Here are three more pics to take a look at. They have been zoomed in more and the white ratio has been taken down on them. Tell me what you think after looking at these.

Ya, I did that with my Corel Photopaint. And a couple of other effects to "see" ... the bottom line is - Since, if I understood correctly ... that you were NOT allowed to go up there ... we really have no clue what this was. One friend suggested a a dust-paint curtain if reconstruction or painting was going on. That would make since and could 'fit' and explain what we are seeing, especially with the distortion of the "EXIT" sign at the top.

Okay the thing to remember is this - What you are told on a 'tour' and what is reality are as different as "night" can be to "day". There are 'tours' that set up 'canned paranormal' and are some what good at this - they 'talk with the experts'.

Now not being there - I would only suggest that if this was a 'tour' - well ... 'set ups' for tours are done - to bring people back or to spread the 'rumors' ... see this picture alone brings one thing "Curiosity" ... There is a rule of thumb I follow when I go into 'tours' and such -- always take 3 - 5 pictures of the same thing. Hey I have a large memory stick.

Also one post brought up a good question - "what is the history" or such of this place? Is it 'paranormal'? Is it being 'sold' as such? How many other's were 'unique' in their experience? (And were told, thought or lead to believe such was the case?)

Since you were not allowed to go upstairs ... to be honest, you have no clue actually what was upstairs. (Right?) <- Asking. But your posts seem to relay that you did not - do not have any clue what was up there???

As another post stated, this picture raises more questions than not - and I have a feeling we are shy a 'few' answers ... because of honest ignorance.

So I tend to go on the side of ... well doubt of anything but ... questions that need answers before anything else can be said or done ... Pure speculation at best ... I personally tend to speculate on the side of Boring .... until I'm offered something with more substance.

I hope you understand where I am coming from?

I totally hear where your coming from. The town has a lot of history of paranormal activity. We were able to go to the second and third floors of this building. Like I said, this pic was taken at the end of the tour. We had just come down from that floor. The only stuff up there was extra tables and chairs. Galena is the home of Ulyssis S Grant. And dates back to the civil war. The area is surrounded by limestone.

Maybe I should have told the entire story from the start. I just didnt want to write a book on here. We went to Galena to see the history of the town and area. The main tour was more about the history of the town. Galena is where part of the movie field of dreams was filmed. It was very interesting. The tour guide also told about the paranormal history of the town. He told us about the documented experiences that occured in the different buildings we were in.

We toured the entire downtown area. We also went through the Desoto House Hotel which was reported to have paranormal activity in it. We did not have any experiences there. We also were told about the Dowling House, Galena History Museum, Turner Hall, and the Ulyssis S Grant House. We did a tour of the Grant house, but did not experience anything. We were also told about many other private residences and establishments that are reported to have activity in them. It is a old city with lots of history. It was a great experience.

Again thanks for your impute. That is why I post this picture here. I knew I would get straight and honest opinions and responses. I was not sure what we got in this picture, and still am not positive. But it is the unknown that is so interesting about this picture, and the experience as a whole.

This was not a ghost tour put on by the building, or building owner. It was a tour of the entire downtown area. Put on by a private party. Yes there was an actual exit sign at the top of the stairs. The second and third floors of the building were not being used at all. Also we were the only ones that experienced this from the entire group. The way this picture was taken would make it very hard for this to be a shadow of someone upstairs. The light came from behind the shadow which would cause the shadow to appear on the wall directly above us. Also in that are there is a half wall at opposite end of the staircase that would block out about half the shadow if indeed that is what it is from. Also it was approximately 30 degrees the night of this tour.

I hear where you both are coming from. I too am a rough sell on paranormal pictures, and I agree that there are a lot of fakes out there. This picture really struck me though. We had some other pics with light anomalies in them that we discarded. I do not believe in orbs, or at least 99% of orb pictures. This is the first .picture I have ever said had paranormal evidence on it. I do appreciate the fed back though. Thanks for checking the pic out and letting me know your thoughts.

Okay the thing to remember is this - What you are told on a 'tour' and what is reality are as different as "night" can be to "day". There are 'tours' that set up 'canned paranormal' and are some what good at this - they 'talk with the experts'.

Now not being there - I would only suggest that if this was a 'tour' - well ... 'set ups' for tours are done - to bring people back or to spread the 'rumors' ... see this picture alone brings one thing "Curiosity" ... There is a rule of thumb I follow when I go into 'tours' and such -- always take 3 - 5 pictures of the same thing. Hey I have a large memory stick.

Also one post brought up a good question - "what is the history" or such of this place? Is it 'paranormal'? Is it being 'sold' as such? How many other's were 'unique' in their experience? (And were told, thought or lead to believe such was the case?)

Since you were not allowed to go upstairs ... to be honest, you have no clue actually what was upstairs. (Right?) <- Asking. But your posts seem to relay that you did not - do not have any clue what was up there???

As another post stated, this picture raises more questions than not - and I have a feeling we are shy a 'few' answers ... because of honest ignorance.

So I tend to go on the side of ... well doubt of anything but ... questions that need answers before anything else can be said or done ... Pure speculation at best ... I personally tend to speculate on the side of Boring .... until I'm offered something with more substance.

I hope you understand where I am coming from?

I hear where you both are coming from. I too am a rough sell on paranormal pictures, and I agree that there are a lot of fakes out there. This picture really struck me though. We had some other pics with light anomalies in them that we discarded. I do not believe in orbs, or at least 99% of orb pictures. This is the first .picture I have ever said had paranormal evidence on it. I do appreciate the fed back though. Thanks for checking the pic out and letting me know your thoughts.

The thing that gets me with this pic is that you can see through both arms, and especially over the exit sign at the top. You can see that the left arm blocks out part of the light from the sign, but vyou can see the sign through part of the arm. What do you think?

And we had just got done with the tour and everyone was standing around us. That part of the building was not in use at the time the pic was taken.

Well there is an EXIT sigh and you can see the door behind the shadow ... So I'm guessing that there was someone up there. Just because you were told, "Not in use..." does not mean there was not an employee up there.

Also there is a chance that this is a 'casted shadow' of something upstairs that looks like the shape of this.

The question I have is: Is there an EXIT sign at the top of this stairway as it seems .. or is this a reflection that is being distorted by some lights and shadows?

Ghost tours are notoriously bad places to attempt to get evidence. For starters you are not in control of the building. Second you never know what the owners have planned. If no one gets scared or has an encounter, no one is going to come back and then profits go downward.

Again this is what I am seeing. It's just an opinion. What is best is if you could look at another photo of the same staircase and get a baseline for what is normally there.

And we had just got done with the tour and everyone was standing around us. That part of the building was not in use at the time the pic was taken.

http://i1208.photobucket.com/a.....ums/cc370/...GaleenaPic2.jpg