Favorite Ghost Photos

FAVORITE GHOST PHOTOS

Here is a sampling of some of my favorite ghost photos I've encountered over the last few years. These are the photos I consider the most authentic "captures" of ghosts ever caught on film, but I leave it to you to decide for yourself how authentic they may be. Of course, I realize that almost any photo can be hoaxed, but many of these were taken many years or even decades before digital cameras and the advent of Photoshop and other photo manipulation software came on the scene, making them somewhat more difficult to fake than it would be today.

Most of these photos have been around for years, so I assume they're in the public domain. (If not, let me know and I'll remove the offending photo ASAP.) Some, however, were sent to me personally and are copyrighted (these are the ones with the big © symbol on them.) As such, please do not try to use them on your site or send them to friends. That would not be cool. Also, I don't have a lot of information on some of these photos, so if anyone has additional info on any of the photos shown here, please shoot me an e-mail. Plus, I'm always adding new photos, so please check back often! Finally, check out my photo anomalies and hoaxes page for a look at some of the more common photo anomalies often mistaken for paranormal activity as well as some of the better hoaxed ghost photos out there.

Perhaps the most famous of all ghost photos, this highly controversial shot from 1936 of the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall has an interesting pedigree. An example of one of the best photographic evidence for the existence of ghosts ever taken, what makes it so compelling is that the photo was taken not by a ghost hunter looking for the things, but by two innocent photographers sent by the London magazine Country Living to take some interior shots of the building. What's also interesting about this shot is that in contrast to most photos in which the figure is not seen until after the film is developed, the spectral figure of a woman descending the stairway was seen seconds before the shutter was snapped. The negatives on this photo have been scrutinized by literally hundreds of experts (and no small number of skeptics) who can find no evidence of it being either a hoax or a double exposure. It has been, however, suggested the figure could be the result of a smudged fingerprint on the lens, though this seems like a stretch to me. Still considered by many to be the best "capture" ever taken.


	This one's a little a little more difficult to make out, but it remains among my favorites. If you look very hard, you can make out what appears to be the face of a boy among the branches in the upper right hand corner of the photo. The close-up at right brings the face out more clearly. I don't have much information on this shot other than that the photographer was supposedly trying to take a picture of a bird outside his second-story window and noticed the boy's face after he had the film developed, making it especially spooky. Normally I'm not a big fan of "faces in bushes" photos as I think most of them are simply shadows of light and dark tricking the eye, but since this one is in color and the face has fleshtones, it takes on a certain authenticity I find hard to ignore.

	One of my favorite ghost photos is this one I came across on the web back in 2000. It shows what appears to be a transparent, reflective figure standing in front of the hood of the car on the left side of the photo (see detail at right). I don't have many details about the photo other than the boy in the picture had just purchased the car and he and his Mother were photographed washing it (the flair of light in the middle is sunlight reflecting off the spray from the hose) when the mysterious figure appeared. I do recall reading something about the fact that a teenage boy had supposedly committed suicide in the house on the right, but that sounds a little suspicious to me (though one never knows.) Easily one of the more interesting ghost photos I've come across over the years.

	I'm not a big fan of orb shots but every once in awhile you come across one that makes you stop and think. I was sent this photo by a lady in Glendale, Arizona who caught this orb while taking photos of a home she was putting up for sale. Normally, I would dismiss this as either lens refraction or as the flash reflecting off of a particle of dust, but that doesn't explain the "light shadow" the orb casts on the floor, which implies that the orb is generating its own light (in other words, that it is internally and not externally illuminated) and that it is well across the room far from the camera. It is also a strangely layered object unlike most dust particles, which tend to be flat. Some researchers believe that ghosts (or spiritual energies in general) may be able to manifest in the form of a sphere, possibly as a means of travel or preparatory to taking on a more robust form. If true, this could very well be an example of one. Photo was taken late morning, November 5th, 2008 using an Olympus D580 digital camera without flash. (Used with permission. All rights reserved.)

