Hampton Court Ghost: Real, Hoax, or Mistaken Identity?

In December 2003 this photo captured from a surveilliance video made headlines around the world.  Does it show an apparition of a man in 16th century period dress as many believe?

The story goes that the apparation was sighted after security guards heard a fire alarm went off near an exhibition hall.  The video showed two heavy doors open by themselves and then the appearance of the figure.  They also reported the doors opening at the same time the day before.

A Hampton Court security official had this to say:  "It's not a joke, we haven't manufactured it.  We genuinely don't know who or what it is."

Skeptics say that the ghost is really just a case of misinterpreting a single frame of video footage.   Interesting, but I'm not convinced either way. 

Whatever the story here, there is no dearth of reported hauntings at Hampton Court. Built in 1525, the ghost of Jane Seymour, third wife of Henry VIII who died there while giving birth to a son, is reported to haunt one of the Palace courtyards.   Jane's son Edward had a nurse who was buried in the palace grounds in 1562.  When Hampton Court was undergoing renovation in the 19th century, visitors and employees reported hearing a persistent whirring sound.  When the noise was traced to a brick wall, workers broke down the wall and found a hidden room containing a spinning wheel - one much like the nurse was reported to use.  And, in the spookiest story of all, Catherine Howard, Henry's fifth wife who was beheaded for adultery, has reportedly been seen for centuries floating down one of the palace galleries and emitting unearthly shrieks.  I remember hearing this story when I toured the Palace while standing in the gallery she's reported to haunt.  I got chills.  (And I get chills when I'm near something unearhtly.  Almost every time.)

Here's another story:  I was on a ghost hunting tour in London a few years ago where we were taken to an abandoned manor house now used by one of the local councils for community meetings and projects.  The official rule was that you had to be out every night by 9 pm.  Why?  Because the place was haunted.  Imagine that kind of enlightened thinking in the good old U.S. of A.  (You can't?  Gee, I can't either.)

Interesting in taking a look at more possible ghost photos?  About.com hosts an incredible gallery of some of the world's best and most intriguing. 

tags: sandy  paranormal  

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