A family in Virginia believe their home security system may have captured an image of a Civil War ghost lingering in their living room and frightening their dog!

The intriguing photo was allegedly taken when Tim Welty was visiting his parents' home to fix their computer.

He later received a phone call from his mother saying that something strange had been spotted by the security system they had set up to watch their dogs.

Indeed, in the photo from the Weltys, there appears to be a burly, somewhat transparent figure hovering only a few feet away from a seemingly unaware Tim, who looks to be checking his phone.

However, it looks as if the anomaly was noticed by someone else in the room as the family's cocker spaniel seems to be giving the ghost an inquisitive look.

Since their home is located in a part of Virginia that saw heavy combat during the Civil War, the Weltys speculate that the apparition could have been from that era.

And while the possibility exists that the image is a well-crafted hoax, the apparent interest in the oddity from the Welty's dog makes the standard skeptic suggestion that the 'ghost' is a photographic anomaly sounds rather suspicious.