Monday, June 8, 2009

Anderson, S.C. Apparition

Have you heard the recent story of the "apparition" in Anderson, South Carolina's Municipal Business Center being caught on film? Here's a snippet from the news story:

ANDERSON, S.C. --
Employees at the Anderson Municipal Business Center said they're seeing ghosts. They said the sightings started last month, with the latest sighting happening Thursday morning.

Security guard Rob Colbert said he was working late when he saw something move out of the corner of his eye.

"So I stopped talking and I went back, and checked it, and when I saw it I said, 'Huh,'" Colbert said.

He said he saw movement on the surveillance camera in the credit union office when no one was there.

"Just like a little ghostly figure, walking around," Colbert described.


READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE

I've taken a look at the video. Not the entire unedited version, of course, just what they have been showing on television. If you haven't seen what they are talking about for yourself yet, take a look at this piece from the local news: CLICK HERE TO VIEW VIDEO

Before I watched it, the first two things that popped into my head were that the likeliest causes were of a bug on the lens (which is often the case), or a weird reflection of light (also popular). Upon watching, it seems to be the latter is the most likely suspect.

The apparition, as it is called, appears to be two dimensional, without the appearance of depth at all. According to witness testimony, this "figure" is seen "only in the credit union office." Thirdly, there is opportunity for various types of reflections to occur, as you can see from still images. The employees may state in the news story that "they tried closing the blinds, thinking it might have been a reflection from outside," but we can clearly see light reflected on the wall and, because the room is not dark, an obvious light source is in the room at the time.

Because of these reasons, and more, this is likely a light reflection and nothing more. Further investigation, as well as strict control of the environment where this video was captured, would almost surely put this case to rest.

But please, I am open to new ideas. So if you have an opinion you would like to share, please feel free to comment. All are welcome!

3 comments:

  1. I would agree with you guys about light reflection of some sort,but I have to say Im a bit baffled by this one. The light source either has to be coming from inside the camera or office itself,or it's probably a genuine phenomena.
    It'll be interesting to see if they have any updates on this story.

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  2. Absolutely. I certainly look forward to updates!

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  3. I noticed the camera was right next to a vent. I'm wondering if light tiny particles of something were occasionally being blown onto the camera and then slowly blown across it from the air current and kept stuck to the camera by electrostatic charge.

    I wish they would have investigated it better, or if they had, then to have explained more in-depth. Though I wish they could have brought in some other experts to try to debunk it as well.

    They should have tried putting a few more cameras in that room to see if they all capture the same thing at different angles. And made sure to completely seal off the air vent, windows etc.

    I hate how one of the potentially greatest discoveries ever is not taken more seriously and given the investigation it deserves. Instead people seem to just want to get rid of the phenomena and get on with usual business.

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