Cemetery Ghost Baby
This remarkable photo was allegedly captures by a woman named Mrs. Andrews, who was visiting her daughters grave in a cemetery in Queensland, Australia. Some reports state that the grave in question also includes her 29 year old son, Cecil.
Joyce, Mrs. Andrews daughter, died about a year before the photograph was taken – in either 1946 or 1947.
You’d be forgiven for assuming this ghostly image is that of Joyce herself , however, she was 17 years old when she passed away. Similarly, Mrs. Andrews apparently stated that this baby was not one she recognised, and was certainly not Joyce (or her brother) as a baby.
However, paranormal researcher,Tony Healy, is said to have visited the site and noticed the graves of two infant girls close by. This makes sense as – according to my own experience in the funeral industry – under 18s are often buried in their own peaceful section of a cemetery.
If we are to believe such things are possible, could the ghost in the photo be one of these infant girls? Possibly.
What strikes be about the image is the absolute clarity of the supposed ghost.
We can probably rule out fraudulent photoshopping as the photo was taken in the years before it was readily available. I think it’s also safe to rule out a case of pareidolia – seeing faces and people-like things where there aren’t any – again, due to the clarity of the image.
This leaves us with the possibility of a double exposure – either purposefully or accidental – or a real photo. Again, the clarity of the supposed ghost doesn’t sit well with me personally.
We then encounter the problem with this – and any other paranormal photo ever taken: What does it take to prove a photograph of a ghost is real?
If it’s too clear, we supposed its somehow tampered with, accidentally or otherwise. If it’s too blurry, or unfocused, it could be any number of things, from a bug on the lens, to pareidolia to, perhaps, a real live ghost.
According to the story, Mrs. Andrews found no other anomalies with the film in her camera. She also didn’t recognise the baby as belonging to family or friends. Could this rule out the double exposure theory?
Well, I don’t think so. Back in the 40s, photography was a complicated affair and pictures would have been developed at home or in a professional premises.
Perhaps, when the photo of the grave was developed, an accidental double exposure was created with another family’s photo. More conspiratorially, maybe this was done on purpose, by a photo developer than wanted to create their own ghost story.
Truthfully, I’d like to think this image was an accident, although it’s more likely a fake. Maybe Mrs. Andrews doesn’t exist at all, and is just the pseudonym for a tricky photographer. Or maybe coincidence resulted in a photo that could bring peace to those who with lost love ones. I’d like to give it the benefit of the doubt.
Creep Factor: 💀💀💀 – Babies and graves shouldn’t mix.
Believability: 💀 💀 +1/2 – A bit too perfect. Most likely a double exposure, either accidental or on purpose.
The Disembodied Hand
“WAS IT A GHOST?
“’I send you a photograph of a ‘mysterious hand.’ The bureau depicted was sent to my studios to be photographed for a trade furniture dealer, when two negatives were taken—one with the bureau closed (in this no hand showed), and then the one here reproduced. Being late in the day, the plate had thirteen minutes’ exposure, and I can vouch that no one went near the bureau during this period, nor was there a mirror or any reflector in the studio. The bureau itself was not highly polished, and though I looked through the camera afterwards I am unable in any way to account for the presence of the armless hand. It is no “trick’ photograph, but to myself, who have exposed and developed thousands of plates, an unsolved mystery. The negative, I may add, is open to anyone’s inspection.’— Mr. Montague Cooper, photographer, Taunton.”
This was the letter that accompanied the above picture in a 1903 issue of The Strand Magazine, a famous 20th Century magazine in which Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes first appeared.
The magazine features a “Curiosities” section which encouraged readers to share their strange experiences or photographs, where the above was printed.
So, what do we make of this strange hand? Could it be a supernatural force reaching out from beyond the grave?
Probably not. Trickery was alive and well in the early days of photography, and the craze for Spirit Photography reflected the Victorian’s emerging interest in spiritualism.
Much like the supposed ghost baby above, the translucent nature of this disembodied hand and its sharp form ring true of a double exposure.
The image’s source – straight from a photographer, who would conceivably have the knowledge to create such an image – is a little too suspicious for my liking.
Then again, maybe someone was reaching out to write one last letter?
Creep Factor: 💀 – Not that creepy
Believability: 💀 – highly suspicious origins, and a quick way for a photographer to make a few bucks from a creepy magazine.
The Phantom Pilot
This creepy photo was taken during a visit to the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton, Somerset, England in 1987.
Mrs. Sayer, the woman inn the photograph, hopped in to a retired helicopter that had seen action in the Falklands War. While she thought she was alone in the cockpit, she apparently stated that it felt rather cold, but otherwise normal.
It wasn’t until the photo was developed that the phantom pilot was seen.
Now, once again, photoshop wasn’t widely available in the 80s, so I’d say we can rule that out. Could we be looking at a photo of a real ghost?
Well, skeptics will say this is likely a case of pareidolia due to the unfocused image. The white of the pilot’s ‘shirt’ may be overexposed and contributing to this.
But I’m not so sure. The collar at the neck, the wrinkles under his right arm seem a little too literal to be a case of mistaken identity.
I think, if Mrs. Sayer wasn’t sitting next to someone who looked a little ghostly when the photo was developed and the family/friends decided to make a story out of it, she may be sitting next to a real spook.
Like buildings, machines that have played host to emotive experiences are just as likely to retain some energy of the event – if you are to believe in that sort of thing. Perhaps a helicopter pilot from beyond the grave thought he’d make an appearance next to Mrs. Sayer.
Creep Factor: 💀 💀 💀 – There’s definitely something sitting next to Mrs. Sayer
Believability: 💀 💀 💀 1/2 – Personally, I like this one, but we can’t rule out an overexposure is contributing to some pareidolia.
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The Hawthorn Files 