The (Non)Mysterious Orbs
This is always a hot topic, so I just wanted to throw up some good info regarding 'orbs'. This is an article from a skeptics point of view. He certainly has some interesting input.....
Most orbs are simply round or oval white shapes, though they may take a variety of forms. There is not one blanket cause for all orbs; many things can create the phenomena, ranging from insects to dust. In a series of experiments, I was able to create orb photos under a wide range of circumstances. The easiest way to create orbs is to take a flash photograph outdoors on a rainy night. The flash will reflect off of the individual droplets and appear as dozens of white, floating orbs. (The effect is most pronounced in a light rain, though even a little moisture in the air can create mysterious orbs.) CSI Senior Research Fellow Joe Nickell (1994), in his own studies, found that flashes reflecting back from camera straps are a common source of orbs, as are unnoticed shiny surfaces that can reflect a camera flash.
During one investigation I conducted at Fort George (“Canada’s most haunted place,” in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario), I examined a large, wooden barracks where both ghosts and orbs had been reported. I took several flash photographs of the area, and I noticed that the building (essentially, a barn-like structure) was quite dusty, which can create orbs. As a television crew interviewed some ghost hunters, I noticed one orb, photographed it, and wondered what it might be (see figure 1). It was at about chest height and did not move at all, suggesting that it was neither an insect nor a dust particle; instead, it seemed supernaturally suspended in the air. It was several feet away from the nearest post, wall, or other visible means of support. It was quite odd, I had to admit. I showed the image to one of the ghost hunters, who seemed pleased that a skeptic had indeed captured what was obviously a ghost orb.
Not content to simply declare my orb a sign of the supernatural, I searched harder for a solution. Sure enough, closer investigation revealed that the orb was in fact a tiny piece of dust or lint that clung to the remnants of a spider web (see figure 2). It was a very unusual place for a web, and, had I not traced the long, nearly invisible line to its arachnid anchor, I would have rejected a web as an explanation. But it was a very long strand and just far enough away from the walkway that all but the tallest passersby would not run into it. It was very difficult to see, and only apparent when a dark color was held up in the air behind it for contrast—or when caught in a flash photograph.
To those unaware of alternative explanations, it is no wonder that orbs spook them. Most ghost investigators will admit that at least some orb photos are of mundane phenomena and are not necessarily ghosts. Still, they insist, there must be some orbs that defy rational explanation, though none has yet been found. But even if that is true, no one has proven that anything but photographic and optical mechanics can create orbs.
(Source : Skeptical Inquirer)
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