Ghostly image appears in the snow.

by Suki Ghatore
(Cippenham, Slough, England)

Dear Moonslipper team

Please find attached photograph I took at my front doorstep during the snowfall on 5th January 2010 at 22.00hrs.

Location: Cippenham; Slough, England

Twenty photo's were taken within 5 minutes.

This is Photo No.2 where a ghostly image appeared which has & spooked & excited my family & I. When I took this photo I also experienced something very strange, weird & unnatural.

Below, I have explained how the exact events took place leading to this strange happening including a brief summary.

This may sound crazy & unbelievable to many.. but this is the way it happened...

I was very ill this day,suffering from a asthma combined with a chest infection finding it difficult to breathe.

At around 22.00 or just after, I was in the bedroom playing the guitar when my wife Jessie came to and said "Come on, lets check out the snow"

For a second I hesitated whether to go or not; then said "mmm Ok lets go"

I grabbed up my digital camera (Casio Exilm 5.0 mega pixel) and followed Jessie downstairs.

I opened the front door; Jessie stood behind me.
The two of us faced looking outward admiring the view; the snow falling and settling in the silent well-lit street.

I took the camera out, turned slightly to the left and snapped the first photograph. I had a look at the screen to see how it came out, then turned to the right, raised & stretched my arms out straight, above head level to get a shot just above my car, then took another snap. In the same instant as I snapped, I felt a very fierce breeze/force across my face, forcing it to the right, pushing my left cheek in. I had to almost shut my eyes & for a couple of seconds I was stunned; I could not move my head. I was not facing the camera when I took it..

I noticed on the camera display a white misty figure. I swore "What the ....." Immediately I called my wife who was about a foot behind me"Jessie Jessie, check this out"

She replied" Oh my God!"

Within 10-15 seconds I took the third photo in the same position/angle, but the photo was fine.
In the five minutes that followed, I managed to snap another 17 photographs (until the battery died) in the same direction & surrounding area to see if this image would appear again but all the photos were fine.

I checked the road; there was no strong wind, just a light breeze; nobody was around, the street was completely empty & car engines were turned off, there was no smoke or steam.

We decided to go back inside and have a look at the photographs & talk about what just happened.
The both of us were excited & freaked out at the same time.

I said "It's very strange, I felt a fierce breeze/force across my face..

I took out the memory card, uploaded the photographs on the computer and had a better look.
The both of us could not believe what appeared on the second photo.

We got in touch with some family & friends and told them what happened. They said email the picture so we can have a look.

They too were also shocked & exited by this image. You have definitely got some ghostly figure they said. We all communicated with each other, back & fourth for a couple of hours talking about the experience.

Jessie & I were not scared or frightened, just freaked out by the experience. As you can guess we did not get much sleep for the few nights that followed.

Friends and family invited us to stay with them, but we refused and said "we still have to go back home and deal with our experience."

The response has been amazing with positive & negative feedback from friends, family, colleagues at work, neighbours & the general public, paranormal groups, facebook & journalists.. Some people say it is done on photo shop; it is smoke, steam, condensation, breath or a reflection. Surprisingly; more people believe it is a spirit materialising/manifesting.. Just a few examples of what people think it is; good & bad spirits, angel, nun, grim reaper, guardian angel, phantom, captured an a moment in time, something in another dimension, alien like figure, a Jinn(Arabic spirit) some say they can see a dog?

Regarding the theory of breath, smoke, steam etc.; I am open minded but still not convinced. I got together with a couple of friends to re-in act & do our own little investigation on how I snapped the photographs that particular night. Obviously we cannot re-create the whole event but a few things leave us puzzled:

1. The image on the photo is too defined & well constructed for it to be smoke, breath, steam, and condensation.

2. I was short of breath; I would have had to breathe out over two feet in front & above head level to get my breath to the camera.

3. I was inside the house, only my hands were outside when I took the first few photos

4. The timing from photo 1 to photo 2 and 3 was quick & sudden.

5. We took a few photos with breath & smoke but they were too smoky and not defined & nothing like the image.

6. In the same instant I took the second photo (ghostly) I felt a very fierce breeze/force across my face; like a hand held against my face, forcing it to the right, pushing my left cheek in. I had to almost shut my eyes & for a couple of seconds I was stunned & could not move my head. (I was not facing the camera when I took the photo)

7. Who or what was the breeze/force?

8. There was calm, only a very light breeze when I stepped out in the driveway & road, no smoke, steam, gas, or exhaust fumes?

9. If it was breath, why is it not in the other photos?

10. My wife was about 2 feet behind me when I took the first few photos; it's definitely not her breath.

Spooky, strange, weird or wonderful?

Thank you for reading..

Suki Ghatore

suki_g@sky.com