Picture Analysis, Marinette 2015DEC07

I received an email this afternoon, along with an attached image.  The email is as follows; the only edit is the removal of the person's name.

Quote :

this morning, a co-worker of mine that is staying in the same hotel with me here in Marinette, WI sent me this photo.
We are staying at the Country Inn and Suites located at 2020 Old Peshtigo Rd. Have you heard of any activity to occur there?
I've attached the photo for you to look at. Please let me know at your convenience. I would greatly appreciate it. Have a great day

Sincerely,

This is the original image:




Now, upon seeing this, my initial reaction was that this was taken with one of those ghost prank apps.  I went through the analysis anyway, using only what my work computer has installed: Paint and Picture Manager.  These probably aren't the greatest programs to use when examining an image, but I was only able to use what I had available.  My reply, and the supporting images, are below.

Quote :

Good afternoon, and thank you for sending this to me!  I have only been able to analyze the photograph with a basic imaging program as I am currently at work; as such, the best I could do at this moment is adjust the coloring and saturation.  I will run this through some better programs when I get home, which should bring out a greater amount of detail.

In the meantime, and based solely on a brief examination of the image you provided, I would have to say that your co-worker might be trying to pull one over you.  The reason I say this is that is as follows:

1.  Taking into consideration that the paper taped onto the window is of standard size, this would place the height of the head at roughly 6.2 inches.  This in itself is of no concern, especially if one can determine if the image is of an entity outside the window, or of a greater distance away.  However, judging by the image, it would appear as if this was taken from the second floor, which would mean that the entity would have to be well behind the person taken the image; as the shooter cannot be seen in any of the reflections, this would then again place the entity outside.  {image labeled "size"}  *The only thing done to alter this image was snipping the head of the entity, placing it on the sheet of paper, and adding a grid for measurement purposes.

2.  The style of the image is reminiscent of old military officer or cadet pictures.  I haven't been able to place what branch of service (or country of origin, for that matter), the things I have found so far would date this somewhere between the late 1800s or early turn of the century; the Soviet cadet uniform is strikingly close, which then dates the image around the 1940s, but again, it's hard to determine without knowing more (which I might be able to pull from home).  A closer examination of the image shows that the picture was oval in shape, as you can make out a white curved line going from the bottom of the uniform and up to the left; there is some blurring of the trees in the background, but when zoomed, there is a definite cutoff point.  {image labeled "cadet"}  *The only thing done to alter this image was adjust the color saturation.

3.  There also appears to be an overlay on the face itself.  On one hand, there seems to be some sort of damage or sign of age on the right of the picture, curving along the hair, down through the eye, and then around the shoulder board.  But, at the same time, that could simply be the result of whatever process added the extra tufts of hair above the eyes / moving up and away from a central part.  If you are looking at the image, you will see a V or L shaped pattern to the hair, which completely differs in style from the side of the head.  A closer look shows that, should you be able to shape or follow the shape of the head, that V or L shape is an added feature... at the point of the V or L, along the top of the head, you can see an area which matches the hair style from the side of the head.  The right portion of this V meets at the curved damage area, and there seems to be some pixilation along the upper or left portion.  {image labeled "hair"}  *The only thing done to alter this image was to adjust the brightness and contrast.

While my initial exam shows that this may be a hoax being played on you, it doesn't necessarily mean that I wouldn't be able to find something else at home; however, it does seem as if this can be attributed to one of those "ghost in photo" apps.  I hope this helps.

-Mike Strandt

Should anything else come about with this, whether through emails or image editing, I shall post the findings.