UK Photo Mystery Solved
A mysterious photograph coming out of the UK has been taken by a woman in North Yorkshire. Though the photograph has some baffled, others are quite confident it is a natural phenomena or hoax. Perhaps the strangest thing about it is, despite the fact that so many are convinced it is a hoax or a mistake no one can really agree on what the image depicts or how it was made. And still others say the photograph may have caught more than meets the eye.
The image is of the Yorkshire skyline close to dusk, but with a fairly large and mysterious object hovering above the buildings that seems to be semi transparent and with red glowing eyes. On either side of the creature large wings can be seen spanning out as though the creature is gliding in mid flight. Oddly enough, despite the wings off to the side there are also what appear to be arms folded across the chest of the creature just beneath them. And as the creature flies along two legs trail behind it. It certainly looks strange in the photograph as it is above the skyline and quite large in the photograph giving the illusion of something massive and out of focus emerging from the fog. But it’s this very blurriness that also suggests the creature is likely quite close to the camera. Is it a ghost in the distance; or something more explainable and far closer to the camera?
First, let’s take a look at the glowing eyes. The eyes look like large red glowing bug eyes, entirely too large for the head of an animal and most insects. But if these disproportionately large eyes are still visible, is this evidence of something paranormal? Studying the photograph and local wildlife, it’s possible these aren’t eyes at all but rather colored features on the face of something else that give the appearance of eyes because of their dual nature and the fact that they “pop out” because of their color.
Additionally, let’s take a look at the legs. The way they trail out behind the creature and the proportion they have to the wings suggests this mystery creature may actually be a bit more explainable than it looks on first viewing. In fact, as it flies this unidentified flying object can quickly be identified as a bird coming toward the camera, likely to land above on a rooftop or ledge. The “arms” folded across the chest may actually be a natural pattern on the bird’s chest.
In fact, after examining the creature’s physical characteristics it seems clear not only that it is a bird, but a specific bird from the family fringidillae known as the Zebra Finch. The Zebra Finch is commonly kept as a household pet, and because they reproduce in such large numbers they are sometimes set free in the wild, particularly in populated areas. As a result they can commonly be seen roaming places such as York without drawing much attention to themselves because of their small size. It’s conceivable this Finch was flying above the camera when the photo was taken without being noticed by the photographer then made a ghostly appearance later when its blurred image appeared on film.
Ghost? No. Moth Man? I wish. Unfortunately this case does not appear to have a paranormal end, and can almost certainly be solved by simply examining the features present in this animal and then applying good old fashioned research to take the case to its conclusion.
