Real Ghost Photo: Top Hat Ghost

"This is a picture of my nan and uncle taken in the 1930s," says Simon. "If you look to the right of them in the wooden shed, there is a man in a top hat holding something, and to his left a really evil-looking entity. My nan would never let anyone see this picture whilst she was alive. Also, when my uncle was a teenager he apparently found a skeleton under some slabs in the grounds of the house. What happened then I have no idea. The picture is 100% genuine and has just come to light in the family. It freaks a lot of people out that I have shown."

- from Simon Barker

Real Ghost Photo: Restroom Ghost, Weslaco Hotel

"I recently got involved in paranormal investigations after having two experiences that I could never explain. I started doing research on my own and have become quite knowledgeable in things paranormal. About a month ago, I learned that one of my co-workers and his girlfriend moved out of her house 9 months ago because of paranormal activity, but due to circumstances beyond her control have to move back in. Needless to say, they're afraid of the house and asked me for help."

"Activity includes disembodied voices, blankets yanked off her kids' beds, footsteps, doors slamming shut, full-body apparitions and shadow figures. The phenomena was also witnessed by friends as well as her whole family for a span of about a year or so. I instructed her to take pictures throughout the house and said I would be there the next night.

"The morning before my first investigation, she emailed me a picture taken in her basement by her friend, and there appears to be an apparition on the stairs. It was taken at 10:30 in the morning and nothing unusual was noticed until she viewed the pictures after the fact. During my investigation, I captured the sound footsteps on the stairs where the picture was taken and three distinct laughs in an upstairs bedroom on a digital recorder. I saw a distinct shadow figure and had a bottle cap thrown into a room where I and several people were standing. At the conclusion of my investigation, I spread baby powder on the floor in the dining room and wrote my name about 12 inches across in the powder. I instructed the homeowners to stay away from the house and not let anyone go inside the house as another investigation was scheduled about a week later with the paranormal group I contacted.

"The day before the second investigation, the homeowner called to inform me that she went to the house to pick up a vacuum cleaner and noticed there were footprints in the powder. She assured me that no one had been in the house after we locked it up. A week later, I returned to the house and have on video knocks somewhere in the house responding to me and an overhead fluorescent light turning on by itself.

"I've enclosed a picture of the apparition on the stairs and you'll notice the top of the head partially covers a beam."

- from Ashley Cabrera

Real Ghost Photo: Basement Apparition

"I recently got involved in paranormal investigations after having two experiences that I could never explain. I started doing research on my own and have become quite knowledgeable in things paranormal. About a month ago, I learned that one of my co-workers and his girlfriend moved out of her house 9 months ago because of paranormal activity, but due to circumstances beyond her control have to move back in. Needless to say, they're afraid of the house and asked me for help."

"Activity includes disembodied voices, blankets yanked off her kids' beds, footsteps, doors slamming shut, full-body apparitions and shadow figures. The phenomena was also witnessed by friends as well as her whole family for a span of about a year or so. I instructed her to take pictures throughout the house and said I would be there the next night."

"The morning before my first investigation, she emailed me a picture taken in her basement by her friend, and there appears to be an apparition on the stairs. It was taken at 10:30 in the morning and nothing unusual was noticed until she viewed the pictures after the fact. During my investigation, I captured the sound footsteps on the stairs where the picture was taken and three distinct laughs in an upstairs bedroom on a digital recorder. I saw a distinct shadow figure and had a bottle cap thrown into a room where I and several people were standing. At the conclusion of my investigation, I spread baby powder on the floor in the dining room and wrote my name about 12 inches across in the powder. I instructed the homeowners to stay away from the house and not let anyone go inside the house as another investigation was scheduled about a week later with the paranormal group I contacted."

"The day before the second investigation, the homeowner called to inform me that she went to the house to pick up a vacuum cleaner and noticed there were footprints in the powder. She assured me that no one had been in the house after we locked it up. A week later, I returned to the house and have on video knocks somewhere in the house responding to me and an overhead fluorescent light turning on by itself."

"I've enclosed a picture of the apparition on the stairs and you'll notice the top of the head partially covers a beam."

- from Tim McHenry

Real Ghost Photo: Ghosts lead to bones

In November, 2009, there were two separate cases in which ghosts may have led paranormal investigators to discover buried bones.

