Written by Kenny Biddle - Founder of The Paranormal Investigators & Research Association
Hey there everybody! This will be an extremely short article dealing with an experiment you can all do at home. If you're a frequent visitor to the site, you've probably read the articles and opinions about orbs, as well as what some of us think most orb photographs are....dust. Well, this past weekend, I was making a nice hot bowl of soup in my kitchen (because making it in the bathroom is just silly).
Anyhoo, as I was waiting for the water to boil, I was simply leaning against the counter and looking out the window. The sun was out and shone brightly through the window, making that nice warm sunbeam streak across the room. In the beam, I noticed a lot of dust particles floating about. This is always the example I use when telling people that dust is everywhere.
Well, it hit me that what we capture on film, should be easily reproduce with the naked eye. Pay attention now! I dipped my head into the sunbeam and closed one eye, mimicking the single lens in a camera. I focused on a doorway that was about 5 feet away from where I was standing (just like a camera would do). Immediately, I was able to watch many, many "orbs" float by. Some whizzed by, some sailed through my vision like they were on a Lazy River, some changed direction several times and some even lingered in my field of view for a few seconds...allowing me to get a good look at them.
Guess what I saw when really started paying attention to those that seemingly stopped in front of my vision. Yup, I saw the same orb shaped, distorted light "insides" that we normally see in orb photographs. Another thing I did take notice of as well was that every one of them was white. I stood in this silly position for a few minutes (only getting back up when my wife approached, since I did look silly). In that time, I saw no blue, gold or even red orbs....just white.
Now we must compare this with what a camera does. A camera "sees" through one "eye" (the lens). Cameras will focus on objects that are at least 3 feet away from the lens, anything closer will turn out blurry unless a macro feature is used. Without a flash, in most cases, you will NOT get orbs on film. This is why most hunters and investigators insist that you use the flash on your camera.
When the flash is used, these small dust particles are bleached white, as they were in the sunbeam. Because they are small and are near the camera, the reaction is the same as when you look at a small object up close (a pin head, a knot on a string) and then focus on things in the far background. The image of the small object inflates and becomes transparent (though not really see through). The eyes are seeing around the small object, as does the lens of the camera.
The bottom line here is that this is a simple experiment you can try at home, during the day. See for yourself and keep that in mind when looking for ghosts.