What Do You Think Orbs Are?

[earthbound]

Hi I've done some searching on here and I see orbs are discussed quite a bit but what I would like to find out is what YOU think they are. I see them with the naked eye and as far as I know have never caught one on camera. I asked my doctor who told me they were 'floater' which I disagree with, partly because the name suggests they float when the ones I've seen have darted in direction and really don't 'float' at all.
So for anyone interested in the subject, it would be interesting to hear your explanations of what they are. I've heard many theories which sound like possibilities of these phenomena occuring.
All/any possible explanations welcome!!!

Love, light and blessings!!!

earthbound

[DarkMind]

Hi I've done some searching on here and I see orbs are discussed quite a bit but what I would like to find out is what YOU think they are. I see them with the naked eye and as far as I know have never caught one on camera. I asked my doctor who told me they were 'floater' which I disagree with, partly because the name suggests they float when the ones I've seen have darted in direction and really don't 'float' at all.
So for anyone interested in the subject, it would be interesting to hear your explanations of what they are. I've heard many theories which sound like possibilities of these phenomena occuring.
All/any possible explanations welcome!!!

Love, light and blessings!!!

earthbound

Hi, you might want to refer to my post in this forum here (personal photos of contributors showing orbs included---including some pictures I took myself):

http://www.amulets.sg/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6362&start=0

I am not sure if you can access the forum without registering.

If you can't access the forum, I'll just post this here:

From Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orb_%28paranormal%29


Orb (paranormal)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Example of a Naturalistic Orb
Enlarge
Example of a Naturalistic Orb

Orbs is the popular name given to typically circular anomalies appearing in photographs. In photography and video, orbs appear to be balls, diamonds, or smears of light with an apparent size in the image ranging from a golfball 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. 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.

While some people claim that orbs are more likely to appear in certain locales, or are attracted to human actitivities, especially those involving children. The images on the Internet fora devoted to orbs are taken in graveyards, backyards, attics, and kitchens, 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 "ghost hunters" who claim orb photos are more common in allegedly haunted areas is significantly weakened. That orb photos can be gained anywhere has, however, been adopted into the position of conspiracy theorists who maintain that orbs are probes/devices being used by an alien culture to monitor human activities.

Orb photos have become so common that some ghost-hunting organizations are no longer accepting submissions of them, or specifying that only "exceptional" examples be presented.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Naturalistic orbs
o 1.1 Solid orbs
o 1.2 Liquid orbs
* 2 Non-naturalistic orbs
* 3 External links

[edit] Naturalistic orbs

Naturalistic orbs are most commonly gained using digital cameras and 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 proliferation of 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.

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

[edit] Solid orbs

Examples of solid orbs.

Dust orb


Dust orbs


Thick charcoal dust


Charcoal dust floating in the air

How a solid orb is created.

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 hyperfocal distance, the distance from the film or charge-coupled device (CCD) to the object being photographed wherby the object is in focus as accurately as possible, grows into a circle of confusion with increasing distance from it.

[edit] Liquid orbs

Examples of liquid orbs.
Rain orbs, with the camera zoomed out
Enlarge
Rain orbs, with the camera zoomed out

Rain orbs, with the camera zoomed in
Enlarge
Rain orbs, with the camera zoomed in

Rain orbs with coma (tails) and chromatic aberration visible
Enlarge
Rain orbs with coma (tails) and chromatic aberration visible

Close up of an orb, clearly showing chromatic aberration and the cat's eye effect
Enlarge
Close up of an orb, clearly showing chromatic aberration and the cat's eye effect

How a liquid orb is created.

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 hyperfocal 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. The appearance of the circle of confusion is modified by aberrations such as chromatic aberration or coma.

[edit] Non-naturalistic 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 to have faces, sometimes with discernable expressions and sometimes of recognizable persons. Some feel the size of an orb indicates how great of an impact a life force had in its lifetime.

Another view of spirit orbs holds that they are non-human spirits, with blue and red orbs symbolizing angels and the devil respectively. Another interpretation of colors in orbs is sex differentiation - blue for male spirits, and red for female.

