7 Chilling Unexplained Images of Hauntings & Other Creepiness (PHOTOS)
I don't believe in ghosts, but I LOVE a good ghost story. (What can I say, I contain multitudes.) Being as how we're coming up on Halloween, it seems like an appropriate time of year to share some of the creepiest unexplained images lurking around the web, some of which are believed to be photographic evidence of hauntings. All of these pictures gave me the willies, but I almost wish I hadn't read the description of The Dyatlov Pass Incident (second image in the slideshow), because I'm pretty sure I'm going to be revisiting that story again. In the dead of night. As I lie in bed, wide-eyed, staring up at the ceiling.
Button up your sweater, smooth down the hairs on the back of your neck, and gird your loins for these 7 freaky pictures that probably have a perfectly normal explanation. Probably.
The Madonna of Bachelor's Grove
Reputed to be one of the most haunted cemeteries in the U.S., Bachelor's Grove has been the site of well over 100 different reports of strange phenomena, including apparitions, unexplained sights and sounds, and even glowing balls of light. On August 10, 1991, several members of of the Ghost Research Society (GRS) were at the cemetery when GRS member Mari Huff reportedly captured this image with a high-speed infrared camera.
The Dyatlov Pass Incident
Something terrible happened to nine ski hikers in the northern Ural mountains on the night of February 2, 1959, but no one's sure what. Investigators at the time determined that the hikers tore open their tent from within, escaping barefoot into heavy snow and temperatures of −22 °F. Although the corpses showed no signs of struggle, two victims had fractured skulls, two had broken ribs, and one was missing her tongue. Forensic radiation tests had shown high doses of radioactive contamination on the clothes of a few victims.
The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall
The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall is a ghost which reportedly haunts Raynham Hall in Norfolk, first sighted in 1835 when a houseguest claimed to see a phantom wearing a brown satin dress, noting that her eyes that had been gouged out. Photographers from Country Life magazine claimed to have captured her image in 1936, and the resulting image is widely believed to be one of the most convincing of all the known photographs of ghosts ... although skeptics have long argued that the picture is a fake.
The Spectre of Newby Church
This photograph was taken in 1963 by Reverend K. F. Lord at Newby Church in North Yorkshire, England. People have long believed it was posed, but supposedly the photo has been scrutinized by photo experts who say the image is not the result of a double exposure. The Reverend Lord claimed that nothing was visible to the naked eye when he took the snapshot of his altar, but the enormous spooky cowled figure appeared when the film was developed.
Freddy Jackson's Ghost
This 1919 photo was taken by by Sir Victor Goddard and depicts a group portrait of Goddard's squadron, which had served in World War I aboard the HMS Daedalus. The extra ghostly face is said to be the face of Freddy Jackson, an air mechanic who had been accidentally killed by an airplane propeller two days earlier. Members of the squadron easily recognized the face as Jackson's, whose funeral had taken place the day the photo was snapped.
The Hampton Court Ghost
In 2003, fire alarms sounded at the Hampton Court Palace in London, England, indicating that one of the doors had opened. Guards rushed to the area, but found the doors closed with no one nearby. Later, this disturbing image was reportedly discovered on the footage captured by closed-circuit security cameras.