It would be nice if you could put up the original pics with the exif data etc included, but from what I see I think there are 2 things at play here.

1) The picture was taken using a flash and at the point the flash fired something was very close up to the lense, hence reflecting the light back towards the lens and causing the white patch. Similar things happen a lot when people take flash photos and the wrist strap of the camera happens to fall in front of the lens like

This

I would suggest that an insect flew in front of the lens when the flash fired


The other thing thats happening is pardolia i.e. thinking the shape looks a lot like a person when really its just a streaky blob

Couple of questions for you, Organic. What is the height of the house and from what point was the picture taken from? As in, how far away was the photographer and were they on level ground with the base of the house or were they lower? How close together were these pictures taken? Something to note is that the first photo is either zoomed in more or taken from inside the gate whereas in the second picture you can see that the gate is closed. Something else to note is that the lighting is equally distributed in the first photo while the second one appears to have been overall dimmed and slightly darkened, except for the anomaly which is unusually bright.

I think we can count out a reflection of some sort because as I said, the anomaly is randomly bright while the surroundings are more dim, also it's pure white, an unusual way for a reflection to be presented. Equally white just about, where as from the shadows you can see that the sunshine is coming from the left side of the photo, which would cause a smudge or shine to be uneven.

Just to note, most apparitions are also not like this anomaly. Most are a bit brighter than their surroundings, therefore standing out, and also partially transparent. Of course, that isn't a concise argument as we don't know if the apparitions in other pictures are legitimate either.

Once I have your answers, I can attempt to help you further. I likely won't know for sure what it is, but I can work to rule other things out.

Son of Oda

P.S. davespanners also makes a great point

If it's not fake, it could just be a glare that so happens to look like legs and a torso to the observer that is preconditioned to find faces and human forms in innocuous places.

Looks absolutely terrible. Btw, give us the full sized straight from the camera images next time.
Also Skeptic + Mods. This site really shouldn't scrub exif data from photos.

Sorry if I sound dumb, but I don't understand why the analysis of the photo 'proves' that it is fake - could someone please explain?

As I said before I don't know what the anomoly is, but my personal opinion is that the OP isn't hoaxing. I don't necessarily think it is paranomal, could be a light reflection like somebody mentioned? It might not even be a ghost of a person (or two persons), it might just appear like that because we tend to see people and faces in shapes.

But, and please OP don't take this the wrong way, but if someone was going to do a hoax, wouldn't they make it look... better, somehow? (Hope that makes sense)

Originally posted by SonOfOda
Couple of questions for you, Organic. What is the height of the house and from what point was the picture taken from? As in, how far away was the photographer and were they on level ground with the base of the house or were they lower? How close together were these pictures taken? Something to note is that the first photo is either zoomed in more or taken from inside the gate whereas in the second picture you can see that the gate is closed. Something else to note is that the lighting is equally distributed in the first photo while the second one appears to have been overall dimmed and slightly darkened, except for the anomaly which is unusually bright.

I think we can count out a reflection of some sort because as I said, the anomaly is randomly bright while the surroundings are more dim, also it's pure white, an unusual way for a reflection to be presented. Equally white just about, where as from the shadows you can see that the sunshine is coming from the left side of the photo, which would cause a smudge or shine to be uneven.

Just to note, most apparitions are also not like this anomaly. Most are a bit brighter than their surroundings, therefore standing out, and also partially transparent. Of course, that isn't a concise argument as we don't know if the apparitions in other pictures are legitimate either.

Once I have your answers, I can attempt to help you further. I likely won't know for sure what it is, but I can work to rule other things out.

Son of Oda

P.S. davespanners also makes a great point

edit on 21-5-2011 by SonOfOda because: Added post script

Unfortunately, since I have never been there, I can't offer that data. Everything I know about the photos I have provided. I can inquire highly pertinent questions to my friend so that she may ask her mother, however, I don't think they would be able to provide any info like how tall the house was and things of that nature.

Also: I think the second picture is dimmer because the camera's auto-focus/calibration is on, so whatever that bright thing is, the camera's auto-adjustment is trying to compensate for the brightness.

Well to start I know the OP personally and I mean very very well. He isn't lying about it not being manipulated. I do not know the friend he acquired the photo from personally but I see no reason for them to be lying to the OP about that. The OP certainly did not modify the photos himself and has been assured that no one else has.
The person the OP acquired the photos from showed him these a long time ago and had no idea that he would be posting this on the internet a year, or years later.

That being said. I am also a photographer. I understand some of your inclinations to say it is Photoshop because that is possible to do digitally quite easily, BUT ease up people. The OP is NOT claiming this to be ghosts or paranormal. He is just asking for a second opinion on what it could be, besides Photoshop. I highly agree with davespanners' analysis

Originally posted by davespanners
It would be nice if you could put up the original pics with the exif data etc included, but from what I see I think there are 2 things at play here.

1) The picture was taken using a flash and at the point the flash fired something was very close up to the lense, hence reflecting the light back towards the lens and causing the white patch. Similar things happen a lot when people take flash photos and the wrist strap of the camera happens to fall in front of the lens like

This

I would suggest that an insect flew in front of the lens when the flash fired


The other thing thats happening is pardolia i.e. thinking the shape looks a lot like a person when really its just a streaky blob

edit on 21-5-2011 by davespanners because: spelling

An insect would be a really good guess, or some sort of light moving object, maybe even a leaf or along those lines. As you can see the second photo is a bit darker aside from the bright anomaly which means that the camera was on auto exposure and something light got into the frame so it thought it needed to expose the scene darker.

Otherwise hey, I am willing to say that it by some slim chance it could be two ghostly figures. I am pretty skeptical about ghosts but at the same time I do not hold all the knowledge in the universe and unlike some of you stubborn people I am willing to accept the fact that things are possible which are beyond my realm of knowledge and understanding.

But in all probability, the evidence is there to suggest something most likely got in front of the lens that the woman taking the photo didn't notice. The difference in exposure is strong evidence of that.

As a final not the two photos are clearly not the same. If you're such a photoshop whiz you should be able to match them up and figure that out pretty quickly based on the clouds.

I have to agree that this looks fake and should of gone strait to the hoax bin.

Jeez...who's on duty around here these days?

the clouds more a little to the right,
it looks like a man on left with his head on the head of a girl.
and the light in the second one is darker.
the light from the two figures makes the camera compensate.