Photographic Orbs

The fact that photographic orbs are caused by brightly lit particulate matter close to the camera’s lens, played into the error in thinking that caused orbs to be considered paranormal in nature for so long. In everyday photography (birthday parties, kids in the backyard, photos of scenery on family vacation), there are not that many opportunities for orbs to appear in photos.

But, on a paranormal investigation...the conditions are almost always perfect. Paranormal investigations usually take place indoors at night, and require a flash to take clear photos. Paranormal investigations often take place in older homes or historic buildings, and these places are usually rife with dust that can be stirred up. In addition, a lot of photos are taken in basement areas, attics, and unused portions of the building, which are even more susceptible to having lots of dust. So, we see more orbs in photos taken on paranormal investigations, because all of the conditions required to cause photographic orbs are present.

Even cemetery investigations at night are opportune moments for capturing photographic orbs in our pictures. One of the following is almost always present on an cemetery investigation: pollen in the air, dust kicked up from the road or ground, or moisture in the air. This prevalence of photographic orbs in investigation photos and their rare appearance in every-day photos, helped spark and maintain the false belief that orbs in photos and video have a paranormal cause.

Mark Stinson
Ghost Vigil Investigations

Orb Anecdote

Several years ago, I was giving a workshop on the paranormal, and explained the mundane cause of photographic orbs. So prevalent was the belief in a paranormal cause for orbs at the time, that an attendee of the workshop loudly challenged my theory, stating that orbs were indeed paranormal, and I was just being too skeptical.

I pulled out a camera right there, and took a flash photograph of the audience. No orbs. I then stomped on the carpet in the room, and stirred up a bunch of dust in the air. I took a second photo of the audience, and it was full of photographic orbs.

I passed the camera around and let everyone take a good look at the orb-less and orb-filled photographs, and that seemed to quiet down the protest against my mundane explanation of photographic orbs.

Mark Stinson
Ghost Vigil Investigations

Dust Orbs on Video

Orbs also appear in video recordings made with both tape and digital recording devices. Again, all that is needed is particulate matter (dust, moisture, lint, etc.) in the air close to the lens and the light on the camera. The particulate matter is brightly lit by the camera’s light, and since the particulate matter is in front of the lens but completely out-of-focus is appears as moving balls of light in the video recording.

Potentially, a video camera with its light turned off could still capture orb imagery, if there is a flashlight, over-head spot, or some other source of bright light capable of shining on particulate matter close to the lens. Again, orbs appearing in video recordings have a completely mundane cause, and can be recreated time and again through experimentation.

Mark Stinson
Ghost Vigil Investigations