There are many famous ghost photographs in the world, like the Amityville Ghost Boy or the lady sitting on a grave marker captured at Bachelor's Grove Cemetery in Illinois, but one of the most famous ghost pictures of all time is the one purportedly of the Wem Town Hall Ghost, which shows a little girl staring out from a building that is ablaze.
Taken by part-time \ amateur photographer and sewage farm worker Tony O'Rahilly in November 1995 as he was standing across the street from the blaze at the Wem Town Hall.
Later, after the picture had been developed Tony and others noticed the strange girl in old clothing standing among the flames.
Coincidence or one of the best pieces of evidence for life after death?
Tony O'Rahilly sent his amazing image to the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena (ASSAP), a research group that investigates the unknown in the United Kingdom, and was founded in 1981.
Although the ASSAP would not confirm nor deny the photo's authenticity, they did label the photo a Simulacrum, a kind of odd labeling that made one unsure what the ASSAP was saying about the photo.
Later, the ASSAP did pass the picture on to Dr. Vernon Harrison, who was a former president of the Royal Photographic Society. Harrison found the pic to be genuine, but remained skeptical of the photograph nonetheless, offering up such explanations as a trick of the light or a pattern of smoke forming a recognizable pattern.
Although many paranormal publications and skeptics alike remained unconvinced about the photograph, it did gain a story and life all of its own.
The Girl Who Burned
Possibly what is so unsettling about this photo is the look and stance of the little girl, it almost appears to be a mixture of keen observation and sadness.
But who was the little girl in the photo and how did she manifest in Wem's Town Hall?
The answer was supposedly found in the tale of fourteen-year-old Jane Chum, who is reported to have started the Great Wem Fire on March, 3rd, 1677.
No one was killed in that fire beside a few cattle caught in the blaze and one Richard Sherratt. The fire destroyed more than five hundred buildings.
Although Jane did not die in the terrible blaze that she started, some still felt that the image taken at the Wem Town Hall fire in 1995 was Jane Chum, returning to see another tragic fire that would deeply affect Wem.
Postcards From the Past
Although this photo was always the subject of skeptical attitudes, it did gain popularity with the rise of the internet and for years found itself contained in many 'best ghost photograph' lists and was featured on many a paranormal website, blog, and radio show.
However, fifteen years after the photo was taken, seventy-seven-year-old Wem resident Brian Lear spotted the little girl from the ghost photograph; in a nostalgia piece, a local newspaper was running.
The busy street image that contained the almost identical little girl was a postcard from the year 1922.
Many stated that the postcard was proof positive that one of the world's most famous ghost photographs was indeed a fake.
-Thomas Spychalski
No comments:
Post a Comment