Orbs. [Published]
Yeah, so this was actually something I wrote a while back for another site, a little guide about orbs and some information on them, basically sort of for beginners in paranormal investigation. I realize paranormal studies are by no means an exact science, so it's going a lot on what I feel is most accurate from what I've learned about these things, but you can feel free to disagree and state your beliefs about them, or add to this if you would like to.
It's also written in a very different way than I would have written it here, but I figure there is no sense in rewriting it, so it will have to do. So without further ado, my guide to orbs!
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So I figure to start this out, I’d talk about something that’s a fairly common paranormal phenomena… or so people seem to think. There is a lot of controversy surrounding this phenomena, and I’m here to help set the record straight.
Orbs are always going to be iffy when it comes to being used as “proof” of the paranormal. That’s just how it is. Does it mean they can’t be? No. But they should be taken with a grain of salt, for sure. Some of even the most convincing orb pictures I’ve seen, were proved to be dust or something not of the paranormal nature. I got the most beautiful shot in front of the Castle Warden in St. Augustine…
Very beautiful, and spooky right? Okay, maybe not so much. And a lot of you could probably figure that out. It was just raining that night. And all the rain drops reflected my flash. This could easily be mistaken for an orb orgy by some, but it’s really got a very normal explanation. Nothing paranormal here.
So lots of things can be mistaken for orbs. A lot of professionals say legit orbs can be seen without a camera. And supposedly the best cam for catching real orbs would be a basic 35mm camera.
Criteria I’ve seen most legit professionals give is orbs should be fairly round, may have a “tail” when zoomed in, and they seem to emit their own light rather than reflecting.
Even legit orbs may not be a sign of a typical “haunting”. Many experts claim it’s just energy… that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a spirit. So you have to be careful not to jump to conclusions even if you think you capture a REAL orb. It may mean nothing.
It’s really all up to you to decide, though. Sometimes you have to decide things for yourselves and whether to take them super seriously, or not, to take it as real evidence of paranormal activity or a simple fluke.
It's also written in a very different way than I would have written it here, but I figure there is no sense in rewriting it, so it will have to do. So without further ado, my guide to orbs!
---
So I figure to start this out, I’d talk about something that’s a fairly common paranormal phenomena… or so people seem to think. There is a lot of controversy surrounding this phenomena, and I’m here to help set the record straight.
Orbs are always going to be iffy when it comes to being used as “proof” of the paranormal. That’s just how it is. Does it mean they can’t be? No. But they should be taken with a grain of salt, for sure. Some of even the most convincing orb pictures I’ve seen, were proved to be dust or something not of the paranormal nature. I got the most beautiful shot in front of the Castle Warden in St. Augustine…
Very beautiful, and spooky right? Okay, maybe not so much. And a lot of you could probably figure that out. It was just raining that night. And all the rain drops reflected my flash. This could easily be mistaken for an orb orgy by some, but it’s really got a very normal explanation. Nothing paranormal here.
So lots of things can be mistaken for orbs. A lot of professionals say legit orbs can be seen without a camera. And supposedly the best cam for catching real orbs would be a basic 35mm camera.
Criteria I’ve seen most legit professionals give is orbs should be fairly round, may have a “tail” when zoomed in, and they seem to emit their own light rather than reflecting.
Even legit orbs may not be a sign of a typical “haunting”. Many experts claim it’s just energy… that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a spirit. So you have to be careful not to jump to conclusions even if you think you capture a REAL orb. It may mean nothing.
It’s really all up to you to decide, though. Sometimes you have to decide things for yourselves and whether to take them super seriously, or not, to take it as real evidence of paranormal activity or a simple fluke.
Comments
Yeah. But some people believe spiritual energy can cause such things as well. I don't know. Kind of feel like a lot of that stuff is BS, but then, I've gotten some weird "orb" pictures before where I really shouldn't have, like in old cemeteries with like nothing electrical around (I've heard electrical wires positioned in certain areas can cause orbs) and like no storms or anything like that. Particularly because it was in a cemetery, it'd be nice to believe it was spirtiual energy, but then it could have been something totally naturally, so you never know. So it's weird. Interesting to think about, though... at least for me.
This is because the orbs hate you:o I don't know what they are. I used to live in a house that was 280 years old and there were some strange things that went on. A couple of times I saw an orb show up in a photograph but I cant be sure if it was just light or dust or something. There an interesting phenomenon but I think a lot of them can be dismissed but some are indeed very strange.
If you still have some of those pics would you post them please? I've heard of orbs before and have seen them on documentaries but I'm very skeptical about these kind of things. Even if orbs aren't ghosts or ectoplasm or some kind of spiritual whatever and they are actually just concentrated energy that is still really cool.
They were spiraling into a chair and when I went and checked they disappeared. About a half an hour later it came back onto the chair and I just left them.
It's kinda creepy but comforting in a way. It's just letting you know it's there.
I thought it was dust at first, but dust doesn't spiral into stationary objects.
Orb artifacts are captured during low-light instances where the camera's flash is implemented, such as at night or underwater. The artifacts are especially common with compact or ultra-compact cameras, where the short distance between the lens and the built-in flash decreases the angle of light reflection to the lens, directly illuminating the aspect of the particles facing the lens and increasing the camera's ability to capture the light reflected off normally sub-visible particles.[1]
The orb artifact can result from retroreflection of light off solid particles (e.g., dust, pollen), liquid particles (water droplets, especially rain) or other foreign material within the camera lens.[1]
The image artifacts usually appear as either white or semi-transparent circles, though may also occur with whole or partial color spectrums, purple fringing or other chromatic aberration. With rain droplets, an image may capture light passing through the droplet creating a small rainbow effect.
In underwater conditions, particles such as sand or small sea life close to the lens, invisible to the diver, reflect light from the flash causing the orb artifact in the image. A strobe flash, which distances the flash from the lens, eliminates the artifacts.
Below are two diagrams of a hypothetical underwater instance. In Diagram A, the faces of particles directly aligned with the camera's lens are illuminated by the flash, and thus the camera will more likely record orbs. In Diagram B, the faces of particles illuminated by the flash do not face the lens and therefore remain un-recorded.
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orb_%28optics%29