I’m one of the guides on Queensland Cemetery History Tours, and every once in a while someone who has been on one of the tours sends us a photo or two that feature seemingly unusual objects with the suggestion that these might be paranormal in origin. Usually these are ‘orbs’ or shadowy figures or strangle lights. Being something of a skeptic, I usually dismiss these images with the usual explanations – dust particles, headstone staining, shadows, reflections, or pareidolia (the tendency to perceive meaningful images in random patterns, such as in clouds).
So, I was recently sent an image taken during a South Brisbane Cemetery night tour (the ‘Haunts of Brisbane‘ tour with Liam Baker) that the sender suggested might be the ‘Lady in Black’ ghost. Not too seriously, but she had noticed something odd in the photo, and then kindly labelled it, too. I straightaway assumed it must be a case of pareidolia, the kind I’ve seen dozens of times before on numerous ‘paranormal investigator’ websites. On closer examination, however, this was a particularly striking example. It was actually quite creepy, and one that I just had to investigate for myself.
The ‘ghost’ can be seen in the following sequence of photos:
After working out where the original photo was taken, I took a few snaps of my own, trying to approximately reproduce the perspective of the first night picture, but now in daytime. Then I sat down and compared and contrasted the dark and light images, and the answer gradually emerged. This ‘human figure’ was formed via a combination of bright torchlight being cast across the surface of a large tree with a surface of ridges and hollows; shadows between headstones; and partly-lit background foliage and tree branches. The labelled photo below explains how it happened.
So, no Lady in Black this time, but it is nevertheless a very nice example of the phenomenon of pareidolia. I can guarantee you that if this image had been sent to almost any one of the ‘paranormal investigator’ pages online it would have been heralded as a ghost photo and splashed across the internet, and then the cemetery would have been swarming with people play-acting as ghost-hunters. I still half-expect the photo to be lifted from this page and re-presented without explanation anyway. It’s how these people operate, unfortunately. But this is basic stuff that any real researcher with integrity would be able to explain with several minutes of investigation.
Anyway, I thought this was a really interesting case of pareidolia to look into, it’s always fun trying to work these things out.
Christopher Dawson 