Ghostly: A ghoulish child stares back as a little girl cries in Matthew Summers' photo Posted on 01/24/2008 5:05:05 PM PST by BGHater
At first glance, it seems to be an ordinary snap of a group of young people.
But look more carefully and there appears to be an extraordinary, ghostly presence among them.
Peeping out between the knees of two of the girls is the face of a child.
Ghostly: A ghoulish child stares back as a little girl cries in Matthew Summers' photo
The eerie image - clear enough to show a pair of eyes, a nose, a mouth and hair - was captured by 17-year-old Matthew Summers on his mobile phone as he and his friends were preparing to go out.
"I zoomed in to my sister's mate's little sister who was crying and I saw a face,"
Matthew said. "You can see all the facial expressions and everything.
Mysterious: The floating face can can clearly be seen at knee height between two girls
"Usually when you see pictures like that it's a blur but this one is really weird.
"I was really shocked because I don't believe in that stuff."
Matthew took the picture in his sister's friend's front room in Billingham, Teesside.
"I've sent it to my girlfriend and she thinks it's a bit weird," he added.
Haunted: Matthew Summers took the mysterious photo on his camera phone
His photo joins a long line of apparently paranormal snaps. The most memorable in recent times was a cloaked figure photographed standing in a doorway at Hampton Court Palace in 2003.
However, Ciaran O'Keeffe, a parapsychologist on Living TV's Most Haunted show, has a more down-to-earth explanation for the "child" in Matthew's photograph.
Dr O'Keeffe said: "As human beings we're very good at finding a pattern in randomness and related to that we're good at finding faces in randomness. The term for this is pareidolia.
"First it was ink blots, then things like clouds in the sky and now mobile phone pictures.
"There is no ghost in this picture, just the coincidental effect of pixelation and darkness and light which combine together."
Look even closer, there is another face just above and behind the first one.
More like Kucinich. If he had a milk crate and was standing tippy-toe, that'd be the right height too.
It looks to me like someone left their wadded-up “Che” t-shirt on the floor.
No offense but if you were 130 lbs you were heavier than the girl on the far right and the girl third from right. Unless you are 6’0”.
"Sort of reminds me of the New Orleans Beer Guy."
Oh my God, you’re a guy. LMAO.
What in the holy hell are you doing comparing your 'physique' at that age with that of a young girl that age?
Awww geeze. LOL
Actually I was talking about the fact that so few kids were overweight when I was that age.
Thanks for that info. I photograph commercially, but have no experience with cell phone cameras. I’ve seen pixelization before, but this was too accurate, IMHO, for that. My next thought was that it was a Photoshop job. I have to admit, it’s a creepy effect, and a lot more convincing than anything I’ve seen on the Coast to Coast web site.
Frankly, I don’t see it now. In my oldest daughter’s junior high, for the one to two kids I see as what I would qualify as overweight, I see 20 that are incredibly skinny and not in a healthy way. I’m referring to girls here.
Is this a picture of the NE Patriots offensive line?
"There is no ghost in this picture, just the coincidental effect of pixelation and darkness and light which combine together." --Dr. O'Keffe
I'm satisfied that there is an image of a face at about knee heigth between the girls. I noticed that you can see details of the drapery near the floor behind the girls except for the area of the face. The question is, how did that face get there?
For me, given what people can do with software like Photoshop, I don't spend too much time with such pictures.
I knew it LOL!
He around LOL!
Looter guy is partying with Islamic rage boy
The only thing I notice is that the Brits would be well-advised to stop criticizing us for being too fat.
Me in my pjs blending with the tree. And that is two daughters in matching jammies. The older one is picking up a present.
Ghost Ping!! Thanks for Grizzled Bear for the heads up on this one!!
Ghost Ping!! Thanks for Grizzled Bear for the heads up on this one!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.