A mother believes her daughter witnessed a kid ghost hitchhiking a ride in their car, but paranormal specialists believe it was an accident victim advising her to buckle up.
Melissa Kurtz, 48, was driving her 13-year-old daughter Harper to a beauty competition when the 13-year-old became bored and began taking photos during the 45-minute drive.
Despite the fact that no one else was in the car with them, the mother-of-two from Florida, United States, later noticed the ghostly visage of a small child lurking on the back seat, appearing to reach for Harper.
Ms. Kurtz did some research on the road they were on and learned that the apparition’s appearance coincided with the anniversary of a kid’s death in a traffic accident, which she believes was the same child.
Several paranormal experts looked at the photograph and couldn’t figure out what it meant, with one stating that the ghost’s hand was reaching for Harper to tell her to buckle up.
Ms. Kurtz, on the other hand, maintains she was not disturbed by the alleged haunting because Harper has always been surrounded by paranormal activity.
‘There was an automobile accident exactly one year ago where the image was shot,’ she explained. Someone had been medevacked away in a chopper when I looked into it.
‘However, when I questioned, they refused to give me any specific data, which led me to suspect it was a youngster, as that would explain why they couldn’t supply the information.’
‘I didn’t realize it until about a month later when I was browsing through my camera for another project.’
‘It was a true “Oh my God” experience. It astounded me, and it astounded me even more. “You have to see this,” I dashed into the other room, telling my friends who were staying with me. Everyone was really taken aback.
‘I believe it is critical for the world to see that photograph because I know it is true and authentic, and we were the only two in the car.’
‘So many people believe in the afterlife, and this shows it – at least to me.’ That has provided consolation to those who have seen it.
‘Harper wasn’t wearing her seatbelt, and one of the investigators who looked into the photo, Greg Pocha, believed [the spirit] was trying to warn her.
‘[Her seatbelt] is something I often shout at her about. Due to her not wearing a seatbelt, I’ve received 13 traffic penalties in the last two years. She is obstinate, despite my best efforts to catch her while she isn’t wearing it.
‘I’m not sure about that; it looks to me like he’s putting rabbit ears up behind her with two fingers up.’ I believe it is just a young boy having fun and trying to be amusing. However, I believe that is a good thing.
‘However, I recognize that if the youngster died as a result of not wearing a seatbelt, that’s exactly what he could be doing.’
The photo was taken in July of this year on a roadway in the Maitland area of Florida, near Orlando, while Ms. Kurtz, a photographer, and writer, drove Harper to a junior beauty contest, where she finished fourth.
The sight scared the mother so much that she sent it to Greg Pocha, director of parapsychology, afterlife, and paranormal investigations at Eidolon Project Canada.
He believes that an image analysis technology employed by the FBI and CIA shows the boy now has color or “temperature” in the shot, which he argues “increases the chance that the photo is authentic as a ghost photo.”
‘When the spirit is really ripped or flung from the body in an accident, ghosts like the youngster are prone to remain earthbound,’ Mr Pocha said.
‘It’s possible that he is unaware that he has died. And there’s a good probability he’ll stay on this stretch of highway for the rest of his life.’
‘It dawned to me that the ghost might not be flashing a piece sign, as I had assumed, but rather pointing to your daughter’s seat belt strap,’ he continued.
‘Perhaps the warning means she should wear one when driving.’ That is the Spectral Profiling aspect of my knowledge speaking, in an attempt to figure out the ghost’s thinking and psychology.
‘It’s possible that this ghost’s unfinished business is to warn. To warn people about the dangers of not following in the footsteps of those who have died as a result of seat belt troubles. When he sees that, it’s likely to make him sad.’
‘I wasn’t scared by it since Harper has had paranormal things revolve around her since she was a child,’ Ms Kurtz continued. Orbs frequently show next to her in photographs.
‘I saw her drawings on the window when she was younger, and when I looked into them, I discovered they were glyphs about the archangel Raphael and how he exiled the evil Asmodeus to hell.’
‘Harper appears to be absorbing the energy. She emits a lot of pleasant energy, therefore it’s possible that ghosts are drawn to her.
‘Through our work at a cemetery, she gets a lot of contact with the deceased world, and she is extremely open to things like that.’ She isn’t afraid of the supernatural or the occult in the least.
‘Harper doesn’t think the photo is significant. “Oh, the one with the ghost, what’s the big deal?” she simply says. I inform her that no one can refute it, but she seems unconcerned.
‘I’ve shown it to several groups of paranormal investigators, and none of them have been able to disprove it.’ Some of the people I’ve shown it to have taken it on tour as one of the best examples.
‘I cried when I noticed the date of the accident because we were picking up that boy who died on this road a year ago on his way to the hospital.’ I choked up when I saw there had been an accident in that location.
‘There are a lot of accidents there. It’s a perilous section of highway.’
Her brother Timothy and his fiancée were killed in a vehicle accident in February 2003, while she was pregnant with Harper, who is named after her brother’s fiancée.