Ghosts and visions

This is one of the most famous ghost photos of all time. It supposedly shows the "Brown Lady" who haunts Raynham Hall in Norfolk, England.

The image was taken by Captain Provand and Indre Shira (a pseudonym), two photographers on assignment for Country Life magazine. According to their later testimony, the pair saw an ethereal form descending the staircase and quickly snapped a picture.

Skeptics argue that the photo does not show a ghost, but rather was the result of mundane causes such as camera vibration, afternoon light from the window above the stairs catching the lens of the camera, and double exposure. What is not known is whether these effects were produced purposefully, or if they were the accidental result of a faulty camera.

Source: Museum of Hoaxes 
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Damien's note: My friend Michael told me that when he was the religious superior at a Catholic shrine in the Midwest in the early 1990s, a woman came to him with a Polaroid photograph she had taken of the surrounding countryside outside the church a few days before. There, very clearly, in one of the trees was an image of the Virgin Mary, very similar in appearance to a popular statue. It was obvious that the image had not been intentionally faked, but he was also unconvinced that it was a miraculous image. Polaroids were notorious for creating such images through cracks in the case. He listened to the woman and asked her what she thought it meant. When she said she thought it was to reassure her about someone who had recently died,  he said that he thought that was as good an explanation as any and that she should be grateful for the relief it brought her. She was disappointed he did not get more excited, but she went away somewhat satisfied.