Wem Town Hall

An account of the Wem Town Hall picture is now on the main site under Shropshire.

http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/england/shropshire/shropshire7.html

This account misses out the bit where a fire brigade video was obtained by ASSAP. This showed the scene from different angles. There was a burning piece of wood leaning on the rail where the 'figure' appears. It is a simulacrum.

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This account misses out the bit where a fire brigade video was obtained by ASSAP. This showed the scene from different angles. There was a burning piece of wood leaning on the rail where the 'figure' appears. It is a simulacrum.

I had no idea about this and found no mention of it when looking for accounts relating to the photograph . Looks like we need to edit the article a bit. Thanks Mysteryshopper and welcome to the forum

mysteryshopper wrote:

This account misses out the bit where a fire brigade video was obtained by ASSAP. This showed the scene from different angles. There was a burning piece of wood leaning on the rail where the 'figure' appears. It is a simulacrum.

Would there be any chance of us seeing this footage ? The only reason i ask is this photo is refered to quite a lot in another thread and as you mentioned its a plank of burning wood leaning on the rail. What i cant get my head around is how a plank of wood exited through the door and came to rest on the railing, which i assume is metal without sliding off. Still a damned good photo, even if its a plank of wood.

Lee.

I'd be interested in seeing the footage too.

I don't have the video, unfortunately. I've asked around but no one I know seems to have a copy.

I have spoken to someone else who saw the video and they remember seeing the burning plank too. However, it can't be taken as definitive evidence given the way that memories alter over time.

Interestingly, Vernon Harrison, former photographic expert of ASSAP, suggested a burning plank when first examining the photo, having never seen the video. He is often quoted as saying the photo is 'genuine' when it is reproduced on websites. What they usually fail to mention is his opinion that it is a burning plank! I wonder why ....?

Regarding how it could have got through the door. I suppose if it was burning then it may have split to a smaller size. The 'face' might represent the bit where the plank burnt in two, still glowing.

To me, once you think of it as a burning plank everything fits into place and the 'girl' vanishes!

I dont mean to be rude Mystershopper, but how could an organisation like assap not still have the footage ? Surley it must be in their archive.

Everytime i look at the picture i cant seem to see a plank of wood lying on the rail, I'm not saying your wrong though. The face does seem to be in the wrong place to be on the body.

But at the end of the day you are asking us to accept what you are saying without giving us the evidence.

Lee.

LeeWat wrote:

Surley it must be in their archive.

I honestly don't know. It was a long time ago and things go missing I guess. I thought the whole thing was sorted out years ago and was a bit surprised to notice recently that the photo was still being touted as paranormal.

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Everytime i look at the picture i cant seem to see a plank of wood lying on the rail, I'm not saying your wrong though. The face does seem to be in the wrong place to be on the body.

It's like an optical illusion. Once you see it one way, you can't see it any other way even if you want to.

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But at the end of the day you are asking us to accept what you are saying without giving us the evidence.

That's fine. I don't expect anyone to accept what I say. The main reason why the illusion works is the 'face'. If you cover the 'eyes', 'nose' and 'mouth' of the 'face' on your screen, suddenly it becomes easy to see a plank leaning on the bannister. Try it!

It would be good, in future, if such important films are lodged with a national archive. Not sure if there is such a thing in England, but I know we have one up here.

Thanks for the reply Mystery, I looked at the photo again and covered the so called face up with my mouse pointer. Then i devised a little experiment utilising two cigarette paper packs, i tried it with a rule and a pen first but a pen doesnt replicate a plank very well. I positioned the first pack in an aproximate angle to the rail, then lay on top of that the second pack at the aprox angle the pic shows for the head/plank.

Conclusion to home made experiment, if you get the angles right with the rail and the top of the head/plank the bottom of the pack is firmly positioned on the ground, replicating a plank of wood on a rail.

Hope this makes sense.

However... even with the intense light that a blaze of this size throws out, we should still be able to see the underside of the plank as its outside the building.
My reasoning for this is we can see the outside of the door, frame, raillings etc.

Lee.

Nice experiment! I reproduce anomalous photos all the time. They are often a lot easier to reproduce than you might think. The problem is that so many people just assume it is 'impossible' without even trying! It is an unfortunate habit of thought that is prevalent in paranormal research.

LeeWat wrote:

However... even with the intense light that a blaze of this size throws out, we should still be able to see the underside of the plank as its outside the building. My reasoning for this is we can see the outside of the door, frame, raillings etc.

I'm not quite sure what you're saying here. I have always contended that the 'body' of the 'figure' is indeed (the underside of) the plank. It doesn't show up as well as the 'head' because, being further back, there is more light on it from the side, as well as from behind. However, it looks the same width as the 'head' which would be ridiculous if it were really a body.

mysteryshopper wrote

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The 'face' might represent the bit where the plank burnt in two, still glowing.

To me, once you think of it as a burning plank everything fits into place and the 'girl' vanishes!

The human mind is very good at creating faces from shapes even when there isn't a face present. I think a good example of this is the "Mars Face"