The first case took place in Wellsburg, West Virginia at a historic mansion. In early November, the Brooke County Paranormal Society was investigating the building when some of the members began to have strange sensations in the basement. "A couple of the psychics that were part of that group got physically sick when they went down there and they couldn't figure out why," building owner Gene Valentine told WTOV Steubenville. Following a "voice" into the basement, according to the news story, the team found a bone on the dirt floor. A little digging yielded many more bones that seemed to be "chopped up into pieces" and had traces of saw marks. At first it wasn't known whether the bones were human or animal, but an analysis by no less than the Smithsonian Institute determined that they were chicken, pig, horse and cattle bones. So obviously the voice of the ghost, if that's what is was, wasn't leading the investigators to his or her own bones, but it did lead to a peculiar, previously unknown burial. (Why were all those animal bones buried in the building's basement?)

The second case began on November 14 when Jim Boudreaux and brothers Benton and Frank Lavoi toured a house for sale in Gibson, Louisiana. They also happened to be members of the H.I.T. Men (Haunting Investigative Team), based in Southern Louisiana. Naturally, they took a lot of photos of the prospective home, but it wasn't until they were looking at the pictures on the way home that Benton's son noticed something unusual in one of them. (See photo above.) Near the rear of the home is a figure that looks like the upper torso of a man with "a pair of overalls draped atop his broad shoulders." Thinking this might be a ghost trying to tell them something, the men returned to the house a week later. Venturing into the basement, they too felt uneasy. And that's when they found the bones. And these were human bones -- more than 100 of them. They notified the authorities, who after an examination of the bones would determine whether or not the house should be considered a crime scene.

- from H.I.T. Men

Real Ghost Photo: Ghost Boy in the Bathroom

"The photo was taken by my mother on Halloween day 1989 of me and my friend spray painting our hair before trick-or-treating," says Melissa. "We were 13 years old at the time. We didn't realize that there was a third person in the photo for quite some time -- years -- because we weren't looking for it. We considered the idea of a double exposure, but there is no overlapping on the picture and also we don't recognize the boy. He seems to be a young boy, maybe the around the same age as we were at the time. He's standing behind me and has dark poofy hair, and seems to be looking down or has his eyes closed. You can see his facial features clearly and it looks like he's wearing a t-shirt with writing on it. He's standing in front of the tub enclosure; you can see his hair blocking the chrome trim on the door, yet you can also see the towel bar on the shower door through him."

"It's very interesting, but unfortunately I have no answers for it. The house was built for my parents in the early 1960s, so I have no stories of a previous family living there. And like I said, nobody recognizes the boy in the picture. I'd love to hear your feedback. Does this qualify as a legitimate ghost photo? I'd love to have it analyzed or just receive somebody's professional opinion, like yours."

- from Melissa

Real Ghost Photo: Stanley Hotel Child Ghost

"I was at the Stanley on a ghost tour," says George. "I came back with four orb pictures (which I can send you if you wish), and upon further investigation I have this one. I didn't notice it until I was on the plane home and zoomed in on all my Stanley pictures. I was shocked at first and have been showing it to people the past few weeks and been getting similar reactions of amazement to people saying it looked like a Cabbage Patch doll. Just thought you might have some ideas. At first I thought it was a dog, then after zooming closer, it certainly looks like an apparition of a little boy. If you look at the people on the ground they are so clear, when you look at the window it looks like a vision. You'll also notice there is no curtain or glass to distort the view; the window is open."

Could it actually be the face of a real little boy or doll? George contacted the Stanley Hotel staff about that possibility.

"I contacted the hotel to find out about the room," George says," and this is what they said:"

OK, the room number is 1211. Last Friday, there was a single man checked in that room who was part of a business conference.

- from George Cassella

Real Ghost Photo: Stanley Hotel Spirit

"My brother and I just returned from a trip to Estes Park, Colorado," says Steve Santel. "During our stay, we visited The Stanley Hotel. On Friday, July 24th, I took a photograph in the Billiard Room that is nothing short of extraordinary. Visible through two windows leading to the adjacent room, there are two completely separate 'apparitions,' one viewed through each window. Both forms are very distinct and each shows facial features. The subjects are very different in size and shape, with one looking somewhat like smoke with arms and a face and the other resembling the shape of a human with slightly exaggerated features.

