Ultimate proof that ghosts exist

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Mike Wade

Are these the five best ghost photographs?

A courtly figure dressed in a ruff and staring from a castle window would not be particularly unusual if he appeared in a period painting. But this image was captured on a digital camera some 500 years after the Elizabethan era and has for thousands of people around the world become the ultimate proof that ghosts exist.

The photograph, taken at Tantallon Castle near Edinburgh last May, was released yesterday by Professor Richard Wiseman, a psychologist, who “just for fun” embarked three weeks ago on an online research project, inviting websurfers to send him their photos of ghosts.

The response, he said, was “beyond all expectation”. Hundreds of images were sent his way, from as far afield as Mexico and Japan. Then, after 50 of the best images were placed online, some 250,000 people voted for the most convincing.

The array of smudged photographs and crazy fakes that caught the interest of this huge audience may do little to prove the existence of ghosts, but it indisputably proves a human need to believe in them, said Professor Wiseman, of the University of Hertfordshire. “That belief is everywhere, across countries and cultures. It plays on much bigger ideas about life and death, and there's no doubt that, for many of the people who contacted me, there is comfort in the notion that people who have been harmed in life might be able to come back and wreak their revenge.”

In Britain around a third of people say that they believe in ghosts and one in ten claims to have seen one. Proof, however, remains elusive.

One explanation put forward by ghost hunters and some physicists is that in some environments low frequency sound waves - infrasound — vibrate the body, and lead to strange sensations. While Professor Wiseman does not rule that out, he believes that psychology may have a better answer, particularly in oppressive and frightening surroundings such as a ruined castle.

“In the hypervigilance model, as you become scared, you become more on edge. You begin to monitor you own environment and your own physiology,” he said. “In those circumstances, if you hear a sound like a creaking door, it only heightens your own sense of vigilance. The spiral goes on and you might easily have a panic attack.

“From an evolutionary perspective, all this is sensible, because it is comparable to a situation in the "normal world" where you might come under attack. But in these oppressive surroundings, the seemingly inexplicable becomes very worrying and you begin to look for other explanations.”

Many of the images submitted to his survey were sent in by people who had found themselves in similarly unnerving environments; dark, dusty, unfamiliar and scary. They had taken photographs, and interpreted “orbs”, the reflection of dust in a camera flash light, as evidence of ghosts. Most of these pictures, said Professor Wiseman, were “rubbish”.

He could not say the same for the photograph taken at Tantallon Castle, which, though undeniably spooky, had been photographed by a day-tripper, Christopher Aitchison, who apparently had no thought of finding a ghost. If was only back home, when he was examining his snaps of the day out, that he noticed the ghostly visage. Three experts on Photoshop, the photography software, have analysed the image and concluded that it has not been tampered with, and Professor Wiseman has been unable so far to find any convincing explanation for the ghostly apparition.

“I do find the Tantallon image curious. People are often keen to find ghostly explanations, and to kid themselves about the paranormal. But equally, science must be open to possibility - you have to hold fire when you can't explain something, or you haven't all the information,” he said.

Believers in the spirit world have suggested that the spectre in Mr Aitchison's photograph is James V, the Scottish King who was imprisoned in the castle in the 1520s when he was a teenager. None has yet been able to suggest why his spirit should have returned to haunt the place as, apparently, a full-grown man.

If that seems inexplicable, there may be another solution, said Professor Wiseman. “It could just be a trick of the light.”

Ghosts in their machine

The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall is probably the most famous image of an alleged ghost captured on film. It was taken in 1936 and is said to show Dorothy Walpole, second wife of Charles, 2nd Viscount Townshend, who died in 1729.

The image was taken by Captain Provand and Indre Shira, photographers on assignment for Country Life magazine at Raynham Hall in Norfolk. While they were shooting pictures of its interior, Shira said that he could see a figure on the staircase. Provand could not, but took the photograph anyway. It later revealed a transparent hooded figure descending the stairs. When it was published in Britain and America, the image caused a sensation.

A contemporary investigation, conducted by the Society for Psychical Research, concluded that an equipment failure had been responsible. Professor Richard Wiseman suggests that the image is the result of a double exposure — a failing that has resulted in many similar ghostly apparitions on older cameras.

