A Star For Christmas Dinner? Harry's Bar and Grill Ghost Debunked.

The Mirror and several other tabloids report today;

"Two teenagers claim to have taken a picture of a ghost while they were out for a Christmas dinner. Sophie Killip and Kayleigh Lomas, both 19, took a picture of the long tables and decorations decked out ready for a Christmas party.... But when they examined the snap an hour later they noticed a ghostly dark-haired child sitting at the end of the table. The girl, who appeared to have cuts on her head, wore old fashioned clothes and seemed to be staring straight at the camera from sunken eyes."

Let's take a look at the image in question.

Turns out the above image reproduced in the Mirror is quite heavily cropped, this may be to focus more on the "ghost-child" but what this alteration actually does is hide the true nature of the image. I first thought this was pareidolia, but I now believe it is a face.

Take a look at this uncropped version of the picture from Unsolved.com

It's clear to see that the image occurs at the base of a mirrored column with "Merry Christmas" wrote on them. Let's look at the decor of Harry's Bar and Grill, Newcastle, where the image was taken.

It's clear to see the bottom of the posts are adorned with the images of various legendary music stars and other performers. It would be odd if the only post in the building not adorned with a musician is the one by the table the girls pictured, wouldn't it?

I can't identify which singer or musician this maybe but his features are fairly clear. If anyone can more clearly identify who this is let me know in the comments.

What is pretty clear is this isn't a ghost, little girl or not.

Someone else isn't convinced either. The management of Harry's who posted this on Twitter and Facebook earlier.

I suspect they already know full well who this image is of. I suspect that this isn't a deliberate hoax by Sophie and Kayleigh, they probably didn't remember the decor all that well, and I suspect  they were more than a little freaked out by this. At least, they made a couple of quid for Christmas from some lazy journalists.

UPDATE: The AWESOME Sally Grant found the exact image in the bar. Well done Sally, you've nailed this one.  See it circled below?

You can see what I thought was a microphone is actually a trumpet or trombone.

This case is closed. 

A Big Tall Glass of Common Sense.

The British tabloid press are at it again. Virtually every tabloid paper in the UK has reported on this piece of footage from Honduras breakfast TV show First Edition over the last 24 hours.

Take a look.

So is this "chilling" or paranormal in any sense?

No. Not in my opinion. What we are seeing here is the natural outcome of a glass resting on a glass table with a speck of moisture , or even moist air trapped underneath it. The coefficient of static friction being very small between two glass surfaces even without the presence of water or moist air.

Arnold Anderson, retired professor of frictional forces explains the effect:

"When a wet glass is placed on a smooth surface, a ring of water first
makes a seal around the bottom edge of the glass. Then, as the glass
continues toward the countertop, air that is under the glass bottom is
compressed. Under ideal conditions, this small volume of pressurized air
is able to support the weight of the glass. The water around the bottom
edge of the glass functions as a seal to prevent the air from escaping.
For a short time, the glass is floating on the surface water, and moves
with almost no friction. A different, but related behavior is possible
with a container that has a very smooth, flat bottom. Here, the water can
not escape quickly, and temporarily supports the glass on a squeeze film
of water alone. This is much like an ice skate, which melts the ice under the blade, so
the skater glides freely on a thin film of water. The first case is like
a hovercraft, where a large fan pressurizes the air under the craft so it
can move freely over water or even smooth land. Technically, the glass uses what is called a 'squeeze film' bearing to temporarily support the glass. Hovercraft are supported by 'externally pressurized' bearings. Ice skates employ 'self-lubricating' bearings. These are all ways to reduce friction, using lubrication."

 So what sets the glass moving? Could be one of two things, or a combination of the two, heat from the studio lights causing the fluid to expand, or the presenter disturbing the air around the glass and setting it in motion. Notice that the glass begins to move as the Presenter moves his hand past it, the initial movement is very slow and the glass speeds up as it moves towards the middle of the table. It finally stops when the moisture is exhausted. It would take very little force to get the glass moving as the static coefficient, the resistance against sliding, is so small.

Examination of the surface doesn't immediately reveal the presence of liquid.  But all that is needed here is moist air, or condensation on the outside of the glass.

More tabloid stupidity then. As mentioned in a previous post, I'm not linking to any of the stories, click-bait shouldn't be encouraged.