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Has Croydon man snapped best proof yet of Ham House ghost?

8:20am Tuesday 30th June 2009


A photograph allegedly showing a “world famous” 17th century ghost in Ham House has left a man “gob-smacked” and eager to share his divine experience.

Croydon resident Colin Iles, 30, visited Ham House on Monday, June 23, with his girlfriend Elaine Della Camera, and described hearing a deep growl while on a tour of the lower floor.

His girlfriend initially thought it was his stomach and thought nothing of it, but as they went to leave the room, something compelled her to turn and take a photo.

Mr Iles said: “We were walking out and I just felt I couldn’t be there. I had tingles down my body but my girlfriend felt the need to take a picture.

“She has no idea why she did it but I’m glad she did.”

When the couple got home and uploaded the snap, they spotted a white, orb-like shape in the picture of the empty room.

On further research, they discovered the National Trust house, built in 1610, has a history of hauntings, with the Duchess of Lauderdale and her dog the subject of numerous sightings through the years.

The house has been subject to a year long investigation by paranormal investigators which recorded a number of phenomena that remain unexplained.

Mr Iles is now convinced his photograph is the “capture of the century”, as he believes it shows the duchess, her dog and her cane, which residents claim to have heard tapping around the house.

Mr Iles said: “I was a strong believer before and watched TV programmes but you only really believe it when something happens to you. Seeing is believing.”

The couple plans to re-visit the house to see if they can gather any more ghostly evidence.

“We are curious now,” he admitted.

Something strange, in your neighbourhood? Who you gonna visit? elmbridgeguardian.co.uk


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ric, kingston says...
11:13am Tue 30 Jun 09

making a ghost image isnt exactly hard though is it.

the motion blur in the picture is from a long exposure. get someone to walk in and out of the shot while the camera is exposing and you get a faint see through image. simple ghost shot.

why is every ghost shot slightly blurred and not quite clear. when cameras these days are so advanced there is no excuse for it.

maybe their next trip to ham they should stop by nikon and buy a decent camera ;)


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Fred1, Surbiton says...
11:17am Tue 30 Jun 09

A duchess, a duke and a cane, eh? Hmm, I'm not seeing it. All I'm seeing is a corridor and a few doorways. A slightly wobbly corridor, granted, but a corridor nonetheless.

Actually, no, on second thoughts, there are two distinct white blobs, that show a similar pattern. And there are at least two question-mark-shaped squiggles, all of whose shape looks suspiciously similar. I suspect it's a camera flash reflected on a bright surface - and the squiggles are cased by the path of unsteady hand camera movement during exposure time; that would explain why they're all the same shape.

Then again I'm no photography expert.

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Nayhead, london says...
2:55pm Tue 30 Jun 09

I think what you see there Fred is two images the left half being a close up of the right, that's why there are two of everything. That said you have to make a real jump in imagination to see a duchess, a dog and a cane in either of them. Looks more like a lens flare where a beam of light enters the camera lens from the side. Not what I would describe as definite proof of anything.

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caz1234, New Addington says...
11:21pm Tue 30 Jun 09

No disrespect to the people that had taken this picture, and it easy for all of us to say...but the mind is a funny thing...our brains can interpret almost anything we want, and may not always be right.

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Nayhead, london says...
3:19pm Wed 1 Jul 09

I take back my original post saying this looked like lens flare. Having looked a bit more at the close up on the left it is obvious that the camera moved while the photo was being taken on a fairly long exposure. There is a technique known as light painting which uses this procedure whereby you can use a torch to write your name across a photo being taken with a long exposure. The camera moved down and left at 45 degrees then circled round, moved straight up and then up and left at 45 degrees. For this reason the rest of the image is blurred. Take a look at the trails of light (actually single points of light originally) and you will see they have the same pattern, i.e. a mirror image of the movement of the camera. My new theory is that the overhead light which is in the hallway just out of shot was reflecting off a picture glass, or something similar, inside the room and the reflected light has been distorted by the movement of the camera.
Sorry to spoil the fun but ghosts really don't exist

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Has Croydon man snapped best proof yet of Ham House ghost? Has Croydon man snapped best proof yet of Ham House ghost?


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