Lightning in a Hat
Thursday October 9, 2008
"I was wondering if you would be able to tell me what the streak of light is on the photo of my late husband," writes Liz. "It has my signature on the bottom of it."
I don't see a signature, but this is most unusual. I don't know if it's paranormal, but it is certainly anomalous. It doesn't appear to be any kind of reflected or smeared light. And it is not lightning in the backgound as the end of the light lies in front of the hat. Any ideas out there?
See a larger version of the photo and more paranormal pictures in the Gallery.
Comments
If it is not a digital image it could be a processing error. If it is from a film camera, she might want to see if the “lightning” is also on the negative. If it is a digital image it could be something as innocuous as a hair or other strand-type debris on the lens. I think where it is in relation to the man is interesting but likely coincidental.
It is an aircraft com-trail in the background that just happened to look like it was coming out of his hat.
I agree with Spectre in that it’s likely an error in processing. Something as innocuous as a crack in the film can could let light leak in and generate this flaw. Given that it was a sunny day on the day the picture was taken, any attempts to change the film in the camera with this light could have had anomolous effects on the final images.
Looks like a hair in front of the lens, and I say this from experience.
airplane contrail or prehaps a processing error. It’s a neat pic whatever it is. Thanks for sharing it.
If her husband died shortly after the picture was taken (and the lightening strike,in the background was not visible at the time the picture was taken)of a brain anyerism or head injury, this could be a portent of his death.
As a long time employee of a large professional photo lab, I would tend to agree with the processing flaw theory-IF the photo is not digital. If the photo was processed from a negative, and if it was not handled with care (especially in cleaning)any type of contamination can show up dramatically. A tiny hair or piece of lint can look similar to what’s in this photo. However, digital photography has pretty much eliminated this type of problem.
do you think it may be a cotton thread? or something similar?
As an experienced photographer with over 20 years under my belt. Inclusive of film and digital photography and extensive experience in wetlab and digital darkroom . I had a look at this photo.First simple test, I enlarged the image by zooming in on it with Irfanview (3277 x 4950) when viewing the image at this resolution it is clear to see that anomaly is definitely without doubt created in post processing. There are numerous ways to create this effect eg. use of dodge and burn tool with tool set to 1pxl. the quality of the post processing done to create this effect on this photo that is displayed on this webpage is of amateurish level quite easy to detect. Now I mean no disrespect to owner of this photo as they maybe the victim of someone else’s poor taste in post processing. But I can honestly say without a shadow of a doubt that this is a created effect in post processing.
Kindest regards Graham
I can understand that this must have been a bit of a shock after the death of your husband, even if it is a developing flaw. My condolences on your loss madam.
not that I think some one glued a long string of wire to his hat, it does look like it.
Looks like a step leader.
My first thought when viewing the picture was it looked like a piece of string confetti floating down. Something that comes out of those party poppers.
To me it looks like a long piece of thread from the hat. On a windy bright day the string would be able to extend up like this. If the sun was bright the reflection would make the thread seem larger than it really is.
Yes, I am with “the-string-from-the hat” theory….that is definitely what it seems like to me. Nothing paranormal….just a loose string.
Condolences to your loss…May your husband rest in peace.