Have you ever wandered through the woods and felt like someone was watching you?
Duffy Springfield and her partner experienced a similar unsettling feeling, which turned into fear when they noticed something strange in photos taken from a mountain peak in Panther, West Virginia.
Like many hikers, the couple captured images of the breathtaking view to commemorate their achievement. However, they were shocked to discover something eerie near a nearby structure in their photos.
Springfield shared that during their March hike, she noticed what resembled a ‘hand’ in the developed pictures.
In an interview with Newsweek, she recounted: “I like to do film photography, and my boyfriend and I were making a scrapbook of all the developed photos I took.
“I just kinda saw it—I’m not really sure how I even noticed it since it’s such a small detail.
“We both agreed it was weird and thought it even looked a little like a hand. Honestly, we were pretty excited when we saw it because of all the cryptids said to lurk in the West Virginian mountains.
“Even if it’s not actually a hand, it’s a fun story to have.”
Cryptids are essentially mythical or unverified creatures believed to exist based on sightings, yet lacking scientific evidence.
Famous cryptids worldwide include Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and yetis, with West Virginia rumored to be home to several.
Among them are Mothman, a large winged creature with glowing red eyes; the Flatwoods Monster, a tall being with a red face and green body; and Snarly Yow, a canine-like entity with luminous eyes. Scary stuff.
Curious about what they had witnessed, Springfield turned to Reddit, posting: “My boyfriend and I aren’t really sure what to think.
“We went to a state park in West Virginia during off season, according to the park ranger (and the conditions of the hiking trails) we were the only ones there for the week and had been the first there in a while.
“I took this pic at the top of the mountain. Behind the pillar should have been nothing, a drop off to the woods below. Are we bugging? That really looks like a hand.”
One Reddit user inquired about the size of the structure it appeared to be ‘holding onto’, to which she responded that it was ‘about 4ft tall’.
Another user remarked: “Could be fungus but yeah that really looks like a hand.”
Someone else suggested: “Go back, it’s the only way to be sure. It’d bother you for the rest of your life otherwise.”
That last suggestion sounds like what would happen to a character in a typical horror movie!