The Curious Case of Orbs!

Orbs are believed by many in the paranormal society to be that of ghosts or spirits assumed to travel in groups. They are believed to be the soul of persons who once had a physical body. Mediums claim to speak with them and ghost “hunters” claim to photograph them regularly.

ORBS!

I have a definite problem with orbs. I cannot describe the anger I have when I hear “hunters” claim that a location is “haunted” due to the multitude of “orbs” on their digital pictures. I dispute the theory of “orbs” as being spiritual in nature on most images presented to me. This is to say that if you show me a picture of an orb and I will dispute its authenticity. I will show you that you took a picture in an attic that no one has been in for months. You disrupted the dust that settled during that time, while you may not notice the change yourself, it happened. This is not to say that the energy that caused you to see what you wanted to see does not exist. Orbs are merely something I personally find hard to believe only because I can prove their existence is not paranormal in nature for almost all cases.

The term orb is merely a description of circular objects that may occur in flash photography. They sometimes have tails indicating motion (also referred to in paranormal circles as “squiggle phenomena.”) In the photography world, it is referred to as backscatter or near-camera reflection. The cause of these anomalies is known throughout the paranormal and photography worlds. These objects are usually caught in low-light situations where the camera’s flash is being utilized. They are especially common with compact cameras where the distance between the lens and the light is very short. This directly illuminates the particles that face the lens and increases the camera’s ability to capture any light reflected off non-visible particles. Dust, pollen, liquid particles like condensation or rain, is all suspect in the anomalies they present. They may appear solid, or semi-solid, circular, and sometimes have partial color spectrums like light traveling through a raindrop producing a rainbow effect.

ORBS!

 There is a great group of investigators who came up with a brilliant idea of the dual camera system. (I highly recommend reading their website! www.ghostbreakers.com) Both cameras point in the same direction but at slightly different angles (to change the reflective flash pattern) and take a single picture at the same time. If the orb were to appear on only one camera then this can be explained as the reflective pattern of the flash on a non-visible particle for that camera. One would assume that if it were to appear on both cameras then it is not merely a reflective flash pattern and you could possibly call it paranormal in nature. (Please be aware that this is only my opinion as a skeptic who looks for explanations based on science. My theories may not reflect the true nature of an orb or its presence.)

ORBS!

I will never berate another investigator or their groups on how they investigate or what they claim to find. However, a paranormal investigation group claiming to be scientific in their research should never use just orbs as a determining factor of paranormal activity.