	Another interesting photo is this one I also found on the web back in 2000. Again, I have few details about the picture other than the couple who shot it didn't notice the little girl watching them from the dining room at the time they took the picture (detail at right), nor did they have any other children. It has been speculated the figure could be a child's doll, but I understand that the couple denied they had any dolls (the baby certainly appears too young for dolls yet) and I find it difficult to imagine the couple would deny having such a thing on hand when it could be easily checked out. If it is the ghost of a child, however, what is she doing there? Could she be attracted to the display of affection being displayed in the next room—or perhaps could she just be a little jealous at having to share "her family" with a newborn?

	One of those "too-good-to-be-true" photos, this one actually has a pretty good pedigree because it was shot by a professional paranormal investigator (and notice it was also taken in broad daylight, as opposed to most cemetery investigations which are almost always shot at night). The picture was taken at the Bachelor's Grove Cemetery in Illinois by the Ghost Research Society on August 10, 1991. Photographer Mari Huff was using high-speed monochromatic film in the area where their equipment had detected several electromagnetic anomalies, and captured this image of a woman in period costume—complete in a burial shroud of the era—sitting on a gravestone. Note that parts of her lower legs appear to be transparent. Looks staged, I know, but then what's a real ghost supposed to look like?

	Left: You've got to love this all time classic.When visiting her mother's grave in 1959, Mrs. Mabel Chinnery decided to finish off the roll of film by taking a picture of her husband seated in the car. When the roll was developed, a female figure appeared, sitting in the back seat. Mrs. Chinnery and several family members insist that the female figure is that of her mother, who appears to have taken her customary place in the back seat and is patiently waiting to be driven home. A photographic expert examined the print and declared it to be neither a reflection nor a double exposure. Notice that "mom" appears to be a pretty solid ghost, with no hint of transparency or light from the rear windows shining through her. Even her glasses appear to reflect light! Right: Another famous photo, this one from 1924, shows the faces of two recently deceased crewmen who appeared in the waves alongside the merchant ship S.S. Watertown. Normally I'm not a big fan of faces appearing in grainy photos due to the brain's tendency to make order out of chaos (known as "matrixing") but this case is different in that the faces were seen by numerous members of the crew for several days beforehand and were positively identified as those of two crewmen who suffocated while cleaning out an oil tank a few days earlier. The Burns Detective Agency analyzed the negative for fakery and found none.

	Left: Taken in 1946 in Queensland, Australia by a mother standing at her teenage daughter's grave. Nobody was in sight at the time, but when the picture was processed the image of a child appeared, apparently sitting on the grave. The mother does not recognize the child, thereby reducing (though not entirely eliminating) the possibility that it's a double exposure. Some skeptics have pointed out that the picture looks staged, especially since the apparition appears to be looking directly at the camera. I find this to be a poor argument for a hoax, however, as one would expect human spirits to react to someone shooting a picture of them in much the same way they would during life. Notice also that in nearly every picture on this page the apparition(s) appear to be looking directly into the camera lens, further challenging the logic of this objection. Right: This picture made the rounds on the internet a few years ago and though that alone is enough to make one suspicious of its authenticity, it's still an interesting photo. Supposedly taken in Manila (Eastwood City) a few years ago, the story goes that these young ladies had asked a passing stranger to photograph them with their Nokia 7250 phone camera and the transparent figure on the right appeared. Further details are unknown and while I admit this could be a Photoshop trick, if it is, it's a good one.


	Left: Picture taken in the spring of 2008 at Tulloch Castle near Dingwall, Scotland.The apparition was snapped by accident by a 14 year-old boy while the youngster and his family were attending a wedding at the castle. The family only noticed what they had captured when they downloaded the image on to their computer and saw the ghostly hand and a swirl of mist around it. Tulloch Castle dates back to the 1200s and has a long history of ghostly activity. The Brits seem to have an unfair number of ghosts. Perhaps they could export a few to the colonies. Right: Possible image of a ghost captured on a surveillance camera at Hampton Court Castle in England in October of 2003. The security team at the castle kept finding the fire doors left open and were going through the CCTV tapes to figure out who might have been responsible when they found this image. The area was not used by the staff, and no one knows who might have been in the castle—and dressed in period costume—who might have been responsible for the image.


