Carlisle CCTV Ghost?
This article appeared in the News & Star in February.
Shop assistants at Simply Food & Drinks in Botcherby caught a chilling strange white mist on CCTV outside the store and firmly believe it came from beyond the grave.
This article appeared in the News & Star in February.
Shop assistants at Simply Food & Drinks in Botcherby caught a chilling strange white mist on CCTV outside the store and firmly believe it came from beyond the grave.
Trish Nolan was working in the shop alongside Sonya Hird when the mysterious spirit appeared to drift in and out of the shop almost 10 times in one hour on Tuesday night.
Nolan, 42, said: "I have never believed in things like ghosts until that night but unless somebody can explain to me what it was, I believe now.
"I wish to God I hadn’t seen it. I kept serving afterwards but half the people that came in were standing staring at the screen."
The ghostly apparition could only be seen on the shop’s CCTV cameras and the recording has quickly become notorious around Botcherby.
One theory says the spook has been disturbed by workmen renovating a flat across the road, which was said to have been haunted.
And it is an idea that makes sense to Nolan. She said: "I turned around last night and said I felt that it was coming across the road as they have disturbed the flat upstairs. I said to Sonya before we saw anything I was freezing, right down my right hand side I was
freezing. At one point we were standing there and I said ‘It’s going to happen again’ and it did.
"I am the worst for watching the CCTV screen while I’m working and I have never seen anything at all before this. As the night goes along it gets a brighter orange and seems to be more of a definite figure."
The News and Star has asked its readers
http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/carlisle-off-licence-s-unwanted-spirit-scares-store-staff-1.676684?referrerPath=home
whether they think it is really a ghost. Rational answers so far include light refractions from passing cars and an out-of-focus fly.
Make up your own mind by watching the video yourself complete with commentary from the startled shopkeepers.
Re: Carlisle CCTV Ghost?
It looks like an out of focus insect walking across the protective glass in front of the lens of the camera.
Re: Carlisle CCTV Ghost?
Why does said disturbed ghost keep going into the shop then?
Re: Carlisle CCTV Ghost?
Problem is, we’re not watching a reproduction of the CCTV feed itself; someone’s filmed the actual display. To me, it looked like someone was shining a torch or similiar lightsource at the screen whilst it was being filmed.
Re: Carlisle CCTV Ghost?
[quote=Leekduck]Why does said disturbed ghost keep going into the shop then?[/quote]
If it’s an insect on the glass lens cover, it’s just walking around very close to the lens. It would only APPEAR to be moving in and out of the shop. It is an illusion of perspective.
Re: Carlisle CCTV Ghost?
I dunno, MS. I’d be inclined to agree, if the timestamps didn’t show late Feb. It’s pretty unusual to have insects out and about in the cold months outside.
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Re: Carlisle CCTV Ghost?
CCTV cameras, particularly low-level ones tend to have weather cases around them or plastic covers over the lense. It is very common to get insects living on these casings or sometimes inside (ie – between the lense and the whether case). A spider could quiet easily be active even this early on in the year; they’d be quiet happy and comfortable with the heat that the camera produces.
Re: Carlisle CCTV Ghost?
Eh, could be the differnence in temperature between what I think of at that time of year and what the local conditions are. Around here the camera would not have produced sufficent heat for insects to survive, since the metal of the box would have been -10F to -30F.
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Re: Carlisle CCTV Ghost?
That’s pretty cold local conditions there; I don’t envy you. I’m not sure whether Carlisle ever gets down to -23oC to -34oC (-10F to -30F), even this Winter (which was very cold for most of the UK) the north of Scotland probably dipped to a low of only -18oC (-1F).
Re: Carlisle CCTV Ghost?
I saw insects flying throughout this last cold winter. In the past I’ve even seen them flying over lying snow and frost! While they might lie low in the coldest conditions, it doesn’t take much to get them out if the temperature rises just a degree or two. If you keep a look out during winter you’ll be surprised how often they are about.
Re: Carlisle CCTV Ghost?
Oh, I’ve seen spiders litterally covered in hoarfrost trying to move. But this one seems quite active. We get arctic air blowing down out of Canada across Lake Erie, which gives it an extra snowladen kick. I rarly see insects at temps below -10 C.
And wouldn’t those temps be -42 to -62? I always thought you got the celcius by subtraciting 32 degress from the farenhite reading…
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Re: Carlisle CCTV Ghost?
Can we drop all references to Fahrenheit please – it’s confusing and not in common use in the UK any more?
Though it has been the coldest winter in 30 years in the UK that doesn’t mean it was freezing every day! It is highly unlikely that the temperature would have been below -10C as that is very rare in the UK, even in a cold winter, particularly in a city with its heat island effect.
I can’t find the temperature records for that day (23/2/10????) but it doesn’t look particularly cold. There is no obvious snow or ice. In addition, the camera itself, like all electronics, is probably generating some heat.
I would say that an insect or spider fits the available evidence easily. It resembles similar cases like the ‘blue ghost at the gas station’.
Re: Carlisle CCTV Ghost?
I do live in Carlisle and not too far from the shop in question. I do not remember the temperature that evening, however, during the cold freeze, heat island effect or not, it was hitting -13C and sometimes -14C when I was getting ready to go to work in the morning and I hit a few very cold fog banksof similar temperatures coming home in the evening. Those were an extreme couple of days though. Temps would often be between -3C and -8C though.
I cannot remember how mild February might have been. The snow was gone by then anyway so temps must have been higher:)
Its grim up north Mysteryshopper đŸ™‚
Re: Carlisle CCTV Ghost?
Sory, MS, we don’t use that newfangled Metric system here. Ironically, the Imperial system is still common in some former colonies… LOL
(note: intended as an amusing broad generalisation. Though I’m waiting for some genius to tell everyone we have to move to kelvin)
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