Description: On November 19, 1995, Wem Town Hall in Shropshire, England burned to
the ground. Many spectators gathered to watch the old building,
built in 1905, as it was being consumed by the flames. Tony
ORahilly, a local resident, was one of those onlookers and took
photos of the spectacle with a 200mm telephoto lens from across the
street. One of those photos shows what looks like a small, partially
transparent girl standing in the doorway. Nether ORahilly nor any of
the other onlookers or firefighters recalled seeing the girl there.
ORahilly submitted the photo to the Association for the Scientific
Study of Anomalous Phenomena which, in turn, presented it for
analysis to Dr. Vernon Harrison, a photographic expert and former
president of the Royal Photographic Society. Harrison carefully
examined both the print and the original negative, and concluded
that it was genuine. The negative is a straightforward piece of
black-and-white work and shows no sign of having been tampered with,
Harrison said. But who is the little girl? Wem, a quiet market town
in northern Shropshire, had been ravaged by fire in the past. In
1677, historical records note, a fire destroyed many of the towns
old timber houses. A young girl named Jane Churm, the legends say,
accidentally set fire to a thatched roof with a candle. Many
believed her ghost haunted the area and had been seen on a few other
occasions.
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