	These pictures have been floating around for awhile and even appeared in a documentary entitled World's Scariest Ghost Pictures. They were allegedly taken at an abandoned mansion near Greencastle, Indiana, I think sometime in the late nineties, by a pair of amateur ghosthunters named Guy Winters and Terry Lambert. The figure of the woman was not seen at the time the photos were taken but appeared once they were developed. Analysed by photo experts, the images of the woman (thought by some to be the spirit of a young woman who died in the home in the early twentieth century) have been declared as authentic since the images exist on the negatives, thereby reducing--though not necessarily eliminating--the possibility of fraud. If legitimate, these are some of the clearest images of a "ghost" ever captured, which is, of course, what makes them so difficult to accept as real. If hoaxed, they are extremely well done.


	This is a picture that was sent to me by a lady from North Carolina which, unlike most I receive, has an air of authenticity about it. The photo was taken with a Sony Cybershot 3.2 mp in Conover, North Carolina on July 16th, 2005. Notice the shadowy image of a little girl standing directly behind the baby (especially clear in the close-up at right). The woman who took the photo didn't notice the little girl when she took the photo and claims that her and the baby were the only ones home at the time. In a follow-up investigation, she told me there is no history of paranormal activity in the home but the woman's family has had a number of paranormal incidents in their life that leads me to surmise that she might somehow be prone to attracting entities. (Photo used with permission. All rights reserved.)

While I receive lots of "vortex" pictures from people, rarely do I receive one that looks like anything paranormal. Usually, it's just exhaled breath on a cold night or cigarette smoke that someone thinks looks like a ghost. This shot, sent to me in September of 2008, is the exception.

On the left is a young girl walking on a street near Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada on August 15th, 2008. According to her father, her friends took her picture, along with several others, on his digital camera and this appeared on one shot. The closeup on the right shows what appears to be a multiple series of fairly clear faces—anywhere from three to half a dozen if one looks carefully. The two lower faces appear to be the the clearest. While my first impression was that this is one fine Photoshop trick, I am convinced the gentlemen—who was quite willing to discuss the details of the photo and had no problem with me using his name (although I won't for privacy reasons)—has neither the ability nor the inclination to create such a sophisticated hoax, leaving me with a pretty spectacular photo. I'm still not 100% convinced it's a bunch of ghosts, but if there ever was a picture of a real vortex manifesting itself, this would be it. (Used with permission. All rights reserved.)


	I put both of these pictures together not because they were taken at the same time, but because of the similar look and subject matter. Both supposedly show a transparent monk or religious figure of some kind standing in front of an alter and both were apparently shot by members of the clergy. The picture on the left was taken in the 1960s by the Rev. K.F. Lord at Newby Church, N.Yorkshire. A BBC team examined this photo back in the 1970s and concluded that it was definitely NOT a double exposure and that the negative had not been tampered with, but the picture still generates a lot of debate today due to the creepy appearance of the figure. The photo on the right was taken at Sefton Church in September, 1999, and shows what appears to be a figure in the all-black clothing of a vicar or minister. I guess some religious folks love to hang out at churches even after they're dead.

As further evidence that men of the cloth seem to enjoy hanging around their church long after they have shed their earthly mantle, I present the photo on the left, taken at Estry Church in Sandwich, Kent in 1956, that appears to show a transparent vicar sitting at one of the pews staring into the camera. The man who took the photo insisted that only he, his wife and a cleaning lady were present in the church at the time the photo was taken.

The photo at right was also taken inside a church, this time in Northhampton, England in 1964, and appears to show a congregant kneeling at the base of the altar fervently in prayer. The gentlemen who snapped the photo, a Mr. Gordon Carroll, claims no one was visible at the altar at the time he snapped the picture.

Why does everyone spend all their time looking for ghosts in cemeteries? English churches are where all the action seems to be!


	Every now and then I get a photo that really has me scratching my head, as is the case with this photo sent to me by a Massachusetts man. Taken in Boston in August of 2011, the blurred images are obviously the result of a stuck shutter, which is why the two men standing at the bottom appear to be semi-transparent. However, look at the top of the photo to the right of the brightly-lit tower. See what appears to be a man's disembodied head in the mist? (Close up at right.) Normally I would write this off as another example of matrixing, but it's remarkable how evident the head is, right to the clearly defined ears. Evidently this is either one of the most remarkable cases of pareidolia I've ever seen, a hoax (of which I can find no evidence for), or a manifesting spirit. In any case, I thought this one deserved a place of honor in my collection, if only for its strangeness. (Used with permission. All rights reserved.)

