By Alex Jones
MYSTERY surrounds a box of bizarre 50-year-old images found tucked away in a Texan loft â with one theory suggesting the perplexing shots were created by TIME-TRAVELLERS.
The origins of the mind-bending pictures, including a surreal photo of cowboys wrangling with floating seahorses and an unsettling oversized doll all set in an abandoned home, are shrouded in mystery.
Other eerie images include misshapen cutlery scattered across a derelict hallway, a monstrous rotten apple with a chunk bitten out of it in a mouldy room, and a surreal spring-loaded novelty Jesus statue in a dated lecture hall.
The startling cache of pictures was discovered by Arizonan photographer Dale OâDell, 59, whilst he was clearing out his dead grandmotherâs house in Texas
âIt was a completely unexpected, out-of-the-blue discovery as I cleaned out the attic of my deceased grandmotherâs home,â OâDell explained.
âEverything I found were things youâd expect, normal, usual kinds of things that are either distributed to remaining family members or tossed in the rubbish bin â except for a dusty, falling apart old envelope of weird pictures that shouldnât exist.
âThe photos seemed to me to be out-of-time and out-of-place.
âI wasnât sure exactly what I had but it seemed important.
âWere the owners artists, or art-collectors, or perhaps, time-travellers?â
OâDell is now attempting to find out where the curious images came from but has had little luck so far.
âWith both grandparents deceased, they wouldnât be providing any answers,â he continued.
âNeighbours I questioned knew nothing and neither did any of the remaining family members of my grandmotherâs.
âI have no knowledge of my grandparentsâ circle of friends, so no answers there either.
âI found no cameras or props or anything that could indicate the vintage colour prints thatâve been hidden away for fifty years or more were created by my grandparents.
âThe mystery of the discovery is as compelling as the photos themselves.â
OâDell has created a book of the fascinating images, âLost in Time: The Mystery of the Attic Photosâ available here.