An eerie piece of footage purportedly showing an empty swing seemingly moving vigorously on its own has gone viral in India. The weird video appeared on various social media sites in the country earlier this month and spread like wildfire as many speculated that it showed some kind of paranormal activity. According to media reports, the fact that the strange scene was filmed in broad daylight has made the footage almost more compelling to observers than the standard ghost video fare.
In the footage, the spooky swing wildly moves back and forth while another swing next to it sits perfectly still. This would seem to suggest that the inexplicable swinging is not being caused by the wind or some other natural factor. And, although we are uncertain as to what the witnesses watching the swing are saying, it certainly sounds like they are unnerved by what they are witnessing. This conclusion is strengthened by the ending of the video, where an odd noise can be heard and the person behind the camera runs away ostensibly in fright.
Dubbed 'hammock ghost' and 'ghost swing' on Indian social media, the video serves as something of an interesting case study in how the internet spawns modern urban legends. That's because the footage has appeared on the accounts of numerous different people who claim that it took place at various parks found throughout the country. Ultimately, the expansive spread of the video online and the multiple locations attributed to the scene have rendered the true origin of the footage nearly impossible to discern.
Whether it truly shows some kind of ghostly activity is, of course, a matter of conjecture. Much like the 'haunted doll' caught on film in Scotland recently, the positioning of the camera makes it hard to truly rule out the possibility that it is a not-so-elaborate hoax that was created using fishing line. That said, this isn't the first time that a video of a potentially haunted swing has made headlines as, two years ago, a Rhode Island family filmed a similar scene at a playground. So perhaps there's just something about such sites that drawn the attention of spirits looking for a bit of fun.