Spirit Orb Photographed in the Redwoods?
Don’t you hate it when a speck of dust ruins a photograph?
But what if that blemish on your picture wasn’t caused by dust, or pollen, or water? What if your camera captured something that modern science cannot explain?
“Orbs” as they have been named, are probably the most common form of photographed paranormal phenomenon. Many feel that they are actually spirits of the deceased or some manifestation of conscious energy. Skeptics dismiss it as all the result of dust, pollen, water droplets, or some other known occurrence.
So what are they really?
Dust, water droplets, lens flares and other odd reflections can certainly create blemishes on a phtograph.
While there are pictures that seem clearly to be nothing more than the result of particles of dust stirred up, and others that are some sort of lens flare or flash reflection, I have also seen pictures that don’t easily fall into any of those categories. Even so, there will always be those who prefer to attribute it to flaws in the photography, while others will see evidence of paranormal phenomenon.
I can’t rule out either explanation for what I photographed last weekend.
An Orb’s Surprise Appearance
I took the boys up to Big Basin, California for a short hike. The weather was beautiful; the redwood trees were magnificent. Every so often we would investigate some area outside of the main path, and one spot in particular caught our attention. Behind one huge redwood tree was a small clearing that was very isolated from the rest of the area, being surrounded by dense trees and brush.
Well shaded, the side of the tree away from the path had a raised section formed by old roots. It seemed to form the focal point for the clearing.
This is a picture of that part of the tree.
I actually took that picture for reference, to compare it with this previous picture I took of my son standing on the platform.
After snapping the picture, I checked it on the LCD viewer and right away, near my son’s left shoulder, I noticed something that looked just like other pictures I had seen of so called “spirit orbs”.
Now this was on a beautiful day - no wind, no rain. We weren’t kicking around the dirt. Not that that constitutes proof that it wasn’t cause by one stray dust particle, but I took several pictures that day and nothing like this appeared in any of them. None except for this one.
The fact that it was at this particular location that the orb appeared gives further cause for wonder. Why do I say that?
Notice the object at the far left of the picture.
When we first saw the back of the tree, we noticed that someone had left a small pedestal with some flowers in it carefully positioned on the natural platform. Here is a close-up of it.
It was actually kinda creepy in a way. There was no writing, or note, or card, and it reminded me of those roadside memorials you sometimes see. It definitely looked like a tribute to something. Was it a memorial? And for what, or whom? Was it an altar? Was it part of some ritual?
Dust, or Paranormal Occurrence?
I’m trying to keep an open mind to the possibility that it is nothing more than light from my flash reflected off of a particle, made possible by the closeness of the flash to the shutter (common with digital cameras).
But is it just a coincidence that of all the pictures I took that day, I happened to take one of a dust particle that looked just like other pictures of purported spirit orbs, and it happened to be in the same location that someone used as some kind of memorial?
Could it be just that?
Either way, it was a magical experience, and part of me can’t rule out the possibility that this is more than just a camera playing tricks.
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Great blog! I have orbs in my pics a lot. And yet another person can stand in the same spot and not have any orbs show up in their photo. Hmmmm…..?
I think my cat see’s them (orbs). When I am relaxing he will jump up on my lap and stare up an d above my head and his eyes will dart as if he is watching something move. My husband thinks I am haunted. He was a non-believer in the paranormal until he married me. :o)
Again,great blog, I shall return.
Thanks Titania! Yes, the appearance of orbs in photos of you versus no orbs with others is yet another piece of evidence that something strange is going on here. And that place by the tree did seem, shall I say it … haunted?
I’d be interested in seeing any of your pictures, too. I’ll be sure to check out your blog.
Wow… very beautiful experience.
I get a sense that our lives are filled with more than we can possibly imagine!
The mystery and awe of life is certainly what brings beauty to this experience!
Thanks for sharing this… blessings,
Jen
Hi Jennifer. Thanks for the comment (which was being held mistakenly by the spam filter and I just now noticed it).
I’m glad you enjoyed the story - there is so much that we can notice if we just open our eyes.
Hi,
I couldn’t resist congratulating you on your excellent Karla McLaren discussion a while back. I’m definately a skeptic and came to you via James Randi, a cold calling article on Wikipedia, Karla McLaren’s article on her skepticism and a google search for more.
