Dust – the bane of the paranormal investigator. There have been many controversies over whether an “anomaly” in a photo is a real orb or just dust or some form of airborne particulate matter. This has become especially true with the advent and wide spread availability of the high megapixel digital cameras on the consumer market. It should be known that orbs are without question the most common, and most commonly mistaken, photographic phenomenon that paranormal investigators find. This is partially due in part to the high resolution of digital cameras. With the higher mega pixel ratings on cameras there is a much greater tendency to unintentionally capture dust or other airborne particulate matter such as pollen in a photograph. As convincing as these dust particles may look we can not call every semi-circular shape that is found in a photograph an orb. True orbs, by natural law of organic geometry, are the most common and simply formed of all manifested paranormal anomalies. Because of this simplicity in form there is a great deal of controversy surrounding photos with orbs in them. Orbs are the most hotly debated and most precarious little slice of life at this point in the history of paranormal investigation and although dust, water droplets, snow, pollen, water vapor, mold spores and other such material can mimic the way orbs look physically there important differences that must be carefully examined and identified before an anomaly can truly be called an orb. As a generally accepted rule there are three questions an investigator can use to determine if an orb is genuine or if it is some sort of airborne particulate matter. These are:

• Is the orb in question perfectly circular? By definition an orb is a circular or sphere shaped object. If an orb in question is elliptical, oval, diamond shaped, etc. it is not a true orb.

• Is the orb three dimensional? Does it stand out from its surroundings and / or have depth in the photograph? If not it is probably airborne particulate matter or something on the camera lens.

• Is the orb self luminous - does it emit its own light?

                Many “orbs” in paranormal investigators photos would be fortunate if they could be confirmed for at least one of the above traits. If an “orb” does not positively affirm all three traits it is not a true orb.

Classes of Orbs

HDO – High Density Orbs are the least common of the two types of orbs. Generally, these orbs are the only anomaly in a photo, are opaque (solid) in appearance and glow brightly from within. These orbs are usually of magnitudes two (2) and three (3).

LDO – Low Density Orbs are the more common of the two types of orbs and are generally what is thought of when the subject of orbs is mentioned as these can very closely resemble airborne particulate matter. The primary difference between these orbs and airborne matter is that, although they are translucent, they are light emissive. This type of orb is of a magnitude zero (0) or one (1).

Orb Magnitude

                Much like stars in the night sky, orbs can be measured by their magnitude (brightness) in a photo. Although this is really only a theoretical system for classifying photographic data for investigation purposes I believe that it will prove useful for those serious enough to explore it.

                The basic idea behind orb magnitude is that investigators can now classify orbs so that they may be understood in relation to events such as solar flares, geomagnetic storms, etc. so that a pattern of activity may be established. Orbs rated by magnitude will follow an ascending scale from zero (0) least bright to three (3) most bright. 

A Theory about Orbs: Random Particle Sequencing (RPS)

                RPS is a theory I developed during a debate about the legitimacy of orbs as paranormal phenomenon. RPS is the characteristic that I assign to an LDO that seems as if it has some sort of cellular material within the center of the orb when it is observed on a computerized photographic program. RPS only occurs in LDO due to the fact that in a HDO the emissive light and the seeming solidity of the anomaly in question do not allow for the primary characteristics of RPS to be viewed when the anomaly is captured in a photograph. These random energy patterns in an LDO are due to small numbers of electrons, which create the low level of light emission. Conversely, when the electrons in an anomaly are greater in number and are organized in a certain matrix they create a pattern that produces substantially more energy that is perceived as light when they are photographed.

                Some have argued that these anomalies could still be dust or airborne particulate matter. Potentially, however unless the dust was radioactive it probably would not glow of its own accord. Dust, water vapor / droplets, pollen, mold spores and other such materials can only be photographed within a few feet of the camera which is generally the effective flash distance – any orb outside of this range that meets the three primary criteria could not be disproved by this line of reasoning. More often than not I have seen photos taken by someone that is of some sort of airborne particulate matter which they believe is an orb. When I have tried to explain, by the reasoning utilized in the three questions previously outlined, that what they have photographed is not a real orb some people have become upset and insist that it is an orb that they photographed. Some people so desperately want to believe that they have captured ghostly activity in their photo and because of this they will not listen to any logic or scientific reason that would indicate anything other than what they want to believe. If you are evaluating a photograph and the anomaly in the photo does not meet the minimum four requirements as stated above, whatever is in the photo is, almost without question, not a true orb.  In order to avoid this “is it or isn’t it?” argument if someone still insists that it is an orb because it has an unusual color you may want to refer to the key below.