Every so often on the news we see something that claims to be amazing footage of a security camera that picks up what is called a ghostly image. While most images can be explained away as a bug on the lens or light reflecting off of a car’s windshield, there are rare instances that make you shake your head and say “What the?”
With digital effects it becomes difficult to determine what may be real or fake without actually being the producer of the footage yourself. The questions you ask yourself with each video will be determined by what you believe. Are you a skeptic that pours through every second and questions everything your eyes see? Or you do follow your gut instinct and let your feelings decide for you?
Here are some takes on YouTube that claim to be paranormal with my commentary on each one. Whether each one is actually paranormal or not will be up to you.
Haunted Pantry
This first video is most obviously a fake. Not because it’s not scary, but the way the person reacts seems to be very unrealistic to someone who is trying to prove something. If this were the first time I allegedly saw a spirit in my pantry and caught it on video I would have dropped the camera.
How that image was placed on the glass of the pantry door is done with a reflection, possibly from around the corner and to the left of the pantry. You can do this experiment on your own at home with two mirrors that can project an image onto a surface from around the corner and out of plain sight. Plus the image of the actual “ghost” is someone in a mask. I don’t know of any paranormal researchers that think a ghost will be in a Halloween mask and have pinkish skin like a normal human. This filmmaker was just good at making a movie. Most people who report seeing ghostly apparitions claim they see a grayish form that almost floats with very little solid form.
Dilapidated House
This next video is also probably a fake. Someone at the end of the video could possibly have been waiting in that room and at the appropriate moment made a noise. The lighting is so horrible there is no way to determine the validity of this video and these guys are just having a good time in trying to be funny and scary.
The Face in the Tree
This next videographer claims to see a face in the bark of a tree at an ancient Japanese monastery. While the image is cool, the angle of the video coupled with the lines of the tree bark and an active imagination combine to form an image of a face that is really just tree bark. Ghosts rarely appear on cue and in cameras just to show off. Most encounters are random and hardly captured on film.
Ghostly Grounds
This footage, while it seems to look more authentic than other videos on YouTube, still can be easily faked by someone walking in front of the cameras. However, I will have to give the videographer props as this is scary because the person is acting normal. The thing about allegedly having a ghostly encounter is that the spirits are just regular people and are trying to interact regularly and really don’t do anything spectacular which is why this video appears to be more authentic than most. Props for the realistic looking video but it is too easily faked.
Haunted Hospital
I love this one. There is probably a string attached to the guy’s ankle and as he brings his leg up, the hospital bed moves. This is an easy one to claim as a fake. If you look at the timing of the man’s leg and the hospital bed, they coincide exactly. The man’s leg moves forward and suddenly so does the bed.
Are You Alone?
This last video is harder to debunk. The only thing I don’t like about the footage is that it’s not raw footage and has lapses. I would be more inclined to believe those who posted the video as real if they showed more of the video before and after the alleged apparition appeared in the cafe. But I can’t seem to find a way to figure out how that image made it onto the security camera’s tape. What makes this last bit intriguing is that the image acts like a spirit would that allegedly is “real”–it floats and no one seems to actually notice it. And it does seem to be random and is not playing for the camera or trying to get anyone’s attention.
Some things to consider about YouTube videos. First, look at the recentness of the video. The current movie phenomenon Paranormal Activity has spawned a horde of “ghost videos” that are not real and spoof the movie. Second is to take into account the comments made by the producers of the footage. Are they serious or in jest? Are the owners of the video being serious about the footage or are they unprofessional. One clue is the grammar and presentation of the comments all over the webpage and how they handle the footage and if it’s set to music.
What I love about today’s technology is that science and spirituality are becoming more and more closely intertwined. Science can detect brainwaves, computers can find codes and patterns in objects that were never before thought possible, and the possibility of picking up otherworldly energy on digital media that can’t be readily explained is definitely thought provoking, fascinating, and worth another look. Even if you come across some videos that claim to show ghosts, you should look at it with a trained eye and think of every possible way to prove it as something real first before admitting it is a haunting or a spirit or a ghost. The only real determining factor of whether or not you are seeing a ghost is yourself and what you believe inside of you.