Spirit orbs are also felt by some to be curious, friendly protectors, particularly of children. Belief in these "orb friends" is reminiscent of the belief in fairies in the early part of the twentieth century.

The paranormal belief in orbs is not so straightforward as those who believe that they are simply photographic artifacts. While an oft-encountered quote is "orbs are considered by some people to be the simplest and most common form of a disembodied spirit", this concept is not supported by all within the paranormal faction. There are those who maintain that the orbs are caused by:

* Ghosts/spirits
* Angels/guardian spirits
* Aliens
* "The Little People" - elves, pixies, fairies
* Interdimensional beings
* Humans from the future
* Hitherto unnoticed life forms

Even those "true believers" who steadfastly maintain that orbs are of paranormal origin are often forced to concede that dust may be the cause of most orb photos. A subset of these believers say that they can tell the difference between "dust orbs" and "real" (spirit) orbs, sometimes from a close examination of the image, other times because of how they felt or were acting at the moment the photo was taken. Some true believers say that the orbs respond to spoken requests to appear, move, or appear as different colors.

[edit] External links

* ASSAP ASSAP's website has several pages showing how various different 'types' of orb (coloured, oddly-shaped, bright, transparent, etc.) can readily be reproduced (includes diagrams and photos).

* Science of Orb Photos A scientific article on orb photos. A mathematical framework is given using holography theory.
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DarkMind
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Joined: 26 Oct 2005
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 04, 2006 3:37 am    Post subject:    Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post
From Wikipedia Discussion page on paranormal orbs:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Orb_%28paranormal%29

Talk:Orb (paranormal)
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Jump to: navigation, search

I will get round to explaining some of the terms I've used in the pictures descriptions, coma, chromatic aberration etc. Or linking them to Wikipedia references (or doing both!). --Llamnuds 19:06, 26 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Am I the only person to have encountered an orb, first with the naked eye? I would have been one of the first people to believe that photographic orbs are mainly caused by dust or water. However, I first encountered an orb (size of a baseball, blue in color) during a summer night electrical storm at home, with my naked eye. I was so astonished, curious as to what I saw, that's what sparked my curiosity, not the transparent entity usually seen in a photograph. Furthermore, orbs are not the only phenonema seen in photographs. I've seen one photograph, indoors, with what appeared to be snowflaked-shaped orbs, and one photograph of a fully 3D orb, floating in the air with a reflection of a nearby surface. I don't dispute your opinion or findings, but there's definitely a mystery to them, and something I wish I had the answers to. --Larry G 12:39, 31 Jan 2005 (UTC)

It sounds like you saw ball lightning, a rare and unusual event in itself. Something that most people don't see in a lifetime. But I don't believe ball lightning is related to the orbs that most people associate with the paranormal. The snowflake and 3d orbs sound fascinating. --Llamnuds 18:24, 31 Jan 2005 (UTC)

huh, i found this page by accident and i suprised that 'orbs' are only in photography. I sometimes see orbs with my naked eye. What this mean?

Me too, it was a while ago but the experience has stayed with me. Late one night I was watching TV in the dark and a ball of golden/silver light about 10cm across appeared just above the TV I did the normal thing? - froze and then did a double take; blinked to make sure I wasn't seeing things, checked I was still awake and just looked at it taking it in. It wasn't transparent or definately solid (more like liquid mercury - but with movement and light)and was glowing gently. I decided to share the experience with my boyfriend sleeping next to me, so I looked away for a second to reach out to him and it went. I've spent most of the evening trying to find someone else who actually saw one that wasn't in a photo! Has anyone else had a similar experience? I heard from someone there is a theory they are caused by static? I'd be interested if there are any good links or chats to join....