	Here is truly astounding capture sent to me by a lady from Brampton, Ontario, Canada. The photo was taken on November 6th, 2011 in the drawing room of The Old Mill Inn & Spa in Toronto, Canada. The building is over 200 years old and has a history of being haunted which, if this photo is authentic, may be very true indeed. The woman didn't see the spectral figure in the background at the time she took the photo (she was attempting to get a shot of the lovery dinner arrangement on the table) and only spotted the figure later. The figure does appear to possess a good degree of motion blur, suggesting a stuck shutter and someone caught moving through the frame quickly at the same time, but there was no one in the room at the time besides herself and, according to the camera's metafile information, the photo did not have an overly long exposure time. Additionally, with a stuck shutter, there is usually an overall blurry effect on the entire photo, but as you can see, details of the setting remain clear and sharp and even the candle flames--which usually illustrate camera shake well by appearing as streaks of light--show no evidence of a stuck shutter. All in all, a very strange and interesting photo. (Photo used with permission. All rights reserved.)

	I always enjoy old photos because they are so much more difficult to hoax, giving them, in my opinion, a better pedigree than most. This photo was sent to me by a woman in Tasmania and was supposedly taken in March of 1948 on that island province of Australia. The photo is of her step mother's mother (the little girl at the bottom of the photo) and her father. Notice the small child in the background. She (or he) was not seen at the time the photo was taken and no one knows who the child is. Notice that while the face appears solid, much of the child's body appears semi-transparent. There also seems to be evidence that someone is holding the child in her(?) arms, but whoever it is appears to be even more transparent than the child. Spirit of a mopther holding her child accidentally caught on film or simply someone standing behind the man in the photo unaware? (And if that's the case, why does the child appear semi-transparent?) Strange photo either way and one worthy of consideration. (Too bad the negative has been lost for years.) (Photo used with permission. All rights reserved.)

This remarkable photo, taken at the New Bell Inn pub in Harwich Essex, England in October of 2010, may be the clearest "capture" of a ghost ever! The woman in the fireplace was not seen when the photo was snapped, and a closer examination shows brickwork in the fireplace being evident through her face, suggesting a degree of transparency. What's especially interesting about the photo is the way the figure is dressed. She appears to be wearing clothing consistent with what a pub maiden would wear in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, complete with banded cap. The lady who sent me the photo tells me the structure was originally built as a blacksmith shop in 1620 and was converted into a pub in 1743, which it has been ever since.

I can find no evidence of trickery in the photo, and the lady who sent the photo sounds both sincere and a bit perplexed herself about how the image got there. If real, this is the clearest evidence of post motem existence on record. (Photo used with permission. All rights reserved.)

Another excellent capture sent to me from a lady in England. Like most "spirit photos," she claims that no one was standing over the sleeping dog at the time she took the photo. It's not a double exposure, nor is it photo blur as the metafile data does not indicate a long exposure time. Besides, one would have to move very quickly--even with a stuck shutter--to get this effect. I also can find no evidence of trickery in the photo, and the lady who sent the photo says that she and her family have been experiencing considerable paranormal activity in the home over the last few months. If real, it appears to be the apparition of a young girl, who may naturally have been attracted to the snoozing critter on the couch and perhaps was even trying to pick it up! All in all, a great shot. (Photo used with permission. All rights reserved.)

	This picture was sent to me by a gentlemen in Franklin, Tennessee. It was shot in April of 2011 off a cellphone and shows what he believes to be the spirit of his recently deceased grandmother in the doorway on the left. He also claims the woman's dog, also deceased, can be seen at the bottom of the photo. It took some searching (along with an e-mail from a sharp-eyed viewer) to point out what appears to be the eyes and nose of a small dog at the bottom of the photo (circled in yellow at right). If this is the case--and it's not a bit of matrixing--it would be the first photo I've ever seen that showed the apparition of both a human and an animal in the same shot, as well as evidence that pets can remain loyal companions even in death. Doesn't appear to be a Photoshop trick and he claims the grandmother, who had passed away seven months earlier, looks exactly like the figure in the photo. Could still be an iPhone hoax, but it has a certain inexplicable "feel" about it that rings authentic. The gentlemen has been very good about discussing the image as well. All in all, a very good capture. (Photo used with permission. All rights reserved.)