After doing some research on the internet, I've been unable to find anything else like this photograph. At this point, I'm not sure who to send it to for review. I tried the Ghost Hunters (T.A.P.S.) website, but my email was returned indicating their mailbox is full. I'm sure you get a number of emails like this and it's probably very difficult to discern fact from quack, but I assure you this is an authentic photograph. In fact, one of the subjects appears behind window panes, and even if something like that could be faked, I'd have no idea how to accomplish it.

"Our trip was planned to hike and climb in Rocky Mountain National Park. The only reason we went to The Stanley was because my brother promised to get his wife a souvenir there. It wasn't until I got home that the strange image was revealed while reviewing my photographs. At the time of shooting, I had no idea what the image had captured. It blew us away because I honestly didn't expect to see anything in the pictures other than hotel rooms and furniture. A few other shots seemed to contain 'orbs,' but those probably can be explained since they were the only two pictures I took with a flash. The subjects in the previously referenced photo have no explanation in my mind."

- from Steve Santel

Real Ghost Photo: Roadside entities

"This picture was snapped while driving down a country road in East Texas," says Kathy. "Look at the figures standing by the road through the car window. They seem to be dressed in black and their faces and hands are white."

- from Kathy Nephew

When I first saw this photo, I thought, "The Mole Men! They're back!" The Mole Men were subterranean humanoids who wielded a vacuum cleaner ray gun in the 1951 film Superman and the Mole Men, which later served as the pilot episode of the George Reeves The Adventures of Superman TV series. But that was a fleeting thought. It does look like three odd-looking entities standing back there. What are they? Ghosts? Phantoms? Aliens?

Real Ghost Photo: Castle Child Ghost

Has this photograph captured the image of a child's ghost?

"This photo was taken in Scotland by some friends of my sister while they were touring an old castle," says Bill Eagan. "Look over the shoulder to the right of the people hugging. Best image at 200%. What do you think? Looks like a ghost of a small boy to me."

- from Bill Eagan

I did some enhancing of the photo, Bill, and it's clear that there is an image of a child there. I didn't even see the head and face at first, just the arm, clothing and leg. I was rather surprised to see the child's face emerge from the enhancement.

(The original photo and the enhancement are shown in the animation above. I only enhanced the portion of the photo around the child, which gives it that pasted-in look, but it's not pasted in -- at least not by me.)

So is it a ghost? To me the child does look like he or she is from another era. In fact, it rather looks like a portrait. This makes me wonder if this is a double exposure. Were there portraits of this kind in the castle that possibly were photographed? If it's not a double exposure, it also could be a deliberate digital manipulation -- but Bill wouldn't do that to us, would you, Bill?

The third possibility, of course, is that it is a ghost phenomenon. Can you give us any more information, Bill?

Real Ghost Photo: Camp-Out Phantom

"Camping with my friends a few weeks ago," Mike says. "The head seems to be a small boy. It wasn't there when I took the photo. I can account for everyone in this photo (7 of us including me), but not the head."

- from Mike Stewart

Unless this photo has been digitally tampered with, it's rather puzzling. It looks like a real face and seems too detailed to be pareidolia. What's odd about this ghost, if that's what it is, is that he is staring straight into the camera, as if he is posing, like the rest of the guys. Also, whether he is standing or even sitting, it seems that the lower part of his body would be below ground level. It looks as though he might have a white collar, meaning he is more formally dressed or from another era.

Real Ghost Photo: Chicago Bar Phantom

"My husband and I traveled to Chicago to see my sister graduate from college," says Brittany. "The night of graduation, we took her and her boyfriend out for some celebratory drinks. We spent most of the night in what I understand to be an old building, at a champagne bar called Pops For Champagne. In the photo, my husband and my sister's boyfriend were posing for a picture. We were all seated, there were no mirrors or glass of any kind near us. Lots of people were walking past our table, but when we reviewed our photos on the ride home, we could not get over what the figure behind the two boys. Why is it see-through when even the scenery behind it is opaque? If it was a person walking quickly, why is it transparent and not blurry? And what the heck kind of outfit is it wearing? It looks like a space suit."

- from Brittany Lyke

Real Ghost Photo: Vapor-like Ghost at a Cemetery

I would love to hear your opinion on this. This was taken in Spice Valley Cemetery in Mitchell, Indiana with a Sony Cybershot. I tend to rule out someone's breath because the image doesn't come in from the edge... it appears to be a freestanding mist.

