What are Orbs?

Some of the earliest spirit photos taken were by a man named William Mumler. His photos showed so-called ghosts a number of times, but were eventually found out to be faking them. He was discovered when several of his “Ghosts” were spotted working. This is one of many examples over time that has made it harder for legitimate people to attempt to prove what they have seen or taken pictures of. Pictures have been faked from having people dressed up to double exposures. Orbs have been photographed from dust particles to raindrops. So-called swamp gas to artificially created phenomena by electricity.

Orbs are one area that I have become interested in since the first photo I took, and discovered that I had taken a picture of something that was a real phenomenon. See the blog “What changed my perception of Reality”. As I stated in that posting, I kept having strange occurrences during my shift. I could explain most of them off as working late and being on a shift by myself, to the noise of sterilizers operating. The things that appeared to fall off the shelf, I would suspect that they were not properly stacked in the first place. Things that were in plastic bags simply slid off from each other. There were other items that would fall off the shelves that had no apparent excuse for falling. Oh well, just my imagination. That all changed when I discussed with a friend of mine these instances. We talked about it and I decided to bring a camera and take some pictures. He showed me some photos that he had taken, but again, I could come up with any number of ways to explain the light in them. Lens flare, dust, reflection, you name it, he was being weird and I knew it. These couldn’t possibly be real. In the back of my mind, I wanted them to be real, but I kept telling myself there was an explanation for these. That was soon dispelled however, when I snapped my first picture. I will say that I was never able to capture anything else on camera in that room, but the strange madness kept going on. When I looked in the LCD window, I could see what appeared to be a large lens flare. So I thought, OK, that was a flare; I bet I can do it again. Notta. So then I figured it must be a dust particle on the lens. Notta. I put DUST on the lens, pointed at different angles at the light, Nope. Well maybe some type of moisture droplet on the lens. Water didn’t work. By this time I had used both of my breaks and lunch with no success of repeating what I had captured.

When I got home in the morning, I went straight for the computer to look at all of the photos that I had snapped. There were probably, 150 – 200 that night. There was nothing in any of them except for the very first one. Ok, just for the heck of it, lets crop and enlarge it. Hum, that’s interesting. There appears to be a little pattern in it. Interesting. I wonder if I can enlarge it any more. Nope, now it’s all blocked like a mosaic. I wonder if I increase the pixels per inch… what… no, it can’t be. Got to change the brightness and contrast. There’s a face in there. There’s another. Now wait a minute. I was the only one there. There has to be an explanation. Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep that day. I had to look around from where I was and see if there was any reflection of anything, maybe a calendar on a wall facing from somewhere. A poster maybe. Something there had to explain what I had in this camera.

The next night, I went all over looking for anything, which could remotely explain this. Nothing. The more that I examined the photo, the more I was able to pick out in it. I was starting to believe in the supernatural. I spent dauntless hours examining that picture, and even today, it is my best picture that I have taken. I have taken a whole new attitude toward this subject, and it will never change. I don’t expect everyone to see what I have seen in the picture. I understand how the mind will try to create sense out of chaos. Looking at a bunch of random dots and colors will eventually show something that the mind can make artificial sense of. I would want anyone to be skeptical of these photos, and use their own judgment as I did at first. After all, you create your own reality out of the every day chaos, and you have to live in it.

I recently talked to a co-worker, that was working on the graveyard shift, a relatively new employee. He was standing at an assembly table, with a fellow co-worker off to the side of him. There was a sink on the opposite side of the table. Suddenly, the water came on full blast, splashing water all over. He said that he looked at his co-worker and asked him if he was playing some type of joke. The co-worker said “NO!”. They went over and examined the sink and shut the handle off, no strings attached. ???? Again, being skeptical, could it have been some fluke with water pressure? The mystery goes on.

There are a number of ways to create fake orbs, and I have tried and had some success, still trying to convince myself that there could be another explanation. Go into a dark or semi dark room and flip a carpet in the air or kick up some dust. While the dust is still in the air, take a photo with the flash. Wha-la. Instant orbs. The same thing can be done on a dark night with a light rain. As the flash reflects off the droplets, you get instant orbs. There have been plasma balls created using high voltage devices such as a Tesla coil. I have created voltages up to 500,000 volts and played with several different types of phenomenon. I wasn’t able to create orbs with this, but had a lot of fun when people are watching and the arc jumps to one hand and exits from the other. Not something I would recommend doing if you don’t know what you are doing.

What it comes down to, is not all orbs are real. Not all orbs are fake. So what is a real orb? Good question. I believe that the genuine orbs are some type of energy casing. Some how energy is retained in the same shape as a water droplet or a soap bubble where there is an equal amount of force either pushing out or pushing inward. Since we don’t know the true nature of these orbs, all we can do is theorize what they are composed of. Obviously, some of them contain some type of energy that retains some type of record or consciousness to form the images inside. What could possibly cause the energy to retain its shape and not dissipate into the ether. The ones that don’t appear to have the images, are they not advanced enough or are they losing their composure? One question would be, if each of these orbs are the spirit of a former living being, why aren’t there more seen from all of the beings that have passed away? Could some of them been reincarnated? This would explain the lack of the orbs. Or are they the ones that simply haven’t moved on to the other side and are trapped here or are afraid to move on.

Another theory that has been put forward, is that the pictures taken are a projection of the mind of the person that is taking the picture onto the camera. Whether this is true or not then there is one of two things that need to be investigated more. Either the orb or the possibility of the mind to perform a paranormal function. This theory doesn't make sense.

I have taken a number of pictures including some video, with nothing that appears other than a white ball. I have taken a few however that appear to lend something other than simple randomness. Only you can decide for yourself whether what you are seeing is real or not. If you want to take some legitimate photos, all you need is a good digital camera. Many orbs have been photographed with a film camera, but you can’t get the necessary detail for enhancement with the film. Also, many pictures can be taken and nothing will appear. That's a lot money spent getting film developed. The digital will let you directly take the photo and enhance it without scanning a picture. Most scanners just can’t capture the needed quality. To do some EVP “Electronic Voice Phenomena”, you need a good recorder. Tape recorders work fine, but every time you make a recording, that is the end of use of that tape. You can’t guarantee that some residual part of a previous recording won’t be left when you record over it. It will leave you with a false positive. Most investigators now use a digital recorder. They give high-end results, and when you delete the old recording, it’s gone. To take video, that’s a little harder and more expensive. You pretty much need a video camera that can record from very low light to no light using night vision technology. I would recommend to anyone, if you are interested in this, try it for yourself. A word of warning however. Even though I have never had a negative experience, it doesn't mean that it can't happen. Be sure it is what you want to do and don't put yourself in a position that could be detrimental.

As for the skeptics and debunkers, there will always be both. I am convinced of what is out there but am still a skeptic. There are three basic types of debunkers. 1- The one that for religious reasons will always believe the pictures are not real. 2- The one that has never had an experience to believe. 3- The one that will try to convince you that it is not real for their own agenda.