A Case of Orb-itus Gone Terribly Wrong

Being the undying sceptic that I am, whenever I come across an orb photo I’m usually less forgiving than most. Mix in my famous distaste for theism and you’ll come to an understanding about why I’m presenting the following photos.

You should know that my mother raised me to heed the meaning of the old world proverb about keeping quiet when you have nothing nice to say, and that I bring this to you with the most sincere and humble respect for the party whom owns these pictures.  Above my atheistic reasoning and all else in life, I hold the right to believe whatever it is that you choose to believe in the highest possible regard, and this is no exception.

Having said that, let’s have a look at the photos and proceed with the examination of this tragic case of Orb-itus.

Slideshow

Ok…well, obviously what we have here is a group of photos of a farm and some dogs, and well…a dirty lens and some cigarette smoke.

I suppose at this point I should let you know that I’ve corresponded with the person who took these photos, and their official explanation is that the so-called orbs in these pictures are in fact Angels, represented somehow by or through their direct communication with God.  Now, as I said earlier, to each his own and each to his own.  I wouldn’t normally give this type of thing a second glance, as to me, these photos are quite obviously the product of poor photography skills, a camera lens in desperate need of a thorough cleaning, and either the photographer’s condensed breath in the cold evening air or cigarette smoke blown into the frame at the time of exposure.

This is most definitely not said in malice or with a desire to embarrass, it is an impartial and empirical observation.

Close examination of the orb pictures in this set reveals that what we are led to believe are “Angels”, are quite plainly minute spots of moisture and dust resting directly on the lens of the camera.  All of the orbs present as flat, almost completely circular and non-energetic (meaning that they don’t hold any properties commonly observed in verified orbs, such as light emanation or movement).  In fact, most dust particles are physically identical to this description under slight magnification.

In the case of the mist photos in this collection, were I not distantly familiar with the photographer in this case, I would immediately suggest that these photos were a deliberate attempt to present fraudulent evidence.  They come off as completely staged and offer little to make anyone believe they are anything beyond condensed breath or cigarette smoke.

In normal photography, depth of field is a difficult component of light management to translate through the camera lens.  The bi-ocular nature of human vision means that our eyes will automatically have difficulty with the monocular nature of photography.  What appears a certain way, or seems to be a certain distance away to the naked eye, seems completely different in a photograph.  Most paranormal mist photographs are the result of a combination of this visual conflict and either atmospheric interference in the path of light from the environment to the film (or ccd sensor in the case of digital photography), or poorly cleaned lenses and other equipment.

In the case of these photos, there is less conflict between the single lens of the camera and the perspective of the eye, because the mist or smoke is much closer to the lens than the images in the foreground of the photo.  Which is just a convoluted way of saying that the smoke is right in front of the lens, and by association the photographer.  In these photos the mist has mass and texture, and it is fairly easy for even an untrained eye to see the similarity of this mist to cigarette smoke.

By now you might be asking what the point of this carefully worded diatribe is, and rest assured, I’ve asked myself the same question.  Though the real purpose behind this is not expose the photographer as a fraud, because they certainly are not; it’s not to ridicule or embarrass them either, as they have every right to believe what they do, and to see what they see in the patterns presented to them in their life.  No, my purpose is in awareness.

The paranormal community has been inundated with orb photos, mist photos, apparition photos, and every variety of video, all coupled with anecdotal evidence that is far less than reliable.  The standard of evidence in a court of law, as we all know, is ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’.  Though, typically in the paranormal there are no lives hanging in the balance, so my rule of thumb is more akin to the civil court standard of evidence, which is less well known, and assume, ‘where the preponderance of evidence points to an outcome’, that outcome is the correct one.  And the evidence presented here, is less than convincing.

In these photos some may see Angelic wisps’, they may see Demonic entities, they may even see the Hand of God itself, and to each who sees what his faith presents, I bid you well, and to the rest I offer…only my sceptical alternative.

© 2009, Martin J. Clemens. All rights reserved.

Tags: evidence, ghost, ghost hunting, ghost picture, mist pics, orb, orb pics, orbs, paranormal