# So: WAS That A GHOST At Hampton Court? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 10, 2004, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-was-that-a-ghost-at-hampton-court/228422 "2004-02-10T10:48:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-was-that-a-ghost-at-hampton-court/228422/1 "2004-02-10T10:48:03Z")
Last October a surveillance camera at Hampton Court palace (UK) detected an image of a woman in 16-th century costume,opening a door. Was it really a ghost? Inquiring minds want to know! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-was-that-a-ghost-at-hampton-court/228422/2 "2004-02-10T11:02:35Z")
I believe this was discussed recently, try a search. Informed opinion was that the camera was not a surveillance camera since the image was shaky. The same opinion held that the camera detected an image of somebody in a costume opening a door. Do you think it might (horror!) have been a _real person_ dressed in a costume? ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-was-that-a-ghost-at-hampton-court/228422/3 "2004-02-10T11:35:21Z")
[[http://www.castleofspirits.com/hamptonghost.gif](http://www.castleofspirits.com/hamptonghost.gif)]This .gif (large) shows the likely hoax. This one is not shaky (I think a zoomed-in version is also going around, which might have deliberately been made shaky for some reason.) It’s a bloke in a mask and a dressing gown. ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-was-that-a-ghost-at-hampton-court/228422/4 "2004-02-10T11:36:43Z")
Sorry, [this gif](http://www.castleofspirits.com/hamptonghost.gif) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-was-that-a-ghost-at-hampton-court/228422/5 "2004-02-10T12:12:00Z")
No. Since when do ghosts need to bother with doors? Henry was just opening the door to have a peep outside? Puh-lease. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-was-that-a-ghost-at-hampton-court/228422/6 "2004-02-10T12:20:56Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > No. Since when do ghosts need to bother with doors? Henry was just opening the door to have a peep outside? Puh-lease. You can see why the doors opening were part of it? What’s scarier than doors/windows suddenly opening/closing on thier own? (Latched, that is) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-was-that-a-ghost-at-hampton-court/228422/7 "2004-02-10T12:22:13Z")
It’s a bloke in costume, or at least, there’s no evidence to suggest otherwise. All of the ghost assertions seem to have been based on the idea that _nobody was supposed to have been using that door at that time_ - when the camera shows that _somebody seems to have used the door at that time_, the appropriate reaction is to surimise that maybe _someone who wasn’t supposed to be using the door at that time actually **did** use the door at that time_, not leap to absurd and unnecessary conclusions. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-was-that-a-ghost-at-hampton-court/228422/8 "2004-02-10T12:23:44Z")
This door wasn’t latched - or if it was, it was from the inside where the guy stood - and no windows opened. It’s just a guy opening a door, sticking his head out, and then going back inside. If that’s scary, I must be a pretty brave guy! ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-was-that-a-ghost-at-hampton-court/228422/9 "2004-02-10T12:25:50Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > No. Since when do ghosts need to bother with doors? Ah, but bear in mind the ghost was probably using British-manufactured ectoplasm. That stuff’s a bugger to get going when the weather’s cold. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-was-that-a-ghost-at-hampton-court/228422/10 "2004-02-10T13:30:48Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Ah, but bear in mind the ghost was probably using British-manufactured ectoplasm. That stuff’s a bugger to get going when the weather’s cold. The correct spelling is ‘Ectoplas **iu** m’ in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-was-that-a-ghost-at-hampton-court/228422/11 "2004-02-10T14:13:55Z")
Already been done and dusted at exhaustive length… > **[Ghost Sighting On Tape](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=230481)** > > By now, I’m sure most of you have seen some of the coverage (largest picture I could find) of the ‘ghost sighting’ at the Hampton court palace in England that was captured on tape. The tape has been released only yesterday, but was filmed in October,... ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-was-that-a-ghost-at-hampton-court/228422/12 "2004-02-11T07:29:42Z")
Sometimes it’s just so easy to be a skeptic. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-was-that-a-ghost-at-hampton-court/228422/13 "2004-02-11T07:40:11Z")
A. It was the ghostly manifestation of a dead human being, leaving the non-corporeal body and floating in limbo until it felt the need to open a door B. It was a guy in a robe. Pick one. ---
**Author:** ![Doc\_Nickel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5fc32e/32.png) [@Doc\_Nickel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doc_Nickel)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-was-that-a-ghost-at-hampton-court/228422/14 "2004-02-11T08:07:23Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Ah, but bear in mind the ghost was probably using British-manufactured ectoplasm. That stuff’s a bugger to get going when the weather’s cold. Lucas makes ghosts too? ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-was-that-a-ghost-at-hampton-court/228422/15 "2004-02-11T16:41:15Z")
[An inside job requiring only two people, the costume and a ladder.](http://www.esolutionswork.com/research/) ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-was-that-a-ghost-at-hampton-court/228422/16 "2004-02-12T02:39:37Z")
Oh not again, I can already feel the aneurism inflating; please close this before you-know-who sees it.