- from joscottwade

Real Ghost Photo: Wedding Day Ghost

This is a photo of my aunt's wedding day. The year was 1942, and the photo was taken with a box camera. On some of my feedback I'm told it's not really there! Well, I know it is. This picture has been passed down. Please give me some feedback. I would like too see what everone thinks. It was taken in Jasper, Alabama.

- from Liz

Real Ghost Photo: TV Demon

"Would you like to see a picture of a ghost? I bought some candy teeth for my niece and nephew; they were pretending to be tigers. I took a picture of them and caught someone watching from the "turned off" TV set! You can just see the glow of the red standby light to prove it was off. It may take you a few seconds to see him, but once you do it will give you a chill. He looks dark-skinned and the left side of his face seems in shadow or missing. There is nothing in the room to cause a reflection on the screen. Even if there were, it would have to be large and close for him to appear so big. I found out later that an Aborigional man was held up in the house with the police outside. He shot himself in the head rather than be taken. If the picture is printed out on good photo paper and taken into the sunlight, you can see his yellow right eye looking straight at you."

- from Reg Trevithick

Real Ghost Photo: Farnsworth House Inn Ghost

"I just returned from a trip to the Farnsworth House in Gettysburg. I spent the night with a friend in one of the haunted rooms. Around 12:30 last night, we were watching TV when we thought we heard someone walking in the attic, which was right above our room. We went up to the attic door and didn't hear anything. I assumed it was just an old house settling. We took a few pictures in the house before going back to our room. The remainder of the night was uneventful and we slept like babies. When I returned home this evening, I was showing my brother some pictures I took. He seemed especially interested in one, and told me to let him zoom in on one section. I didn't see anything at first, but after he pointed it out, it was quite clear. The picture was one I took from the top of the stairs looking down into the entry way of the Farnsworth House. I took this picture when we emerged from the room to search for the source of the "mysterious" foot steps. In front of the door there appears to be an arm with a rolled up white shirt sleeve. I am not sure if you would be interested, but the picture certainly caught my attention and I am an open minded skeptic."

- from Beth McClain

Real Ghost Photo: Mayan Mysterious Phantom

"Here is a very cool picture I took at Chechen Itza of the Great Pyramid at that location. We were standing on the north side where the "stone snakes" come down: twice a year on the solstices, people gather to watch the shadow "snake" slither from the top to the bottom of the stairs. And if you stand on that side and clap your hands, you can hear this very strange, high-pitched, bird-like "ping," almost like a bullet ricochet or a bird chirp that is on fast-forward.

I was taking pictures while my family was clapping and I caught this. This is untouched and I had about 200 pictures on this camera, and this was the only one to show this form. I also checked five other cameras that my family had. Some took pictures at or very near the same time and we were standing side by side but do not show this form.

Zoom in to this picture and you can see a figure quite clearly. It looks very similar to many of the Mayan gods drawn and carved in stone. I don't know what it is. I have never seen anything before or since on that camera that makes me think it is a technical "issue" with the camera. If it is a reflection, it sure is funny; it looks like it is running on the ledge of the pyramid."

- from Clint Mason, Campbell River British Columbia

Real Ghost Photo: Ghost's Gentle Touch

"[My daughter] was outside with the girls when she decided to take a picture of the two to show the older girl how much her baby sister looks like her. T____ and her baby sister, taken January 9, 2009 in front of their house in Oklahoma. No one else was around them. They live in an old house in a little town. My daughter asked me the day after taking this picture if I noticed a ghostly hand on her shoulder. I said, "Yes! Something is there!" My daughter asked T______ if she felt anything on her shoulder and she said, "No, nothing." At the time the picture was taken, my daughter did not notice it. What do you suppose it is? Do you suppose it is there to harm them? It didn't seem like it since they have lived there for over two years."

- from Ginger

It sure does look like a hand, but it does not look threatening. To me, it looks like a gentle, protective hand. It definitely seems like a loving gesture.

Real Ghost Photo: Ghost in the Cubicle

"This is a group photo of me with my co-workers in the early 1990s at the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. After careful inspection of the photograph, I noticed a face immediately to my left, also facing the camera. I asked the employee who occupies that office space behind us if she knew who this person was. No she did not, she replied. She also confirmed that she was not in her office that day the photo was taken; therefore, no one could have been in her office at any time. To this day, this phenomena remains a mystery."

