Hi there everyone.

Due to the obvious frequency of spirit orbs appearing in photos i’ve been curious of this phenomena and spent a small amount of time looking into it. Unfortunately there has been little [readily available] hard research on this, but what is there is interesting and certainly feasible - with some caveats.

The primary scientific position on orbs is that they may be magnetoplasmoids (plasma spheres); basically naturally occurring electron shells.
An approximate analogy would be very much scaled down ball-lightning (would not even cause a spark, but may give you goose-bumps, or may very slowly drain charge from a battery if it remains in one location long enough).
There are even a few readily available sites on the Internet which briefly touch on this.

In a nutshell they are not typically visible as they have not accumulated enough charge to emit photons. A sufficiently powerful light (i.e. camera flash) will excite the electrons and cause them to briefly emit the charge back as light – and hence they can be caught on film (this being is how we see all surfaces).
During high charge periods (e.g. with a highly charged atmosphere such as due to electrical storms) they can sometimes be seen with the naked eye due to the electron shell being in a more excited state. And of course there appear to be other times they are visible for no obvious reason...

Argument against this being a purely scientific phenomena:
- Such a charge structure should not normally exist by itself with no physical focus/nucleus (i.e. electrons repel each other).
- Statistically these seem to appear more in haunted locations such as graveyards etc.
- Often their behavior (i.e. movement) does not conform to expected physics.

So, lets assume for a moment the scientific explanation is correct, the above points to me means they lack an anchor point and have a level of independence in behavior.

A 3rd possibility i’ll put forward is that the natural phenomena could simply be the physical representation of the paranormal one. What I mean is that it’s at least a possibility that such as electron structure is a natural result that surrounds a spirit. This is not an opinion but just a possibility I thought i’d voice.
This would marry the scientific explanation with the three bullet points above (i.e. an anchor point and independent thought/movement).
Indeed, EMF meters measure EM fluctuations so such a link is plausible.
But I admit such a comment could easily be over-simplistic.

I myself have never believed there is such a thing as “un-natural” - everything is natural or it simply would not occur. Living is natural, dying is natural, spirits would certainly be natural – just not understood.
Many people like to draw an absolute line between the two but I think this is niave and restrictive.

Opinions and comments welcome. Note the above is just a limited personal observation only.
I wish to simply put some possibilities forward to stimulate possible discussion.

Lovely post Chumbly.

I vote for option C. Which is wholely plausible.
If you could prove that orbs are magnetoplasmoids (plasma spheres) you cannot rule out the paranormal possibility of their existance.

The existance of a spirit or ghostie in particular space naturally would have energy and affect the surrounding energy. Which may explain why you have the plasma spheres.
There are spheres that show up streaking in pictures. Miniature ball lightening? Possibly. I couldn't say that it isn't.
Specific environmental conditions are needed for ball lightening to occur. I can't remember off the top of my head if there are any orb pictures in conditions that do not lend to the phenomenom of ball lightening. Not that anyone is sure what conditions that would exist that would really preclude ball lightening since no one really understands exactly how ball lightening occurs(there are theories of course).

Good post Chumbly. I've always wanted to learn more about orbs. I just accepted them as manifestations of spirits in some form. Thanks.

By the way, a site that has some good information on this is located at the following URL:
http://orbstudy.com/[/URL]

There are other sources but not on the Internet unfortunately, but this one is fairly good and covers the basics in a easy to read format.

Intersting comments and observations Chumbly, thanks for sharing that. I agree with Nakis good post.

Oh but to have the crystal ball of truth and knowledge for the realms of the paranormal, we could remove the bubble that envelops those minds demanding proof to dispell logic. I like most everyone needs proof from time to time and certainly look for the logical or plausible explanation first. However I also know there is much yet to be discovered and explored and that which may never be explained to close my mind for but one explanation. You have given some food for thought here.

I imagine when it comes to orbs there is not just one explanation to them but several that may lend credence to both scientific and paranormal thinking. We just now need to determine which of those an orb is when it is captured on film or seen by the naked eye.

Having witnessed one first hand with my naked eye in a dimly lit room that no light reflection or camera flash could have caused, which occured directly after seeing an apparition, I know for certain in my own mind that spirit/ghost orbs do exist. Having witnessed the wonders of mother nature and her electrical energy I believe that some of those balls or flints of light we see or capture on film may simply be just that. I can't explain how the latter comes to be as I do not have the scientific mind and knowledge nor can I explain how a spirit/ghost manifests into an orb for I am still of body, but it's a pretty cool talent.

What a boring world this would be if we had only one explanation for everything we see, touch, smell, taste, hear and acquire knowledge of. =)

i have seen that web site before and to be quite honest i think its a crock and while they sound like they know what they are talking about they proved to me that they dont. for example on page 5 under i believe it was "researh" the bottom picture and the 3rd to last picture which is quite obviously either ecto or cigarette smoke or breath they are claiming as "orbs" and here is another example of what they call "orbs" and is obviously not. i hope the link works its the last picture on the page.

OrbStudy[/URL]

here are the other two i was talking about (last one on the page and the 3rd to last pic)

Orb Study[/URL]


**Shortened the links, as they were stretching the board** Trin =)

[ August 07, 2004, 01:11 PM: Message edited by: Trinity ]

Hey Damien: I agree with you 100% :-)

[ August 08, 2004, 04:35 AM: Message edited by: SavannahSilkie ]

=)