Ghostly goings-on at Glynceiriog
Background
On the morning of Sunday, 23rd February, 2003, a group of us went for an early morning walk in the hills above Glynceiriog, near Llangollen, North Wales. Close to the end of the walk, one of us spotted a small opening in a hillside which we decided to investigate. On closer inspection, it appeared to be the entrance to either a very small cave or a man-made tunnel (we weren't there long enough to decide). Inside it was eerily dark and even a small torch we were carrying failed to penetrate the gloom. We could not even tell for sure how far the tunnel continued into the hillside. I therefore decided to take a flash picture with my digital camera, hoping that the picture would reveal more...
Pictures before the event
As you can see from two pictures taken shortly before we reached the tunnel, it was a relatively clear morning (for February at least). This fact becomes very significant later...
A picture taken at the mouth of the tunnel also shows there to be no mist - either outside or just inside the entrance...
The ghost picture
The next picture is what came out when I tried to photograph the inside of the tunnel. It has not been tampered with in any way whatsoever except being reduced to fit on this page. The first surprise is the existence of what appears to be a kind of mist in the tunnel, which was not visible to the naked eye, did not appear when the small torch we were carrying was shone inside - and shouldn't have been there on a clear, fine day. But that's not all...
Now look closely, about a third of the way down from the top and, width-wise, roughly in the centre. You should be able to make out the head of a figure with long hair, possibly wearing a cape or wimple. Now look at the face. You should be able to see staring eyes, shadows cast by a nose, and a mouth that may be surrounded by a beard in the style worn during the English Civil War in the 17th century. The following picture, with a rough outline of the ghost's head drawn on top, shows you where to look...
Close-up
Below is a section of the original picture, showing the head and shoulders of the ghost (including no alterations or enhancements)...
Enhancements
I did some enhancing of the picture to see whether the figure became clearer. Here are the results. The first picture has been severely sharpened...
The next picture is the sharpened version, now with greater contrast...
Other pictures of the same scene
My brother, Brian, took two other pictures of the same scene and neither showed the mist nor the ghost. This is one of his pictures...
What's the explanation?
A trick of the light? The ghost of a soldier who might have hidden in the tunnel during the Civil War? Some might even argue that the figure appears Christ-like. E-mail me and let me know what you think.
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