A large one off ball that floats like this could have been Ball lightning. However, multiple orbs seen with ones naked eyes could be a number of things, either something physiological, i.e. something in your eyes or brain that causes you to see these orbs. Or perhaps something psychological, i.e. it's generated by your mind, probably unconsciously. Whether this needs treatment in any way shape of form I'm not qualified to say, but I'd see an optician if it were me. There are numerous paranormal investigation groups that are spiritualists and I'm sure they'd supply you with alternative reasons why you see these orbs. Try Googling for Kent Paranormal Group. --Llamnuds 00:08, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

I have actually seen an orb in my living room. I was about thirteen, and remember vividly listening to War Pig by Black Sabbath. When all of a sudden I saw a bright ball of light thravel into the living room, and just as I noticed it the ball it dissapeard behind a rocking chair that was ajacent to me in our living room. If anyone has any idea about wht I saw please contact me at somavibes@yahoo.com

[edit] Colours

it's oddly untraditional that in this article the colours mentioned are red for female and blue for male. In all classical literature and culture, it's always the other way around: blue for girls/heaven, red for boys/earth. For example, Mars, god of war, has red associated with him.NCartmell 20:14, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

I would like to point out that this article says nothing about the theory that orbs are simply balls of energy located everywhere. (It has been suggested that they can even form from electrical outlets and such) They aren't dust (the real ones anyway), and they aren't paranormal, but they may be USED by a spirit or entity to help manifest. This rationale seems a little more valid than the theory that an orb is an entity itself, since they can be captured anywhere, and under non-paranormal circumstances...What do you think?

The Great Know-it-all 13:14, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

--------------------------

Hope that helps 

[earthbound]

Thankyou Darkmind, the information you provided has surprised me a little as I didn't know there were different categorizations for them. It would still be interesting to hear from members here what their theories and experiences lead them to believe. The possibilities presented to be non naturalistic orbs have what I've been lead to believe. I can't believe that dust glows illuminant darting from one side of the room to another, often with a 'tail' attached, but believe that some captured on camera could be explained that way.

Love, light and blessings!!!

earthbound

[AndrewTheSinger]

My belief is that orbs can be, at rare times, a supernatural manifestation. Almost a year ago I unintentionally photographed a multicoloured sphere of light that brought my attention to the subject. At that time I had no belief in these matters, thought that paranormal images were for fools, so I had to reconsider some possibilities.

It was Christmas night, we were having a family reunion and I was taking pictures with my new camera. My father, who is deceased, always loved to have people around, and I'm sure we all missed him that day. Later that night, when I transferred the pictures to my computer, I saw this tiny thing on my head that resembled a pearl. I showed it to my mother and sister, they dismissed it as a simple reflex, but damn, that couldn't be a reflex, it looked nothing like a reflex or like anythin I've ever seen.

Since then I have taken pictures of rain and dust, but still can't find one that looks like what I photographed that Christmas night.

A photographer, member of the forums, analyzed the image for me and suggested that it could have been an out of spectrum energy burst that the lenses were not designed to focus.

The picture:
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/6678/1fi4.jpg
http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/9052/2xf5.jpg
http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/4878/imagemfb1.jpg

[AndrewTheSinger]

There are reports of Near-Death Experiencers and orbs: http://www.near-death.com/experiences/research17.html

[Nay]

I don't put much stock in orbs...  but if it makes you feel good to think they are spirits, go for it.

[earthbound]

Thanks for the replies, what do you believe they could be TalaNay? both those which people like myself claim to see with the naked eye and those such as Andrews example shown in his pictures?

Cheers for sharing the pics Andrew and the link was really interesting too. I wish I was any good at analysing pics, it would be nice to think that they were spirit but who knows, it's just nice to see who has experienced this phenomena and what members explain it to themselves as.

I've seen two UFO's which I'd like to talk about in another thread later, but the reason why I mention them here is because the first UFO that I saw resembled the orbs which I regulary see, only the UFO was much bigger and didn't vanish so quickly. The colour of the first UFO and the colour of the orbs I generally see are golden. Occassionally I will see a black orb and even less frequently they are blue. I've come to realise that if I don't react to seeing them, they stay longer but I go through periods where I won't see them at all, then I'll see may be 3 in a day.

