The Top Ten Best GHOST PHOTOGRAPHS Ever Taken

[GNC]

Did anyone have an angle on my ghost-photo-fit, my ghosto-fit, of Jackson, above? Nope?

It could well be the same guy, but the mouth looks different to me.

 

[Dingo667]

My fvery first thought was that it was a double exposure caused by movement but looking at the "ghost", he looks really quite different to the guy next to him. You can superimpose all sorts of pictures and make them fit but I am sure that the "ghost" picture is not the same bloke as the one next to it.

 

[corsair2000e]

In the list of photographs the one I find most interesting is the Chinnery picture, apparently showing the photographer's husband in the front of the car and her deceased mother in the back.

There seems little doubt that there is, indeed, a figure of a woman sitting on the rear seat. Is the figure actually that of Mrs Chinnery's mother? I have seen no known photograph of the dead woman with which to make a comparison, so we must take the word of Mrs Chinnery that it is. If we assume that the figure is that of Mrs Chinnery's mother then we have to ask ourselves if a mistake could have been made in the date which the photograph was taken. The date was given as 1959, but I wonder if there is any verifiable date for when the woman died? In 1959 I suspect that camera film/processing was still relatively expensive, so could the film have been sitting inside the camera for an extended period of time stretching back to when Mrs Chinnery's mother was still alive and a simple memory mix-up over dates led to the woman on the back seat actually being flesh and blood at the time the photograph was taken? But the picture was taken by the dead woman's grave, so what were they doing there if the mother was still alive, someone might ask. Well, perhaps the grave in question was that of Mrs Chinnery's father. Then it would be natural for Mr and Mrs Chinnery and mother to visit there. Most husbands and wives end up sharing graves so perhaps that would explain why the 3 people were there. Of course this is all speculation and I would dearly like to see some dates. Another feature of the picture is that Mr Chinnery is gazing into camera while the figure on the back seat is looking straight ahead. It could be that the mother (if it is Mrs Chinnery's mother in the back seat) was hard of hearing or had eye problems so did not realize a picture was being taken, or even that she was wrapped up in her thoughts over visiting such a melancholic place, particularly if it was, indeed, the grave of Mrs Chinnery's father that was being visited. A very interesting photograph that is pretty unambiguous in showing the figure of an allegedly deceased woman. I am really not sure, however, just how a camera can pick up something that the human eye cannot see, and it is this simple fact that makes me very sceptical about ghost photographs in general.

 

[GNC]

Don't forget that Mrs Chinnery was an established medium. The photo might have been concocted to back up her "talents".

 

[corsair2000e]

I didn't know that Mrs Chinnery was a medium. That makes me more suspicious that there was a motive behind the claims she made over the photograph. I first came across the image in Photographs of the Unknown. A very entertaining book but sadly lacking much in the way of critical analysis. There was another "ghost in a car" picture in the same book, in colour, taken in the late 1970s and purporting to show the ghost of a little girl on the rear seat of a Datsun. Again the picture was taken by a psychic and to me it looked so fake as to be laughable.

 

[JackDark]

to me it looked so fake as to be laughable.

Fake? Hmm.

Friends of mine have been shook up buy this "eerie" pic of my car. Can't really see why though ???????

 

[corpsechaser]

By the way, why do you keep adding a picture of that house? Is there something to see there?

sorry i was'nt ignoring you i have'nt been on here for a few days i've been really poorly . the picture is of Borley rectory (the most haunted house in england well it was for its time ) i don't think there is anything out of the ordinary on the picture i have'nt really looked at it that closely .

 

[OldTimeRadio]

I knew eight of the 10 photographs, but the Hamptom Court image is entirely new to me.

Fake or not, I find it exceptionally scary - one of the very few, in fact, which has ever affected me that way.

And I think I know why - it resonates so very well with the bigger-than-death creeps that prowl the fictional horror stories of the Rev. Montague Rhodes James - especially COUNT MAGNIS and NUMBER 13. It could effectively serve as the frontispiece for a collection of his tales.

p. s. Why is the Hampton Court security camera mounted to record at such a dizzy angle?