- from Melissa M. Maio

Real Ghost Photo: Demon in the dark

"While taking photos in our local park, I saw the strange mist in two photos. I don't know if it is something paranormal, or if it was something wrong with my camera. In this photo I captured something really weird. It looks like some ghostly face with glowing eyes to me. By the way, there are no lights or lamps in the distance; there is only a wall and the end of a park. And darkness. So I can't understand how these lights could appeared on the picture."

- from Filip

Real Ghost Photo: Unexplained Jesus-like face

"I got this photo from my grandma, and it must be from the early 1900s. Just take a look at it! There's a mum and a dad with their child on his knee. The child died short after the photo was taken. You can see a face in profile and an angel's face in the hair of Jesus. It's really a fantastic photo, isn't it? Have you seen a similar photo?

It certainly is interesting. Could it be a double exposure or just a trick of light and shadow? Or are we looking at something paranormal?"

- from Jessica Lundgren, Sweden

Real Ghost Photo: Hat lightning

"I was wondering if you would be able to tell me what the streak of light is on the photo of my late husband. It has my signature on the bottom of it."

- from Liz

I don't see a signature, but this is most unusual. I don't know if it's paranormal, but it is certainly anomalous. It doesn't appear to be any kind of reflected or smeared light. And it is not lightning in the backgound as the end of the light lies in front of the hat. Any ideas out there?

Real Ghost Photo: Mall Ghost in India

"This picture was taken by me, "ALOK", in the MMX mall in India after closing time. I am a staff member, so I need to work late at night. This picture was taken with my mobile phone (2 megapixel) around 1:30 a.m. An image of a man wearing a black coat and hat can clearly be observed on the left side of the picture.

I have never seen a man roaming the mall in this outfit, even in day time. Actually, you will hardly find anyone in this outfit in India. As I said, the mall was closed and only staff members of cinema operation were there. I took the picture of my friend at the food counter just for fun. This pic was taken in night vision mode."

- from Naman Srivastava

Real Ghost Photo: Blue Spirit Light

"I have been following the orb debate and have found that most orbs are camera artifacts, dust, snow, or rain. But no one ever gets a photo of real spirit lights -- that is what I was told they were many years ago -- that glow on their own. I have seen the lights a few times long ago, but now after my mother-in-law passed away, I have seen a blue glowing "orb" / light coming out of where we keep her ashes urn. My wife has seen it here and my sister-in-law has seen the same thing at her house, too.

It is small and bright, moves around as if it knows not to bump into things, and sometimes goes out the window, maybe to my sister-in-law's house.

A few months ago, I was at a local haunted building taking pictures and saw the same sort of thing and got a photo [above] of it before it got away. I was stunned to see that I have finally captured one."

- from John Sterrett

Real Ghost Photo: Crescent Hotel Floating Head

"My daughters and I were standing in line to buy the tickets for the tour of the Crescent Hotel. My youngest, Adrianna, started feeling very ill. She said her head hurt and felt like she was going to vomit and almost felt faint. I told her and my oldest daughter to go and sit in the hallway in front of the elevators.

There were 3 boys that had some kind of a detector that started going crazy, and they were sure they had found a ghost. My girls were laughing at them, and I thought I would just take a picture of the calamity.

As you can see in the picture, my girls are sitting in the hallway next to the elevators. They are sitting on the floor. I can see two faces very clearly: the one skeleton-looking face looks like it has a device on its head, or maybe it's just bald. Nevertheless, you can see the wrinkles on its brow. There is a second face you can see very well to the right, and just above it there is another face that looks more skeletal, like the first one. Down below there is a burst of energy and when blown up it looks like you can see a spine with ribs.

I cannot figure out what the long jellyfish-looking thing is in the middle of the pic; it almost looks like it has a tail. There is the number 2 and maybe a 2 i or 21 down at the very botton of the picture; it blends in with my daughter's blue jeans.

As soon as we left this spot, my daughter began to feel better. We did have a weird feeling when we would approach the annex. As a matter of fact, when we pulled up to the hotel, I did get the creepiest feeling when I looked over to that area. We have never been to the Crescent before, so we knew nothing really about it."

