Last week I posted a news report about a Romanian security guard who claimed she took a photograph of a ghost in the building she was watching over. The cell phone photo and the detailed account of what transpired painted a story of someone genuinely intrigued and sure that whatever she had witnessed was nothing from this world.

Manuela Chirosca had this to say:

“It was about 7 AM when I was doing the morning tour of the house. I had a strong feeling that I am not alone,” she told Jurnalul National.

“I was going for the window of a room which was probably a bedroom or something like that. I approached the window and then I saw a tall feminine shape that seemed wreathed in a white veil. My first reaction was to get back and run away as fast as I can!”

It is exactly what she did. Wouldn’t you? But then she took a deep breath, calmed down and went back in the room. “Fear made me feel sick, but then I thought there’s nothing that could possibly happen to me and I could not miss the chance to take pictures,” Chirsoca told the Romanian newspaper. She took up her mobile phone and photographed the blurry shape. “I had to take several pictures because the shape was moving from one place to another.”

I thought that her explanation to her reaction sounded genuine and that the picture deserved further investigating so I emailed the journalist who first printed the story. I asked him if he had the original photograph or Manuela’s contact information. A week later he replied to me with her information and letting me know that he had forwarded her my contact as well. I sent an email to Manuela right away asking for more details on the events and a copy of the original photo for an analysis.

To my surprise things did not turn out the way I thought they would. On the reply to my initial email, Manuela’s motive became clear.

She had asked for money in exchange for the photograph. She explained that she was a paranormal investigator and needed money for equipment.

“ …is to show to the whole world thet [sic] there is a beyond world and i don’t have enough money and i can’t compare myself to someone like you and i don’t even have the posibility[sic] to buy myself performance equipment with special sensors to prove this.”

I don’t know what she meant by “can’t compare myself to someone like you”, but I’m not exactly making bank with GhostTheory. Manuela also told me that she had plenty more pictures of “spirits” for sale and that she is starting an online psychic business. I replied and told her that I’ve seen many hoaxes throughout the years, and that almost all of the images that I’ve seen can be proven to be a hoax, therefore I would not pay for any “proof” of a ghost on a photograph; but if she wanted to share this with the world she could send it to me and I would analyze it. You know…since she is an investigator I figured that sharing what she “found” would be a top priority.

No response as of yet.

Ever since I’ve started this website I have become more and more disillusioned with almost all the claims of paranormal proof that is floating out there. It’s come to a point where my mind is already made up and I automatically dismiss any evidence as fake. This is not a good approach when you have a non-biased website. I always tend to keep a non-biased opinion when I post so that you, the reader, can make up your own mind about paranormal claims. I’m telling you, it’s getting more and more difficult.