A grandfather has spotted what he believes could be the spooky image of a ghostly archer drawing his bow in the background of a 26-year-old family snap.
David Lonsdale, 58, took the picture of his two daughters smiling in front of Rhuddlan Castle in Wales on a trip with Sarah and Fiona, then aged 10 and six, more than a quarter of a century ago.
But it was only when the retired fork lift driver was flicking through some old photos last week when he spotted a haunting figure stood inside an alcove of the castle looming in the background.
The grandfather-of-three believes the image shows a dark figure ‘peering’ round the 13th century castle walls, with black eyes and hands up as if drawing a bow in their direction.
Lonsdale, from Brighouse, West Yorkshire, said: “I was just going through some old photos and I took a picture of it on my phone to show my daughters as I thought it was a nice picture.
“However when I blew the picture up, I thought I noticed a figure that seemed to be peering out from behind the wall.
“I’ve been showing it to friends and family and they were all saying ‘oh my god!’ as they all saw it too.
“I remember going to the castle. We used to go over there quite a lot as my mum and dad lived right nearby. But there was nothing unusual about the day at all.
“I just wanted to get a picture of the girls with the river and castle both in the background. I took quite a few and on other ones you can see right through the gap to the grass on the other side but on this one the figure is in the way.
“There’s definitely something there. I can see the figure peering around the wall, stood side on. He has black eyes and his hands are in a position like he is drawing an arrow back.”
The castle, in Rhuddlan, Denbighshire, Wales, was built by Edward I in 1277 following his conquest of the country in the First Welsh War.
Lonsdale said: “I have no idea if it is a spirit or a ghost but it does look like he’s drawing a bow to me. I certainly found it a bit weird.
“I have never seen anything like that before. I’ve never really had much of an interest in ghosts or any of that sort of thing but I’ve always had an interest in history.
“You can imagine all sorts of things but I’m putting it out there for people to comment on and see what others think.
“I don’t disbelieve in the spirit world but I have never seen any proof of it either. I have never seen any pictures before that have convinced me that anything exists one way or another.
“You can get drawn into UFOs and so on but I’ve never given it a lot of thought. But I thought I would share this as it’s so unusual.
“I shared it on social media and people from all over the world have commented on it and many see the figure I am talking about.
“I probably took the picture on an old Kodak – I certainly didn’t have a digital camera back then. I probably had to get the film developed so I may even have the negative for it around somewhere but I have no idea where.
“Since I showed the girls, Fiona was a bit freaked out by it but Sarah was less convinced – she’s more sceptical of stuff like that. She saw the shape but is not sure what it is.
“But to me it does look like a figure and lots of people see it too.”