Due to Smartphone technology, we all have the ability to document the precious and important
moments in our lives. But some images may seem normal at first glance until the full disturbing
backstory is revealed, instantly transforming it into a creepy photo with a haunting past.
5. The Hartley Violin
What seems like a normal and rather beautiful image of an old violin is actually a creepy
photo of the violin owned by Wallace Henry Hartley, the bandleader of a group of musicians
that played on the RMS Titanic when it undertook its maiden voyage in 1912. On the fateful night
of the 14th of April 1912, the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank beneath the North Atlantic Ocean.
Hartley and his crew’s actions that night have become a legendary tale
as he and his fellow musicians played on, despite the chaos and destruction happening
around them as passengers and crew scrambled in hopes of boarding one of the ship’s lifeboats.
Though the actual last song played by the band remains unknown, a former fellow musician,
Ellwand Moody, claimed that Hartley once said that if he were ever on a sinking ship,
he would play either “Nearer My God To Thee” or “Our God, Our Help in Ages Past” and so,
it is generally accepted that the former was their swansong.
The violin remained in the icy water for 10 days before it was recovered and hence,
has now become unplayable. The instrument, which was an engagement present from his fiancée,
Maria, was returned to Hartley’s mother after the tragedy.
Following her passing, it was given to the Bridlington Salvation Army and later passed
to a violin teacher who gave it to the mother of a man who kept it in his attic until 2006.
Thanks to an engraving found on the violin which reads: “For Wallace on
the occasion of our engagement. From Maria”, the instrument has been fully authenticated.
In 2013, it became the most expensive single piece of Titanic memorabilia when it sold at auction for
$1.6 million, three times the price that it was expected to fetch. Hartley’s violin is currently
housed at a museum in Tennessee which is dedicated to the victims of the sinking of the Titanic.
4. The Enola Gay Crew
A photo of nine soldiers, seemingly in high spirits,
seems to depict the average day in the life of a soldier when not facing combat. They are
clearly relaxed and smiling at the camera, one of the men even sporting a Boston baseball cap.
But the disturbing backstory behind the men in the photo tells a different tale. They are, in fact,
part of the crew of the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima
on the 6th of August, 1945, named after the pilot Colonel Paul Tibbets’ mother, Enola Gay Tibbets.
The crew was part of the 509th Composite Group which was specifically created by
the US Army Air Force to deploy the first atomic bombs during World War II. These
soldiers were kept separate from other military members and received their training in secret.
Even members of the same group were only given information pertaining to their own specific roles
before they were deployed. The mission to drop the bomb on Hiroshima was named Special Mission
13 and involved 6 other planes, but the Enola Gay was the one that deployed the destructive device.
Shortly after the bomb was released, tail gunner Bob Caron was the first to see the
explosion from his position in the plane. He also took the first photos of the detonation,
as he was given a K-20 camera to capture the events as they unfolded.
He would later describe seeing the entire city disappear under a cloud
that resembled bubbling molasses which ran up the foothills.
He recounted seeing flames spring up in various places throughout the city before
the plane was turned around so that the entire crew could look down on the destruction below.
Captain Robert A. Lewis wrote that he would never get those few minutes out of his mind, even if he
lived another 100 years. He described everyone aboard the plane as being completely dumbstruck,
as they had expected something fierce, but not to that extent. He further wrote: “I honestly
have the feeling of groping for words to explain this or I might say, my God, what have we done?”
The crew would, however reveal that they had no regrets over dropping the bomb, since it hastened
the end of the war and saved countless lives, most of those being of the Japanese people.
Captain Theodore Van Kirk echoed this sentiment, but stated that he hoped that no man would have
to witness a similar sight as it was a terrible waste and massive loss of life.
3.
Prayer of the Apollo 1 Astronauts
A humorous photo taken in jest of three astronauts
bowing their heads and clasping their hands in prayer over a miniature model of a US spacecraft
seems innocent enough. That is until its disturbing backstory reveals who the men are
and the circumstances that they found themselves in not too long after the photo was taken.
The men are rookie astronaut, Roger Chaffee with veterans Virgil Grissom and Ed White.
They were the three-man crew that, at this point,
was scheduled to undertake the Apollo program’s first manned mission.
But the three men were far from complacent about the craft that they were set to travel in.
They had voiced their concerns over the amount of flammable material,
mostly Velcro and nylon that was present in the command module.
They relayed their fears to Joseph Shea, manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office
and sent the photo where they are jokingly praying over the craft with the inscription:
“It isn’t that we don’t trust you, Joe, but this time we’ve decided to go over your head”.
