Real or Rendered: Can You Tell?

VanishedVoyage

Real or Rendered: Can You Tell?     #ImageAnalysis #DigitalForensics #VisualTruth #RealOrFake #PhotoInvestigation #MediaLiteracy #TruthInPixels

Transcript

00:00Solway Firth Spaceman

00:01On May 23rd, 1964, a British fireman named Jim Templeton took his wife Annie and his

00:08two kids Elizabeth and Frances to Burg Marsh, an area of grassland overlooking a famous

00:14estuary located off the southwest coast of Scotland.

00:17According to Jim, the only two other people in the marsh that day besides him and his

00:21family were two older women sitting in their car at the far end of the grassland.

00:25As an amateur photographer, Jim loved taking pictures of his kids, and so he took his

00:29camera on the day trip and photographed his five-year-old daughter Elizabeth wearing her

00:33brand new dress.

00:35The family spent the entire day enjoying the sunshine and taking family photographs, after

00:40which Jim took the pictures to be developed.

00:43But when he went to pick them up a week later, he noticed something had appeared on one of

00:47the pictures.

00:48Although most of the photographs seemed completely normal and featured his daughter enjoying

00:52the sunshine in her flowery dress, the chemist who developed the role mentioned to Jim that

00:56one of the pictures had unfortunately been ruined by a strange figure standing behind

01:01his daughter.

01:02When Jim himself analyzed the photo in question, he was sort of disturbed.

01:07Standing right behind his daughter in the grassland was the figure of what appeared to be a man

01:11in a space suit.

01:13This was pretty shocking to Jim, as he was 100% sure that there had been nobody else with him

01:18and his family at the marsh that day.

01:20Suspecting that maybe the chemist had somehow altered the photograph, he sent it to Konak

01:25for analysis, but a few days later they got back to him with confirmation that the photograph

01:29was genuine and hadn't been altered in any way.

01:32For some reason, Jim's first reaction was to go to the police, but understandably they

01:37weren't interested in the case and immediately dismissed him.

01:40Determined to get the story out there, Jim then went to the owners of the local newspaper,

01:44who were a lot more interested in the story than the cops.

01:46The next day, the photograph of Jim's daughter was in every newspaper in Cumbria.

01:52The mysterious, unexplained image started gaining traction, and a few days later the photograph

01:57of the little girl was now being featured in pretty much every newspaper in the world,

02:01with millions of people wondering where the spaceman had come from.

02:04As the photograph received more and more international attention, Konak seized the opportunity

02:09for free publicity by launching a prize for anyone who could prove the photograph had been

02:13faked, but nobody could.

02:14While the photograph was being published by dozens of newspapers all over the world, a

02:19similar incident in Australia made the story explode even more.

02:23Just days after Jim took the now infamous photograph, a Blue Streak missile launch at the Woomera

02:28Test Range in South Australia was aborted after the missile technicians got spooked at the sight

02:33of two large men standing in the firing range.

02:36In a BBC interview, Jim alleged that when the technicians saw his daughter's photograph in

02:40an Australian newspaper, they claimed the figures they had seen on the firing range were identical

02:45to the spaceman in the photograph.

02:47Although this was never officially confirmed, Jim's allegations brought even more attention

02:51to the story when it was revealed that the Blue Streak missile whose launch had been

02:54aborted in South Australia had been built at a base very close to Solway Firth.

02:59As the story blew up, Jim mentioned that a few days after the photograph was published, two

03:04men in suits claiming to be UK government agents arrived at his door.

03:08According to Jim, the men refused to show him their ID, claiming that they were only identified

03:13as number 9 and number 11 by the government.

03:16Although he didn't buy this story, the men were extremely insistent that Jim take them

03:20to the exact spot where the photograph was taken.

03:23When they arrived, Jim mentioned to the two mysterious men in suits that when he took the

03:27photograph he had not seen the spaceman in the marsh.

03:30Allegedly, as soon as he said that, the two men got back in their car and drove away abruptly,

03:35leaving him to walk home alone.

03:37In a later interview, Jim dismissed the men as frauds, who were probably just pulling his

03:40leg and were probably not involved with the government.

03:44As you can imagine, while all of this is happening, people started speculating and coming up with all

03:48kinds of theories to explain the appearance of the mysterious spaceman in Jim's picture.

03:54After all, this did happen in 1964, at the very peak of the space race, and a lot of

03:59people were incredibly suggestible to the idea of life on other planets.

