New Zealand newspaper The Press has been collecting photographs taken in New Zealand of ghostly and unexplained sightings.
The paper dismissed most of the photographs as explainable and orbs, in particular, where described as dust on the camera lens.
Some of the photographs, however, were not so easily categorised by the judges.
Of particular note is the sighting of a ghostly face of flames peering out of the window of a burning building.
The photograph was taken in 2006 by the Volunteer Fire Brigade of Westport while they attended the scene.
A single photograph might have been dismissed as a trick of the light, smoke or perhaps an odd reflection. However, the Westport Fire Brigade has two separate pictures of the same incident that clearly show the face-like image in the flames.
New Zealand Paranormal Investigation Society director Brad Scott was shown the pictures collected by The Press.
He said, I hate orbs with a passion because I know they’re dust. There’s nothing paranormal about a little flick of dust.”
Scott added, “If you see a face in the window, it could just be a reflection of light. There are very few paranormal pictures out there,”
The New Zealand Skeptics Society wrote the pictures off. A spokeswoman said, “Shots involving fire, smoke and fog are notorious for producing ghost images.
“These indistinct environments produce the kind of patterns we try to resolve as meaningful, and the most meaningful pattern we know is the human form.”
The competition also highlighted pictures of a ghostly face peering out of a washing basket.
Another picture that caught the judges’ attention was of two Linwood College students posing together. Squashed between the two students seems to be a disembodied head.
In Pure Spirit
What do you think? Are these photographs just the effects of smoke and light or do they show something else?
O.K. Two valid views. Myself, I have to ask in answer to the sceptics, that could not an "energy" or "spirit" not take advantage of and use flames, smoke or fog as a medium to help manifest them selves? As for
the human form being the most "meaningful pattern" we know, well……….that line is a little off the mark. What is said is the human brain tries to turn chaos into some sort of recognizable order and the human "face" is the most recognizable form to us. So, we tend to see faces in in all sorts of chaotic mediums such as smoke, fog, flames, stains and even clouds.
I think it's time that some of these so called "sceptics" look at things with either a more open mind and just consider the possibilities or come up with a more Original explanation. The human face recognition explanation is, quite frankly, getting just a little tired.
They told me that I had to split my comment in two because it's too long……….so here's part (1)
Now here's a story with two distinct & opposite explanations of a couple of photos. On the one hand, you have The Press saying that if it shows up in more than one photo (repeatable?) there must be something to it. Then we have the sceptics……….."Shots involving fire, smoke and fog are notorious for producing ghost images."