Victor Goddard's "ghost" photo

I find it almost unbelievable that Victor Goddard hasn't been mentioned on this site, but according to the search results he hasn't.

Anyway, this is just to inquire after possible (new?) explanations regarding his famous "ghost photo".

I think it's relevant for me to mention that I normally tend to abhor anything containing the combination "ghost" + "photo" (and for good reasons... ).

But Sir Victor Goddard was a very special character: a RAF Air Marshal, with a knack for very special adventures.
(I'll be writing about his most famous adventure, the flight into the future, in my blog, but you can find accounts of it all over the WWW, including on the site given above.)

In other words, he doesn't seem to have been given to hoaxes; and, anyway, this photo is said to have been seen and confirmed by most of the people appearing on it. (Although it must also be said that, by the time it was published, more than 50 years had passed since the photo had been taken.)

Does anyone know of any alternative explanations that I am unaware of?













[edit on 8-4-2008 by Vanitas]

OK, I'll rephrase that... ANY thoughts about it?

Its pretty cool

Strange pose, dramatic even.

I'd contribute more but its not exactly my field of expertise, but this is a pretty damn neat ghost photo.

reply to post by CavemanDD


Thanks for paying attention!

It's so funny: with all these "ghost photos" of unknown provenance generating interest, this one - the only one that I personally find really puzzling (if only because of the author's apparently spotless reputation) - seems to go ignored.
Go figure...

Its definitely one of the most famous photos of an alleged ghost. The detail is remarkable for a ghost portrait, and the facial expression is kind of chilling. I've always wished I could find the original though, I've only ever seen it with the zoomed in piece.

reply to post by MrAndy


Oh, if you click the first link you'll see the photo "as is".
(The second link leads to the zoom-in.)

EDIT: I see what you mean... Yes, you can see the photo "as is", but not in great detail. Anyway, the "ghost" appears over the left shoulder of the fourth man from the left in the uppermost row. I'll post a better photo if I ever find one.


Yes, it's famous - which makes it all the stranger that there is so little actual discussion about it.



TOT (=totally off-topic): I LOVE your fox "portrait"!


[edit on 10-4-2008 by Vanitas]

I've seen this pic in the past, the thing i find most chilling is all the officers are wearing hats, however the ghostly face isnt...

this picture has always been one i havent been able to write of, especially with the back story regarding it.

this also came to mind with that whole devil dog thing... just because of the orientation of the apparition. perhaps where a shadow was but was suddenly illuminated by a flash.

Hmm I remember this from somewhere in the past. I was kind of WOW then. But now of course we have the photoshop generation

The guy who took it SEEMS a straight enough chap..but what do we really know?? I still remember those fairy pictures by those little girls and think..hmm who knows what anyone is capable of??

It would be great to see the original as has been said by a few here...but even then we get into the realms of a specialized field of "Olde Worlde" photography the technicalities of which are beyond me.

I dare say that back then a clever photographer or more to the point processor could manipulate an image..but to what end? There again Muppets that falsify evidence don't really need a reason other than to have a laugh.

But as has been said if a true photo, it is indeed interesting...

I too wonder why there has not been more research??

reply to post by Il Papa



Not only he seemed OK (and I always stress the word seem, regarding anyone- even myself :-) - his life seems to corroborate everything he said he lived. Furthermore, he actually turned his interest towards the 'unseen' later in life, which seems to have been a direct (and logical) result of his extraordinary experiences.

Yes, I think - my gut feeling tells me - that Victor Goddard was as legit as he seemed to be.

And of course, the photo was first published in 1975 - long before the advent of Photo Shop.
Furthermore, I think, his reputation notwithstanding, there would be people who would try to demonstrate its fallaciousness. But nobody seemed to have questioned it. (Even though 1975 and later could hardly be considered an "unsophisticated" era.)

I say, let's keep looking at it...





[edit on 12-4-2008 by Vanitas]

Originally posted by fvk12
this picture has always been one i havent been able to write of, especially with the back story regarding it.

Yes, that's just it.

Personally, I've always been highly UN-interested in purported "ghost photos". But this one is very different.

Which is why I think it's good to keep it in mind.
It's like a reminder: "what DO we really know"?

And of course, if somebody can PROVE it's a fake, I'd be very interested!

In the group photo, it sort of looks like Jacksons left bottom chin was gone. Maybe its just the film used, but it still looks strange.

reply to post by Shad0wsCurs3



I think it's just because he is "peeping" from behind the shoulder.
(Of course I could be wrong...)

reply to post by Vanitas


He was peeping out from the right, wasnt he? My direction perception might be wrong, since its on a PC screen but it might be. I dont know, interesting picture nonetheless.

lol why does the ghost look like christopher walken?
its probably just me

reply to post by miguelbmx




There is something Walken-ish about his eyes, I suppose...
I don't think they're related, though.

I was looking at the staircase ghost the whole time, picture below. Ha. wondering what you guys were talking about..

but that upper picture, with the face behind the guy.. I've heard that sometimes these can be like your face... in the sense of like... past life appearances.. sort of subtle energy bodies that are layered on your body, and they can kind of move around.

It could be that, but I don't know. Interesting

If you visit Wikipedia and look at the entry for Goddard you will see that in 1946 he had a premonition of being in a plane crash that would kill all on board the plane after a forced landing- the crash- a forced landing took place but because of the preparations he had made there were no fatalities- it was made into a film 10 years later. It has to be remembered that Lord Dowding the RAF chief who masterminded the victory of the Battle of Britain was involved with spiritualism- possibly the Spritualist Association of Great Britain (SAGB)- it is said that he was visited by the spirits of the dead pilots. I have been to the SAGB in London 25 years ago and there's a memorial to him there. I don't know if Goddard knew Dowding- he was in France in 1940 it says- and would have been in the UK possibly for the Battle of Britain in 1940 before going out to the Pacific so he probably had run into to him. It's just possible that Goddard was more involved than he let on- after all if you were a senior officer and you started mentioning this stuff they would have thought you had cracked or gone nuts. It is suggested that Dowding never got the recognition he deserved because officialdom was wary of him- these sorts of "facts" tend to get embroidered over time. His wife Muriel was key in the "Beauty without Cruelty" movement and I have heard other stories regarding their concern for animal welfare.