We have already started to hear the whispers about Prove It! being a program that throws teams and their evidence under the bus. It just isn’t the case as you will hear. Prove It! takes evidence from teams and places it in the hands of other teams to evaluate.
First we interview the team that submitted evidence to us. We allow them to tell the story behind the evidence. You get an opportunity to meet the team and find out where you can find them on the net. We then interview another team that evaluated the evidence that was submitted. This team is told to assume that the evidence was collected exactly as their team would collect. They are told nothing else about the evidence. We allow them to look at the evidence and form an opinion based solely on the evidence provided.
The program is designed to educate people inside and outside the paranormal community how teams determine what they consider evidence and the processes they use to evaluate it. We are in no way suggesting the methods offered in this program are the correct or only way to do these processes, but that we can offer possible alternatives to the processes your team uses.
With the formalities out of the way let’s get into the first episode. Michael Newcome from Florida Ghost Chasers was kind enough to submit two photos from separate investigations. Below we have pasted cropped images to this post. You can view the actual photo submitted to us along with the report at the bottom of this post.
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The Abbott Apparition 10-31-2009
This image was taken by the 7 year old son of the team founder with a Kodak camera and no flash. They are pointing what appears to be an apparition in the center right of the photo
The Nun Photo – Date unknown
This photo was captured by by a team member on a training investigation at a local cemetery. As you will hear the story of how the Nun has come to haunt the cemetery is a good one.
After speaking to Florida Ghost Chasers, it was off to Arizona to speak to the founder of Dirty South Ghost Hunters Meggy Hines and her Tech Guru Shawn Bechtel. We gave them the images from Florida Ghost Chasers and told them to assume that they were taken using their teams exact methods and to analyze them as they would prior to submitting them to a property owner as evidence. Below is the their findings.
Abbot apparition photo:
EXIF information
| Camera Make {0x010F} | EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY |
| Camera Model {0×0110} | KODAK EASYSHARE Z8612 IS Digital Camera |
| Picture Orientation {0×0112} | normal (1) |
| Last Modified Date/Time {0×0132} | 2009:10:31 12:51:25 |
EXIF Sub IFD
| Exposure Time (1 / Shutter Speed) {0x829A} | 1/2 second ===> 0.5 second |
| Lens F-Number / F-Stop {0x829D} | 28/10 ===> ƒ/2.8 |
| ISO Speed Ratings {0×8827} | 1600 |
| Original Date/Time {0×9003} | 2009:10:31 12:51:25 |
| Shutter Speed Value (APEX) {0×9201} | 1/1 |
| Shutter Speed (Exposure Time) | 1/2 second |
| Aperture Value (APEX) {0×9202} | 3/1 |
| Aperture | ƒ/2.83 |
| Flash {0×9209} | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode |
| Focal Length {0x920A} | 585/100 mm ===> 5.85 mm |
| Image Width {0xA002} | 3264 pixels |
| Image Height {0xA003} | 2448 pixels |
Comments: The ‘Last Modified Date/Time and the Original Date/Time values match so it appears the photo has not been modified. However, there are other issues revealed by the EXIF information that work against this photograph validating anything paranormal.
High ISO Speed Rating: 1600 – at this high a setting the light signal to noise ratio will create some noise in very low light settings (as in the photo examined). This could contribute to some of the ‘misting’ seen.
.5 sec exposure time – This is a good setting for low light photography, but a tripod is needed or blurring can occur.
Conclusion: It is doubtful the picture was taken with a tripod (but not known). The fact that there is a faint light source in the upper left hand corner of the photo may have created additional light noise in the photo as well. While it appears that the photo is genuine, the low light camera settings appear to have created a situation perfect for creating enough grainy blur and noise in the photo that would allow a viewer to experience matrixing to do see an image of a man in a robe, or a Ewok. Based on the given data the odds that the photo provided is paranormal are very low.
The Nun Photo:
EXIF information
None – EXIF tag removed, evidence of photo tampering
Upon opening the photo it was mentioned that a sRGB IEC61966-2-1 black scaled color profile was embedded in the photo. This is another tell-tale sign the photo has been modified in PhotoShop or another graphics image editing software package of some sort.
Surface plot analysis
Since the EXIF tags were missing, a closer examination of the nun image was examined. The following section was sampled and a surface plot was created to check for pixel height inconsistencies that would be present in if the nun had been pasted in as a layer using an image editor.
To interpret the results, understand that lighter colors appear more elevated than darker. While there are inconsistencies (such as the right hand tree plot is darker, yet appears more elevated than the left. However there are enough lighter sections in the bark to possibly explain this anomaly), for the most part the light patterns appear to be consistent enough. It should be mentioned that the image being analyzed is very small in reality so it is impossible to know for certain that it is not a merged layer, but after looking at several variations of the plot, it was the opinion of the analysis that it is probably not a merged layer.
Conclusion:
While the photo seems to pass the tamper test, closer examination of the image shows that it is most likely an illusion. If you look higher up the tree you will see the same discoloration band that matches the ‘nuns’ habit throughout. When you zoom in to the face and compare the color contrast and texture to the non-discolored trunk, they are virtually identical. (See photo cutout below of tree color band). Based on the examination the probability that the photo is paranormal is very low.
Prove It! would like to thank Florida Ghost Chasers and Dirty South Ghost Hunters for their effort in provide this valuable information to help the public and other teams in advancing the paranormal community. If you would like to place your evidence in our proving grounds please feel free to send them with a bio and investigation background to proveitpodcast@gmail.com.
Episode 1 video of podcast from the Prove It! Podcast Youtube Channel.