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A Look At Mysteries Caught On Camera

THIS is the amazing picture released by Nasa, apparently revealing life on Mars.

The snap was taken on the surface of the red planet by the robot Mars Explorer Spirit in 2004 but was only released by Nasa last week.

The image sent the internet into overdrive, with many convinced the photo is of a woman with her arms outstretched - or a bigfoot beast.

Astronomers and experts are more cynical and believe the human-shaped figure is, in fact, a peculiar rock formation.

Here, HEATHER GREENAWAY looks at 10 of the most famous unexplained snaps and asks: Spook or spoof?

THE ENFIELD POLTERGEIST

THIS photograph was taken in 1977 at a house in Enfield, north London, and apparently shows a pillow flying across the room.

The family who lived there experienced poltergeist activity in their rented home between August 1977 and September 1978 with furniture appearing to move by itself.

THE ROSWELL ALIEN

THIS footage of the famous Roswell alien autopsy was released in 1995 and its authenticity has been questioned ever since.

Legend has it that, following a 1947 UFO crash in New Mexico, the military staged a massive cover-up. In 2006, Manchester sculptor John Humphreys claimed he made the alien to help recreate part of original footage that had been lost.

BEAST OF BODMIN

THE beast is a black, panther-like creature that is believed to inhabit Bodmin Moor in Cornwall.

This video footage was taken in 1998 and shows a three-and-a-halffoot animal slinking through the grass on the moor.

About 60 other big-cat sightings have been recorded in the area since 1983.

AIRTH CASTLE GHOST

THIS ghostly figure was caught on camera at Scotland's most haunted hotel in March last year.

The blurred image appeared from nowhere as pictures were being taken during a wedding at historic Airth Castle in Stirlingshire.

It was taken as guests relaxed in the cocktail bar in the original castle and has never been fully explained.

CROP CIRCLES

THESE unexplained crop circles appeared in North Oakley, Hampshire in 1996.

About 12,000 crop circles have been discovered in sites across the world, including the former Soviet Union, Japan, the US and Canada.

The puzzling phenomenon remains the subject of arguments across the world.

SASQUATCH

THIS shot comes from a single frame of a famous Patterson-Gimlin film, shot in October 1967, and appears to document a female bigfoot striding along a riverbank in northern California.

Rumours have persisted that the picture was, in fact, faked by make-up man John Chambers, who was working on the film.

LOCH NESS MONSTER

THE Nessie legend dates back to 565, but took off with this 1934 image produced by Marmaduke Wetherell, which he claimed was taken by surgeon Colonel Robert Wilson.

But Wetherell's stepson Christian Spurling admitted it was a fake 60 years later. Since then, there have been scores of photos purporting to show the Loch Ness monster.

UFOs

THIS photo of a brilliant blue disc hovering over a building was taken on January 2, 1953, in Bulawayo, Rhodesia - now Zimbabwe.

Tens of thousands of UFOs have been spotted all around the world.

The first official investigations began during World War II with sightings of so-called foo fighters by Allied air crews.

THE BROWN LADY OF RAYNHAM HALL

THIS 1936 shot purports to show the ghost of the Brown Lady, who haunts Raynham Hall in England.

The image is widely believed to be one of the most convincing photos of ghosts.

It was taken by photographers Captain Provand and Indre Shira on an assignment for Country Life magazine.

The Brown Lady is said to be the ghost of Lady Townshend, whose husband Charles was imprisoned in the family estate.

THE COTTINGLEY FAIRIES

THE Cottingley Fairies are figures that appear in a set of five photographs taken by cousins Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths in 1917 and 1920 near Bradford, Yorkshire.

Today, the Cottingley Fairies are widely considered a hoax. But, at the time, they had a number of believers, including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes.

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