Monday, March 1, 2010

Having Fun with The Sun



Life often does imitate art. That's the thought that came to mind when
Ghosts Don't Exist's very own Josh Davidson tipped us off to a story he'd caught last week on CNN, about a construction worker in England who'd apparently captured a ghost in a mobile photo he'd taken while demolishing an old school. Josh immediately recognized the "ghost" as one of the new images available in our iPhone app, Ghost Capture.



What makes this even more hilarious is the fact that Josh portrays a skeptic in the film—David Sherman, the author out to disprove and debunk ghost hunting as pure hokum.


We've subsequently done a little research, and while there's no trace of the story on CNN.com as of yet, it seems to have originated in the
Daily Mail and The Sun—two of the most popular news sites in the UK!

The reader comments are equally entertaining, as some of the theories are out there to say the least. Many cite the odd proportions of the ghost as basis for its being a fake; others insist that it's authentic for a number of reasons—including one who claims to be "mildly psychic" and senses "a connection to the boy". Allllrighty then.

After 170 responses to the Daily Mail article, the site finally disabled additional comments when an apt viewer alerted them to the truth: that this was obviously the result of the Ghost Capture iPhone app.



Another site,
ghosttheory.com, does a great job debunking the article, and giving credit where credit is due.

Recently, a similar prank made its way into SyFy.com's Ghost Hunters forum.

Of course, all of this is great publicity for Ghost Capture, which has enjoyed another spike in global popularity—especially in Great Britain. The free version is currently #5 of all free photography apps in the UK, while the .99c version has risen to #14. Here in the US, the free version has climbed back to the #9 spot. More importantly, all users of the app are exposed to
Ghosts Don't Exist—which was the whole point all along.

So keep your eyes peeled for any familiar "ghosts" that may spring up on the news these days, and let us know if you spot them, too!

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