.(photograph/TARYN PEDLER/DailyMail/Jam press
Santo Domingo, North America (EPICSTORIAN ) – Mourners at a funeral in the Dominican Republic were left in shock when a dead man inside the coffin appeared to open his eyes.
The eerie moment was captured in photographs, sparking disbelief and speculation among those gathered to pay their final respects.
The man, dressed in white, lay inside a casket with a glass panel above his face. Initially, his eyes were firmly shut. However, in the next frame, his eyelids appeared to be slightly open, leaving attendees questioning what they had just witnessed.
Dead Man’s Mourners React to the Bizarre Phenomenon
Family members were the first to notice the unsettling movement. One relative anxiously asked, “Who knows if he’s fighting for his life?” Some mourners immediately suggested calling an ambulance, fearing the man might still be alive. Others speculated that the flickering eyelids could be an illusion caused by mobile phone flashlights reflecting off the glass.
One onlooker attributed the phenomenon to involuntary muscle reflexes, stating, “Post-mortem muscle memory—it happens in some corpses.” Another dismissed the event entirely, insisting, “It’s just the reflection of mobile phone torches. Look again.”
Not everyone took the moment seriously. A funeral attendee quipped, “He opened his eyes when he remembered he left his mobile phone behind and didn’t lock it.” Another joked, “He’s checking to see who actually showed up to his funeral.”
Unsettling Cases of the ‘Living Dead’
This is not the first time such an incident has baffled mourners. In 2023, a 49-year-old woman in Thailand, presumed dead, suddenly regained consciousness inside a vehicle transporting her body to the funeral home.
A year earlier, a Peruvian woman shocked relatives when she started banging on the lid of her coffin during her own funeral. Despite the desperate discovery, she passed away just hours later.
In 2020, a case in Michigan nearly led to a horrifying mistake. A 20-year-old woman with special needs was declared dead, placed in a body bag, and sent to a funeral home. Embalmers were about to prepare her body when they noticed her eyes were open, ultimately saving her from an untimely fate.
Science Behind Post-Mortem Movements
Medical experts explain that slight movements after death can occur due to post-mortem muscle contractions, rigor mortis, or external stimuli such as changes in light and temperature.
While unsettling, these movements are generally not signs of life but rather the body’s natural process of shutting down.
For now, the Dominican Republic case remains a topic of fascination and debate, leaving many to wonder: was it a trick of light, an involuntary reflex, or something even more mysterious?
