At right you can see the same photo with white lines on either side of where the anomaly appears to be. That shadow was [...]]]> False ghost anomalies can appear in photos if hair is in the way. The ‘ghost photo’ below shows a dark vertical shadow near the center of the picture.

At right you can see the same photo with white lines on either side of where the anomaly appears to be.

Also, that’s probably a bug at the far left side of the picture. (Enlargement at left.)

Usually, bugs look like irregular ‘ghost orbs’ because they move while the camera lens is open.

In this case, the flash was very fast and the insect was simply highlighted by the flash. It’s so clear, it looks fake, or like a faerie.

When the strand of hair wasn’t too close to the lens, but wasn’t fully highlighted by the flash, it produced a slightly light area in the sky and a reddish tint on the foliage, shown in the photo below.

The results were far more dramatic on our other page, Hair test – False vortex photos. However, in case they’re helpful in your research, we’ve added many other ‘fake’ ghost pictures from our hair studies at More fake ghost pictures with hair

Fake ghost pictures can be created using as little as one piece of hair.

Most of these ‘vortex’ photos aren’t as dramatic as the ones featured in our other article, Hair tests – False vortex photos, but serious researchers will want to review these to confirm the effects of hair.

The [...]]]>

Fake ghost pictures can be created using as little as one piece of hair.

Most of these ‘vortex’ photos aren’t as dramatic as the ones featured in our other article, Hair tests – False vortex photos, but serious researchers will want to review these to confirm the effects of hair.

The picture at left shows a single piece of hair. What’s interesting is the ‘dot’ at the end. We’ve seen this effect in several ghost photos that were each described as a ‘vortex’.

(We’re not saying that they’re fake… just pointing out the coincidence.)

At right, here’s another highlighted strand of hair that could look odd in a picture. Ordinarily, we’d suspect that this was caused by a bug. In this case, it’s hair. Fiona usually pulls her hair back during photo sessions. With this range of anomalies, we’re going to recommend this to all of our researchers.

The picture at left looked like a ‘camera strap vortex’ to us, but it’s actually a couple of pieces of hair. If Fiona’s hair wasn’t so red, the cause could be more difficult to identify. Note how translucent the ‘vortex’ appears in the photo.

Two pieces of hair look like ‘vortices’ in the picture at right.

Hair that’s too close to the lens looks like a shadow, as seen on our webpage, False shadows from hair, and hair that’s too far away doesn’t appear in the picture at all.

Previously, we’d reported some hair-related anomalies in our article, False ‘ghost orbs’ and hair.

After our more recent research, we’ve concluded that hair offers far more potential for false anomalies than we’d realized.

However, the ‘ghost picture’ at left could fool many ghost hunters.

It’s a hair.

We deliberately took [...]]]> Ghost vortex claims are even more controversial than ghost orb pictures. Most vortex photos show a swirling line on the right side of the photo. Many skeptics correctly guess that this can be caused by a camera strap.

However, the ‘ghost picture’ at left could fool many ghost hunters.

It’s a hair.

We deliberately took photos using Fiona’s long red hair for the test. The picture above was sharpened in its reduced size, but only enough to duplicate the appearance of the original, larger digital photo. Otherwise, this picture has not been Photoshop’d.

At right you can see another hair photo, which looks like vortices.

We removed the red coloration from the hair to more closely duplicate average hair color.

We also sharpened the image so that it looks like the original, larger picture.

We’ve seen many ‘ghost vortex’ pictures that were similar to this one. We were surprised.

Some of our hair photos didn’t show much. Unless the hair is at least an inch in front of the lens, it’s not highlighted enough by the flash.

We’d never want to suggest that all similar-looking photos are caused by hair in front of the lens. They aren’t.

In fact, we’ve maintained that ghost pictures are only as reliable as the integrity and expertise of the people who took them.

However, these pictures show that hair–even a single hair or a couple of them–can create fairly convincing looking ‘ghost vortex’ photos.

Hair can cause other false anomalies, too. See our other discoveries at False shadows from hair.

Or see more false vortices at More fake ghost pictures with hair.

The night was chilly and dry, but not dry enough for dust to be an issue. There were no bugs and it wasn’t the right time of year for pollen. And, on our [...]]]> Ghost hunting can be a rollercoaster ride of excitement and then crashing disappointment. That’s what happened with these two photos:

Within minutes of studying them, the truth occurred to us: The red of the eerie lines matched the color of Fiona’s hair. She didn’t see her hair in the viewfinder since–on that camera–it doesn’t “look” through the lens. In the brisk wind that night, her hair got in the way of these pictures.

We tried several experiments on other nights, and while those photos weren’t this dramatic, they were similar enough to confirm our suspicions.

These photos may look great, but these false ‘ghost orbs’ and streaks were caused by the flash camera highlighting strands of hair.

When you’re hoping for real ghost photos, make sure that they are real ghost photos, not something else.

And, be sure to see our other articles about hair in ghost photos:

• Hair tests – False vortex photos – startling ‘vortex’ images.
• More fake ghost pictures with hair – liabilities of hair near cameras.
• False shadows from hair – Subtle discoloration.

The evening was somewhat windy, but otherwise dry and bugfree. The cemetery is near houses, but has no artificial light within the cemetery walls.