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Spooky Surveillance: Ghosts Caught On CCTV

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Fats_Tuesday

Gone But Not Forgotten
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Belgrave Hall ghost on CCTV

Had a good one the other night.

I have to admit to being something of a fan of Living TV's "Most Haunted" series. As well as the joys of watching Derek Acora being "possessed" by a train, I love the happy mix of scepticism and credulity demonstrated by the various team members, much as on these boards.

The other night I was watching one in Belgrave Hall, which showed the famous CCTV footage of a "ghost" which is thought to actually be an oak leaf.

They went on to say however, that in the video there was a further unexplained mist flowing over the wall at the back and we fell off our chairs and nearly wet ourselves laughing, as they showed a very clear image of an upside down out of focus spider moving right to left, obviously quite close to the camera lens.

Any one else seen this or got a link to the video?

http://www.castleofspirits.com/museumghost.html
 
New Lanark 'ghost' captured on CCTV

Apologies if already discussed.

STV

New Lanark 'ghost' captured on CCTV


VIDEO: Security camera captures ghostly image at historic village.

Staff at the New Lanark Mill Hotel are convinced the image of a ghost has been caught on CCTV.

A number of sightings have been reported over the years at the New Lanark World Heritage site in the Clyde Valley, but there has so far been no evidence to back up witnesses' claims.

But CCTV footage of the hotel’s rear car park captures an image that staff are convinced is in fact a ghost.

General Manager John Stirrat said: "We were routinely reviewing CCTV footage taken in the early hours of May 12 in our rear car park, an area that was formerly stables. Between 0130 and 0300 in the morning, we were startled to see, quite clearly, a mysterious ghostly shape in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen which came and went.

"At one point it disappears through a door, without opening it, and reappears. No staff, guests or members of the public were outside at the time, so it is definitely not human nor a trick of the light.”

The camera is looking downwards from the top right corner of the hotel and shows a small bright figure, about four feet high, possibly a child. Dressed in luminous white, it is seen bending and nodding before becoming motionless for a while. It then becomes more agitated and appears to change position by jumping onto a higher level. During the footage a number of bright surreal flashes can be seen.

Mr Stirrat added: "It is the strangest, eeriest thing I have ever seen,"

"It makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

"We were very fortunate to capture it on screen and it has caused considerable debate here in the village. Originally I was sceptical about ghosts but now, after reviewing the footage again and again, I’m not so sure."

Mr Stirrat added: "It is the strangest, eeriest thing I have ever seen,"

"It makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

"We were very fortunate to capture it on screen and it has caused considerable debate here in the village. Originally I was sceptical about ghosts but now, after reviewing the footage again and again, I’m not so sure."

New Lanark is a restored cotton mill village on the River Clyde. It was founded in 1785 and is now a World Heritage site. Once Britain’s largest cotton manufacturing centre, the village rose to fame as a model community under social reformer and philanthropist Robert Owen.

The mill operated until the late 1960s and was restored in subsequent years and is now a major tourist attraction and is one of only five UNESCO World Heritage sites in Scotland. As well as a visitor centre and hotel, the village is home to around 200 people.
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Bug me thinks.
 
Are people desperate? Or taking the piss? Or is it true, that 90% of people are clearly thick?! Yet another CCTV video of a cobweb on a camera! This time, with wind and rain! Ridiculous and a waste of everyone's time.
I was watching for any apparant ghost to appear, then it struck me... "They surely don't mean the light reflecting off the gossimer threads, and the rain! Surely not!" (Remember all the footage of small insects and arachnids close to the cameras that have been posted online and in tabloids?), and, on reading the article, they did!
Thanks for putting it on Mooksta. The world gets more childish. :shock:
 
coaly said:
Are people desperate? Or taking the piss? Or is it true, that 90% of people are clearly thick?! Yet another CCTV video of a cobweb on a camera! This time, with wind and rain! Ridiculous and a waste of everyone's time.
I was watching for any apparant ghost to appear, then it struck me... "They surely don't mean the light reflecting off the gossimer threads, and the rain! Surely not!"
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Yeah, I know... It's Awful..., and it got press time. really depresses me what passes for news these days. especially Fortean News... I don't understand myself, how it could make it to a website, nevermind a news website. And someone who said that they were there the day it was filmed, tryed to make out that it was a bone dry sunny day? But you can clearly see the rain.

It's a sham! I'm going to turn my interest to regular news, and leave this Forteana way behind me... it tires me... :nonplus:
 
I was sitting patiently waiting for a ghost to appear then the awful truth hit me... :roll:
 
Waylander28 said:
coaly said:
Are people desperate? Or taking the piss? Or is it true, that 90% of people are clearly thick?! Yet another CCTV video of a cobweb on a camera! This time, with wind and rain! Ridiculous and a waste of everyone's time.
I was watching for any apparant ghost to appear, then it struck me... "They surely don't mean the light reflecting off the gossimer threads, and the rain! Surely not!"
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know... It's Awful..., and it got press time. really depresses me what passes for news these days. especially Fortean News... I don't understand myself, how it could make it to a website, nevermind a news website. And someone who said that they were there the day it was filmed, tryed to make out that it was a bone dry sunny day? But you can clearly see the rain.

