Potentially Paranormal Activity Caught on Camera in UK Guitar Shop
Guitar, Amp, and Keyboard (GAK) in Brighton, England posted a pair of videos to their YouTube channel recently that they claim show potentially paranormal activity happening in their shop.
The videos were captured by motion-sensitive CCTV cameras, according to videographer Mark Batch, who works at GAK.
The first video, posted on May 8th, shows a customer standing idly by, looking at his phone, when a wispy form floats past him. The customer does not react to the form.
The second, posted on June 6th, shows merchandise hanging on the wall move seemingly of its own accord.
That video was accompanied by the caption “The 2nd video of weird stuff going on at the shop! Our motion detectors detected movement in 'The Vault' so we checked the cameras and caught this.”
“Our motion sensors went off in the shop, encouraging us to check CCTV footage,” Batch told the Daily Star regarding the second video. “Staff think it’s odd and a bit creepy but it hasn't affected anyone coming in."
"Some say it could be the guitars re-adjusting themselves after they were hanged incorrectly, but there is no wind there and it’s not near any draft or ventilation so there aren't many suggestions," he explained.
Batch said that he is unsure if there is any history to the location that might explain the activity, but that the staff is aware of the phenomena.
“There is the occasional thing that happens, stuff falling over etc, but nothing concrete,” Batch continued. “There is however another video showing a spooky white figure moving through the store. This was filmed a month or so before.
“We will be keeping our eyes peeled for any other creepy goings-on," he added.
Reactions to the video have been mixed.
"Do you record to some form of disc based media?" one viewer asked regarding the wispy figure. "Could be where it's been recorded onto and erased over and over again leading to a sort of 'ghosting' effect from past recordings, as opposed to a literal ghost. Or...this is fake to serve as advertising...who knows?"
"That's crazy man, I mean, if that's for real you should call someone to investigate it," commented another on the second video.
One customer even claimed to have her own paranormal experience in the shop.
"I happened to buy a guitar last week and recorded [electronic voice phenomena (EVP)] while I was at the shop, the place has a lot of history," Andrea Mai said. "There were definitely ghosts in there. They kept saying the guitar I was interested in, even though I didn’t know the name. They said, 'That’s a Squier' several times in my recording. Saw your story on Coast to Coast, nice surprise to hear about you in Brighton, I used to live there, I know which shop you are! Used to pass by there all the time! Last time I was in Brighton, I recorded EVP when I was at the Pavilion."
Photography and video analyst Emily Wayland said it’s possible that the phenomena on display in both videos could be of earthly origin.
“The wispy figure in the first video looks like it could be light reflecting off of the surroundings there,” she said. “I wonder if there’s a window behind the camera, because it reminds me of light reflecting off of a car and into the shop. It moves parallel to that back wall, and the man standing there doesn’t react to it at all, which makes me think it’s nothing out of the ordinary.”
“The second video is weirder, but still nothing spectacular,” she continued. “We don’t know what kind of air currents might be affecting things. We can’t rule out a hoax, either, although I like to give people the benefit of the doubt.”
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