This photo, without doubt, is the most famous ghost image ever captured. In September 1936, two highly reputable professionals-- Captain Provand and Indre Shira-- photographed the interiors Raynham Hall, Norfolk, England, for Country Life, a popular, respected British magazine. The ghost photograph ran in the magazine's December issue and was presented by the editors as a true anomaly. According to Shira, "Captain Provand took one photograph while I flashed the light. He was focusing for another exposure; I was standing by his side just behind the camera with the flashlight pistol in my hand, looking directly up the staircase. All at once I detected an ethereal veiled form coming slowly down the stairs. Rather excitedly, I called out sharply: 'Quick, quick, there's something.' I pressed the trigger of the flashlight pistol. After the flash and on closing the shutter, Captain Provand removed the focusing cloth from his head and turning to me said: 'What's all the excitement about?' The Hall is reportedly haunted by the Brown Lady. The first recorded sighting of the ghost was 1835, when a house guest claimed to see a phantom wearing a brown satin dress. King George IV also claimed to have seen her while he was staying at the hall. The ghost is postulated to be Dorothy Walpole, the sister of Robert Walpole the 18th century English Prime Minister. Dorothy committed adultry and as a result, her husband, Charles Townshend, imprisoned her at Raynham until her death from smallpox in 1726. Although there are many claims that the image is fraudulent, I have yet to find reference to any photographic expert actually having dismissed the image save for Joe Nickell, the head of CSICOP. The photo may well be a fake, however, I could like to hear that from a disinterested party. |
Raynham Hall, Norfolk
 |