The truth behind the 'ghost' in the online ad for a 'haunted mirror'
A chorus of howls swirling about an apparent “friendly house ghost” hiding in the background of a mirror being sold online has seen the hoax busted.
Buyers on Trade Me - a New Zealand buying and selling auction website - questioned the legitimacy of the images, with more than a dozen questions asked to the seller.
The inquisitive netizens wanted to know more about what appeared to be a spectre of a woman dressed in the attire from a time in the past.
"Not sure what that is, sorry," the response read.
When thinking about it more, the seller answered another question and said "a bit scared to sleep at night now".
The auction soon had more than 4000 views and 57 people watching it, but many commenters saw through the spectre.
While the seller insisted none of the photos were digitally altered, many pointed out the image of the ghost looked eerily familiar to actress Claire Fraser from the TV series Outlander, set in 18th-century Scotland.
Wellington Photographic Supplies lab manager Wendy McCawe did some ghost hunting and confirmed the image was digitally altered, Stuff New Zealand reports.
While she had never seen TV show Outlander, after some quick hunting online she managed to track down a photo of the lead character Claire Fraser.
Two children have died after a car crashed into a school in Sydney's west
Pictured: Punters out in force as Melbourne Cup festivities get underway
"It just looked too clear, so I Googled 'Outlander'. I had downloaded the image and I was just looking around the edges to see where they might have been erased," she told the newspaper.
"It was a little obvious."
"The ghost looked very much from Claire Fraser from the TV show Outlander."
Ms McCawe said it would have been a simple photoshop job.
"They likely got the image off the internet, made it black and white, and then moved the opacity function around. It's actually quite a good idea."
Trade Me spokesman Logan Mudge said it was rare for members to use edited photos.
"We will remove listings if we think they are deliberately deceiving our members, because it breaches our terms," he said.
"We expect listings on Trade Me to accurately reflect the item being sold."
