MovieChat Forums > The Amityville Horror (1979) Discussion > The Ghost Boy near the bannisters - so i...

The Ghost Boy near the bannisters - so if he was real, where is he now?

posted 9 years ago by supadude2004
9 replies | jump to latest

The most famous photograph from this case, is that of the ghost boy near the bannisters of the house's stairs. Given that the psychological phenomenon of patternicity can safely be ruled out, sceptics like to say that he was, of course, a "real" boy; a boy, who was somehow hidden as he accompanied journalists and the Warrens into the locked house, (or stayed in wait for their arrival) so that he could be told to be there for the photo...

That's how the sceptics see it.

Well then, there is an ever continuing problem with that viewpoint: Where is the boy, as a grown up man, today, then?

If he now came out and was able to give any evidence that he worked with the Warrens (or even the journalists who accompanied them, on the day that photo was taken) to create that shot, there would be newspapers queueing up, to take on his story! And that means there is plenty of 'doolah' ready for the man. But, no man has ever come forward to say he worked with the Warrens and journalists, on that day, to create that shot!

So, it's still not inconceivable that the Warrens plus their guests on that day, were indeed telling the truth about that photo.

Just look to the photo again, and there is something very unnatural after all about the boy's eye's in that photo...

And yet, there must still be plenty of sceptics, who *still* believe that the boy was somehow a real person at the time, and likely because of his signing a confidential non-disclosure agreement (which, if they only thought about it, wouldn't even have any legal effect - given the boy's young age at the time, BTW) still hasn't, and for that very reason, come forward to admit his part in the drama.

But wait a minute, aren't sceptics the ones who are supposed to be questioning unlikely events, whose facts barely add up? The notion that he was a "real" boy in that photo, is (despite all the other alleged facts) becoming more and more unlikely with every year that passes, when nobody has come forward to admit being that boy.

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Sandwiched between The Principle of Mediocrity & Rare Earth Theory, you should see The Fermi Paradox

[–] kaydie-fee 9 years ago

I think it was Paul Bartz, the Warrens young assistant - there's an old newspaper report saying Paul was investigating upstairs while nearly everyone else left the house - the cameras would've been set up at that time, here's a pic of him at the house https://newsfromthespiritworld.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/paul-bartz.jpg here's the ghost https://newsfromthespiritworld.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/amityville-ghost-boy-pic-hq-lutz-haunting.jpg - when I saw that pic years ago I thought it was the creepiest picture I'd ever seen, but I look at it now and see what I once thought were demonic glowing eyes is the flare from a pair of glasses and that the torso is too long, the legs too short be a little boy, it looks like an adult in a checked shirt crouching down.

[–] supadude2004 9 years ago

No it wasn't and couldn't possibly have been Paul Bartz, who was (let's not forget) an investigator who worked with the warrens. That possibility was raised previously, and fully debunked. There are no pictures of his being in the house.

What's more, and this is the most obvious rebuttal, Mr. Bartz has a completely and unquestionably different shape of nose to the nose of the ghost boy in the picture. That nose, its 'boxed rectangular' shape, is unquestionably similar to that of the youngest member of the Defeo family, and such is easily seen from pictures of him versus the ghost boy photo. Which can be seen on many sites - such as g h o s t s t u d y . c o m

Also, the larger than usual distance between the upper lip of the boy (when he was alive) perfectly matches the same distance in the ghost boy photo.

To secretly find another person who so very closely matches the photo of the youngest Defeo and slip him in to the house unnoticed, before the photographer and journalists arrived that day, only to fulfil that role, and then keep him quiet for over thirty years - defies rational belief. In other words...

I still stand by my post above.

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Sandwiched between The Principle of Mediocrity & Rare Earth Theory, you should see The Fermi Paradox

[–] kaydie-fee 9 years ago

No it wasn't and couldn't possibly have been Paul Bartz

Well that's me convinced.......

That possibility was raised previously, and fully debunked

Um, by who?when?

He was in the house though (??)...he was part of the investigation, I'm not really sure how can you tell the shape of the ghosts nose or Pauls nose from 2 photos at completely different angles? The ghost photo is not exactly HQ either - you can see what looks like glasses though and the Defoe boys didn't wear glasses.
There's a reason the photo took a 3 years to come to light it's because when the investigators/Warrens saw it the first time they thought 'oh look there's Paul' not 'oh look there's the ghost of a Defeo boy', it was the photographers secretary who spotted the 'ghost boy' in the photo in 1979.

Someone on an Amityville board contacted Mr Bartz (and yes I think its the real him) and he had this to say
The image in the photo you mention does resemble me and I know that Ed (now deceased) and Lorraine went on record (including national tv) stating it was a ghost. Because I have great respect and admiration for them, I will say no more on the issue, allowing the legend of the most haunted house in America, to continue. - it must be weird for him

[–] euro4569 9 years ago

I believe in ghosts/ the supernatural. However, I have to say that the picture of the presence near the bannisters looked to be a bit too cliche (e.g. The Eyes).

[–] Mr_Ectoplasma 9 years ago

It could be Bartz--that's totally possible. I've never heard of this before (I've seen the photo of course, but never a photo of him, nor did I know he was there on the day the photos were taken). What makes me think it could be him is that, through the banister, you can sort of make out what looks like a plaid shirt, like the one he is wearing in the other photo.

In any case, it's a creepy picture. I remember seeing it for the first time when I was maybe thirteen while browsing the internet reading about the Amityville case. It scared the hell out of me then.

I do wonder what is going on in the photo. I've experienced supernatural occurrences firsthand and believe in that sort of thing, but I also try to be as realistic as possible, and I think it's quite possible that the "little boy" in the photo is Bartz.

[–] kirkwuk 9 years ago

It was Bartz for sure, I believe the man himself revealed he was photographed for being somewhere he wasn't supposed to be but keep it quiet. He said this on Amityville Truth forums some years ago.

[–] kurt-2000 9 years ago

Amityville Truth forums

Yeah, the only thing not presented there was the truth.

again...this house received a home exorcism shortly after the Lutz family left. It's anyone's guess what happened in the house, if anything at all.

[–] kirkwuk 9 years ago

Go there yourself, it was the real guy on the forum who admitted it. Said the Warrens photo'd it but didn't mention a kid was running around to the media afterwards.

[–] kirkwuk 9 years ago

Go there yourself, it was the real guy on the forum who admitted it. Said the Warrens photo'd it but didn't mention a kid was running around to the media afterwards.