What is with Orbs????

What I have presented here is a collection of information, that I have collected on the internet, reading and interviews with people, whom have been in the field for a fair amount of time.

As I continue to collect information, I will post evidence and any further conclusions or theories.  I invite all of you to enter your comments and thoughts/ beliefs. If you can sight evidence or post pics I encourage that.

Some people ask why do things like this beyond investigations…My answer how can you investigate or hunt what you don’t understand. What can you verify as true evidence if you do not understand what you are looking for,,,,
 

What is an Orb?

The following explanation comes from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The term orb is the popular name given to typically circular anomalies appearing in photographs. In Spanish language they're commonly referred as canoplas. In photography and video, orbs appear to be balls, diamonds, or smears of light with an apparent size in the image ranging from a gulf ball to a basketball. Orbs sometimes appear to be in motion, leaving a trail behind them.

There are two main schools of thought regarding the cause of orbs in photographs.

A. The first school sees it as a fairly clear-cut case of flash reflection off of dust, particles, insects, or moisture droplets in the air in front of the camera, i.e. they are naturalistic. The opposing school maintains that orbs are paranormal in nature, i.e. non-naturalistic and ghost like.

B. Others claim that paranormal orbs are more likely to appear in certain locales, or are attracted to human activities, especially those involving children. The images on the Internet forums devoted to orbs are taken in graveyards, backyards, attics, and kitchens, living rooms, as well as bars, convention centers, and city streets – in short, anywhere people may be taking photos.

As orb photos may demonstrably be gained anywhere, the position of those who belive who claim orb photos are more common in allegedly haunted areas is significantly weakened.

Naturalistic orbs (Click here for examples)

Naturalistic orbs are most commonly gained using digital cameras with a built-in flash. While photographers with archives of photos report having occasionally seen "orbs" in their photos gained with film cameras, the recent rise in reports of orb photos may be directly related to the common availability of digital cameras and associated rise in the number of pictures taken.

It should be noted also that the size of the camera is another consideration in the recent increase in orb photos. As film cameras, and then digital cameras, have steadily shrunk in size, reports of "orbs" increased accordingly.

As cameras became smaller, the distance between the lens and the built-in flash also shrank, decreasing the angle of reflection back into the lens.

There are a number of naturalistic causes for orbs in photography and videography.

      A)Solid orbs - Dry particulate matter such as dust, pollen, insects, etc.
      B) Liquid orbs - Droplets of liquid, usually water, e.g. rain.
      C) Foreign material on the camera lens

There are also orbs showing up without any "environmental" explanation i.e. no visible dust, no rain, no moisture, no snowing, no light reflections, etc.

Solid Orbs

A solid orb, or dust orb, is created because a reflective solid airborne particle, such as a dust particle, is situated near the camera lens and outside the depth of field, in other words out of focus. The pinpoint of light reflected from the dust particle that would be seen if it were at the hyper focal distance, the distance from the film or charge-coupled device (CCD) to the object being photographed whereby the object is in focus as accurately as possible, grows into a circle of confusion with increasing distance from it.

Orbs of an allegedly paranormal origin have only come into knowledge over the past decade or so, due to the advent of the CCD and CMOS lenses used by digital cameras which were the first instance where dust and liquids became as visible due to the instantaneous capture method of the photosensitive diodes used.

Liquid Orbs

A liquid orb is created because a drop of liquid, most often a rain drop, is situated near the camera lens and outside the depth of field, in other words out of focus. The pinpoint of light reflected from the drop of liquid that would be seen if it were at the hyper focal distance, the distance from the film or CCD to the object being photographed whereby the object is in focus as accurately as possible, grows into a circle of confusion with increasing distance from it.

They are also often caused by water or water spots remaining on the negatives during photo processing. Often times simply cleaning the negative and reprinting the film will eliminate the orbs.

Spirit Orbs

Spirit orbs are sometimes claimed to exist more densely around certain haunted regions, or to be the spirits of departed loved ones. These types of orbs are sometimes claimed by paranormal enthusiasts to have faces, sometimes with discernible expressions and sometimes of recognizable persons. Or a crust or interior. There has been a large amount of credence and meaning placed behind the different colors.