Tue 18 May 2010
4:10PM
compton

Spooky Case of the Wem Ghost

There's an interesting story doing the rounds which you may or probably won't have seen recently. The Shropshire Star reports on an old chap who spotted what appears to be a very uncanny resemblance between a 1920s B&W photograph and a famous picture of an alleged local ghost.

See the story with full images here.

I was intrigued, and decided to compare the two images a bit closer, and there does seem to be a striking resemblance. See what you think using the image below. Click and drag the Fade control to fade from the 1990s image of the so-called Wem ghost to the 1920s image of a very much alive and sulky looking girl. You can use the other slider to zoom in or out on the image for a closer peek.

These images are both taken from the Shropshire Star story, and are untouched except to shrink the 'ghost' one so that it is the same size as the girl. I didn't process either image other than that - the brightness, contrast, rotation, proportions are all exactly the same as in the original two photos.

Some elements, such as the belt on the dress and the line of the girl's hat against her hair, seem to match nearly exactly. What do you think? Can there still be room for doubt? One thing's for sure, the guy who first spotted the resemblance has got eagle eyes!
Fade
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Guest

6:05 pm, Wednesday, 19 May 10

How interesting! Great post, this makes it pretty much 'black and white' for me :)
 

Toby

9:55 am, Thursday, 20 May 10

Excellent work, amazing so many comments on the newspaper websites are in denial about it being the same girl. Guess people want to believe in the supernatural no matter what.
 

Guest

2:16 pm, Thursday, 20 May 10

This is great - really spells it out that the two pictures are the same. Well done!
 

K Harris

2:22 pm, Thursday, 20 May 10

I lived in Wem at the time and saw the fire myself - I did not see anything that could have been a ghost - so always doubted the Ghost story. So thanks to a very eagle eyed guy from Shrewsbury I am in no doubt that it was a fake all along.
 

SQUIRREL

5:57 pm, Thursday, 20 May 10

Great no doubt in my mind that a fake has been revealed !
 

Big Vern

12:12 am, Friday, 28 May 10

yes, they're definitely the same image. But, playing devil's advocate, what if the girl in the second image is also a ghost? Doesn't reaslly prove anything, unless someone can vouch for the latter photograph.
 

G.P.Robetto

5:48 pm, Thursday, 1 July 10

Great work man!

Now some ppl can shout FAKE!
 

kschuch

3:52 pm, Wednesday, 11 August 10

Wow...what amazing detective work!...even the little ruffle on her bonnet matches where there seems to be a wave in her hair (in the "ghost" photo). Either way, the girl is scary! she seems to have a very evil look with a mean stern glare!.
 

JoeSixPack

1:23 pm, Wednesday, 17 November 10

What you have done is fantastic! O’Rahilly was a fraud and a liar after all!
 

Guest

12:51 pm, Tuesday, 30 November 10

Wonderful work.y can't u reveal the secret behind other ghost pictures too?
 
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/xkcd/ The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald