An eerie video showing a corpse appearing to be waving from inside a coffin at a funeral service in Indonesia has gone viral online.
The bone-chilling footage was captured during a Christian service in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, on May 5, reports 7news.com.
The presiding priest was reading the final prayers, when the apparent outline of a hand and fingers could be seen moving under the glass panel in the casket. At the time, the deceased’s family was too heartbroken to notice the strange happening, said 7news.com.
In the 12-second video clip, the priest is heard saying: “God has said in the book of John. I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me he will live even though he is dead.’‘
Moments later the limb seems to wave or press its hand against the coffin lid.
Locals suggested the body was waving or trying to alert the mourners that it was still alive. However, it remains unknown if the person was still alive, or if anyone checked the status of the corpse.
“Yes, he waved, maybe he was still alive and trying to dig his way out,” reported Yunita Ouwa online.
Despite the claims, the corpse was likely to have been moving around due to rigor mortis and the changes in ligaments during decomposition.
A study reported in Medical News Todya in September 2019 found that human bodies can move on their own after death.
Researchers from Central Queensland University who were studying the process of decomposition found that, without any external “assistance,” human remains can change their position.
This discovery has important implications for forensic science, says 7news.com.
An article published on Mother Nature Network (MNN) on September 17, 2019, says it is possible for a corpse to move while in the coffin.
MNN reports that a researcher in Australia who took it upon herself to study corpses for 17 months found that human bodies don’t just twitch — they move quite a lot.
Researcher Alyson Wilson, who visited the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research (AFTER), found that arms that had been close to the body were discovered flung out to the side.
“We think the movements relate to the process of decomposition, as the body mummifies and the ligaments dry out,” Wilson told AFP.
Her findings are published in the journal Forensic Science International: Synergy.
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