The Ghost in the Burning Building
The Story
On November 19, 1995, Wem Town Hall in Shropshire, England burned to the
ground. Tony O'Rahilly took photos of the spectacle with a 200mm telephoto lens
from across the street. Amazingly, one of those photos shows what looks like a
small girl standing in the doorway of the burning building. Nether O'Rahilly nor
any of the other onlookers or firefighters recalled seeing the girl there.
In 1677, historical records note, a fire destroyed many of the town's old timber
houses. A young girl named Jane Churm, the legends say, accidentally set fire to
a thatched roof with a candle. Many believed her ghost haunted the area and had
been seen on a few other occasions.
Analysis
Ah yes, the Wem Burning Building Ghost. Not only is this a very haunting picture of a child watching from inside a building being gutted by flames, but it has also become one of the most celebrated and famous ghost pictures of all time.
It's also completely fake.
It wasn't until Brian Lear, an sharp-eyed reader from Shrewsbury, saw a post card from 1922 that the hoax was put into the light. Lear's eyes were drawn to a little girl in the left hand corner of the card who looked familiar... a little too familiar.
It was all there. The face, the clothing, and even the shadows on her face. All identical to the ghost girl. Without a doubt, this nameless child from 1922 had been superimposed on one of Tony O'Rahilly's pictures and had helped the town of Wem become a paranormal Mecca for ghost hunters, the curious, and most importantly, their tourist monies.
Tony O'Rahilly passed away
in 2005 so his real motivations for the hoax will forever be a mystery.
Conclusion
I really have to say, that this one breaks my heart. The Wem Girl was one of my favorite ghost pictures, but the evidence is far too strong to continue to defend it as genuine. It's a fake and, being such a high-profile fake, it's another kick to the groin of those of us who take paranormal science and observation seriously. This is just another thing for skeptics to grab hold of and make the entire field look silly.
I don't understand why O'Rahilly would fake this picture. Perhaps it was for money, perhaps it was for fame or who knows? Maybe it was just a joke he did on a lark that got out of control and took on a life of its own? Since he can't be reached for comment on account of his being dead and all, O'Rahilly can't tell us why he did it. All we're left with is questions and frustrations.
And so, one of modern parapsychology's greatest ghost stories is put to a very ignoble end and I am sad. Not because it's been proven to be a fake, but because it simply is a fake and the victims of this prank are all of us. We didn't ask for that, we didn't want it, and we didn't deserve it.
|
|
The
Mists of Mystery is part of The Slightly Warped Network
© October, 2011 Slightly Warped Entertainment
Do not reproduce without permission.