This well known photo—and perhaps one of the oldest bonifide spirit photos ever taken—was shot in the Combermere Abbey Library in 1891 by Sybell Corbet. The exposure length was approximately one hour, and the figure of a man appears to be sitting in the armchair located in the foreground (it's difficult to make out, but a head and arm can just be made out sitting in the chair). At the time this photograph was being taken, Lord Combermere (a top British cavalry commander) was being buried four miles away and the house was said to have been locked and empty at the time. One explanation frequently offered by skeptics is that during the lengthy exposure a servant inadvertently sat in the chair for a short time, noticed the camera, and hastily left, leaving what is effectively a fuzzy double exposure. What argues against this theory, however, aside from the fact that all members of the household were supposedly attending the funeral at the time, is the lack of lower torso. A servant caught in a timed photo should have left an image of the entire torso—particularly the waist and upper thigh—with only the arms and legs being subjected to motion blur. Additionally, those who knew Lord Combermere claim the figure looks exactly like the man, so we have to wonder if the old gentleman wasn't simply just visiting his old "haunt" one last time. Enhanced photo at right shows the figure in much clearer detail.


	Another classic and one of the better captures, this photograph from 1919, taken by retired RAF officer Sir Victor Goddard, shows his squadron from the Royal Navy air base HMS Daedalus (apparently the British tended to name their air bases as if they were ships). Notice the transparent face peering around the man in the upper left corner of the photo. Several men from this squadron identified the face as belonging to mechanic Freddy Jackson, who had been killed two days earlier when he accidentally walked into a spinning propeller blade. His funeral had taken place earlier that day. Apparently, Freddy didn't want to miss all the fun. This tendency for the dead to want to remain with close friends after death appears to be a reoccuring theme throughout the paranormal. This appears to be a good example of it here.

I frequently have people send me photos of what they believe to be spirits all the time, most of which turn out to be easily explainable camera aberrations, misidentified objects, or hoaxes. Once in awhile, however, I get a photo that appears to be legitimate, one example of which I present here. Sent to me by a very nice lady from Ravenna, Ohio, the photo of the front of her home (I cropped this image from a larger photo) was taken by her 14-year old son in early May of 2008 and shows what appears to be a young girl in some sort of blue outfit looking out the window (in lower left and in insert). The woman and her son were the only ones home (she has no other children) and they have no idea who the little girl might be. Notice in particular that the face—and especially the mouth—appears to be somewhat distorted, as though the child has—or had—a deformity (or perhaps as a result of an incomplete manifestation?).

Ghost or hoax? Clearly not a camera anomaly nor a case of matrixing, nor can I find any evidence of photo manipulation, Photoshop tricks, etc. I spoke with the lady by phone afterwards and she struck me as being quite sincere and honest—as well as a little nervous—about the image, leading me to presume that this might well be a genuine "capture". The woman tells me the home was built in 1930 and served for many years as a Methodist parsonage before her and her husband purchased it 14 years ago. She also reports a history of paranormal activity in the home (lights switching on and off, cold spots, mild poltergeist activity) but has never seen any manifestations. All-in-all, one of the most remarkable and perplexing spirit photos I've ever seen. (Used with permission. All rights reserved.)

CLICK HERE FOR UPDATE ON THIS PHOTO.


	This classic shot has one of the best pedigrees among spirit photos because it was shot under carefully controlled circumstances with numerous witnesses present, making fakery especially difficult. Taken in 1978 at a Sunnyvale, California Toys-R-Us store known for an inordinate amount of paranormal activity, the picture was shot by the crew from the TV program That's Incredible! The infra-red film image of the young man leaning against the wall was NOT seen by any of the people present at the time, nor does he appear in the high speed footage shot from the same vantage point at the same time.There's a story that in 1869 a young man died at the location where the store now stands from a accidentally self-inflicted axe wound, which might explain his unusual clothing. The store was known for the intense poltergeist activity, suggesting that at least some "noisy ghosts" are more than simply misdirected telekinetic energy as has been frequently suggested.

