Private Home, Burlington NJ

On January 2, 2005, we were invited by the owner of this Burlington home after a trial run of a digital camera - a new Christmas gift - turned up some unexpected images. Especially since children were involved, we felt it important to investigate right away and met the family at their home that night. They had past paranormal experiences, including unexplained voices and electrical disturbances, but our investigation focused on the causes of ghostly faces appearing in photos of a third floor wall.

The primary image appears to be a woman in profile. It was first seen in a photo "sitting" over a family member's shoulder. We recreated the image several times with our own digital camera. The profile appears in other photos in the same position, even with no one sitting for the picture.

Suspecting that the rough surface and subtle shade variations on the wall were causing a lithopane-like effect, we experimented with one of our cameras. A photo taken without a flash and another with lighting from a different angle do not show the profile or any other face on the wall.

Close-ups of another "face" on the wall best demonstrate how the rough surface of the wall helps create these images. The mind does the rest of the work, matrixing together human faces.

We provided several enlarged photos with plastic top-sheets to help the family see the same causes when viewing the wall with the naked eye. On the top layer, hand-drawn lines highlighted the features of the wall that map to the features on the woman's profile.

Reactions to evidence can vary widely. One person may be thrilled to discover that their home is haunted while another is upset. I believe our results were disappointing to the family in this case. Other activity, which we unfortunately did not experience, had been associated with a much-loved and recently-passed relative. In that case, the presence of a spirit would be a harmless and welcome one.