The truth behind the horror photo “shadow of a person at a meal” haunting netizens

Have you ever heard of the term photobomb? It is a term used to describe people, things, or objects that accidentally or intentionally disrupt the composition or content of a photo. This action can ruin the fun atmosphere of the photo, making the photo look ridiculous and in this case, creepy.

The Cooper family in Texas, USA, had the misfortune of having a not-so-cute photobomb appear in their own photo. The story goes that in the 1950s, the Cooper family bought an old house in Texas and started living there. After cleaning up their belongings, they threw a party to celebrate their new home and in a fit of excitement, the father took a photo of his mother and wife sitting with their two children as a souvenir. Everyone was smiling and sure that the photo would be great.

Photobomb for the unlucky Cooper family.

However, the whole family was horrified when, after developing the photo, they saw a black shadow that looked like a person falling straight down from the ceiling. It was not just a vague shadow, but it was extremely clear, vivid, and took up a significant part of the photo. Of course, when taking the photo, there was no such shadow. So where did it come from? Or was it the ghost of the previous owner coming to “join in the fun” at the Cooper family’s housewarming party? Who knows!

The Cooper family’s unfortunate past has been tied to this photo ever since it was widely circulated online, apparently in 2013. As for the photo itself, it certainly existed before that. But what exactly is the origin of the photo? Who took it, and why is there that shadow? These are questions that have never been answered.

It is likely that this photo has been edited many times.

At first glance, the family in the photo looks like they lived in the 1950s, but that’s just a guess. If you look closely, there are some details in the photo that show that it has been edited by modern technology.

Look at the dark corners of the photo, where there is vignetting – the result of camera settings or lens limitations. In this case, the vignetting looks quite even, so it’s likely just an effect created by Photoshop (or some other photo editing software).

Additionally, the shadow of the falling body is opposite to the light source in the photo. This suggests that the body was either intentionally inserted into the photo or was the result of a double exposure. 

Photo first appeared on Thomas Ligotti Online

Whether it is a real photo or a photoshopped photo, this photo has attracted quite a bit of attention. On November 14, 2009, a guy named Sam Cowan posted this photo with the title “Family reunion” on ligotti.net – a sharing site dedicated to fans of horror writer Thomas Ligotti. A few months later, Xavier Ortega took this photo and shared it on Ghost Theory in the section “Retro Creeeps – Creepy portraits from the past”.

Although Xavier later admitted that he had no idea where the photo came from, it is undeniable that Xavier’s posting of the photo helped it go viral, arousing the curiosity of some bold people and scaring countless faint-hearted people. And perhaps that is where the story of the Cooper family was born?

While people are speculating about the cause, some people think that it is simply a horror photo created somewhere around 2009. However, people mistakenly believe that it is a real classic photo and the story of the Cooper family was created to add to the horror of the photo.