Lancashire woman snaps creepy picture of 6.5ft 'ghost' watching her walk her dog at night
A Lancashire woman claims to have captured a 6.5ft 'ghost' watching her walk her dog at night - and people are saying its the demonic phantom from the horror movie The Nun.
Julie Birkett-O'Loughlin, from Rossendale, was taking four-year-old border terrier Ralphy out for his night-time stroll in July when she took a few snaps on her new phone.
When the 48-year-old brightened the images for a better look, her jaw dropped as she spotted an imposing robed figure peering back at her.
Stunned by the creepy sight, Julie, who's been on 20 ghost hunts but never experienced anything paranormal before, woke her husband up before sharing the snap on Facebook.
Those who believe in the supernatural agreed it appeared to be a monk, or even the fictional demonic entity from the 2018 horror movie The Nun.
Some sceptics claimed the black-robed figure is merely a bin or a neighbour pottering around, but Julie is adamant that she was all alone - and took snaps the following day to prove bins aren't stored there.
Julie, from Whitworth in the Rossendale Valley, said: "My dog has a little tinkle at night before bed and sometimes I stand there with a gin and tonic while he's having a sniff round.
"This night I thought 'I'll take my phone out just to try it'. I was trying to work out the flash, I'd had it for months and still not worked it out.
"The pictures I took were dark to the naked eye but later on when I went to bed I thought 'I'll lighten them and see if I can see anything' and I spotted a figure. "I can see a large, wide figure with a white hood but I couldn't see any feet, it was hovering above the ground. "It's a tall figure, over 6.5ft tall, dressed in robes.
"It was a massive shock when I saw it but I was more excited because I love anything like this. My husband was snoozing next to me. I woke him up and said 'look at this'. He was quite shocked, but I think more so he wanted to go back to bed."
After sharing the picture on Facebook, people flooded the post with comments giving their theories on the sighting. Many believed it was a supernatural entity, while others suggested there might be more mundane explanations.
Julie said: "Even though it was dark you could sense if there was anyone actually around and there wasn't. It looked like a tall figure dressed in robes. It wasn't a neighbour because who would dress like that? There was genuinely no-one there, I'd describe it as a spirit.
"So many people were saying it's a bin. I know what a wheelie bin looks like and I can imagine it looks nothing like that in the dark. It annoyed me, I thought these people might be a bit more excited about it, it definitely wasn't a bin.
"As I live there I know no-one ever puts bins there and no-one was walking past, it was really crazy to be honest. I didn't get any negative energy emanating from the figure. "It was just a normal night, what it was and where it's come from I don't know."
Thrilled at the prospect of her first spooky encounter, Julie's now keen to have more.
She said: "I'm a big fan of anything to do with ghosts and horror films - Halloween's my favourite time of year. It's strange because I go out every night with Ralphie and I've never seen anything out of the ordinary since, it was just that one occasion.
“I'm spiritual, I love ghosts and like to go on ghost hunting events, so I'm craving something to happen. Obviously when I saw this I was like 'wow'. It's whetted my appetite for having more spooky encounters in future. "
Sharing her picture on Facebook, Julie said: "I let my dog out for a wee at 11pm last night. I went out to wait for him and was messing on my new phone as I can't find a flash on it. I took this random pic and when I got in bed I decided to zoom in on it.
"At the time I was aware of my dog's outline and the neighbour's cat but I was not aware at all of this large figure?? It was pitch black at the time."
One believer said: "Can see it clearly, wow, it looks to me like a monk." Another commented: "I think a monk too."
Another added: "Looks like a nun." Another commented: "No legs so no doubt it's a spirit."
"Looks like a partially bald person in dark robes or coat looking straight at your dog. Wow!", said another.
But others were less impressed. One sceptic said: "Looks like a wheelie bin with a cat sitting on it”, while another quipped, "someone's out for a walk leave em alone lol.”
The Nun, the earliest chapter in The Conjuring film universe, is set in a Romanian cloistered convent in 1952 where the sisters are haunted by a demonic entity later revealed to be called Valak.
The movie, written by James Wan of Saw and Insidious fame, sees novice nun Sister Irene along with Father Burke investigate the horrifying events there.
Released in 2018 it raked in an eye-watering $366 million at the box office with the habit-wearing titular character haunting movie-goers with her pale white face, sunken dark eyes and razor-sharp teeth.