 

[Semyaz]

I saw in a book somewhere (but unfortunately can't remember which) an inset magnification of the woman in the backseat of the Chinnery photo, and it showed that "her" white collar overlapped with the doorframe of the car...

...very much suggesting that the image wasn't exactly genuine...

Unfortunately I can't put a magnification of this image on here, but if there's anyone else who can it would be a big help...

 

[GNC]

I knew eight of the 10 photographs, but the Hamptom Court image is entirely new to me.

Fake or not, I find it exceptionally scary - one of the very few, in fact, which has ever affected me that way.

You should see the moving version!

p. s. Why is the Hampton Court security camera mounted to record at such a dizzy angle?

Perhaps that's the only place they could put it to get a good view of that door?

 

[Anonymous]

There was another "ghost in a car" picture in the same book, in colour, taken in the late 1970s and purporting to show the ghost of a little girl on the rear seat of a Datsun. Again the picture was taken by a psychic and to me it looked so fake as to be laughable.

This the one?

Taken in March 1979 by London medium Gladys Hayter of her daughter Dawn, who had just driven up in here car. Dawn was alone, but the photo shows the image of an unknown blonde-headed girl in the back seat.

 

[Anonymous]

I knew eight of the 10 photographs, but the Hamptom Court image is entirely new to me.

Fake or not, I find it exceptionally scary - one of the very few, in fact, which has ever affected me that way.

You should see the moving version!

p. s. Why is the Hampton Court security camera mounted to record at such a dizzy angle?

Perhaps that's the only place they could put it to get a good view of that door?

The footage is here - with a stabilised version. It needs stabilising too because the camera is clearly hand held. CCTV cameras don't shake, twist and tilt quite like that.

 

[escargot]

I've read (possibly on this very MB) that the shaky effect comes from someone recording an original CCTV recording, possibly on a phone.
So it all seems sus to me - why are the staff bothering to comment on a piece of unofficial film? Why doesn't anyone from Hampton Court explain why the picture shakes?

Because it's a legpull, that's why.

 

[OldTimeRadio]

The "moving" image of the Hampton Court "ghost" leaves me with even more questions:

1. Do the doors open before the "ghost" reaches them? If so, might there be an "electric eye" or a step-on-it switch involved?

2. Does the "ghost" merely look out the doorway and then go back inside, without exiting, like the little cookoo bird in the clock or like one of those kitsch little wooden barometers where either the frowning old hag or the smiling children show themselves?

3. Does the "ghost" close the doors again? If so, that's what I call one considerate British spook!

EDIT - Corrected "door" to "doors" innthe closing paragraph.

 

[stu neville]

Thing is, they're obviously fire doors, so open by means of pushing the horizontal bars. We don't get to see how they're opened in the film (whether by the figure or not), but the figure does, as OTR rightly points out, close them again by grabbing the bars and closing them in the correct sequence. And I think I can confidently assert that horizontal fire door handle-bars wouldn't have been a Tudor-era fixture at Hampton Court. It's an old doorway, yes, but new doors which the "ghost" nonetheless is perfectly at ease with operating - and that jars seriously with the idea that this is genuine ghost footage, for me at least.

It looks to me like nothing so much as a bloke in fancy dress looking for someone who may have nipped off for a crafty fag.

 

[OldTimeRadio]

We don't get to see how they're opened in the film (whether by the figure or not)....

This may be just my misperception, but at the start it seems as though the doors are already opening, but the spook, or at least its legs, are still fairly far back from them.

And I think I can confidently assert that horizontal fire door handle-bars wouldn't have been a Tudor-era fixture at Hampton Court. It's an old doorway, yes, but new doors which the "ghost" nonetheless is perfectly at ease with operating - and that jars seriously with the idea that this is genuine ghost footage, for me at least.

But can't a spook or other spectral entity learn new tricks over the centuries?

Otherwise all you'd have to do to escape from a ravening monster is to slam a fire door closed in its face.

I say that with tongue halfway in cheek but only halfway....

Terrified by ghosts, vampires, werewolves, reanimated mummies and other ancient and and mediaeval monsters? Forget crucifexes, crosses, blessed communion wafers, holy candles and silver bullets. Install Acme Fire Doors today!