Still no closer to finding out what they are, I can't help but feel they are a positive presence whatever they may be.

Love, light and blessings!!!

earthbound

[Nay]

I believe they could be dust, humidity in the air, lent, insects, .. a number of things.  Snowflakes have different patterns why not dust, or humidity?   But in the end it really doesn't matter what I believe, there is no way to prove one way or another.  These are one of those things that I suppose goes on faith and what your personal beliefs are.    Just don't go saying they are negative beings trying to possess you! 

I've seen a few things that could be put under the listing of UFO.  Very large balls of light...very large.

[AndrewTheSinger]

Snowflakes have different patterns why not dust, or humidity?

That makes lots of sense. I'm no specialist, the person who analyzed it (maybe he'd like to participate here), said that it didn't seem to be an optical effect, in the sense that it was unlikely to be a dust particle or a droplet reflecting the light, so it could have been a digital bug of the camera, an edit, or an energy burst.

I kinda gave up trying to figure out what it is, I like the energy burst thing, if it was a bug it would have happened again, and if it was an edit people would be able to tell. I can send the image to whoever wants to analyze it.

It's pretty impressive that you can see them with naked eye, earthbound. Sometimes I see white sparkles, but I guess it's normal. Once while in the astral I  saw a blue dot passing by on my bed, I tried to touch it but it was just a walking light, bi-dimensional. After the orb incident I had many dreams about orbs.

[Nay]

When I said humidity, I meant condensation...wouldn't stuff cling to patches of condensation? Energy bust is cool.

I too have seen white sparkles mostly while pregnant.  I used to fancy it being which ever child I was carrying, until I was coughing a few months ago and wam!  there they were flying around. I could see them and follow them with my eyes.  I came to the conclusion that it has something to do with a lack of oxygen..or something..LOL. I'm no expert but that seemed plausible.

[earthbound]

I'm open to the idea that it could be medical reasons for seeing these lights, although on the odd occassion I've thought about spirit and they've appeared there and then. Rarely more than one will appear, and an old friend showed me a picture of a party in a hut, and the room was filled with these 'orbs'. Dusty hut? I have no idea. 

Love, light and blessings!!!

earthbound

[Nay]

I haven't seen the photo of the hut but with hut and party being in the same sentence I'm going with stirred up dust on the hut floor... 

I got the chance to see a photo on another site that had several people camping.   They were under a tarp and in the first photo you see a couple people standing and girl sitting with her leg up on her other leg.  Next photo...orbs everywhere!  I then noticed the girl that had the leg up was now sitting with it down.  The only conclusion to come to is she stirred up all the dirt on the ground.  Case closed. 

[Woah]

I only recently found out that they were more than something wrong with my eyes, but my whole life I've seen them fall from the sky to the earth, usually in pairs or threes, sometimes not. They are also sometimes close, sometimes far in the distance. When I saw a picture of an orb, it looked just like the ones I saw, so it was pretty cool. When I was really young, I thought they were 'souls' coming down to enter a new body. I never see them like other people do though, buzzing around and stuff. Mine are different.

[AndrewTheSinger]

Hehe yeah, I suppose. Now I understand why you mention snow Talanay, actually I've never seen it, only in films and dreams. Remember I'm on a tropical country, december is summer, to be Santa Claus is a noble job 

[earthbound]

That sounds incredible Woah!! What did the orbs look like to you? How was their motion? Do you see them frequently or at certain times perhaps? Sorry for all the questions, but it's not often I speak to someone who sees them with the naked eye or perhaps rather believes they see orbs like myself.

Love, light and blessings!!!

earthbound

[Woah]

That sounds incredible Woah!! What did the orbs look like to you? How was their motion? Do you see them frequently or at certain times perhaps? Sorry for all the questions, but it's not often I speak to someone who sees them with the naked eye or perhaps rather believes they see orbs like myself.

