The Brown Lady Photo

Recently, while giving a demonstration about ghosts, a participant asked me what I thought about the Brown Lady photo, a famous image of what many believe is a ghost... I confess that I had never heard of it, but recognized the photo almost immediately when it was sent to me:

The image reportedly shows a ghost descending a staircase at Raynham Hall. It was captured by photographer Captain Provand and his assistant Indre Shira while photographing Raynham Hall for Country Life Magazine in the late afternoon of September 19th, 1936. It is considered by some to be the most famous Ghost Photo of all time, although I would debate that. I think that the "Cemetery Ghost Baby" taken in 1946 is more famous.

After going over this photo a bit, I think its a hoax, for a few reasons... one, is that I could not find a more modern, (or any other photo, for that matter) of the staircase at Raynham that doesn't show the "spirit" as a point of reference... It is my belief that this is not an accident... When someone doesn't want a photo scrutinized too much, the first rule of haoxing is to eliminate anything that may prove you wrong. If you look at the railing on the left side of the photo, the top of the railing does not match the bottom of the railing, (while the pictures above the railing follow an uninterrupted wall) a sure sign that the photo has been tampered with.

But, as I am unfamiliar with the site, and could not find another photo for reference, I will for the moment say that this could just be an example of wacky English architecture, and take it seriously... here is what I found when putting it through photoshop... the first image enhancement was done through a threshold filter, which takes color samples within a certain degree of shading, and makes them one color. (UFOlogists often use this filter to look for strings supporting alien craft in pictures) and sure enough, the Brown lady looks like it is supported from above the frame of the picture.
This would mean that the image is an actual object of some kind. The second filter I ran it through was Equalize (brownlady2) which basically evens out the light sources in the photo... when this is done, it becomes clear that the brown lady actually casts a well defined shadow, which a truly transparent or even misty object would not do... It could have a shadow, but it would fade more into the background when equalized.

In short, it looks like a fake to me... (There is an old method of spirit photography that involves a sheer sheet and a lamp that this reminds me a lot of...) But I would still be willing to take a look at the site to be sure.

JPPS at Coastcon 32

Because of the high media profile and popularity of ghost hunting shows, we are sometimes invited to give lectures at local science fiction and fantasy conventions. Part of our mission here at the Jefferson Parish Paranormal Society is to educate the general public about what we do in the field, so we are always happy to pitch in and dispel many of the misconceptions that people have about ghosts and other paranormal subjects.

Over the weekend, the JPPS hosted a few panels at CoastCon 32 on ghost hunting and basic debunking. All were very well attended, and a lot of fun to do. We did one called "Ghost Hunting 101" where we discussed the equipment used in the field, (and what constitutes good evidence) and another about the experience we had following up the TAPS Oak Alley episode.

The crowd we had for both panels were really well educated, open minded people, and I was very happy that no one asked me during either panel if i've ever been slimed...

JPPS investigation- 3br House, Fieldston road, New Orelans East

Background: This investigation was a favor to a member of our research team, whose parents inherited the house from her Grandmother. We were lucky that the Grandparents kept excellent records, and so we had a complete record of ownership from the time the house was built. After the Grandmother had passed, the house was rented out and the weirdness began. The most compelling report was the sighting of the Grandmother standing in the bathroom as one of the tenants exited the shower in the rear bathroom where she had passed on. During hurricane Katrina, the house was flooded, and as a result completely gutted and refurbished. As of the date of the investigation, the house had not been rented out, and was empty.

JPPS Team: Rob, Ringo, Sondra, and Cheri

The investigation: We began our investigation at about 8pm, with a team of four researchers. After going lights out, we did an initial sweep of the house with our equipment to establish baseline readings for the property, and then went back as a team to more thoroughly investigate each room. We did EVP and divining rod sessions in each room, took EMF and temperature readings, and many photographs. Sadly, we did not have any video backup that night.

In the front room, We caught some EM anomalies near the front windows. It seemed unlikely that there was any power running behind the wall, and all the power to the house had been shut off at the fuse box, anyway. We also immediately got some strong responses on our Divining Rods, which would continue throughout the night.

Early on, it seemed to all of us that we were not alone. The feeling of being watched was pervasive in the house, and was commented on more than once.

It should be noted that we received a negative response to the rods in one of the rear bedrooms. After several minutes of no contact in that area, Ringo asked "Do you just want us to leave you alone?" and the rods were nearly torn out of my hands by the response. We left the room immediately, but were all disturbed by the experience, and it cast a pallor over the rest of the investigation.

In the next room, two of our team noticed what they identified as cigar smoke. The idea of this being a residual smell from a previous occupant is unlikely, as the home was gutted after hurricane Katrina.

We wrapped up our investigation at around 12 am.

The results: While several of the responses that we got on our rods were compelling, they were not hard evidence of paranormal activity. The responses, while strong and sometimes creepy, could have objectively been the result of an ideomotor response by the person holding them at any given time.

Of the evidence gathered, we did catch an orb in the infamous rear bathroom:Normally, we don't personally place much stock in Orb photography, but it's interesting that these were the only anomalies we captured on film all night, and their location being where the full bodied apparition was sighted makes it much more compelling.

