10 Supposedly Mysterious Photos Explained.
Number 10, The Time Traveler.
This photo, taken in 1941 caught the interests of theorists who claimed
that the image was proof of the reality of time travel. More specifically,
some observers insisted that a man in the picture was clearly a visitor
from the future, as he was wearing a modern-printed shirt and dark glasses.
But, that is not completely true. Sunglasses actually first
appeared in the 1920s. Meanwhile, the man's shirt, rather than being
printed, actually seems to be one with a sewn-on graphic, a style
commonly used in athletes' clothing during the period.
Number 9, The Hook Island Sea Monster.
The story behind the photos goes that in 1964, Breton photographer
Robert Le Serrec captured pictures of a 75 to 80 foot tadpole-like
sea serpent. Because Photoshop did not exist in 1964,
the images were believed by many to be authentic. However, some
circumstances surrounding the photos and the people responsible for
them raise serious questions on the images' authenticity.
First, Le Serrec was found to have left several creditors in France
unpaid and had been wanted by Interpol. This was probably the reason
why he approached several members of the media to command the highest
price for the images. Worse, Le Serrec was later discovered to have
previously attempted to arrange a group for a "sea-serpent" expedition
that he claimed would turn out to be "financially fruitful."
Secondly, the images themselves. It has been observed that the
positioning of the supposed creature's eyes was suspect because most
vertebrates had their eyes either on the sides of their head or near
the snout. The prevailing theory of many experts today is that the
images in Le Serrec's photos, of a monster-shaped sheet of
plastic weighted down by sand.
Number 8, The Cooper Family Ghost.
Internet legend has it that this photo was taken sometime in the 1950s,
the day that the Cooper family moved into a Texas home that had previously
been owned. It was said that nothing unusual was noticed as the picture
was being taken, but when the photo was developed, a hanging body
appeared in it. Granted, the picture truly is creepy, but there are
serious reasons to doubt its authenticity.
Hardly anything is known about the picture or its source, making it
very possible that the picture was altered long after it was taken.
Shadow of the supposed body clearly inconsistent with the light source for the
photo, which is also at the right side of the body. These are the reasons
why most photo experts today are in agreement that the Cooper photo
had been altered.
Number 7, The Ancient Black Knight Satellite.
In 1998, when space shuttle Endeavor traveled to the ISS,
astronauts were able to capture several photos of a
mysterious piece of space debris, which looked like some type of craft.
The object eventually came to be called "Black Knight," and ufologists
were quick to associate the object to the then-inexplicable radio signals
from outer space that Nikola Tesla had picked up in 1899.
Today, however, it is widely accepted that the Tesla radio signals were
in fact pulsars, radio signals that naturally occur in outer space and
were unrelated to the Black Knight. Furthermore, in 1960, then-Air Force Secretary
Dudley Sharp explained to newspapers that the supposedly unidentified
object was likely the second casing from a satellite that had been
launched. In fact, this theory was later confirmed and even reported
by TIME magazine
Number 6, The Murderous Demon.
It is said that a man was found dead in a cave, and the single picture
found in his camera is this one.
Interesting, yes, but a photo of an actual demon? No. The figure in
the picture is actually a hard plastic sculpture that is part of the
Crystal Quest tour of Cox's Cave in Cheddar Gorge in England. Here is
a much less intriguing picture of the sculpture.
Number 5, The S.S. Watertown Phantom Faces.
The story that accompanies this photo goes that in 1924, two members of
the S.S. Watertown crew were killed by gas fumes in a freak accident on
the ship and were buried at sea. After the incident, other crew members
claimed to see the ghostly faces of their two deceased companions in the
water. A certain Captain Keith Tracy then supposedly captured a photo of
the apparitions, which has since been widely circulated as an authentic
ghost photo. However, details in the original image, minus the intrusive
arrows on the widely circulated version of the photo, give rise to
suspicions of tampering.
The photo was said to have been snapped while the photographer was on
the deck of the ship, the diagonal lines in the image being the safety
railings. Strangely, the face on the left can be seen in between two
railings that seem to be dangling, quite an obvious sign of photo editing.
Furthermore, if the faces had truly been in the water, they would've
been at least ten feet tall each, a detail that surely would've been part
of the story if true.
Number 4, The Humanoid Face On Mars. On July 25th, 1976, NASA released a photo
of the Cydonia region on Mars as taken by the Viking 1 orbiter. A year later,
it caught the attention of alien enthusiasts who pointed out what seemed
to be a humanoid face in the image. However, Gerry Soffen, Viking's
chief scientist, quickly dismissed the face-like shape as a "trick
of light and shadow." Nevertheless, some commentators insisted that
the face was evidence of a long-lost Martian civilization. The controversy
was finally laid to rest 20 years after the Viking 1 images were captured
when future space missions took clearer photos of the area and
produced several high-resolution images.
Number 3, The Loch Ness Monster.
This photo is the most iconic image of the purported Loch Ness Monster that some
believe to inhabit the Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands.
Alas, the photo was exposed as an elaborate hoax
in 1993. It was revealed that Marmaduke Wetherell, a Daily
Mail employee had asked him to build the fake monster out of a toy submarine.
The scam was Wetherell's revenge on The Daily Mail for
publicly ridiculing him after he had been duped into thinking that obviously
faked Nessie footprints were real.
Number 2, The Wem Ghost.
In November of 1995, a 90-year-old town hall building in Wem in England
burned down. A sewage farm worker took a photo of the burning structure from
across the road then later claimed that the developed photo mysteriously
included a little girl standing in a doorway. For some time, the
image was hailed as compelling evidence for the reality of ghosts. But in
2010, a 77-year-old pensioner pointed out that the little girl in the photo
bore a striking likeness to a girl in this left-hand corner of the
1922 Wem postcard.
Number 1, The Solway Firth Spaceman.
Jim Templeton's 1964 photo is likely the most circulated image of what
some claim to be proof of either time travel or alien life. The
photographer claimed that he did not notice anyone else in the frame at
the time he took the shot. But when the film was developed, a man who
appears to be in a spacesuit was standing behind Templeton's daughter.
However, a closer look at the image reveals that
the "spaceman" actually has his back turned to the photographer. Or else,
his arm would've been bent at an impossible angle if he were facing
forward. That would mean the spaceman was strangely wearing his helmet
backwards. Furthermore, enhancing the contrast of the photo reveals a
distinctive neckline and dress armholes, which many say prove that the
"spaceman" is actually a whitewashed image of Templeton's wife.