04:03For almost 50 years, people came up with all kinds of theories to explain the spaceman in

04:08the photograph, most of them relating to extraterrestrial life or a possible staging.

04:14But it wasn't until 48 years later in 2012 that a solid theory by a credible source finally

04:19came to light.

04:21According to Dr. David Clark, a social sciences professor at Sheffield Hallam University,

04:26the mysterious spaceman was really just Jim's wife, Annie Templeton, who had probably walked

04:30into the photograph without Jim noticing and turned her back to Jim at the exact moment

04:34he took the picture.

04:36If you look at some of the other photographs Jim took that day, you can see Annie was wearing

04:40a blue dress and had her arms exposed, which explains how she could end up looking like

04:44a spaceman if the photograph was overexposed.

04:48Because Jim's intention was to photograph his daughter and not his wife, it's very possible

04:52that Annie was out of focus in the picture, which made her dress and body look very white

04:56after the role was developed, almost like she was wearing a space suit.

05:00As for the dome-like helmet on her head, this was probably just a cloud or the moon, which

05:05is often visible during the daytime when it's in its waxing gibbous phase, which it was

05:09on that day.

05:11Although this is the most logical explanation, if you look up explanations for the Solway

05:15Firth Spaceman photo today, you'll still find literally thousands of blogs and videos with

05:20all kinds of outlandish theories about the image, with some of them even being pretty new.

05:25Considering all the information available today, it's very safe to say this image has

05:29been debunked.

05:31It doesn't show some mystery spaceman the family just hadn't noticed in person or some

05:35other kind of extraterrestrial life.

05:38However, the Solway Firth Spaceman photo will always be a classic in the bizarre images genre.

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07:18Charlie No Face

07:20Raymond Robinson was born in 1910 in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and lived pretty much

07:25as every normal kid did at the time.

07:28He went to school, spent time with his family, played with his friends, and did chores around

07:32the house.

07:34But a few years later, a tragic incident changed his life forever.

07:38One day in June 1919, when Raymond was 9 years old, he spent the morning with his friends

07:43at a local swimming hole.

07:45On their way home, they crossed the Pittsburgh, Harmony, Butler, and New Castle Railway Bridge,

07:50where they spotted a bird's nest sitting on top of a pole.

07:54After daring each other to climb on top of the pole and count the birds inside the nest,

07:57Raymond stepped forward to take the dare and began climbing the pole.

08:01This is where things get a little dark.

08:04Unfortunately, the pole was connected to a live wire with over 25,000 volts of electricity.

08:10At some point during the climb, Raymond accidentally touched the coil, and you can probably guess

08:15what happened next.

08:16A couple of hours later, he woke up in the hospital, where the doctors were shocked he'd

08:20even survived the incident.

08:22Sadly, Raymond's eyes were literally burned out, and the rest of his face, arms, and hands

08:28were also badly burned, leaving him looking, unfortunately, less human.

08:34After an incident like that, a lot of people would completely give up on life, but not Raymond.

08:39As soon as he was discharged from the hospital, he learned braille, and started weaving doormats,

08:44wallets, and belts as a way to make some extra cash.

08:47In his nephew's own words,

08:49He never discussed his injuries or problems at all.

08:52It was all just a reality, and there was nothing he could do about it, so he never spoke about

08:56it.

08:57He never complained about anything.

09:00All throughout the rest of his childhood, and well into his adult years, Raymond loved listening

09:04to the radio during the day, and going on long walks along Route 351 at night, sometimes

09:09for hours at a time.

09:11When rumors started spreading in Beaver County about a man without a face walking the streets

09:15of Pennsylvania in the dead of night, the locals did everything they could to catch a

09:19glimpse of him.

09:21Even though he mostly avoided contact with strangers out of fear of scaring people, they

09:25always ended up finding him.

09:27Although most of the locals were just curious to meet him and make friends with him, others

09:31abused him pretty brutally for no reason, sometimes offering him rides and dropping him off far

09:36away from home, hitting him with their cars and even physically beating him.

09:41But even with all the abuse, Raymond refused to let it get to him and continued going on

09:45his walks for several decades.

09:47Even though Raymond was obviously a real person, and a pretty nice guy according to everyone

09:51who met him, an urban legend quickly grew around him while he was still alive, which earned him

09:56the nicknames Charlie No-Face and Green Man.

10:00According to the legend, Charlie No-Face was a sort of ghoul or boogeyman who walked the streets

10:04of Pennsylvania at night looking to terrorize anyone who crossed paths with him.

