Junior’s ghost explained

Yesterday, Junior told the fascinating tale of the ghost that visited his wedding four years ago. In way of background, Junior was married in a old hotel in Santa Fe that is known for having a famous ghost, Julia Staub. Julia was a rich woman who lived in that building in the 1800′s, which at the time was a private residence. One of Julia’s childs dies very young, leaving Julia heartbroken and homebound until her early death. Now she haunts the building.

Junior gets his wedding album and discovers that Julia appears in one of his wedding photos. She is looking through the window at a creepy-grinned Spank Miller. The ground outside that window is about 8 feet below the sill, which mean she would have to be hovering or Manute Bol. Many people say that the picture is photoshopped. It is not. There is a tall adobe wall outside that window, which is why that pane appears to have a different backdrop that the others.

Well, the mystery has been solved.

I emailed the photographer for an explanation and copies of the original image. What I learned was blockbuster. First of all, let’s look at a better copy of the picture, one that is not me holding an iphone up to Junior’s wedding album. Remember, all of these images are clickable for enlargement.

Do you notice something odd about the angles? The wooden wall under the sill seems to be too close to the camera. Also, there ‘s a small amount of the woman’s left sleeve that overlaps the window trim. What’s with the big shadow under the sill? Why does Junior’s hand look like it is part of a novelty rubber arm?

Here is the image in color, which makes her look much less ghosty. However, notice Junior still looks like a kid with a forced grin at his first communion watching his grandmother fiddle with her new camera. But the thing that really blew the lid off this was the testimony of the photographer, who had something shocking to say:

“I remember that woman. In fact, she told me the story of Julia and the tragedy. She was older and somewhat creepy, but kind. At one point, I turned away and snapped a picture and when I turned back, she was gone! I looked for her, and finally found her, restocking the white wine.” -Photographer 2009

So P1′s you be the judge. Is it Julia Staub, noted ghost in mourning returning from hell to avenge the death of her child? Or a bartender being beaten down by another spare wedding and cursing the divorce that forced her back into the workforce at the age of 63?

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