Took a photo in the old Sun Valley Mall food court and got a ghostly figure in the shot

I was at the Sun Valley Mall in Concord last month, trying to get a shot of the empty fountain. I used a long exposure because the light was so dim. When I checked the picture, there was this clear, blurry shape of a person right in the middle of the frame, but I was completely alone. Some folks online say it's just lens flare or a smudge, but I cleaned the lens right before. Has anyone else caught something strange in a dead mall photo that you can't explain?

3 comments

3 Comments

holly_young352mo ago

Long exposures in dim light can pick up all kinds of weird stuff. A security guard or cleaner walking through the shot could leave a blur like that. Did you check if there were any reflective surfaces nearby?

brookewood2mo ago

Sounds like a stretch to me.

brian_murray14d ago

Fair enough, but those trails look pretty solid for a person moving through. The guard or cleaner theory only works if they stood almost perfectly still for a full exposure.