Strange Photo at the Cavalier Hotel - Virginia Beach, VA

by James
(Richmond, VA, US)

Attached for your review is a story with some photos of the Cavalier Hotel in Virginia Beach, VA. Not sure what to make of the image in the photo. Have tried to find ways to debunk them. Even visited the Cavalier recently (while open) looking for possible light source candidates or reflective surfaces. Cannot seem to explain away.

There are several alleged hauntings including one of a young girl who allegedly drowned in the pool. For the record, it looks to me like a female with arms folded across chest and perhaps the edge of pleats of a dress or skirt. The proportions seem to be right for a human figure. Feel free to debunk this photo…

I am a frequent business traveler and have recently redeveloped (bad photo pun) my interest in photography after many years. Will go out after work and shoot the interesting sights in the city I am in.

Business brought me to Virginia Beach on a Monday night in early April 2011. I am originally from the area and remember the Cavalier Hotel as being something I have always wanted to photograph and had never visited before. The hotel was still closed for the season, I think they open in May.
I have to admit, it seemed very creepy walking around the building. It was just the old empty building and myself. I shot some exterior shots of the hotel against the fading daylight.

I walked around the entire structure from the left and around to the right. The main entrance on the north side of the building was of course dark. You could make out a little of the interior of the lobby, so I pressed my camera lens to the glass and shot two 30 second shots (hand held, no tripod). It felt like I was being watched (hair stand up on the back of your neck feeling) as I shot the photos and figured I was on security tape and was going to be escorted off the property at any time. It was a VERY odd feeling.


Not until returning to my hotel room did I look at the photos. Both of the pictures show something “floating” at the back of the lobby. The first picture was too blurry to make out any detail, but it has the same anomaly, but in a slightly different location. Also, both pictures were taken several feet apart from each other.

Up until this time, I had no idea the hotel had a “reputation”. I then checked the web for photos of the lobby and can’t find anything that looks like that in the photos. The camera lens was flush against the glass. The object in the image could, of course, be some kind of lens flare or reflection. But if that is the case, it sure manifested itself in a strange manner… Thought I would share the photos.

There are three photos in the set. The first is the original unprocessed photo. Second is the full photo, with just the lighting levels adjusted. The last one is close cropped to the object.

Have the original RAW untouched image available for review as well (cannot upload to web in RAW)

Thanks.