How much would you pay to own the ghost of famed amateur golfer Bobby Jones?
Now ask yourself: would Jones’ spirit be worth more or less if he came hand-delivered and captured in a jar?
eBay’s not-exactly-a-power-seller rklassman thinks the going rate for essence of golf legend starts at $1,000.
The fabled jar, unassuming though it is, nonetheless holds a troubled spirit according to rklassman, who relived the adventure on his auction page shortly before the website Golf Rumors found it yesterday.
Earlier this year, I began to hear strange voices come from my garage and specifically my golf clubs. The voice would repeat “Syringomyelia, Syringomyelia.” At first I had no idea what the ghost was saying, so I googled the word. Syringomyelia is the disease that paralyzed killed hall of fame golfer Bobby Jones. I asked the apparition are you Bobby Jones? The ghost then became visible dressed in 1950’s golfing gear. The ghost said yes I am Bobby Jones. I didn’t know what to do, so in panic I took the jar next to me and forced the ghost of Bobby Jones into the container. Thankfully this ghostly version of Bobby Jones was the paralyzed version of him and not the pristine athlete from the 1920’s.
Rklassman stated that because his wife hates ghosts, “I have decided to sell Mr. Jones on ebay.”
Sadly, it seems no one took rklassman up on the bid before he yanked the offer last night, though it was a notable standout among his current offerings of baseball cards and an offer to be your pen pal correspondent for only $1,000.
This isn’t the first time recently rklassman has posted an unusual item on his eBay shop, however. Last month it was a bottle of icewater that the seller “hoped to have been scooped out of” gold medal Olympian Mo Farah’s “ice bath.” (The ice melted, sorry.)
We have to wonder how the “scooping things into containers” angle is working for rklassman thus far. We were unable to determine whether Mo Farah’s hypothetical bath water actually sold, but rklassman seems confident in the value of his products, since both were priced at $1,000.
Rklassman isn’t the only auctioneer on eBay to go with the old “forced the spirit into a bottle” trick, either; the latest similar auction, by seller tuckywood, even includes a photo of the ghost, while seller appollonetworks’ auction promises nothing but “a very angry” spirit, allegedly forced into a jar by a local shaman.
The skeptical website What’s the Harm? documents instances when belief in the paranormal has led to gullible people getting duped. Undoubtedly rklassman’s final note to his would-be eBay buyers would have made them eligible for the list: “Unfortunately Mr. Jones ghost can only be seen by true believers. If you are not a true believer bid with caution, for you may be unable to see him.”
The corporeal Bobby Jones founded the Masters and made a fortune, first as an instructor and then as a golf club designer. Though paralysis from a rare disease called syringomyelia struck him later in life, he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, and the Masters is now one of the premier golf tournaments in the world.
Perhaps rklassman ended the auction prematurely so he could open the jar, in case Jones had any marketing advice to offer him.
Meanwhile, tuckywood’s ghost, devoid of Jones’ claim to fame, is going for a mere $150, while apollonetworks thinks angry spirits are worth at least $500. But tuckywood warns that there are no guarantees, either of the ghost’s authenticity or as to the buyer’s safety if they choose to purchase it:
“I shall have no responsibility if the bottle is opened, and what happens after that.“
Photo via lenore-m/Flickr
