Orbs - Don't Waste Your Time

I began ghost hunting around 1997.  For about a year I thought I was the greatest spirit hunter that ever lived.  I had rolls of film and memory cards chock full of ghostly round images floating around tombstones, trees, bridges, buildings and rooms of houses.  I was cornering the market on these orb pictures.  Back in 1999 paranormal investigation via critical thinking was still in it's infancy.  As a result, every website I visited had confirmations that what I was capturing was in fact spirit-based.

Then it occurred to me.  As I was looking through old rolls of film and contact prints from college photography classes I started seeing it.  I was seeing similar anomalies on photos that I KNEW were taken/developed/enlarged with the presence of water/dust/crap either on the negative, on the lens or on the paper.  This is the stuff I had been taking so many pictures of.

There is tons of discussion out there regarding this.  I can link you to a dozen websites run by ESTABLISHED, RESPECTED researchers who will all tell you the same thing regarding the natural occurring anomalies.  Yet for some reason people still feel compelled to pass this stuff off as paranormal.  Just last week I was watching a show on the Reality Channel called "Scary But True" where a couple 15 year old kids went out to a field where there was supposedly a vortex (:rolleyes:).  They spent the night scaring each other and taking dust and moisture pictures.  To make it worse they explained these to be paranormal and the Reality Channel actually showed the pictures as "evidence".  It is 2008 people - learn what you are looking at already.

What is an orb?
I doubt any paranormal investigator will argue that there is no such thing as an "orb" as a paranormal anomaly.  What they will also tell you is how rare they are.  To put it into perspective - I have been investigating for 10 years.  I have associates who are much more well known and have been at it a lot longer.  In our some 25+ years of collective experience we have managed to shoot 3 confirmed real orbs and 1 potential.  That's it.

There are many theories out there as to what a true orb represents.  The one I believe to be true is that they are not the spirit at all.  

"The orb is the energy being transferred from a source (i.e. power lines, heat energy, batteries, people, etc) to the spirit so they can manifest.   This may not even be a conscious thing the spirit is doing, just a natural way they get their energy.  This would explain why the orbs are round balls.  According to the laws of Physics energy being transferring like that would assume is natural shape of a sphere.   This theory can also be tied into the EMF readings obtained during spirit activity." - The Shadowlands

Orbs do have a place in paranormal investigation but I think it is important that they don't represent a spirit so much as they represent the PRESENCE of one.

What causes natural orbs?
Natural orbs can be caused by any number of airborne particles.  These particles may not be visible to the naked eye but when light from a flash REFLECTS off/REFRACTS them they become visible.  The biggest culprits are generally dust, moisture and pollen.  Digital is GENERALLY more susceptible to capturing these anomalies but film is very capable as well.  I discuss DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY and why this is the case more in ANOTHER ARTICLE.

Identifying Orbs
This isn't really rocket science.  It is also far from an exact science.  The best rule when analyzing a photo is to be skeptical and conservative.  It is ALWAYS better to assume an orb is natural and prove it isn't than to go the other way because the majority of the time an assumption that it isn't a real orb is the right choice.

The following are the generally accepted guidelines to use when identifying orbs:

Real Orbs

• Generally much more solid in appearance
• Cool colors
• Real orbs usually show some motion - often times erratic paths
• Very bright
• Hazy corona around the outer edge

Natural Orbs

• Dull and not bright
• Have a hollow/3-dimensional appearance
• Cellular-like makeup
• Warm colors
• Usually don't show much (if any) motion
• Can take other geometric shapes such as squares/diamonds

Photographic Examples
This is believed to be a real orb: