It's 5 am & I can't sleep so I figured I'd do something, er... constructive? As some of you already know, I am a new member to this site. I have found it fascinating so far - everyone is so friendly and willing to help!

A couple of nights ago my friend and I had our first "paranormal investigation." (I know, exciting, right??) I took about 70 pics total and have about 9 or so that I would like to share here.

At first I planned on linking to my webpage, but now I have decided to post each one seperately in the interest of organization. Plus, I think I will learn more that way. So, you guys will be seeing lots of me! =) Apologizing in advance if anyone gets tired of me...

Anyway, I thought I would start with my favorite pic from the "investigation". It's my favorite because I personally have not seen anything quite like it. Plus, it's darn pretty!


These streaks were not visible to the naked eye. This was a cemetery outside of town, and it was pitch black out there.

I also caught them in a different form. They look like Nike swooshes! My theory is that in the pic above the objects were moving. Also notice how just behind them there are identical "swooshes" but the area has taken on an eerie red tint. These are not new swooshes but the same ones, repeated. Now how the heck did this happen? It is not a reflection, if it were I think they would be backwards or flipped around some how. There was nothing it could have reflected off of. It was like that as soon as I uploaded it from my camera.

Any opinions/ideas/comments on what this could be?

Thanks to everyone for your help!

Karen

its not of a paranormal nature what it is, is a light could be from a car could be from a building, traffic light etc... when you took the picture the camera wasnt steady thus creating the streaks. try this tonight go outside and use the same shutter speed you used to take these pic. point the camera at a light and take a picture but when you do move the camera a little bit i garantee it will produce similar results.

Hmmm... as I said above this cemetery was about 7 miles from town and then another mile or so from the highway down a dirt road. I am pretty sure there were absolutely NO lights anywhere in the entire cemetery. I will go back out there some night soon and check to be sure though. If anyone else either agrees or disagrees with Damien, please let me know =)

Hmm it is a great picture although I can't say for sure if it is something or not. I am still learning myself. If there were no lights around at all I'm not sure what could cause it if it is light sourced. Can a bright moon project enough reflective light to do this?

Damien I like Karen am trying to learn more on this. Perhaps you can help us out a bit with some tidbits. What is the best way to determine if something is an orb or not. For example the orb looking thing in this picture I'm guessing is something on the lens but how can one be sure? Also you mentioned in another post how bright orbs can get, are they always white or can they be as bright in a different color? What causes color, have you determined that in your investigations? Also, besides when they are moving can they also be a slightly different shape other than round? If these 2 streaks were of paranormal nature what would you call them? Thanks for the feedback.

Karen it will be interesting to see if there is different opinions on this pic. Like you and many others on the board I would love to capture things on film however I know that it takes time, tons of picture taking and good old luck. Don't be too disappointed if you have several shots that don't pan out. It can actualy make those pics when you capture something even more special (like that great moving orb you caught). Just think of how many pictures are taken of the living by photographers on quest for the perfect shot or photo-journalist that hope for that award winning pic. Luck and timing. =) And hey noone is perfect at determining what is or isn't in my opinion so you also need to trust that inner voice sometimes as well. If you have a strong instinct that tells you it is or you had also has a strong sense you were not alone while at the place I think we should also trust in that.

Keep taking those pictures. I hope to post some soon myself. Just need to find a willing partner to go to sites like this one you went to and get a good digital.

I've had similar things happen in graveyard pics. Here's one at Graveyard[/URL]
It's blurry and not a great shot, but you can see the trail looping way up in top and back down. I may have moved the cam, but not that much, lol. There's another one, same place, clear as can be, different angle.
Graveyard2[/URL] This place is out in the boonies, so I have no explanation for the lights. I do know though, that sometimes, there can be like a streetlight, or taillight, off in the distance, maybe through the trees and digital cams will pick it up, even when you don't notice it. And, the slightest movement with the cam will cause trails. Streetlights, traffic lights, security lights, taillights etc... will cause the difference in the color. It can be a pinpoint of light through the trees and the cam will catch it sometimes. I don't know if that's what happened with your pic, but could be an explanation? Here's another example, I took this at an estate, pitch dark, no lights, none of this visible to the naked eye. I've been back and looked for lights through the trees and haven't seen anything that would cause it and have gotten other strange pics similar to this there... but who knows?
Ginn Estate[/URL]

[ July 10, 2004, 12:46 AM: Message edited by: SavannahSilkie ]

i have found that orbs tend to be a blueish white color and round on camera and to the naked eye if its really buggy out or drizzling and your taking pictures outside i dont count anything unless its in obvious motion because its most likely a bug or raindrops, or if its inside i have to take into consideration how many people are there, how much movement is going on, and the number of "orbs" are in the picture because if there are say 15 "orbs" in the picture then it is dust orbs but if there are like only 1 or 2 "orbs" in the picture and there arnt too many people there then you might have something. personally when i take pictures and an orb shows up if its not obvious (really bright or in motion)i usually just delete it. and the posted picture is a classic example of a false positive i have had that happen to me numerous times and have been able to duplicate it numerous times the light source dosent have to be close by all there has to be is a visible light source and the ever so slight movement of a camera and it will produce the same results as shown in the two different pics.

[ July 10, 2004, 01:13 AM: Message edited by: damien99 ]

Wow, those are strange pics Pate. I'm like you, I don't see how moving the camera just a bit in front of a light could make trails THAT long and curvy! You say digital cams will pick up even a faint light source... do you know if film cameras will do the same? I couldn't find my regular camera that night so I only had the digital. How about a video camera? I had it, but I didn't use it there. Doh!

Damien, I didn't get a chance to try the light experiment. I'm sure you know what you are talking about, so I'll just take your word for it. Ever since you said my Christmas orbs were dust (which, by the way I still haven't forgiven you for.. lol) I've done like you and just delete anything that doesn't truly stand out. Thanks for the info!

Cat, thanks for the words of encouragement. For a first-timer I think I was lucky in getting what I did. I expected to have nothing to show, but I still have a couple more pics from that night to post & get some opinions on. They may turn out to be nothing as well, but at least newbies like me can learn from it. I can't believe you have trouble finding a ghost hunting partner!