Longer Than You Think

Like the last one I came across, this latest ghost photograph out of England appears to be a normal person. In fact, looking at the picture it's hard to tell that there's anything unusual about it - just a man dressed in what looks like a maroon shirt and a blue cap standing on a pier. The only thing that is strange about the picture is how it was taken by photography student Matthew Hales.

Mr Hales used a time lapse technique to take a picture every 30 seconds over a 15-minute period and did not leave the camera during this time.

'When I went through the pictures I was surprised to see the figure of a man standing on the pier - it was almost like he was looking straight at me,' said the 17-year-old, from Yale, near Bristol.

'The technique I was using captures everything which happens for 30 seconds, so he must have been stood there for at least that long to appear in the picture.

'However, when I checked the frames before and after there was no sign of him or of the figure walking to or away from the location where I saw him.'

Fishermen, who are allowed on the pier 24 hours a day, seven days a week, have also reported seeing a ghostly figure.

The story sounds a little odd, but unfortunately for those of us who are into the paranormal skeptics would have a field day with this one. Maybe Hales didn't leave his camera, but it was early in the morning and I know that I can zone out or be easily distracted at that time. And thirty seconds is actually longer than you think. It's more than enough time for someone to, say, emerge from the building in the photograph, take a good look at the stranger with the camera taking pictures, and then go back inside.

My guess is that a solid investigation will turn up the man in the picture, and that he'll be found quite alive.