Ghost Photo Analysis: Staircase Apparition

This photo was recently posted to a Facebook paranormal interest group to which I belong. The original poster did not post any accompanying information on the photo, and as of 16 hours after the original posting, had not returned to answer any questions or pose any type of clarification.

When I'm perusing Facebook groups, I tend not to focus too much on the ghost pictures submitted by others. Most often, its just not worth it, lol. That sounds harsh, but its true. Either there is just not enough information or photo clarity to give a good, accurate analysis....or the photo is a natural glitch. Sometimes, the photo is outright fraudulent. These I hate the most because I'm one of those who believe that people are inherently good. I don't think the majority of people posting ghost app photos and other fraudulent photos and/or information are doing so maliciously. Rather, I think people have a tendency to find something cool on the internet and want to share. Unfortunately, some are the victims of pranks by friends who realize their gullibility.

I tend to think this photo is just one of those, 'Hey, cool! Look what I found!' photos. When I first scrolled by and paused, what caught my attention was that I knew I had seen this image somewhere before. Further, while looking at the photo, it certainly didn't look like an image taken with a camera---it had that look of 'film,' like it was a still shot from a movie.  A simple reverse-image search later, and I had my answer.

This image IS a still shot, and it was probably taken directly from the documentary, The Best Ghost Cases Ever Caught on Tape, which aired as a Fox TV special in the early 2000s. This show specializes in taking film footage of alleged ghosts, and explaining or debunking them. While I highly recommend watching the whole thing, I want to bring your attention to the clip at hand. If you fast forward to 26:16, you'll see the clip in question....and the confession that it is the product of a student filmmaker! Oh, and what looks like a robot ghost is actually the mist pausing in front of the refrigerator, lol.

The Best Ghost Cases Ever Caught on Tape Documentary

The Cleveland, TX Ghost Photo

Original

I just wanted to preface today's blog by saying I definitely learned something...I had no idea there was a Cleveland, Texas.  Anyway, I have another post dedicated to a fraudulent ghost photo.  Unfortunately, the boom in popularity for Facebook groups and pages ran and frequented by people with very little experience in the paranormal research field has led to a boom in fraudulent and fictional stories and photos to flood the web. Just recently this one popped its head back up.

Zoomed In

The photo in question was taken in by Marcella Davis on April 15, 2013.  Marcella took the photo around 4pm at Cleveland High School in Cleveland, TX.  According to her, she attempting to photograph her nephew.  She took one photo, but since her nephew turned, and didn't want his picture taken, she gave up.


Marcella was using a smartphone to take the photo, but admitted that she knew very little about how it worked.  Her teenage daughter was showing her how to zoom in on the photo and noticed the ghostly image of a man in a white suit with bell-bottoms.

Does this guy look familiar?  Yep, its a ghost app! I'm guessing that Marcella's daughter, before showing her mom how to zoom in on a photo, doctored it up a lil' to play a prank.

From the Facebook page, Ghost App Ghosts

FaceBook's Most Famous Ghost Girl

With the start of Halloween season, EVERYONE starts getting in a spooky mood, including local media!  This is the time of year when news stations, periodicals, and radio stations start delighting their audiences with spooky local legends, interviews with local paranormal teams...and of course, the sharing of alleged ghost photographs!

One of those photographs has been making its rounds en force on FaceBook lately, complete with captioning.  It seems that a family had been experiencing some weird things, and the family pets seemed quite interested in something unseen.  When a photo was taken, a little ghostly girl was clearly seen outside.

Pretty spooky, right?  I bet the girlfriend in the photo thought the very same thing!  Fortunately for her, however, she has nothing to fear.  The photo, featuring the world's creepiest little girl in a printed dress, was created using a popular smartphone application.  The app is called Ghost Capture by a company that calls itself by the aptly named, but unfortunate moniker of Ghosts Don't Exist.  What I assume happened was that the boyfriend in the story (granted that what little back story we do have has any basis in fact) wanted to scare his girlfriend, and thus played a little prank on her using the app.  She freaked, shared the photo with friends and family, and the more gullible of the lot took it to the next level until it eventually ended up fooling at least one radio station who is sharing the image.

Ghost Capture App Ghosts

Unfortunately, its not JUST everyday people being fooled.  Obviously the media is being fooled by this and similar images, but the saddest aspect is that people who are self-proclaimed paranormal experts and paranormal investigators are sharing this image around FaceBook thinking its real. Comments from others serve to enforce the idea that this little ghost girl is fooling a LOT of people. 

Now, everyone has a right to believe what they want when it comes to the paranormal field and I'm not one to dispute things that I cannot begin to prove or disprove.  However, this photograph is a known fake using an image clearly taken from a well-known phone application.  Belief is one thing, but we as investigators and researchers of the paranormal must walk a line; its possible to be open-minded and tactful, especially when it comes to dealing with the beliefs of others (especially those who are our Facebook fans, lol), but this can be accomplished without the spread of misinformation and mis-education.  Passing photos such as this off as 'real' only hurts the field as a whole, whether done intentionally or not.

The Original Photo, posted by the awesome people over at Ghost App Ghosts

And, going off on sort of a tangent...there is absolutely no excuse for anyone working in the paranormal field to be tricked by this particular image.  Seriously, this little girl should be earning royalties from beyond the grave; out of all the choices this particular app affords, plus those of copycat apps, she is always the most popular. Chances are, you've seen this same image pop up in numerous "true" ghost photos at least half a dozen times.  Look below for a few examples of our favorite little spook I've culled from a quick Google Search...and please see my article on Photo Analysis for some really easy ways to check a photo's authenticity! 

Buckley Family Murder

This is the Buckley Family. The children’s names were Susan & John. As a Halloween joke, the kids in the neighborhood were going to get a dummy & pretend to chop its head off. The Buckley children thought it would be hilarious to actually kill their mum, so when the kids walked up the door they got an axe and slaughtered her. Once everyone figured out what they had done, they called the police, but the kids were long gone by then. The only picture of them was this photo, taken by a trick or treater. The mother's body was found half eaten.

Well, not exactly.  The above narrative is the one that is accompanying this photograph and floating around the web in force.  It is a popular Halloween subject, yet it is leaving behind a trail of confused individuals who want to know if this image is real or not.  The truth is...its KINDA real, lol. 

This image is the artwork of Eddie Allen, who creates changing portraits for the Haunted Memories site.  You've probably seen similar works on the shelves lately...portraits of old-timey subjects that take on a horrifying twist when looked at from a slightly different angle.  This particular image is titled Midwestern Matricide, and the inspiration behind the creepy image can be found at the link provided below.  As for the actual story...I'm not sure if its the brainchild of the artist himself, or simply someone trying to create their
own viral internet sensation!

Unaltered Photo

http://www.changingportraits.com/mmud.htm

For more paranormal and ghosty fun, such as the photo above, paranormal news, or updates to this blog, please follow Theresa's Haunted History on FaceBook!