Lafayette Father Can’t Explain Ghost-Like Image in Photo of His Kids at a Local Playground

A Lafayette father is perplexed over images of kids playing at a playground earlier this week.

I spoke with Minutes Jones who told me that his sister, Summer, took his kids to the park on Tuesday (Apr. 12). It was an otherwise normal day at the playground near the King Center in Lafayette.

As Minutes looked at photos of his kids on the playground see-saws, an image jumped out at him.

In one of the photos, there was an image of a hand seen just over the left shoulder of one of his kids on the see-saw.

Minutes said he pinched and zoomed, and zoomed in some more. Neither he nor his sister has any editing or Photoshop experience, but that hasn't stopped some of his followers on social media from speculating that the images were doctored.

Jones remains adamant that the photos are not edited. He also tells me that he isn't the type of person to buy into ghosts or conspiracy theories but he's still freaked out by the image in the photo of his kids.

He asked his followers to explain and the comments began to pour in.

While there were obvious Photoshop accusations, a lot of people felt like it was a spiritual sign of some sort. A lot of people likened the hand to the hand of God protecting his children.

Others felt like a spirit was "speaking" to Jones and his family.

To everyone who made Photoshop claims, Jones' sister doubled down on the fact that not only did she not use Photoshop, but wouldn't even know how to create an image like this if she had the application.

She said that nothing like this has happened on any of the other numerous photos that she has taken before.

I spoke with a local photographer friend of mine who said it was likely one of two things.

First, and most obviously, the image could have been photoshopped—but since we've already eliminated that possibility based on what Minutes and his sister Summer have already sworn by, the next culprit could be the cell phone tech.

iPhone does HDR by default now and that means it’s taking several exposures to combine them into one so that the highlights aren’t clipped out (like a cloudy sky)

While it may not be exactly what my photographer friend was talking about, someone dropped a video into Minutes' comments showing how similar effects can be "drawn" in images.

While it isn't the exact same video, the clip below explains how long exposure can work creatively for photographers. The same effect can also appear by accident, but Minutes and his family are still left with more questions than answers.

In the end, Minutes is still a bit weirded out by the image, but after hearing feedback he tells me that it could very well be something he perceives as someone "watching over" his son and his daughter.

I'm curious to hear your theories, so drop them in the comments and share this with all your friends who love killing time by solving amateur mysteries.