10:09Though a lot of people didn't believe it and chalked it up to another urban legend that

10:12didn't carry any truth whatsoever.

10:15However, some people who found him walking the streets took images of him, which took the urban

10:19legend to a whole new level.

10:21But still, a lot of people thought the images were fake, when in reality they were 100% real,

10:26only the legend behind them wasn't.

10:29Even though the real Raymond Robinson died in 1985, people have continued to carry the

10:33legend to this day, spreading rumors about alleged sightings of a terrifying monster with

10:37no face haunting the streets of Beaver County.

10:41As you can imagine, the locals have put their own twist on the story through the decades,

10:44with some people claiming Charlie No-Face intentionally ripped off his own face just to scare

10:49people at night, and others alleging he fell into a vat of acid.

10:53Although the myth of Charlie No-Face checks pretty much all the boxes of a traditional

10:57urban legend, this is one of those rare cases where it actually carries some truth.

11:03You could really find Raymond walking the streets at night looking like he did in the images taken

11:07of him, only he wasn't looking to scare or harm anybody, but rather simply go on a walk.

11:13Despite all the crazy rumors and the obviously fake stories people made up about him, Raymond

11:18Robinson's story is a strong reminder to live life to the fullest, no matter your circumstances.

11:23The Amityville Ghost Boy

11:28In December 1975, George and Kathy Lutz moved into their new home at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville,

11:35New York.

11:37Just 40 miles from New York City, the five-bedroom Dutch colonial house was George and Kathy's

11:42home, especially since they only had to pay $80,000 for it.

11:46If the price seems too good to be true, that's because it was, and George and Kathy were well

11:50aware that the house had been vacant for a year after the last family who lived at 112 Ocean

11:55Avenue had been violently murdered.

11:58In November 1974, just over a year before the Lutzes moved in, 23-year-old Ronald DeFeo

12:03Jr. brutally murdered his family in their sleep, triggering a long, dark, and confusing court

12:09case that concluded with more questions than answers.

12:13Despite the home's history, the Lutzes were thrilled to be moving in.

12:17But their joy was short-lived.

12:18For less than a month later, they abruptly left the home with all their belongings inside

12:22and never returned, claiming that the house was haunted by evil spirits.

12:27When asked about what happened at the house, George mentioned that ever since they moved in,

12:31they had been consumed by intense mood swings and dark, emotional episodes where he would

12:36start to feel an intense sense of hatred towards his family.

12:40The family also alleged that they had seen a mysterious green slime oozing down from some

12:44of the walls at random times throughout the day, and had even been waking up almost every

12:48night at exactly 3.15am, the same time the previous family had been murdered before they

12:53moved in.

12:55In one particularly disturbing incident, George claimed that one night when he was standing

12:59on the front lawn, he saw a half-man, half-pig creature with red eyes staring down at him

13:04from one of the upstairs windows.

13:07According to the priest who had blessed the house after the Lutzes moved in, on the day

13:10of the blessing, he had allegedly heard a male voice shouting at him to get out of the house,

13:15and in the days following his visit to the Lutzes' home, he claimed to have fallen ill

13:18with blood seeping out of his hands.

13:21After leaving the home, the Lutzes wrote a book about their experience which went on to

13:25inspire countless horror movies, including the original 1979 The Amityville Horror, the

13:302005 remake of the same movie featuring Ryan Reynolds, and The Conjuring 2, which revolved

13:34around Ed and Lorraine Warren's investigation of the allegedly haunted house at 112 Ocean

13:39Avenue.

13:41In 1952, Ed and Lorraine Warren founded the New England Society for Psychic Research.

13:46For 50 years, the couple ran a well-known paranormal investigations operation, with several of the cases

13:52they investigated serving as the inspiration for movies such as Annabelle and The Haunting

13:56in Connecticut.

13:58Five months after the Lutzes family left the house on Ocean Avenue, the Warrens conducted

14:02an investigation of the house, during which they alleged that all kinds of creepy things

14:06happened to them, none of which were caught on camera.

14:10Though during the investigation, Ed and Lorraine captured a photo of what appears to be a child

14:14with creepy, glowing eyes poking his head out of the basement door, which you've very likely

14:19seen before, as it's gone on to become one of recent history's most infamously creepy

14:23photos since it was captured back in 1976.

14:27Although the Warrens and their fans promoted the theory that the boy in the image was the

14:30spirit of John DeFeo, who was around the same age as the boy in the creepy picture at the

14:35time his brother murdered him, the reality is a lot less dark and exciting.

