Articles: Orbs as Evidence
By Terri

Orbs! What are they good for? Absolutely nothin'. (My apologies to Bruce Springsteen for my lame paraphrasing. Hey, we're in NJ, so a Springsteen reference was going to show up sooner or later. Keep an eye out for Bon Jovi, too.)

Okay, perhaps I exaggerated a wee bit about orbs. However, it occurred to me that every orb photo I’ve ever seen was shot using a flash. But people who took the photos – including myself when doing photographic tests and on investigations – did not see the alleged orb at the time the photo was taken. This seemed odd to me since one of the primary principles behind orbs is that they emit their own light (more on that in a moment). It is possible to get an everyday orb photo without a flash, but it’s far more difficult.

This is not to say that there is no such thing as orbs, period. However, I found that phenomena that have been identified as “true” or "legitimate" orbs are still generally not considered to be indicative of paranormal activity. True orbs are extremely rare and follow some basic rules: They emit their own light (and are visible to the naked eye), it is a perfect circle, it has mass (not transparent), and it moves on its own (i.e., it has its own flight pattern). Because it emits its own light and has its own flight pattern, it will also have a trail behind it.

Some paranormal groups - including TSI - believe that true orbs are a naturally occurring collection of energy that is not necessarily paranormal in nature. It is noted, though, that other investigative groups believe that these naturally occurring orbs do indicate the presence of paranormal activity. We recognize that many paranormal groups have different views on the subject of orbs and I don't think that is going to change any time soon. But TSI's view is that 99% of orbs are not what we would call legitimate orbs and not evidence of the paranormal.

So, then what are all these round things that show up in so many “orb” photos? Fortunately for us, a lot of other people have wondered this as well and have done a lot of research into what is causing these things to show up in photos.

Orbs frequently show up in underwater photography, where it is simply known as “backscatter.” If you look up information on underwater photography, you will often find information about how to avoid getting backscatter in your photos. Backscatter is debris…i.e., underwater dust. Generally, the issues that cause backscatter under water cause orbs on land. The number one cause: The flash is too close to the lens. This is very common in smaller digital and film cameras. A second culprit is the fact that small digital cameras have smaller chip sensors and a greater depth of field. That means that when you take a photo in a dark room, not only does the flash go farther (and is stronger) to light up what you’re shooting, but items that are too close to the lens to be sharp – like dust or insects – become “scattered” in the lens’ “eye” and show up as round “orbs.” And it’s not really a chunk of dust that’s showing up all nice and round in the photos, it’s actually a reflection of a single highlight on the dust. Insects, which may have multiple highlights to reflect, will often show up as overlapping orbs.

During our research into the subject of orbs – and doing our own photographic experiments – we have come to the conclusion that photos of orbs can be explained through natural reasons and, thus, have decided to disregard orbs as evidence of the paranormal.

"Oh, but wait!," you may be saying. "What about those faces that I see in orbs? Aren't they ghosts?" No, they're not. Take a look at our article on pareidolia (more commonly known as matrixing) for more information about that.