I don't know much about this picture other than it appears to have been taken sometime during the Second World War or shortly thereafter, making it unlikely to be a hoax. My guess is that the ghostly figure at the back of the room was one of the group's comrades who simply refuses to admit that he's dead and sees no reason why he shouldn't be in the picture. Notice that even as a ghost he still wears his uniform. This would be an obvious Photoshop hoax if it weren't for the fact that the picture was taken a good forty years before Photoshop was invented!

Photo on right was taken in August, 1997 by the daughter of the elderly woman in the photo. Only later did she and her sister notice the image of a man standing behind their mother who appears to resemble their late father, who had passed away 13 years earlier. (I've inset a photo of the late husband for a comparison with the figure in the background.) Did some old man—one who bears an uncanny resemblence to the woman's late husband—inadvertently wander into the background unnoticed or is it the woman's late husband checking up on her? I leave it up to you to decide.

Left: This curious photo was sent to me in October of 2010 by a woman in Rye, New York. She spotted a deer in her neighbor's yard and took a photo of it using her Blackberry. Only later did she notice what appeared to be a face just to the left of the animal looking straight into the camera. While this could be a case of pariedolia, if it is, it's an unusual one, especially as the image appears to include flesh tones. (Compare to the second image from the top on this page.) There also seems to be the suggestion of an upper turso and possibly even a full body underneath it. There is no evidence of Photoshop being used or of hoaxing. (Used with permission. All rights reserved.)

Photo on right was taken by Reverend R.S. Blance at Corroboree Rock near Alice Springs, Australia in 1959. It would be an obvious Photoshop trick, but the the famous photo has been around long before computers came along, and the image is on the negative. Clearly a picture that defies easy explanation.

This photo was sent to me in November of 2008. The photo was taken by the little boy in the picture, who was snapping photos of himself when the face of the rather stern looking woman appeared behind him in one shot. His mother wrote to tell me her son, who is four years old, claims that he has spoken with the woman as well as with the spirits of two other teen spirits named Brian and Wolfie (one of whom apparently hung himself with a rope). The woman in the picture, then, may be a guardian spirit, or maybe just one of several spirits who inhabit the home (which has a history of paranormal activity). Picture was taken with a Kodak EasyShare cx7430 on the afternoon of October 27th, 2008. There is no evidence of hoaxing, nor is it a double exposure. If authentic, it is certainly one of the most emotive ghosts I've ever seen! (Used with permission. All rights reserved.)

UPDATE: It has been suggested that the face may be from a television on in the background. I have repeatedly attempted to confirm whether there was, in fact, a television behind the child at the time but have been unsuccessful. While possible, the child would have had to have been immediately in front of the screen (like inches away), which I imagine the mother would have known. As such, the photo must remain undetermined. Click here for more information.

Photo #16 appears to
show a man in some
sort of native outfit.

Photo #17 appears to
show a group of people gathered around a pile
of wood (a campfire?)

Photo #18 is similar to
photo #17, but appears
to be more wide angled.

Not a ghost picture per se, but a truly curious bunch of photos. The story goes that in 1997 a woman named Rita Swift found an old roll of undeveloped film with a note attached saying it had been taken "in the back yard Sep. 1969”. When she had the nearly three decades old roll developed, remarkably 19 of the 20 pictures came out.

The first 16 pictures were nothing special; just photos of Rita’s 5-year-old daughter, her cat, her swing set and other normal stuff. Pictures 17 through 19, however, were another story. The pictures (at left) seem out of place and almost look as though they are images from another place and time (say like the 18th century).

How they got there are anyone's guess. Could they be images off a television (and if so, what show might it have been?) Could they be photographs of old photographs (note the oval border on each photo) or could they be, as some speculate, images from another era somehow caught on film? I leave it for you to decide.

WANT TO SEND ME YOUR GHOST PHOTO? I'd be happy to look at it. However, before you do, I ask you to first go to the spirit photo tips page and follow the procedures there (I promise, they're not extensive. Really.) Just click here.

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