14:40During their investigation, the Warrens were assisted by Paul Bartz, another investigator.

14:45And if you look at some of the pictures of Bartz from that night, you'll notice he was wearing

14:48a plaid shirt, very similar to the one worn by the supposed ghost boy.

14:53As it was later discovered, despite the Warrens' claims, the boy in the picture was not actually

14:57a boy at all, but Paul Bartz kneeling on the floor and taking some measurements.

15:02The creepy glare of his eyes was caused by the reflection of his glasses, and not by some

15:07strange demonic force as the Warrens claimed in later interviews.

15:11As of 2024, much if not all of the alleged haunting that took place at the house on Ocean

15:17Avenue in 1975 has been debunked.

15:20In fact, in the public view, many people remember Ed and Lorraine Warren as charlatans and scammers

15:25who did some pretty messed up stuff at the height of their power.

15:29That along with the photo being proved as a setup is almost conclusive evidence that nothing

15:34was really going on here, and everything claimed to have happened was a straight up lie.

15:39Since the Lutz is left in early 1976, the house has been sold four times, and not a single

15:45one of the new buyers has complained about any kind of paranormal activity at 112 Ocean

15:50Avenue.

15:54Cooper Family Falling Body

15:56This image of a happy family sitting around a dinner table while a dark, creepy shadow in

16:01what appears to be some sort of dress hanging upside down over the centerpiece has been reposted

16:06all over the internet for the past decade, often as part of collections like Top 10 Unexplained

16:11disturbing photos.

16:13The alleged backstory of this strange image in question goes that, at some point in the

16:181950s, the Cooper family bought an old house in Texas and moved into it.

16:23On their first night there, Mr. Cooper took a photo of his wife and mother posing with

16:26his two kids at the dining room table, with everyone smiling and an apparently good spirits.

16:32A few days later, after picking up the photograph from the chemist who developed it, they were

16:36shocked to see what appeared to be the shadow of a body hanging from the ceiling and over

16:40the dining room table.

16:42According to the family, the strange figure had not been present at the time the picture

16:45was taken, otherwise they definitely would have noticed it.

16:49As the story goes, they were never able to find out who or what had invaded their beautiful

16:53family portrait.

16:55Some sources claim that one of the chemists developing the film threw a negative from a separate photo

16:59of the famous ballerina Margot Fontaine over the original and played with the exposure

17:04to get a creepy effect and play a prank on the family.

17:07At least, that's the story you'll find in the videos that feature the infamous photo.

17:12However, through my research, I was able to find that the entire story is completely fake.

17:18Pretty much from start to finish, the story of the Cooper family is completely made up,

17:22and it's very likely that the image itself was digitally altered in Photoshop or some

17:26other editing software.

17:28From what I found, the first time the photograph was posted online was back in 2009 when a user

17:33named Sam Cohen uploaded it under the title Family Gathering to a site called Ligotti.net,

17:38a fan website for the famous horror writer Thomas Ligotti.

17:42Interestingly, Sam Cohen categorized the photograph as art, which suggests the picture was digitally

17:47fabricated as part of some sort of art project.

17:51Other details in the image itself seem to back this up, including the symmetrical dark spots

17:55in the corners of the image, which were probably edited using Photoshop to make the photograph

17:59look authentic.

18:00It's possible that the photograph of the family was taken back in the 50s, and that someone

18:05digitally superimposed a shadow on the image several decades later as part of an art project,

18:10but there's also a possibility that the photograph of the family is fake as well.

18:14It's unknown if Sam Cohen was the original creator of the image, but a few months later,

18:18user Xavier Ortega posted it to the site Ghost Theory as a part of a gallery he titled Retro Creeps,

18:24Scary Portraits from the Past.

18:27After his post, some people reached out to Xavier to ask him if he was the original creator

18:31of the image, but he claimed he didn't know anything about its origin.

18:35Over the next couple of years, the image started gaining traction online and was reposted

18:38in every online forum you could imagine.

18:41By 2013, Family Gathering had become one of the most infamous, unexplained creepy photos

18:47on the internet, which led people to start coming up with stories to give context to

18:50the disturbing image.

18:52After it was featured on dozens of YouTube videos, most people assumed the story behind

18:56it was real, but all the evidence suggests that the image was digitally altered using Photoshop,

19:01and people just wrote a credible story to go along with it.

19:05Still, for all the information we have that points to the fact that the image is

19:08totally fake, it's likely that Family Gathering will continue to be a big hit in the online

19:13horror community for many years to come.

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