Poll: Newby ghost photo - ever proved a fake?

Do you think the Newby Ghost photo is real or fake?

  • Real

  • Fake


Results are only viewable after voting.
Caporegime
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Looks cool, regardless.

Looks about as realistic as this however:

reflect2.jpg


:p.
 
Last edited:
Soldato
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[FnG]magnolia;12691999 said:
You would prove it was real by having more than one photograph of the supposed ghost over the course of 40 years. If it isn't repeatable it's hardly proven to be real or valid. I think it's a fake. If you showed me that the guy had managed to capture not one but 10 pictures I'd be far less sure. If he had somehow taken 50 I'd be seriously reconsidering my stance on whether ghosts are real or not.

One dodgy pic does not a proof make :)

I don't think it's real myself, but photographing the same thing multiple times over many year would mean that the "ghost" would have to be in the same place (or building) constantly.

What's to say if they did exist they couldn't move around freely as we do?
 
Soldato
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One of the most famous 'ghost' photos ever. Taken by the Rev Lord at Newby church in Yorkshire in the 60's. He was taking a photo of the altar and was adamant there was nothing there. However when developed a ghostly monk like figure appeared.

ghostmonk.jpg


I remember first seeing it on Arthur C Clarkes Mysterious World, it really creeped me out. I know a lot of the most famous photos have been debunked, but as far as I know nobody has ever proven this one to be a fake. Or have they?

Probably a double negative, or even just an acetate pic of the ghost put on the lens.
 
Soldato
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Probably a double negative, or even just an acetate pic of the ghost put on the lens.

Missed me and Lysander saying it's not a double negative then :p

Depends if you believe ghosts are free thinking spirits or simply a playback of something residual from the past.

Never really thought about it that hard to be honest, if I believed in ghosts I'd probably like to think they were free thinking spirits myself.

Although this is a subject I'm open about, like religion I'm agnostic leading towards atheism. I sway more towards it's a load of old tosh, but we can't rule either out so I'm completely open on both fronts.
 
Soldato
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My 2p worth

Not a fake as such but not a captured image of a spirit being either. More likely it's a flaw or fault in the negative (if the same figure exists in other prints from the same transparency) or a fault in the print.

It's just a blobish stain that appears to resemble a ghostly figure because the actual image gives it definition that isn't there. The bottom of the 'robe' appears to flow over the steps but all the shaddow/highlight is in the actual image, there isn't any in the 'robe' itself. There appears to be a face type part in the approximate place where you'd expect the face to be, but how face like does it actually look.

Either it's the ghost of a monk who died as a result of face melting lasers or an optical illusion caused by an abnormality in the photograph.
 
Caporegime
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Has there been any investigation into what the figure looks like to be wearing and if its vaguely historically accurate?

I dont remember monks fully covering their face but never really bothered to read up on it...

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
Soldato
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Then so are alien abductions, et al...

Indeed, I don't believe that every Tom, Dick and Harry that claims to have been abducted has been... but there's no reason why one or two people could have been.

Simply because we don't have the technology and that we've only been around a few thousands years is no reason why another race could have been around millions of years and developed much better technology.

It's stuff like that you just simply can't wave a hand at it and disprove/prove everything... although we're supposedly being visited today by our Reptilian Overlords, so who knows :p
 
Soldato
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My 2p worth

Not a fake as such but not a captured image of a spirit being either. More likely it's a flaw or fault in the negative (if the same figure exists in other prints from the same transparency) or a fault in the print.

It's just a blobish stain that appears to resemble a ghostly figure because the actual image gives it definition that isn't there. The bottom of the 'robe' appears to flow over the steps but all the shaddow/highlight is in the actual image, there isn't any in the 'robe' itself. There appears to be a face type part in the approximate place where you'd expect the face to be, but how face like does it actually look.

Either it's the ghost of a monk who died as a result of face melting lasers or an optical illusion caused by an abnormality in the photograph.

This has been my thought also, it's just a case of reading into a splodge and seeing what you want to see however if this was the case it's likely that this type of developing error would have been seen both before and after the event.

The most curious aspect for me is the bottom of the robe, the figure looks very tall and there is almost like an outline of a rectangular box under the bottom of the robe.
 
Soldato
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The most curious aspect for me is the bottom of the robe, the figure looks very tall and there is almost like an outline of a rectangular box under the bottom of the robe.

I don't see that at all, if you're looking where I think you're looking, that line is the edge of the concrete (or whatever it is) on the step.

Look in the full picture and it's a lot clearer and you see it on the otherside of the step.

I agree about the height though, looks like it's about 8 feet tall =/
 
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I don't see that at all, if you're looking where I think you're looking, that line is the edge of the concrete (or whatever it is) on the step.

Look in the full picture and it's a lot clearer and you see it on the otherside of the step.

I agree about the height though, looks like it's about 8 feet tall =/

There was some analysis done on this photo (can't find it I'm afraid) which calculated the height of the figure to be nearer 10 feet.
 
Soldato
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There was some analysis done on this photo (can't find it I'm afraid) which calculated the height of the figure to be nearer 10 feet.

Sounds about right actually, if you look at the barrier to stop you getting onto the alter that's got to be about, what... 4 feet high maybe a little more? They generally come up to waist height on your average bloke, and you could easily get two of those in this figures height.
 
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Here are two more famous 'ghost' pictures. Again neither to my knowledge has been proved to be fake.
The first was taken from the onboard the SS Watertown in 1924. It's supposed to show two dead crew members who had been overcome by fumes whilst cleaning out a boiler onboard the ship. They were supposedly seen by several members of the crew and the captain after the two were buried at sea and reported to have followed the ship for several days.

WATERTOWN.jpg


The second is purported to be the ghost of Freddy Jackson who was killed two days earlier and buried the day the photo was taken, several members of the squadron apparently immediately recognised Jackson's face.

FreddyJacksonghost.jpg
 
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