- from Vicky Martinez

Real Ghost Photo: Café Phantom

"These are four pictures I took in quick succession at a café near my house. I'm a photographer and was taking pictures for artistic purposes when I captured these. I remember taking these photos, but do not remember anyone or anything walking or otherwise passing past the lens. I was left with the impression, in fact, that they would be unimpressive and that they'd be deleted (though I waited, as usual, until later to assess my work).

They were taken without a flash with a Canon Rebel XTi (fps 5), a shutter speed of ¼ of a second, and without a tripod (though I was sitting still in a chair). After consulting a couple of other photographers about the photo, I have yet to come up with an explanation. It was noted that the motion blur on the figure suggests movement to the right though the figure went left. There also appear to be features suggesting a face in the third frame, though there are clearly no such markings in the first or second. It's also noteworthy that everything else in the photo (including the two girls behind the figure, one of whom was talking and – between the second and third pictures – had moved her hand) is in perfect focus.

Taking all this into consideration, we concluded that the figure, whatever it is, seems to be twisting – fast and continuously - in a counter-clockwise direction and that it covered about 8 or 9 feet of space doing this in 1.8 seconds (given the shutter speed and fps speed of the camera). This without I, nor the two girls at the table, nor my friend (whose elbow is in the bottom left hand corner) noticing.

I have all four of the originals. They were taken in RAW format on a digital SLR and thus have saved the most information possible to have a record of for each of these four photographs (including the color information).

Please let me know what you think. It looks like a ghost, smells like a ghost…does it sound like a ghost to you?"

- from Jodie McNamara

Real Ghost Photo: Ghost in the Fixer-Upper

"About a year ago, my husband and I were looking at an old fixer-upper house that we were considering buying. I snapped the attached photo of the inside of the huge garage. Neither my husband (in the background, standing in the doorway) nor I noticed anything out of the ordinary at the time the picture was snapped. But when I downloaded the shots to my computer, we then noticed the orbs and this ghostly image. It definitely looks like a face to us, in the upper center of the photo, sort of reaching down towards the orb below it. None of the other photos I took that day had any sort of abnormality."

- from Regina Durrin

Real Ghost Photo: Crescent Hotel Apparition

My name is Brandon Alvis. I am the founder of the American Paranormal Research Association (APRA). We recently did an investigation of the historic Crescent Hotel in Eureka Spring, Arkansas. Myself and the co-founder of the group both saw something pacing back and forth at the end of the hall on the third floor. When I snapped a few photos, I caught a photo of interest.

- from Brandon Alvis, American Paranormal Research Association

Astral Projection Photograph

I have worked with energy all my life and I wanted to try to take a photograph of my astral body. It's difficult for most people to astral project when awake, but I knew I could push my energy out in front of myself. So, I gathered my energy at my chest, then rotated fast as I pushed my energy (astral body) in front of myself. At the point where my body stopped turning and my energy continued, I clicked the shutter as I held the camera in one hand.

Copyright © Adrian Ravarour, Ph.D.

Real Ghost Photo: Gargoyle Face

"Take a look at this and tell me what you see. I clean out houses that are foreclosed and have to take pictures before and after. This was taken in Pennsylvania two years ago. That room had gargoyle statues in it. This is in Harmony, Pennsylvania, taken in January. It was a digital camera and I did not notice any fog or smoke in the room before the picture was taken."

- from Randy Graham

Real Ghost Photo: Church Cat Ghost

"This is a church photo that I took with my digital camera. It was at my cousin's wedding. We were in the church waiting and I started taking pictures of the alter. My mom is in the front row. I remember taking these and there was nothing in front of me. This looks like an owl or a cat. This is the strangest thing I have ever seen and would like to have someone who knows photos to analyze it."

- from John Franklin, Columbus, WI

Real Ghost Photo: Sister's Spirit

"In January of 2007, my sister was very ill, and and on a Friday early morning she died. Well, we left the hospital and went back home, still in a state of shock about losing our beloved family member. Around 6 p.m. I said, "Let's all go karaoke and sing the songs our sister loved." So we went."

"When it was my brother's turn to sing, he was singing a song for her and my niece took a pic of him. When he came back, he told me that he felt a strong presence of our sister behind him. I said, "She will never leave us.""