Despite orders from Shea, the flammable materials remained inside the command module
which was about to meet its tragic end.
On the 27th of February, 1976, 25 days before the craft was to be launched, the crew climbed
aboard for a routine, simulated launch test. The test was classified as non-hazardous as
the craft would be disconnected from the launch pad’s electrical systems and it wasn’t fuelled.
The test was made as realistic as possible by sealing the hatch after the astronauts were
strapped into their seats. The cabin was then pressurized with pure oxygen but throughout the
day, small glitches and problems would hamper the test’s progress and they fell behind by hours.
With just 10 minutes left to carry out the test, a flash appeared on the screens of engineers
watching the test remotely. Faulty electrical wiring behind a panel door by Grissom’s feet
had caused a spark, causing the pure oxygen in the cabin to combust.
This, in turn, ignited the flammable materials on board, resulting in an inferno.
Pad safety workers who rushed to the scene alongside rescuers were unable to reach the craft
due to thick smoke, toxic fumes and intense heat that emanated from the blaze. The hatch could
only be opened 5 minutes later, by which point it was far too late for the three men inside.
2. Jolee Callan
The last photo taken of Jolee Callan sees the 18-year-old standing on a cliff’s edge,
taking photos of the scenery on front of her. The photo was taken by her ex- boyfriend,
Loren Bunner who had invited her to go on a hike, just as friends.
Jolee and Loren had started dating about a year before the photo was taken.
Although they were both quiet people, Loren had a strong emotional hold on Jolee
and didn’t like hanging out with her friends. He would often ask her to sit with him while
he played video games or asked her to only hang out with him and his friends.
Jolee had tried to end the relationship on numerous occasions,
but Loren would blackmail her emotionally, begging her not to break up with him
and threatening to harm himself if she did so, causing her to change her mind each time.
But when she graduated from high school, she found the courage to end the relationship
once and for all. She was making plans for her future and was ready to move on. Loren however,
wasn’t and he called her incessantly, begging for her to reconsider and take him back.
That’s when he invited her on the friendly hike that would end tragically.
The night before, Jolee jokingly messaged one of her friends saying that she was heading out with
Loren the next day and if something happened to her, they would know who she was with.
And so, on the 30th of August, 2015, the two headed out to Cheaha State Park
in east Alabama for their hike. As the day went on, Loren posted to Instagram
3 times. The first photo shows Jolee sitting in a car with the caption: “On our way to go hiking”.
Further photos show her walking down a trail and the last image is of her on the cliff side. What
turns this seemingly innocent image into a truly creepy photo is the fact that he ended her life
moments later with a firearm before pushing her off the cliff.
He then returned to the car and dialed 911,
confessing immediately to his crime. He was sentenced to 52 years in prison and it would
later be revealed that he bragged to cell mates that, if he couldn’t have her, no one would.
1. 2004 Tsunami
John and Jackie Knill from North Vancouver in Canada
were regular visitors to Thailand. They vacationed there so often that they considered it their
second home and they made the trip once again in 2004 for their Christmas vacation.
Specifically, they travelled to Khao Lak, an area with breathtaking beaches
that they had visited many times before. On the 25th of December, they called their children to
wish them a merry Christmas and on Boxing Day, they got up early to enjoy the beach.
As one does on vacation, they took their digital camera with them
to capture what many have described as a truly beautiful day.
The first of a series of photos shows the beach and ocean with surf far in the background.
It is a seemingly tranquil image that could be used in a resort brochure, but unbeknownst to
the couple, it shows the water receding before a massive tsunami is about to hit. They became
aware of a large wave approaching on the horizon and started taking more photos as it neared.
The last photo they ever took shows the massive wave reaching the beach
and only a few moments later, they would be swept away by the torrent of sea water,
along with everyone else who was present on the beach.
About a month later, Christian Piet, an American Baptist missionary travelled to Thailand and
was walking on the same beach when he happened upon the Knill’s camera. He found that it still
contained a memory card and took it back to his hotel room where he inserted it into his laptop.
What he found was the last scary photos taken by the couple and he decided that they needed to be
returned to the family of whoever they belonged to. When he returned to Seattle, Washington,
he did an internet search and found a picture of the couple on a website for missing people.
He emailed the site with one of the photos attached
and the couple’s sons confirmed that the image was indeed of their parents.
Upon receiving the rest of the photos, the Knill brothers stated that it brought them some closure
knowing that their parents were having a good time in the days before the tsunami struck.
All in all, nearly 230,000 people lost their lives due to the horrific disaster.