Ghost at Tantallon Castle, what'd you all make of this?

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An eerie image of a figure in period costume has spooked experts investigating apparent photographic evidence of ghosts.



Above: How the picture was taken... Below: A close-up


The picture, taken in May 2008, appears to show a man or woman in a ruff peering out of a barred window at Tantallon Castle.

No mannequins or costumed guides are employed at the castle, and three photographic experts have confirmed that no digital trickery was used on the photo.

Even confirmed ghost sceptic Professor Richard Wiseman, who led the study, admitted being puzzled.

"It is certainly very curious," he said. "We ran it by three photographic experts and they said it hadn't been Photoshopped at all.

"The figure appears to be in period costume, but we know 100% that Tantallon Castle is not the sort of place that has dummies or costumed guides - they just don't go in for that sort of thing."



Ghost walking in front couple


Tantallon Castle, a ruined fortress dating back to the 14th Century, stands on a remote rocky headland near North Berwick on the Scottish east coast.

It was badly damaged in an attack by Oliver Cromwell's forces in 1651.

Christopher Aitchison, who took the photo, said: "I was not aware of anyone, or anything, being present in my picture, only noticing the anomaly when I got home.

"Staff have verified that there were no sinister dummies in period costume or historical re-enactments going on that day at the castle.

"I did not notice any nice old ladies wearing ruffs walking around the stairs! Some people have suggested its just light reflecting on rocks and one person suggested it may be King James V of Scotland."

Psychologist Prof Wiseman, from the University of Hertfordshire, who has made many studies of the supernatural, launched the investigation a month ago.

Members of the public were asked to submit ghostly images for experts to analyse, the best of which were posted on the website www.scienceofhauntings.com.

More than 250 pictures were received from all over the world and more than a quarter of a million people voted for what they considered to be the most convincing photos.

"The Ghost in the Castle" took first place, winning 39% of the votes.

Here are the runners up:

:: Ghost in the Woods - Appears to show a strange ghostly figure in the trees. Sceptics say it is probably a mixture of shadows, leaves and branches.

:: Ghost on the Street - A strange shadowy figure next to the couple in the picture. Non-believers say blurring in the image suggests a long exposure. A person may have walked past the photographer unnoticed.

:: Ghost on the Beach - A mysterious dark hooded figure stands at the water's edge. Sceptics say the figure is an illusion created by an indentation in the rock face.

:: Ghost in the Mirror - A ghostly face in a car's wing mirror. The photographer says no one else was around at the time but sceptics insist the face could be a reflection of a headrest, someone standing nearby, or the result of digital manipulation.

The study is part of the Edinburgh International Science Festival.

Experts will discuss the findings at Hauntings, a one-day public festival event examining the evidence for ghosts on April 4
Click to expand...

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK...Baffles_Experts_At_Edinburgh_Science_Festival


what do you lot think, i don't believe in ghosts, if it wasn't another person walking around the castle what do you reckon the explaination is?
 
The problem I always have with these things is that people say "OMG GHOST" when there are a billion* other more plausible explanations, first and foremost which do you think is more likely;

A) It was someone there they did not know about (or knew about but felt like more publicity would be nice).
B) It was a "ghost".

?
 
Pretty freaky looking, Suppose it *could* be a person standing there but what are the odds of someone prancing about like that and nobody noticing him? :confused:
 
Gerard said:
Pretty freaky looking, Suppose it *could* be a person standing there but what are the odds of someone prancing about like that and nobody noticing him? :confused:
Click to expand...
I'd wager better than the odds of it being some kind of unexplained, never verified paranormal activity.
 
I think its more to do with the passage of time, the person walking was not in fact a ghost but a real person the camera managed to capture the past or the future.
 
mattheman said:
I think its more to do with the passage of time, the person walking was not in fact a ghost but a real person the camera managed to capture the past or the future.
Click to expand...

facepalm.jpg
 
This news made me stump upon the article on UK's most haunted roads, and with further research on the topic in google I've found out that a road which I've lived on for 12 years (parent's) is apparently haunted, as well as a road near my current address too :eek:
 
Ah... the wonders of faith, making claims in spite of checked evidence.

The irony, of course, is that those who have ignored all the reports of analysis completed to simply declare 'it's fake because I said so' are exhibiting just as much faith as those who would say 'it's absolutely, definitely a ghost, and a ghost is defined as X'

Are there things we don't understand about the world? Absolutely. Are there consistent accounts of the phenomenom referred to as being 'haunted'? Again, absolutely. Does that mean we have any understanding of why they occur? Not in the slightest.
 
At first glance I'd be inclined to think that there was someone dressed up in "period costume" that was there for some other reason, it is possible that ghosts exist and that they deign to appear on photographs occasionally but there are equally other explanations that don't involve the supernatural which I'd naturally gravitate to first.

I'm also a bit curious as to why the picture was taken in the first place, from what I recall of Tantallon that isn't an area that would be worth photographing unless you knew someone up there but perhaps since we appear to have only a partial photograph that was one of the upper or lower portions of a more photogenic section. It could also be my eyes but does anyone else see a yellow line in the closeup that doesn't appear to be in the original?
 
so...someone takes a picture, zooms in on a far window and see's a person - and that makes it a ghost??
and its baffled 'experts'!! baffled idiots more like.
 
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