Ghostly Rider Photographed in Cemetery in The Gasp Menagerie

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I see all kinds of photographic evidence out there.  Spooks, UFOs, Bigfoots…Bigfeet…Sasquatches. I’ll say upfront that I’m adding this one to the Menagerie on request because it looks to me to be a textbook case of pareidolia.  In effect, the brain applying a shape to random visual stimuli.  Yahoo brings us these photos and the tale associated with them.

This photo was shot by one Richard Durham in the Weedon Bec Cemetery over in the UK.  Taken on New Year’s Day to test his new camera, the supposed specter was only discovered after the shot was posted on Facebook and a friend pointed it out.

Of course, there’s a story that goes with it.  It’s said that the cemetery is in fact haunted by a horseman, and that some feel “strange” in the area of the photo where the ghost appears.

How about that ghost?

Gasp Menagerie Ghostly Rider 1

If you’re like me, you see a quaint old graveyard…and not much else.  Let’s see the details.

An amateur photographer believes he has unwittingly captured a spooky picture of a GHOST on horseback in a graveyard. See NTI story NTIGHOST. Richard Durham, 45, took the eerie snap as he went for a walk with his new camera on New Year's Day. The dad-of-three stopped by Weedon Bec cemetery in Daventry, Northants., and photographed the misty scene at around 9am. But when he returned to his home and uploaded the picture to Facebook an eagle-eyed pal pointed out the ghostly image lurking behind a row of headstones. Since then the gardener has been inundated with web users who believe they can see the chilling outline.

That… didn’t help me at all.  I see trees and a couple of headstones.  And that’s about it.

This, gentle visitors, is the issue with pareidolia.  If you see it, you can’t unsee it.  If you don’t see it, you probably never will.

Now, just because I don’t see it, that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything there.  So I’m adding this to the Menagerie, even though I normally skip this kind of evidence.  At the very least, it serves as an exhibit of how the human mind can see things that aren’t there.  Or does it show something abnormal and possible preternatural?  Maybe I just don’t have the right eyes to see?


Explore The Gasp Menagerie!

Have a weird story? Potential evidence of the supernatural, or at least something hard to explain? Spot any creepy critters out there roaming the wilds? LET ME KNOW! I’d love to talk about it and possibly write it up right here in the Gasp Menagerie. You’ll get appropriate credit, of course, and everyone else will get fresh creepy (as opposed to fresh Creepy, which, trust me… nobody wants that) to enjoy. As always, I can be found at mrdark@dreadcentral.com. Now get out there, find some weird, and let’s get this party started.

The Gasp Menagerie

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