It's a sham! I'm going to turn my interest to regular news, and leave this Forteana way behind me... it tires me... :nonplus:
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Don't be too downhearted, look at the source: STV. They've always been a bit shite, so you should be glad they didn't shoehorn a murder or some football training into the story.
 
coaly said:
then it struck me... "They surely don't mean the light reflecting off the gossimer threads, and the rain! Surely not!":
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Perception, perhaps, depends on how the number of pints consumed. ;)
 
When someone mistakes an obvious and identifiable phenomenon for a mysterious one, the error can be classed as a Fortean slip.

Such things happen. No need to despair.
 
I have a love/hate relationship with these videos!

Of course, I love a new 'ghost' link but I find it as annoying when its said about this kind of footage that it OBVIOUSLY shows a carrier bag/leaf/cat/weather condition, as when its sold to us as an OBVIOUS ghost!

I think to debunk this kind of vid in this way is as ridiculous as not questioning its authenticity at all. I get so irritated by these clever-clogs know-it-alls who're only out to ridicule those with more open minds but who themselves have no interest in discovering the genuine causes of these 'phenomena'.

I'm glad we're a like-minded MB, and that after extensive discussion and analysis we've figured out that more often than not it's probably a bug on the lens - NOT A CARRIER BAG, DUMB*SS!
 
coaly said:
Are people desperate? Or taking the piss? Or is it true, that 90% of people are clearly thick?!
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I recall being asked for a comment (by a journo) on a section of CCTV 'Ghost-footage' - taken at a pub in Bridgnorth, Shropshire - which was clearly a (slightly out-of-focus) spider walking around the camera lens. It couldn't have possibly been anything else...... you could see the shape of it's body, see it's legs moving and so on!! Laugh, laugh!!! The kicker is that this footage had (apparently) 'become quite famous' in the region and had been the talk of the town for some while!! Laugh!!!

Regards,

Nick
www.westmidlandsghostclub.com
 
Pietro_Mercurios said:
And there's a beautiful walk along the river to the Falls of Clyde, too. :)
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Hear, hear !!!
 
The friend's daughter works at a local co-op and they have sadly had a lot of robberies which took place as the stores were closing up. As a result, they have adopted a policy whereby when they have shut the shop up and the staff are ready to leave, they check the car park using their CCTV. If there is anyone in the car park who they don't recognise, they will call the police. So the other night, they spotted a young male on the CCTV, wearing a hooded jumper so his face couldn't be seen. He was lounging around the bins. They called the police and the officers who arrived walked around the car park but couldn't see anyone. When they went into the shop, the man was still clearly visible on the camera. One of the officers went out, and made his way to the bin area. The other officer who remained in the shop directed him to the bin area. The office was apparently standing right in front of the man, put his arm out and it went through him. The office in question said he saw nothing, or felt nothing. The officer in the shop and all the staff were understandably freaked out.

Anyway, so they all left the shop, went home and thought no more about it. A few days passed, nothing on the CCTV, no issues. Then it happened again. The same man was seen on the camera. The police were called, no one in the vicinity despite the evidence to the contrary. The police were confused and have apparently taken the tapes for further analysis.

The side story is that the store is apparently haunted. items have been known to fly off the shelves - as in launch themselves across the shop. And all the staff refer to the ghost as "George"

*disclaimer* I was told this by a friend of the family last night. I am telling it with my usual amount of skeptism and cycnicsm - just because it's a friend doesn't mean it's true, however in this instance I am erring on the side of "something happened"... mainly based on the person who experienced it, and the person who told the story. My personal theory is something that happens to look like a man when lit up in the right way - i,e combination of street light and car headlights making a pile of rubbish look human. However, for the same thing to happen twice on different nights makes me uncertain. Regardless of the truth in the police bewilderment, I do like the idea of them being creeped out at the ghost in the car park!
 
Please tell me someone had their iPhone on the screen and filmed it?
 
Re: CCTV ghost

Little_grey_lady said:
The officer in the shop and all the staff were understandably freaked out....

Anyway, so they all left the shop, went home and thought no more about it.
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Thought no more about it? Who would experience that and then think no more about it?

I saw a vampire leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Anyway, I went home and thought no more about it.
 
It may not be that strange - well, it is strange, but may not be out of character. A lot of times when a truly weird event is witnessed, it is somehow "blocked out" as a coping mechanism in certain people. There have been mentions of this behaviour on the forum before.
 
gncxx said:
It may not be that strange - well, it is strange, but may not be out of character. A lot of times when a truly weird event is witnessed, it is somehow "blocked out" as a coping mechanism in certain people. There have been mentions of this behaviour on the forum before.
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Yeah, people's reaction to Fortean events are often Fortean in their own right. I'm always struck by accounts of people waking up to find a figure/ghost/ alien/pulsating mass of chthonic energy in the corner of the room, emanating pure evil and pinning them to the bed in fear. A huge amount of them sooner or later contain the phrase "eventually I fell asleep" or similar. Not sure I'd be able to get a bit of shut eye in that situation.

