“灰女士”无疑是英国众多闹鬼景点中最著名的一个。

But does this murky photograph show the fabled Grey Lady of Dudley Castle or something less spooky?

但是出现在这张昏暗模糊的照片里的真的是传说中的杜德里古堡“灰女士”吗？还是只是一些没有那么可怕的东西而已？

The image was taken by Amy Harper, 28, on her smartphone during a visit to the castle – which dates back to 1071 – with her husband Dean, 33, and their three children.

这张照片是28岁的艾米?哈伯和她的丈夫33岁的迪恩还有三个孩子一起游览这座始建于1071年的古堡时用手机拍摄的。

It was only when they were back home in Birmingham that Mrs Harper took a closer look.

当这对夫妇回到伯明翰市的家中时，妻子艾米才仔细看了照片。

She zoomed in on the picture, taken from the castle tower, of Sharington Range, a ruined Tudor building in the grounds.

这张照片是从被废弃的都铎式建筑古堡塔上拍摄的。艾米放大了照片。

Suddenly, she saw a hazy image of a woman in grey standing inside the arch.

突然她看到在拱门里面有一个灰色的模糊女影站在那里。

‘It is really creepy,’ said Mrs Harper. ‘Dean had heard about the ghost of the Grey Lady and we think it must be her.’ The photo sparked speculation on social media that it was either the result of clever editing or had been achieved by using a special app that can implant ghoulish figures into images.

“这真的令人毛骨悚然。”艾米说，“迪恩曾经听说过鬼魂‘灰女士’的故事，我们觉得这一定就是她了。”这张照片被上传到网络上后立刻引来各种推测，有人说这可能是巧妙编辑后的结果，也有人说这是用那种可以植入鬼魂身影的特殊软件制作而成。

But Mrs Harper denied the suggestion, insisting: ‘To be honest I wouldn’t have a clue where to start.’

但是艾米否定了那些猜测，她坚持道：“说实话我也没有任何头绪。”

Barri Ghai, lead investigator at the Ghostfinder Paranormal Society, who call themselves the UK’s leading ghosthunters, said the figure is ‘too vague and grainy’ to be a hoax.

鬼魂探测超自然协会（自称英国首席鬼魂猎人）的首席调查员巴里称，这张照片画质“太模糊、太多颗粒状”，不像是个骗局。

He believes the image may be the result of ‘matrixing’, a term increasingly used among paranormal investigators to describe the human mind’s natural tendency to find something familiar in complex shapes or colours. This can cause the brain to think it can see a specific person.

他认为这张照片是“矩阵”的结果，矩阵是超自然调查员常用的术语，意思是人们的思维有从复杂形状或颜色中寻找自己熟悉事物的自然趋势。这使得大脑会把照片中的模糊形象看做一个具体的人。

Mr Ghai, whose team has appeared in television shows in the UK, US and Japan, said that in the case of the Grey Lady, the shadows and light in the arch, combined with knowledge of the ghost’s fable, make us see what we want to see.

巴里所在的团队曾上过英国、美国和日本的一些电视节目。巴里说在“灰女士”事件中，拱门的影子和光线，以及我们对鬼魂传说的了解，都让我们看到了我们想看到的东西。

Matrixing may also help explain why people think they can see faces or symbols, for example, in clouds or burnt into a piece of toast. But Mr Ghai said there could also be the far simpler explanation for the Grey Lady’s appearance – that someone happened to be standing in the shadows when the photo was taken.

“矩阵”同样可以解释人们为什么会在如云朵或烤好的面包片中看到人脸或是某些符号。但是巴里说对灰女士事件还有一个更为简单的解释---那就是拍摄那张照片的时候正好有人站在了阴影处。

Whatever the explanation, the photograph, which was taken in August, is only now creating a stir among ghosthunters – just in time for the Hallowe’en season.

不管怎样解释，这张拍摄于八月份的照片都只会在最近轰动一时，毕竟马上就是万圣节了。