You all make at least as much sense as the science and engineering people I went to University with. I knew a few hard line Artificial Intelligence students, the stuff they believed about the world defies description.
I’m pretty sure those ’spirit balls’ are dust on the camera. I kinda wish I did believe in spirit balls though.
Thanks Tom!
I do feel there needs to be an openness among both camps (skeptics and believers) to the possibility that cherished ideas may need to be discarded on occasion. As for the spirit orbs, they’re pretty freaky. I have some other pictures that I’ll put up in a future post.
I have many photos of orbs taken over 8 years. I see blue flashed to tell me they are around. Better to see at night without a flash.
My sister and myself think they are nature spirits and show respect to them and tell them when we are going to take shots.
Thanks Angela. Interesting that you have photographed orbs without a flash. That eliminates the dust theory, from what I understand. I’ll be sure to check out your site.
Okay, everyone is debating whether or not this is an orb or a dust particle. Could the skeptics and non-skeptics please explain to me why I always have what I call an “orb” on my left shoulder-no matter who takes the picture and no matter with whatever camera? The orb is always there! So, if different cameras are taking the pictures of me in different locations, then WHY is there ALWAYS an orb on my left shoulder?
Hi Kelly. Your case sounds like something out of the ordinary. I would love to see some of the photos.
The reason we clicked on this site is because i experience the same thing, orbs on my left shoulder…all the time, or on my left side but not usually anywhere else…if it does happen to be a particle of some kind, I would think there would be more than just one, and it would appear in other places then the same over, and over..
I usualy see flashing blue lights that attract my attention and tell me the orbs are around.They appear in front of whatever i may be doing, like reading or drawing and their dazzle interupts me . I don’t mind this and fetch my camera and go outside and scan with my eyes then get a sense of where they are. Tonight I took many orbs and a bush in my garden shimmered with light. You can see some of my photographs on http://www.angelasarthealing.co.uk. good orbing folks.
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I find Big Basin, California is best place where I have visited once but in childhood days. Thanks for making me memorizing. The pictures that you shown, find the found of your photography. Good work at the blog.
I was looking through a friends photographs today of Spirit balls or orbs which is intriguing and quite new to me. I had never ever heard of them before and so I decided to do a search and came across this interesting article. If you take a closer look at the photograph here with a magnifying glass there are other interesting things that appear in the tree just behind Cris and to the left of his head. I can see many little faces. I’m one of those people that love to look for faces in rock formations. clouds etc. Just wanted to point that out.
Back to my friends photo’s..I was amazed as there were many orbs throughout her photographs of an aboriginal ceremony to honor what our people call the ancestors. It was really amazing. I was never aware of orbs or spirit balls until this past week as my niece pointed one out in a photo of my dad’s birthday. It was a difficult celebration for him as my mother passed away in May of this year and in the photo we can see an orb in the background on the wall behind him. So in a matter of a few days I have been drawn to the awareness of spirit balls. I find that really interesting.
Thought that it was important to elaborate and share the beautiful story behind the traditional ceremony that I was referring to honor the ancestors.
Well over a hundred years ago and after contact with the early Europeans, thousands of B.C aboriginals were wiped out by Smallpox having no immunity to a foreign disease. As this story goes.. hundreds of Northern peoples were traveling by canoe on their way to their village in the north. They were sick and weakened by the disease and stopped at a southern village to ask for permission to set up camp on an island in their territory, until they’d healed.. the tragedy is that they were unaware that they would sadly never leave that island and succumbed to the disease.
The inspirational part of this story that is really touching is that recently, a well know carver from this southern B.C village thought that it was necessary to honor these peoples who had died so far away from their homeland. He carved several traditional masks and burned them in a fire in respect and as an offering to these spirits. The photo’s that my friend took was in the big house of that southern village( Alert Bay) and the orbs or spirit balls that appeared throughout the photographs …well,I guess you could say that the ancestors were present and quite honored.
Wow, what a moving story. Thanks for sharing it, Northern Spirit. This is the main reason why I believe that these orbs are more than just light reflecting off dust - they seem to appear more frequently at times and places where you might expect some kind of paranormal phenomenon. Oftentimes, they even appear on command.