"When the picture was developed, we were all in shock because of the image that appeared behind my brother. We all believe it was my sister saying goodbye."

- from Missy Shimizu

Real Ghost Photo: Hull House Apparition

"I took this picture with my cell phone on a ghost tour in Chicago at the Hull House Muesem. My cell has no flash and I've never had any weird pictures with it before. Also, no one else was present in that area when I took the picture."

Note: It might be just a reflection. Perhaps there was glass or plastic between the photographer and the scene? You can see the large face of what I think is the photographer. The light upper right also seems to be a reflection. So the image of what appears to be an elderly man in (perhaps) period clothing and white shirt could be a reflection. But Erin says there was no one else around to reflect.

Even if it is a reflection, it does not rule out the possibility of a ghost. Many reseearchers believe that ghost images are more readily captured in reflective surfaces.

Erin responds: "I was standing outside the door taking the picture through the glass. I do have some that I am reflected in and you can tell it's me because I was wearing blue. So I'm positive the image on the stairs is not me. I also know that it was not anyone from the tour as it was hot, and everyone was wearing shorts and t-shirts. Plus, by the time I took that picture they had moved on to explore the garden."

- from Erin Zinth

Real Ghost Photo: Little Girl Ghost

"This picture was taken at Hope Cemetery in Cottage Grove, Wisconsin. My daughter Anna was taking random pics and did not see the ghost until we looked at the photos. It was taken with our digital camera. We have so many evps." One is of a lilttle girl taken that night, and she says loud and clear, "Noooo! Noooo! Save me!"

- from Maria

Real Ghost Photo: Beach Ghost walking on the stairs

"I recently went to Hawaii, where I took this picture at dawn after a luai. I took this picture when no one was around. When I got back home and after viewing the picture and blowing it up, I could see a figure riding on horse or something like that. When I showed to picture to a friend, she saw a figure walking up the stairs. I took this picture with a Sony N2 10.1 megapixel camera. I was wondering if this picture is authentic."

- from lil grasshopper Hung

Real Ghost Photo: Mysterious Woman appears in family photo

Karen was just having an everyday family photo taken... and a ribbon of mysterious light seems to emanate from the girl's mouth. When the light ribbon is blown up, however (wait for the photo to change above), it actually proves to be the face of a blonde woman. Looking at the woman's image from left to right, her mouth appears to close then open again, as if she is talking.

Is there anyone out there who can explain what could have caused this anomaly?

- from Karen Mathews

Real Ghost Photo: Restaurant Ghost

This was taken at an 80th birthday celebration in Berwick, Victoria, Australia about 18 months ago. It seems we had a "spectral gate-crasher" that day who decided to turn up to the celebration (an elderly, gaunt facade at top left; see circle).

- from Rev. Rob Smith, Melbourne

Real Ghost Photo: Elfreth's Alley Ghost

This was taken in the historic Elfreth's Alley in Philadelphia. I was taking photos of this narrow street when I just happened to shoot into one of the backyards. There is a patio table in the photo and "sitting" at the table is what could be a ghost... possibly from this street's past. You can see the table right through it. It's not fog, rain, snow or any other kind of weather phenomenon. Tell me what you think. Do any of your readers have any stories of hauntings in Elfreth's Alley in Philly?

- from Sean Newell

Real Ghost Photo: George Reeves "Superman"

"This one was taken at a taping of a TV show years ago. Bob [Shayne], Noel [Neill] and Jack [Larson] were there. I took a photo with Jack after the show. In the background was a statue of George in costume. When the photo enlargement came back, it had a defect that wasn't in the original... a small white dot right in George's temple where he was shot!"

- from Jeff DeHart

Real Ghost Photo: Alton Towers Castle Ghosts

"I recently visited Alton Towers Castle in Staffordshire U.K., as I enjoy looking at the arcitecture of the buildings. As I was inside snapping away taking pictures on my camera phone, I sensed something was in front of me, so I snapped the steps on the picture. It wasn't until a few days after I was looking through the pictures that I noticed something near the steps, so I zoomed in and immediately saw what appears to be a little boy and i was completely taken aback. Then after looking at the picture more closely, I noticed a very tall man standing next to the little boy. I have shown it to several people and they are all totally amazed and have advised me to send it to a professional for advice. Granted, the quality of the picture is very poor as it was taken on my camera phone, and the lighting inside the castle is very poor, but I do genuinely believe that I have captured two spirits. Please would you give me your honest opinion on this as its been playing on my mind alot lately."