Double exposure has disappeared with the advent of the digital camera but even modern photographers see spectres. “Orbs” — the reflections of dust in a camera flash — can create an eerie effect while a finger placed carelessly over the lens can convince some people that they have seen a ghost.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk...983612.ece

[AndrewX]

A photograph of any sort coming from a source one does not know personally, especially if that source is in any way connected with or approved by Reuters, is not proof at of any sort given todays methods of graphics manipulation AND the established intent of the Rothschilds who soley own Rueters.

[Richard]

You have a good point. What's interesting about this photo is it is kind of like one taken in 30 years ago. Here's the story.

Second 'ghost' sighting at Tantallon Castle

The Telegraph
Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:03 UTC

Photo of a second 'ghost' picture taken at Tantallon Castle, which has emerged after 32 years.

A second photograph of a "ghost" at Tantallon Castle has surfaced, taken more than three decades before another that recently emerged.

Last week a picture taken at the ruined Scottish castle on the East Lothian coast was voted the world's most convincing ghost snap.

It appeared to show a figure clad in Tudor dress and a ruff peering out of a crumbling window.

The photographer who took the picture last May claimed he saw no one there, and tests have ruled out digital tampering.

Experts suggested the image might have been a trick of the light, but confirmed sceptic Professor Richard Wiseman admitted he was puzzled.

The second photo was taken by Grace Lamb, from Edinburgh, at the same location 32 years ago.

It shows her late husband Hugh and two children Paul and Kelly - and behind them, what looks like a female figure staring out of an opening above the window in the original ghost photo.

As before, Mrs Lamb does not recall seeing the face when she pressed the camera button.

The figure was only noticed when the photograph was developed and has been a topic of heated debate by the family ever since.

The family sent the photo to Prof Wiseman after seeing news coverage of the original Tantallon "ghost".

Prof Wiseman, from Hertfordshire University, headed a panel of experts looking at ghost pictures from around the world as part of a project for Edinburgh International Science Festival.

He said: "I am sceptical about ghosts, but this is a great find. There has been a huge number of people visiting the project website and I have received hundreds of images, but this is one of the most curious."

Alex Pryce, of the Edinburgh Skeptics group, was unconvinced. He said: "When the picture is enlarged, it is quite obvious it is a woman with a carrier bag in her hand and her handbag over her shoulder. It is a woman in a pink jacket coming down some stairs with a shopping bag."

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/180789...lon-Castle

[Richard]

The Tantallon Castle Photograph:

An Initial Investigation

We have carried out an initial investigation into the Tantallon Castle photograph.

1) Has the image been digitally manipulated?
We first showed the image to Steve Sayers, Art Editor of BBC Focus, who noted: "The image doesn’t show any signs of been altered at all, I’ve checked the RGB channels which is usually a give away, and also the level of noise, grain and focus. However, after enhancing the shadows it looks like it could be somebody coming down the spiral staircase".

2) Could it be a real person?
Tantallon Castle is located on the East Coast of Scotland, just a few miles away from North Berwick. We visited the site and found the area directly behind the grille is open to the public, and has a considerable footfall because it is at the intersection of a staircase and two battlements.

Here is Richard Wiseman standing and kneeling down at the grille. Thus it is possible that a member of the public could be in that area.

3) Is the 'figure' due to the light reflecting off of the rocks at the back of the opening?

We also took some photographs to show the pattern of rocks at the back of the opening, and it seems possible that the stonework could give rise to some unusual shadows. Christopher Aitchison took his photograph on May 26th 2008 at around 1500, and we visited at 1400 on 25 March 2009. The difference in British Summer Time would mean that the lighting conditions on the two occasions would be similar. We did not see any evidence that the sun would produce the 'patch' of light shown in the image.

Here is a photograph of the rocks at the back of the opening.

Photos and story here:
http://www.richardwiseman.com/hauntings2/experiments4

[AndrewX]

My lack of trust is in those who create people's reality Rick, not in the existence of paranormal.

Mathamatical-Probability clearly proves that there is intelligent life everywhere in the universe, that is why I need not awaite deicitful entities to post pictures or tell me about it or otherwise.

From where I stand, when logic and intuition reigns truth, nothing else matters... especially from those who have proven they cannot be trusted.

Tragically 'if and whenever' such truths are publicly presented they too shall be cast into dark abyss, for the boy who cries "wolf" is yet to be silenced.