Anyway back on topic, I think you're right, Little Grey Lady, and it probably is just a simulacrum effect which means that it's fairly likely to re-occur. Please get your friend to suggest to her daughter that someone gets a photo or recording of it if it does. We'd love to see it.
 
gncxx said:
It may not be that strange - well, it is strange, but may not be out of character. A lot of times when a truly weird event is witnessed, it is somehow "blocked out" as a coping mechanism in certain people. There have been mentions of this behaviour on the forum before.
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I totally agree and have had the same experience myself. However, I think the vast majority of these cases are when an individual witnesses somthing odd. As they are the only witness, it's easier to shrug and move on. However, if 3 or 4 people witness the exact same unbelievable thing, I think that would generate at least a little discussion.
 
Ah, but they all have to retire to their individual beds eventually, though!
 
I'm thinking it's a case of simulacra. The fact that the figure's face couldn't be seen and that it was 'lounging' (aka not moving), combined with how unclear CCTV footage tends to be, makes me think it was something else that just looked like a person. It also explains why the policeman standing in the spot couldn't see anything: he was looking at the area from a different angle so couldn't see the simulacra.

Still, this is a pretty good tale. Next time it appears make sure photos are taken!
 
The police will report on the CCTV and then it will go back to the head office of the shop so it's all being evidenced etc.

As for my comment about they thought no more about it... I think it was a case of at the time, all the staff just wanted to go home. They were relieved that there was no one outside, and that they were free to leave.

Admittedly there may have been some staff who did think it was odd/spooky or something other than just an accident of the light but the friend's daughter wasn't one of those and so the story I heard was that no one seemed perturbed until it returned.

I don't know when I'll next see her but I will definitely ask for more and see if anyone took any photos etc. I am tempted to start turning up in the carpark myself at night, just to see for myself :D
 
This thread reminds me of something that happened one night as I was working on an airplane in Maine 25 years ago. We worked in a hangar that had some ghost stories attached to it. I think I relayed a story here on another thread about a friend of mine hearing footsteps in that hangar one Christmas day. Well, we had a twin engine passenger plane parked outside the hangar and I was working on rigging the right hand engine on it with a coworker named Scott. We'd make an adjustment on some linkage and then start it up and run it, then shut it down and tweak it again. We'd gotten it adjusted just right and we went inside the hangar to round up some tools and parts we needed to finish the job, so once inside the hangar we went our separate ways. I found what I was looking for and went to the outside door of the hangar and onto the ramp outside. I could see our airplane parked there in the dark, and I could clearly see Scott standing next to the engine we were working on. I walked on out to the plane and as I did, Scott seemed to melt away. When I got next to the engine Scott was nowhere around. I was baffled by that and walked around the airplane, then climbed up inside and went up to the cockpit. I was all alone. I went back into the hangar looking for Scott and when I finally found him I mentioned what had just happened. Scott looked at me and told me he'd just done the very same thing! He'd walked outside and saw ME standing by the plane and as he walked out I seemed to fade away like a shadow. He searched around the plane and found he was alone also. We chalked it up as an optical illusion....but it makes ya wonder.
 
half the time the police wouldnt bother / be able to get cctv footage even if there were a criminal investigation to support ... im not buying them taking it away for forensic analysis because it looks like a hoodie haunting a co-op car park ...
 
So if the videotape DOES exist, it should show a policeman standing near the bins and putting his hand through a young man in a hoodie. That'd be worth some money to "GhostHunters" or one of those.
 
birdy said:
I have a love/hate relationship with these videos!
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I think there are a number of factors that make surveillance footage appealing.
  • Until relatively recently, the quality of such footage was invariably sub-optimal, to say the least. On the one hand this increases the chance of simulacra, pareidolia and a variety of other 'false positives' from our pattern-recognition functions, while on the other it plays into the trope that horror cannot (or ought not) be seen in stark totality; one is granted only fleeting glimpses that may more readily be dismissed as tricks of the light or products of a weary mind; when you see the lot and it's undeniable, it's too late!
  • When you get something that is properly unaccountable on a screen, the simple fact that this phenomena can be detected by a non-conscious device really lends an air of authenticity. We've rightly learnt to be suspicious of human senses—they've tricked us so many times before—but the evidence of lens and screen seems to guarantee an objective occurence out there in the world beyond Man. And if there is this weird 'stuff' going on out there while nobody's around to witness it (in homes and workplaces, no less), anything seems possible. It suggests, for one thing, a desire of unknown forces to remain undetected—and desires imply consciousness...
  • It's voyeuristic, especially when other people are captured. Humans are naturally drawn to that mode of non-reflective consciousness in which one's whole self is replaced by a viewing mind in a protracted present of suspense. To see and not be seen brings a sense of domination—until one finds one's self the object of an unseen other's gaze. Hence, those repeated glances over the shoulder.
  • The thrills of the above are rendered safe by the interval of time and space between viewer and subject. Imagine how much more visceral the experience of a nighwatchman 'on site' would be while viewing unexplained phenomena in real time. If it were me, I'd be alternating between the monitor and the window of my office every few seconds to ensure that nothing was afoot closer at hand.
Just thinking aloud.
 
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