Spiritualist or medium but claimed that he actually saw, through his camera lens, the lady who has transposed herself onto this photograph. Two weeks after the photograph was taken the man confessed to the spirit extra’s murder.
Craig’s verdict: It is much harder to tamper with glass plates than with negatives or digital images. I am however a little worried that the picture looks like a double exposure. Perhaps the photographer set a trap or could it be that the spirit world found a way to point the finger? Be sure your sins will find you out!
Now tell me what you think. Are these phantoms or fakes?
This post was written by
Craig Hamilton-Parker – who has written 175 posts on .CRAIG HAMILTON-PARKER is a celebrated U.K. medium who has confounded skeptics by the uncanny accuracy of his readings. Craig and his wife, Jane, have demonstrated mediumship over the media to millions of television viewers worldwide. His Psychic School and Online Psychic School have been showcased by the BBC in a series of three one-hour documentaries. Craig Hamilton-Parker also writes articles and columns about psychic and mediumistic phenomena for national newspapers around the world. His popular website, www.psychics.co.uk, has a community of teaching mediums that meet in its chat rooms for regular debate and practice. It also has additional details of the cases discussed here and other documented cases of mediumship.
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