Over the course of nearly a decade in performing paranormal research and investigation I have had numerous people insist that they see faces in some of the “spirit orbs” that they have photographed at purportedly haunted locations. Many times these individuals insist that these “faces” that they see in the photographs are proof of the paranormal activity and that these faces also indicate proof of the anomaly being a true spirit orb. Proof is a very strong word, implying unquestionable evidence that supports an idea or claim. Let’s put this “proof” to the test and see if it holds up.

            As the general tenants for true orbs had been set forth in a pervious article (Orbs or Dust) we will only briefly cover the 3 basic questions for validation of a true orb. If an orb does not possess ALL three of these qualities it can not be considered to be a true paranormal anomaly.

• Is it perfectly circular?

• Is it three dimensional in the photograph?

• Is it self-luminescent? (The light source comes from within rather than from an external source such as a camera flash)

            Assuming that the investigator has eliminated all external possibilities such as dust, airborne particulate matter, etc. and checked all three of the previously mentioned  factors and found that they are present we can now look to see if the “face” that an investigator sees in an authenticated orb is a proof positive indicator of a paranormal anomaly. In researching this phenomenon we will use science and psychology to arrive at a logical conclusion.

                From the study of psychology we know that the human mind is “hard wired” to take sensory input information from each of the five senses and interpret it into a form that can be understood by our intellect. On occasion the mind can not find a recognized “match” for an object or scenario with which to align the sensory input – such as in the case of “faces” in orbs. When this occurs the mind mistakenly matches the sensory input to an incorrect psychological image which results in what psychologists term a Type I Error. Generally a Type I Error is found to be a psychological misinterpretation or misrepresentation of a specific item or situation and is understood as such by most people. There are, at times, individuals who can not differentiate between this error and reality. There are several psychological conditions that could be at fault which would make the error seem to have some sort of meaning when, in reality, thee is no meaning to be found or corroborated within the situation. There are three primary conditions which would potentially explain this misinterpretation of sensory information: Fantasy-proneness, Pareidolia and Apophenia.

            When speaking about fantasy-proneness in a psychological or parapsychological context the phrase would refer to a type of personality construct first described by Sheryl Wilson and Theodore Barber. The term “fantasy-proneness” refers to a small percentage of the population who fantasize about various scenarios a large part of the time and who typically see, hear, smell, touch and / or fully experience what they fantasize about. This construct, created by the individual is wholly in and of their own mind. This construct differs from daydreaming in that the individual who has created the construct seeks to, by reason of subconscious psychological induction, believe that they are experiencing or have experienced the particular construct that they are creating at the time.

            Pareidolia is a type of illusion that involves vague or obscure stimulus which is perceived by an individual as something that is clear and distinct in their own mind. An example of this can be found in the 2005 sale of a burnt cheese sandwich for $5,000 (U.S.) on a popular internet auction site. It was suggested by someone that the image on the burnt portion of the cheese sandwich was a manifestation of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus. Other examples of this are when one sees the Virgin Mary in the reflection of residue on a recently washed window pane or the face of Jesus in the rear of acid washed denim pants.

            First being discovered and defined in 1958 apophenia (uh-pof-nee-uh) is the spontaneous perception of connections and meaningfulness of unrelated, mundane events. This condition is similar to pareidolia, but it is more severe in nature. The propensity to perceive connections between unrelated objects or ideas closely links this particular psychosis with creativity. It may be found that apophenia and creativity could be linked as similar processes of the same thought patterns.  Research indicates that high levels of dopamine in the body affect the propensity to find meaning, patterns, significance and, in an affected person’s own perception, meaning where there is none.

This propensity is also related to a tendency to believe in significance of mundane, unrelated events and phenomenon.

            All psychological illness aside it should be easy for most readers to deduce, from the information presented here, that the “faces” which are found in photographs of orbs are nothing more than random patterns that the mind is trying to interpret, categorize and find a logical pattern with which to match it up to. These random patterns that the mind interprets as “faces” do not indicate any type of paranormal connection, much less proof, that any paranormal anomaly or activity is taking place.