This trail camera photo was posted on Facebook by the Greenwich Journal and Salem Press:

With the following information:

We are looking for your help….

I have been asked by a reader for help. They passed along this photo, that was taken by a trail cam, in the vicinity of Center Cambridge Road along County Route 74 where the railroad tracks are. The camera is in a location not generally frequented by anything other than wildlife, but this photo popped up the first of March. The girl only appears in one frame and then is gone.

The story went viral in New York, USA and of course “paranormal experts” stepped in. Facebook users started to talk about a ghost or spirit. Some people saw two ghosts or a knife – and some people thought the image was clearly photoshopped.

You can find “spooky” YouTube videos and paranormal articles about this photo.

Yesterday local police issued a statement: the girl is alive and well. She is “Chic Wilson’s granddaughter”.

The paranormal nonsense could have been easily avoided by using common sense. There is actually nothing strange in this photo. Trail cams like this are motion activated, and clearly the person is moving. Some trail cams take videos, some take photos and usually there is an interval before next action: this explains why she is only visible in one photo. The blurriness can be explained by the motion of the person, camera settings and overall image quality.  The trail cam simply activated because the girl was moving nearby and took this photo.

For comparison: Behold, the elusive, ass-naked Homo Sapien via the Motherboard. There are plenty of weird and funny looking trail cam photos out there.

Next time someone posts a blurry trail cam photo: remember that any paranormal explanation is highly unlikely. The simplest answer is most often correct.