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Entries in paranormal research (7)

Thursday
Mar172011

What are 'Orbs' in Spirit Photography or Videography?

 

Time and again we hear of things called 'Orbs' being given as photographic evidence of paranormal activity or being dismissed as anything other than dust.  While there are many possibilities in photography and videography I think it's necessary re-analyze these phenomena.

 

    Visually, 'Orb' phenomena have a variety of possibilities that are far from paranormal.  Orbs are described as perfectly circular artifacts that appear in photos or on video.  These can be a variety of colors, angular or even distorted in some fashion.  All of these 'orbs' are simple artifacts in some sense and on video these tend to drift or move through the area.  These can be photographic errors, weather, dust or can actually be paranormal in origin.

    Photographic errors:  Relying on digital cameras has created a rise in 'Orbs phenomena.'  All digital cameras and camcorders have a processor called a 'Charged Couple Device' or CCD chip this processor takes what the lens sees and turns it into an electrical impression that can be displayed as the image/video.  Under low-lighting conditions without specific modifications (IR, UV, Flash etc) the CCD will fail to process portions of the image creating blank spots in the image/video.  These look just like it sounds, completely blank portions of the image usually in large circles. 

    Environmental:  Weather like rain, snow or even fog can create 'Orbs' on your images and video.  These may have a look of intelligence or direction thanks in part to things like wind or even breathing.  These can be easily recognized by the distorted nature of the particulate.  Under close examination none of these will appear as perfect circles or have the specific attributes of paranormal. 
   Dust will have the same attributes as weather including distortion.  The unique attributes to dust are that it tends to appear in clusters, each 'orb' is semi-transparent and usually brown or grey in color. 


Paranormal:  These 'orb phenomena' appear as perfectly circular blobs of light usually blue/white or red/white in color.  These can also range from nearly transparent to entirely opaque.  The closer these are to transparent the more detail you will be able to see in the nucleus that usually consists of a kaleidoscope pattern.  The most defining feature is there is perfect 'halo' around the individual orb of one solid color.  Ex. A white orb will have a perfectly blue ring around it. 
   Now these can show distortion as well due to motion (low shutter speed) but close examination will show all of the traits described.

 

    Concepts:  A paranormal 'Orb' has been hypothesized to be a ghost-it is believed that since a sphere is the most efficient form of energy usage ghosts compress their energy into this shape to move/linger.  Another hypothesis has 'orbs' as a sign of ghostly or paranormal activity.

   Through testing we have established that these paranormal 'orb phenomena' are actually static electricity/Ionized Air that are found near paranormal phenomena.  These are essentially 'spin-off' from ghostly entities.  The color/opaqueness of the orb is determined by the voltage of the orb.  Higher voltage results in more defined 'orbs'. 
  
  Further testing along these lines has also demonstrated to us that when an orb is captured in motion if you turn back to the source/direction it came from you will actually capture the apparition/source.