6 Signs you might have caught a ghost on CCTV (or not)

As it’s Halloween on Friday, we thought we would take some time on the blog this week to look at some of the more unusual goings-on that have been captured on camera over recent years. The always-on nature of CCTV systems means that these days it is one of the first ports of call for those looking for evidence of the paranormal, seeking to find spooky events and apparitions that may otherwise have gone unseen. It’s a phenomena that has been mirrored in Hollywood, with films such as Paranormal Activity playing on the found footage look for ghoulish jump-scares. But how do keen-eyed investigators spot a ghost on CCTV? Here are some examples that have been held up as suspicious, we’ll let you exercise you’re own judgement…

1. Shadowy Figures

Security guards at Dover Castle appeared to be baffled by this dark figure that moved across the image by their gate. Some were quick to suggest it was a visitor from another astral plane, whilst others opted for a fly on the lens.

2. Shifting Antiquities

Paranormal watchers flocked to Manchester last year after it was revealed that a local museum’s Egyptian artifact was shifting by itself in it’s display case. This was then confirmed by a timelapse video recorded by the museum staff, appearing to show the statuette twisting mysteriously. Some suggested colourful theories of accursed tombs, whilst skeptics proposed traffic noise from a nearby main road was causing it to judder across the glass shelf.

3. Floating…things…

Due to their nature, a massive quantity of paranormal video claims revolve around a host of nondescript blotches, blobs and hazes that can appear in a video image. A recent example of this was the alleged ghost captured on video floating through a locked section of a police station in New Mexico. Doubters were as-yet unconvinced, but Officers held it up as evidence of a spirit that had been stalking the station for years.

4. Moving Chairs

Poltergeists represent another area of frequent CCTV activity, variously smashing, shifting and throwing objects across rooms. Take the recent example of a theatre in Romford. The venue’s CCTV captured one of the chairs mysteriously shift backwards, despite the room being completely empty. Video artifacts and distortion don’t seem to be at play hear, leading to the suggestion a spirit was responsible for moving it. Either that or a good old fashioned hoax was at play here.

5. Floating Teabags

On the subject of self-propelled objects, a video emerged in July last year of a box of teabags seemingly shifting off the shelf of a Whitstable convenience store and hovering in mid air, before dropping to the ground as a confused shopper turned around. Cue plenty of jokes about the shop being “possessed by the ghost of Earl Grey”…

6. Unspecified Floating Apparitions

Finally, a woman in Nottingham claimed in 2012 to have captured the glowing spirit being shifting across her CCTV camera’s field of view. Whilst one wouldn’t want to doubt her account, it does bare a suspicious resemblance to a fly…

So, have you seen any similarly suspicious sights on your CCTV footage? Need help identifying ghostly figures? Get in touch and let us know if you think you’ve captured anything paranormal!