 

[stu neville]

What I was getting at was that in many accounts, ghosts are seen to go through walls where a door once existed, stare at a blank wall where a window once was, etc. I just find the idea of an ostensibly Tudor ghost being so casually familiar with the action of closing a modern fire door a little hard to reconcile .

This is course subject to the caveat about the possibility of a myriad of varieties of ghostly manifestations. Some may not actually interact with the physical environment at all, others may have a tangible physical presence, others might be a bloke in fancy dress having a laugh.

 

[Anonymous]

I've read (possibly on this very MB) that the shaky effect comes from someone recording an original CCTV recording, possibly on a phone.

Yeah, I think you're right. You can see the edge of the monitor on the lower right on a few of the frames.

This does mean that there is better quality footage somewhere.

 

[RealPaZZa]

Do the eyes look symmetrical? Did he stand back and take his hat off partway through the shoot? Am I now guilty of the same kind of crap people do with the Mona Lisa?

well done! i didnt spot it was the same guy, he must have moved (or be haunting himself)

 

[Semyaz]

Haunting himself??

That opens up an entirely new can of worms...

...is that even possible in some bizarre way, do you think??

 

[GNC]

Haunting himself??

That opens up an entirely new can of worms...

...is that even possible in some bizarre way, do you think??

Ask Roger Moore...

 

[GNC]

This the one?

Taken in March 1979 by London medium Gladys Hayter of her daughter Dawn, who had just driven up in here car. Dawn was alone, but the photo shows the image of an unknown blonde-headed girl in the back seat.

That's it alright. For me this is more convincing than something like the Newby Church photo, as most ghosts look like ordinary people, or so we're led to believe. The fact that a medium was involved puts a veil of suspicion over it, I grant you.

 

[OneWingedBird]

Because it's a legpull, that's why. Wink

don't some of the staff at Hampton Court wear period costume anyway? I'm sure i recall some goth friends dressing up to go there, then being refused admission on the grounds that they might be mistaken for staff...

 

[GNC]

Because it's a legpull, that's why. Wink

don't some of the staff at Hampton Court wear period costume anyway? I'm sure i recall some goth friends dressing up to go there, then being refused admission on the grounds that they might be mistaken for staff...

Do the staff wander around in their dressing gowns, though?

 

[Anonymous]

This the one?

Taken in March 1979 by London medium Gladys Hayter of her daughter Dawn, who had just driven up in here car. Dawn was alone, but the photo shows the image of an unknown blonde-headed girl in the back seat.

That's it alright. For me this is more convincing than something like the Newby Church photo, as most ghosts look like ordinary people, or so we're led to believe. The fact that a medium was involved puts a veil of suspicion over it, I grant you.

The girl seems to me to appear in front of the front seat (if you look at her shoulder).

 

[escargot]

The Hampton Court one is a complete non-starter for me, for all the reasons discussed already. Plus, we don't know when the CCTV film was made, who was present, whether or nor period costume was being worn, etc.

Even if I could be convinced that it was filmed on a day when no staff were wearing costume, there would still be costumes on the premises, and people do like to fool around.

The face looks like a mask to me. I have a white plastic one here, the sort that you buy for kids to decorate. It may be one of those.

 

[Anonymous]

Piccies showing staff at Hampton Court in period costume here.

 

[OldTimeRadio]

This the one?

Taken in March 1979 by London medium Gladys Hayter of her daughter Dawn, who had just driven up in here car. Dawn was alone, but the photo shows the image of an unknown blonde-headed girl in the back seat.

That's it alright. For me this is more convincing than something like the Newby Church photo, as most ghosts look like ordinary people, or so we're led to believe. The fact that a medium was involved puts a veil of suspicion over it, I grant you.

However, what is Mrs. Hayter's reputation as a medium? As I think we all realize by this time, there are mediums and there are mediums.

 

[escargot]

Yup. There certainly are, as I found out last week. :lol:

 

[OldTimeRadio]

Was the Lord Combermere who died in 1891, and his ghost supposedly then photographed, the son or the grandson of the Lord Combermere who was the most prominent witness to the "Creeping Coffins" of Barbadoes episodes of the 1820s?