- from Erika Phillips

Real Ghost Photo: Glensheen Mansion Ghost of an elderly lady

We took a few pictures of the outside of the Glensheen Mansion in Duluth, Minnesota, and in this photo looking out of the window on the upper right it appears to look like a full apparition of an elderly lady, possibly the previous owner, Elizabeth Congdon, peering out of the window overlooking Lake Superior. This was believed to be her bedroom and the room in which she was murdered; but also doing her favorite pastime in the life she lived prior: staring out at the beautiful Lake Superior.

- from Gary Schmidt and Loretta Brown

Real Ghost Photo: Mum's Spirit at Wedding

"My mother died about a month before my niece, her granddaughter, was married. She had desperatley wanted to go to the wedding. After the service, we were standing outside the chapel and I remarked to my two aunts (mum's sisters) that I could feel her there. The group of people that you can see [in the background by the trees] are myself, my aunts and my cousins. The area that is enhanced (lower left) is just above our heads. Minutes before that, I'd sent my young cousin off to take a photo of the wedding car. My father was just walking down the hill to look at the car also. The venue of the wedding was at an historical homestead and one of my mother's favourite places. She had often remarked that she'd be happy to be buried there. It was a friend of mine who saw the photos a couple of months later, that noticed something unusual. We decided to have the image professionally enhanced and were all amazed to see my mother's face appear. The hair and bone structure are unmistakeable. My niece was very freaked out and refuses to look at the photo, but the rest of us grew up in a culture that embraces such occurences, and we love that mum made it to the wedding.

My sister thinks she can see two other faces. They are reflected in the rear window of the car. One is a woman with curly hair wearing a bonnet or shawl, and the other is just above her - a man with a beard, who looks like he's wearing a monk's hood. Can you see them?"

- from Marc Savage

Real Ghost Photo: Ghost Soldier photographed at Devil's Den

Thought you might be interested in this picture we took leaving Devil's Den in Gettysburg this past summer. We never saw the person; we were just candidly taking pics with our digitals as we were leaving. We live in a haunted house and are familiar with orbs and ectoplasm. Just thought this was very interesting.

- from Jeanie Brown

Real Ghost Photo: Crescent Hotel Ghost

This was taken in August of 2005 at the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. SPIRIT Seekers was allowed to come to the hotel for an investigation, and this is one of the pictures that we got. It was taken by Lori in the conservatory.

- from Alan L. Lowe and Lori

Real Ghost Photo: Gurdon Man, ghost on the Railroad Tracks

The picture noted as Gurdon Man was taken in January of 2005 in Gurdon, Arkansas. We had gone in search of one of the many spook lights that exists across the country. There is a cemetery located close to the railroad tracks. When we crossed the area of the cemetery one of my psychics told me we were being followed. I turned and took this picture. The object looks like a blue energy shaped like a man crossing the tracks.

- from Alan L. Lowe

Real Ghost Photo: Ghostly Apparition around a Patient

"Although due to patient confidentiality I cannot tell you where these photos were taken, I can say the these photos were captured from a digital video of a sleep study. The ghost enters from the right and exits stage left. To me they are incredible."

- from John Prentice

Real Ghost Photo: Shadow Ghosts

"Here are two shadow people. To the left, a man; center, a little girl. They are usually very fast, but they did actually stand still for me, next to me, for this one. I took it on my cell phone. Sorry it's so small, but I'm sure you guys can make it out."

- from M.O.

Real Ghost Photo: Ghost Family of Waverly Hill Chapel

My friend Sarah had sent a picture of a possible spirit family that I had taken at Waverly Hills in September. I thought I would send this one in as well and see what you thought. It is a picture of the Chapel, it appears that there may be spirits by the doorway leading outside. We have outlined where we thought entities may be.

- from Vickie DeLaMater

Real Ghost Photo: Mysterious Street Orb captured by night surveillance camera

"At night I notice my infrared surveillance camera seeing fast streaks of flying bugs or something, but there aren't any bugs out there. Some of it must be refraction of various degrees of condensation, but others are kinda like rods or pellet-like objects. Here is a series of frames. It looks like a capsule flying off close to my porch."

- from Stirling Bunnell