SAUGUS, Mass. -- Karen Coburn burst into tears upon seeing a picture that she believes shows an angel flying through her home.

Coburn snapped a few photos last week of her brother Allen painting at her Lincoln Avenue residence, our news partner the Saugus Advertiser reported.

She took it to document the addition of a master bedroom to the home and never expected what she discovered when the developed pictures came back.

In one of the images you can make out a bluish-white light that she is convinced depicts the wings, head and body of an angel.

At first Coburn thought the angel could have been her late father. But upon closer inspection she thinks the image is of her older brother Stephen, who tragically drowned in the Saugus River in 1964 when he was 13 years old.

“Every time I look at the photo it looks more and more like Stephen,” Coburn said. “I’m not sure who the angel is for sure, but I definitely think it’s my brother.”

Several family members and friends who saw the photo share Coburn’s belief that it shows an angel.

Allen Perullo took one glance at the picture and concluded it was Stephen.

“I showed it to him and he said ‘I always knew (Stephen) is my guardian angel,’” Coburn said.

Coburn acknowledged that some people might think she’s reading too much into the photo. For instance, particles on camera lenses are known to distort images in unusual ways.

But Coburn — who told the Saugus Advertiser she is spiritual and believes in angels – takes comfort in the possibility that our loved ones might be out there watching over us.

“Hopefully some people will hear about this and feel better that family or friends who they lost are still with us,” Coburn said.