Orbs

This photo was taken by a guest at one of our events in Downtown Morristown
who said that it felt like someone was following her down the steps. She turned
and took this photo over her shoulder...and then ran once she looked at it.

One of the buildings located behind
the Thomas House.

Orbs . . . proof of the afterlife or that it's dusty? This is a much debated phenomena within the paranormal community. What are orbs? The usual 'orb' is round, may have a 'face', 'eye', rings, or spots in it, and varies from transparent to white, and they even come in different colors on occasion. In my opinion, most orbs occur when the camera flash reflects off of dust or moisture that is in the air, or even a bug.

When I took the photo to the left, I didn't look at it and say, "Wow, I just took a picture of a ghost." I was outside, on a humid Tennessee night, and knew that it was moisture. This is what often happens in photos from cemeteries—taken at night, moisture in the air, orbs abound. Just Google 'orbs' and it will pull up several photos that depict exactly what I'm talking about. We even have some orb photos on our website and facebook page that our team has taken. But in my opinion, 98-99% of orb photos are not paranormal.

I think it's so funny when Zak Bagans (Ghost Adventures) captures an orb going across the camera and can 'debunk it as not being a bug or dust'. If he has no proof that there wasn't a bug or dust that happened to go by, how can he debunk it? From one fellow paranormal investigator to another, I've never been able to see a particle of dust or a small bug in the dark. And believe it or not, dust doesn't always travel in groups. A single dust particle can float around on its own, so dust doesn't always have to look like snow. I've even seen dust flicker like a strobe light on camera, and as cool as it looks, it's not paranormal.

Bethesda Church

But on the other hand, aside from dust, moisture, and bugs, I do think there are actual orbs, sometimes called light anomalies, that have been caught on camera. Take the photo to the right, which I took one evening at a cemetery while filming a documentary. The sun was behind the trees, so I saw no reflection onto the church, I wasn't using my flash, and this is the only photo that had this anomaly in it. Now this is the kind of orb photo that piques my interest; misshapen, misty around the edges, and fairly unexplainable. If it's not a reflection, either from the sun, dust, or moisture, then what is it? I don't know, and that is why I investigate the paranormal.

So, what's you're opinion on orbs?

Feel free to leave a comment and share your thoughts.