The smell in the den of sweet tobacco noticed by our team was also very compelling when it was confirmed by our team member that her grandfather smoked a pipe. None of the EVP sessions revealed anything of note, as there were occasional street sounds that would filter in from the outside neighborhood. I'm intending on getting a better audio program as soon as my financial situation allows, and will probably review them again at some point in the future.

The EM anomalies in the front room were more interesting when we confirmed with the electrician that helped restore the property post Katrina that there were no power lines in that wall. According to the family a large wedding portrait hung in that very spot for many years.

Conclusion: Based on the odd EM readings we collected and personal experiences, the property may indeed be haunted, but we're not quite ready to call this one yet. We will stay in contact with the homeowners and update this case should any more experiences be reported.

Oak Alley Plantation- debunking TAPS

JPPS TEAM: Rob and Cheri

A few months ago, the Sci-fi Channel aired an episode of Ghost Hunters where the TAPS team went to the Oak Alley plantation in Vachiere, LA. It isn't very often that they do an episode that's in my proverbial backyard, and that I have a decent knowledge of the layout of.

As I watched the show, and their "evidence" mounted I found myself thinking that TAPS wasn't doing a very good job of looking for the non-paranormal explanation. In particular, there was one scene where Jason says he sees a flash of light move past the window, I was sure that that window he was looking out faced River Road.But I wasn't sure... it had been years since the last time I had been there, and I could be wrong.

We headed up River Road that weekend with the notion of putting TAPS to the test. By my list, the evidence presented by TAPS amounted to the following:

1) Moving shadows seen outside the house on the verandas.

2) A thermal hit in the master bedroom.

3) Cold Spots.

4) a flashlight turning on by itself.

5) an Electromagnetic Field spike on the first floor.

6) a "EVP" of a clanking noise.

7) The flash of light seen outside by Jason

While on the way up to the plantation, Cheri an I talked about the episode, and realized that with the Air Conditioning on in the house, (as evidenced by TAPS own thermal evidence) any unfamiliar draft could be a cold spot, and if the A/C was on, it was generating an EM field intermittently throughout the night. this would easily explain 3 and 5... possibly number 6 as well. (the thermostat in our house makes an audible click when it kicks on) #2 was probably a reflection of one of the investigators against the thick glass in that room.

We would concentrate on the shadows, the flash of light, and the flashlight. Cheri and I arrived at Oak Alley around 4pm. We decided to do the tour because she had never done it before, and we were hoping it would give us a chance to hear some of the stories for ourselves. We waited in the shade of the house while waiting for it to start, and Cheri started taking some pictures...I love this next Picture... Cheri calls it "Big Tree, Little Rob":

One thing that struck me as we were waiting for the tour that I had not remembered from my previous visits is that a few of the trees practically brush the house.Could the local wildlife be responsible for the movement TAPS saw on the Verandas? Definitely a possibility. There are also smaller trees just beyond the veranda on the east side of the house that could move easily in a breeze. In the darkness, and through the wavy leaded glass of the old house, it could easily be mistaken for something moving on the veranda itself.As our tour started, the first thing we realized is that the Producers of Ghost Hunters got a lot of their history wrong, and that the tour that the TAPS guys were given left out some of the most interesting parts of the house. (Our guide freely admitted all this... apparently it stuck in her craw a bit.) We were also told that there was no flash photography allowed in the house, but that didn't stop Cheri from snapping pics whenever she had the opportunity. Things of note on our tour:

The plantation owners would have a slave stay up all night to guard the sleeping children from the local wildlife which would come in through the open windows. The wildlife includes opossums, raccoons, and other climbers. Any one of these are curious enough to look in a window...

The floors are a little spongy in the lavender room (where the flashlight incident was) and transfer vibration well. If the flashlight was rigged to light up at the slightest touch (as Grant says it was in this episode) any flexing of the floor would cause it to come on. this would also explain why the light goes off as Jason approaches it.

The room that Jason saw the flash of light in does indeed face River Road, and on a weird enough angle that it would not be immediately obvious that it was the headlights of a southbound vehicle.

One of the rooms TAPS missed was used to hold wakes for the recently dead. Talk about a missed opportunity.

In short, TAPS did some shoddy work on this one, and I was really disappointed... for all the good TAPS has done popularizing the field of paranormal investigations, they seemed to have missed some pretty obvious stuff for ratings. We left feeling that while the plantation may indeed be haunted... the Ghost Hunters had failed to provide any evidence of this.We however, had better luck.

When I had the chance to review the pictures Cheri had snapped, I found that she had actually captured two anomalies in the master bedroom. Keep in mind, I have not doctored these photos in any way... The first anomaly I spotted in this picture:

There is an unaccounted for blue light in the middle of the picture next to the dress. I've enhanced the area in this photo:It's not a glare or a reflection as near as I can tell, and I threw every filter at it I could think of in Photoshop to try to explain it/eliminate it. I also went back and reviewed her other pictures taken in the room to try to find the source, and to my surprise found a second anomaly in this picture, near the crib:
here is the same photo focused on the area in question:Again blue, again unexplainable, and almost exactly the same height off the floor. I'm not saying it's a ghost... but it's definitely something.

CONCLUSION: Based on the sheer number of stories to come out of the staff that works there and our own photos, provisionally haunted. Requires more research.