Alex Salmond, the former first minister of Scotland, has claimed he has seen photographic evidence that ghosts exist.
Speaking to BuzzFeed News at the SNP conference in Aberdeen, Salmond said he was the guest of honour at the opening of a hotel where the owners showed him a picture of a ghostly phenomenon which he believes defies scientific understanding.
"There’s a hotel I opened where I saw pictoral evidence which would make anything think seriously about this issue," the former SNP leader said. "I have seen a photo, which I know was not forged or created, that would give anyone serious thought about these things."
"I find the picture I saw, and other experiences I’ve had, difficult to explain by what would be normally considered," he continued. "Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re seeing earthly apparitions of people gone by – there could be other explanations – but there was certainly something in that picture which requires explanation."
Asked to go into further detail about what other explanations he could offer for the phenomenon, Salmond, who once played a ghost in a Pakistani soap opera, said the answer could lie in astronomy.
"You know I’m interested in astronomy, and when you’re looking at the stars you’re looking at the past. Maybe that could be an explanation, I don’t know."
Salmond said he advised the hotel owners to use the photo of the ghost as an attraction and offer "ghost or non-ghost" rooms, but they decided to keep it quiet.
He has challenged BuzzFeed News to find the hotel and the picture of the ghost.