Is The Orb in My Photo a Ghost?
by Patti Starr, Certified Ghost Hunter
When people send me photos of
orbs and ask if I think they are spirits, I tell them that
I need more information before I can make a decision, especially
if the picture contains several orbs. Now, more
so than ever before, there is great controversy about the
presence of orbs in photographs.
Digital cameras produce more orbs because of what photographers
refer to as “digital noise” or “hot spots,” caused
by the flash being too close to the lens. When the flash goes off,
it reflects light back to the camera lens as a sphere. That
is why we find so many orbs when using digital cameras. Others
declare that orbs are merely dust particles, rain droplets, pollen,
flying insects or other contaminants.
At first, I didn’t think that dust could ever look like a
spirit orb...until I tried this experiment. I took my digital
camera into a dimly lit room; placed a roll of toilet paper above
my camera, about 2 inches away from the lens; scratched on the
roll of toilet paper to make dust; then snapped away. Wow, I
got some of the most amazing orbs! This was devastating to
me, considering the fact that I was so convinced that all orbs
were ghosts, spirits or some other form of energy.
Since then, I employ many precautions when taking pictures. When
buying a digital camera, I make sure that the lens will expand
out, away from the flash, so that it will not cause hot spots
that result in orbs. I avoid dusty roads, playgrounds and floral
areas during pollen season. I also avoid rain, snow, fog and
very humid days; moisture droplets make the most perfect orbs and,
sometimes, even “mist” anomalies. During house
cleaning, dust will stay afloat for a while after sweeping
or vacuuming, causing orbs in photographs, so I use this a
great excuse for not cleaning my house! (Just kidding!)
I use a one million candle watt flashlight to illuminate areas
where I’m going to take pictures or set up my video
camera. If I see a stream of heavy dust particles, especially found
in attics or basements, I don’t shoot in those areas. You
are always going to get some dust because we do not live in a dust
free environment. I look for areas that have few dust
particles in the atmosphere.
When I’m doing an investigation,
I take many factors into consideration. If I take a photo and
another ghost hunter is shooting in the same area,
I get pretty excited if we both capture the same orb anomaly
-- same size, same color, and the nucleus is the same. Then,
I’m convinced that what we’ve photographed is
not a random dust particle, moisture, pollen or insect.
Other things that I ask myself when trying to determine
if we are picking up spirit orbs are: did we get good EMF
readings (changes in the area’s electromagnetic fields) to
suggest a paranormal disturbance; did we register a cold spot;
did we get an EVPs (Electronic Voice Phenomenon or “ghost
voices”); did we get a moving object in our video camera
in the same area where we captured the orb photo? If there
is other data to substantiate paranormal activity and the
light streams are not polluted with dust, then I believe that
the anomalies we captured on film are spirit orbs.
When examining photos for spirit orbs, you can also enlarge
the photo to see if the orb is located behind an object or if it
casts a shadow. This will prove that dust or other foreign
particles could not have caused the orb anomaly because of the
flash from the camera. If you see an orb behind an object
or causing a shadow, go back and measure how far the orb would
have been from you when you took the photo. Dust orbs are
created when the dust particle is very close to the lens and
in no way can dust produce an orb if it is more than 2 or 3 feet
away from the lens.
The other day, while viewing a ghost investigation on my camcorder,
I thought the bright ball of light crossing my viewfinder was just
another dust particle; then, I noticed something very
significant. As the orb crossed the area that was being filmed,
it passed a metal cabinet and caused a reflection as it passed.
If I had not seen this, I would have dismissed it as another dust
orb. It is often quite difficult to determine the difference
between dust and the spirit energy. You have to keep looking for qualities
that dust or other contaminants cannot have. Continue reading ->