Love, light and blessings!!!

earthbound

They looked like some pictures of alleged orbs I've seen on the internet, but also very different from some others. They don't look like the typical one you see pictures of around, so maybe it is just something wrong with my eyes. And I rarely see them anymore, but a few times I have wanted to and tried to see them, and that works.

[DarkMind]

My belief is that orbs can be, at rare times, a supernatural manifestation. Almost a year ago I unintentionally photographed a multicoloured sphere of light that brought my attention to the subject. At that time I had no belief in these matters, thought that paranormal images were for fools, so I had to reconsider some possibilities.

The picture:
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/6678/1fi4.jpg
http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/9052/2xf5.jpg
http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/4878/imagemfb1.jpg

Thanks for sharing. Amazing photo. 

Btw, what happened to the threadstarter "earthbound". She is a "guest" now??

[AndrewTheSinger]

That's weird indeed, he/she most probably cancelled the membership.

[Nay]

Andrew...LOL.. PM's.  And yes, so the topic doesn't snowball.  She did delete her account, membership whatever we call it.

[melody]

Maybe some orbs are created by people's thoughts. That would explain why they often appear over gatherings and groups of people. If indeed they are a kind of energy "amebas" that we create with our thoughts, it would suggest we posses incredible creative powers. If only we knew how to use them more constructively!

[Nay]

That would explain why they often appear over gatherings and groups of people.

Dust has that amazing ability too.

[melody]

I agree that many so called "orbs" are the result of some purely physical effects due to dust or digital camera lens self-reflection. However, many people have seen orbs as energy-lights without cameras and dusty conditions. So some orbs (and I do stress some, because there might be many causes of this phenomena) just might be the creation of our thoughts. We can create 'energy balls' with our thought between the palms of our hands. Thought is energy and can be definitely concentrated with our thoughts. Some orbs  might just be the result that.

[sashamasha]

I've seen a few orbs in real life, and if I hadn't I probably would not beleive anyone else who told me they did.  The first and most dramatic was slow, transluscent to opaque deep bright blue, and I could follow it for a while until then it zoomed away.  It was a bit smaller than a basketball.  The next few were ivory opaque and sort of appeared, hung out, and then whoosh! gone.  I see a lot of ghosty stuff, but these are always exceptional to see, because they ARE so much easier to see.  Usually I see organized light, so to speak, or shadows, or sort of shadow orbs, curtains of light or like a ripple in the surroundings, or points of light, etc., etc. 

I always get a lot of orbs on camera.  Doesn't matter whose camera it is.  If someone takes a picture of me or if I take a picture with their camera, chances are I will get a bunch of orbs.  In my opinion they're mostly just spirits at various states of evolution and presence in our lives or dimensions, here for a peek.  They like culture; I get more orbs in my photos at the theater or in museums than in graveyards-- unless I sing.  Then they all seem to come in for a look. 

[Goober]

  A few years ago, I saw an orb in the hallway. I didn't know anything about Metaphysics/Astral Projection at the time. I walked toward it ( I was going to try to put my hand in it. ), and it moved away from me. I followed it for a bit, until it dissapeared.

[Alaskans]

Sorry to pull out this (simi) dusty thread!

Thats neat Sashamasha. I used to see orbs all the time (and sometimes ghosts). Now I mostly see ripples of light accross the walls (they make me think of the northern lights), and intense bursts of light, usually in the same place. When I get a really good idea for some art project it sparkles with light bursts, I take it as being a dinvinely inspired idea. I guess I do still see orbs, but I just stopped noticing them (although I too noted if you take too much notice of them they get freaked out). They must be what spawned the idea for faires. I think they are benevolent also, but I think the black ones feed off your energy; theyre pretty easy to detach from you though. I beleive they are mainly thought forms, but also traveling intellegences, and a couple traveling ghosts. A sphere is the simplest universal shape, and the most energy efficient, I think it's just a convenient way to travel without having to think about how you look 
I would say orbs are definitely real, it's pretty easy to tell what is a goober in your eye and not, these guys fly around with perpose and are sometimes curious about what your doing.
It's an interesting universe.