By contributing team member, Jennie
Mythical, magical identifier of the spirit world? Or simply an accumulation of natural anomalies such as dust, pollen, ice crystals, or moisture?
The topic of orbs is the subject of a plethora of controversy. There are many valuable opinions and sources of evidence that both validate and dethrone the idea that all orbs are of a paranormal nature.
So what is an orb? According to Wikipedia, an orb is simply an unexpected circular artifact that occurs in flash photography. In addition, they are most common with modern compact and ultra-compact digital cameras.
Most naysayers believe orbs are the result of a photograph taken where there is a reflection of light off solid particles (like moisture, dust, etc.). Many paranormal investigation groups will not stray from this definition and hold hard, and fast, to the belief that an orb is, in no way, shape, or form, a type of paranormal phenomena.
However, for some of us, there is solid evidence to verify the belief, and hope, that orbs may be paranormal, in some cases, and not purely an anomaly of nature or a photographic “artifact.”
According to an article posted on Ghoststudy.com, an orb skeptic was convinced to accompany a paranormal team on an investigation to a local cemetery. This team brought with them one of their members who was also a psychic. The psychic prompted him to take photographs in different areas of the cemetery. While he was walking through the cemetery he heard footsteps behind him where no live person was. He states that he immediately turned around and snapped photos. When he returned home and had his photos developed, each and every photograph displayed and orb. No other photo he took that night had one.
Other studies have determined that orbs may appear in a variety of colors and some reports indicate that electrical energy has been photographed, in the laboratory, as orb-like manifestations. This is interesting in that most who believe that some orbs may indeed be a form of paranormal activity, the thought is that an orb is a gathering of energy representing a spirit entity.
Of course, if neither of these views “works” for you, you may always subscribe to the the Galactic Federation’s belief that orbs are “children who never grew up.” They come to us from another galaxy and experience most of the qualities of life that we living beings here on Earth do (allergies, hunger, tears, and the like).
It’s your choice. You decide.
Director’s Note:
Sixth Sense Paranormal acknowledges that not all orbs are paranormal, but we also assert that not all orbs are merely photographic anamolies.
It is absolutely true that today’s digital (and sometimes, film) photography technology increases the likelihood of a camera’s flash reflecting off of dust, moisture, etc., thus creating an orb on your photograph.
However, given that there is often dust and/or moisture present in the world around us, isn’t it amazing that we don’t get orbs in ALL our flash photographs?
On any given investigation, we might take as many as 300-400 digital, flash photographs per investigator. Of these, only a small number will show any type of photographic anomaly, including orbs. When they do, we take more photos and we try to duplicate the anomaly to determine its cause, be it reflection, lighting effect, or something similar.
Experience has shown us that sometimes photos taken while someone is experiencing a touch or when they, or one of our psychic sensitives, “feels” something may often contain orb manifestations. Given this experience, and our commitment to considering all possible evidence obtained during our investigations, it would be incompetent of us to dismiss all photographic orbs as “dust” or “moisture.”
So, we’ve developed a hybrid policy with regards to this issue. For us, photographic orbs that accompany a personal experience or a psychic impression are considered as possible evidence and will be offered to our clients, not as “spirits” or “ghosts,” but as exactly what they are: orbs discovered in photographs during significant events during an investigation.
The truth is, that the question, “What are Orbs, Really?” has many answers. Our position is just one of many and we encourage you to study as many views as you can to form your own position. We do, however, staunchly assert that to discount every orb anomaly is both incomplete science and incompetent investigating.
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