In her own words, Mellisa Braham from St. Helens recounts, “Recently, it was my birthday, and I received a new smartphone as a gift. On Friday, February 26, I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and took my dog for an afternoon walk. I brought along my new phone to test out the camera.”
Before zooming in, the initial photo taken by Mellisa captured a series of short videos and various photos with different resolutions during her afternoon outing. Later that evening, she transferred the photos to her computer for closer examination. It was during this review that she noticed what appeared to be a diminutive humanoid-shaped figure walking from right to left in one of the still photos.
Mellisa elaborated, “Now, I’m not saying that the object is a tiny, living, breathing creature of some kind, but if you look at the enlarged images, you can see that it does resemble a two-legged creature: it has a head, eye, body, arms, legs, hands, and feet. No one knows what the foreign object is, but it must be something because it reflects light and casts a shadow on the ground. It doesn’t resemble a squirrel, a rat, a bird, or any other animal I’ve seen before. It’s a very peculiar-looking object. I suppose it could be something or nothing, like a piece of debris caught at an odd angle, a trick of the lighting, or something else that distorts its appearance. I’m not well-versed in photography, so all I can offer is my perception of how it appears to me.”
She clarified that the photo was taken with a 12 MP camera set to full auto mode and at full resolution, with no zoom utilized. The photo was taken on Cowley Hill Lane, St. Helens, between the Victoria Park entrance and the now-demolished health center. Mellisa mentioned her intention to send the photo to experts for their analysis.
Continuing, she relayed the insights of one researcher who noted that the figure appears two-dimensional and lacks detail, which echoed sentiments shared by others. The researcher explained that the photo is consistent with bright sun conditions and that she wouldn’t expect to see as much detail unless it was cloudy and dull. Additionally, she pondered the hypothetical scenario of the figure being an actual shape-shifting alien entity and questioned how it would be perceived by the human eye.
Mellisa emphasized that she did not notice the figure when she took the photo; it was merely a quick test shot to assess the camera’s functionality. She raised the valid point that if someone had placed the figure there as a prank, a model, a toy, or a cardboard cutout, why didn’t she or any passerby notice it?
The “small” humanoid figure captured by Mellisa on film has sparked intrigue and speculation. Mellisa noted that although it wasn’t a particularly windy day, there were moments when the breeze picked up, albeit not strong enough to easily displace a lightweight toy, let alone a paper cutout. She posed a compelling question: who could make a piece of paper less than a millimeter thick stand up on its own on a windy day without visible support?
Unfortunately, Mellisa’s story has faced skepticism and ridicule. Despite her earnest account, some have labeled her a liar and derided her for sharing it. Nonetheless, her experience has garnered attention, being featured on several popular alien-related websites. 
