Spirits vs Dust On the Lens - a Spritely Look at Orbs

This edition of 'Spooky Shite week' teeters on shaky ground. When first written, I was firmer in my beliefs, but now I am not. We all come to our own judgments.

So! What am I rambling about? Orbs – orbs are Orbs are just round sphere-ish lights that show up on digital stills and videos. The reason the lights show up in photos/videos is in modern digital cameras the flash is only a few inches above the camera's lens, and therefore, the light illuminates whatever minute particles are afloat in the atmosphere - dust, rain drops, small insects and junk. I learned most of my grammar from Wally and the Beave.

A year ago I visited Colorado. People there explained to me, orbs are live beings; natural spirits with an affinity for cheerful people. Recently I read on-line articles stating further or in addition, that orbs are spirits/ghosts.

Others believe orbs are sentient beings, living creatures science has not as yet acknowledged. If that's not striking enough, some think these minute creatures exist in multiple dimensions, as in String Theory. Is your brain full yet?

So what do I think about orbs? I’ll start with a photo I took a couple of weeks ago during a rain shower.

Those round white blobs/orbs are clearly my camera’s flash reflected off of rain drops
The orbs in that photo must be light bouncing off rain drops and whiskers on kittens, though I think they do look rather... organic. I'll mention here there are those who claim faces can be seen within orbs - even buildings - all from the future, the past or even those other ten dimensions. Here's a close up of orb from one of my photos.

Can you see the bust of a figure in the lower orb?

So you see the bust of a figure in that organic blip of protoplasm? You're not buying into that, are you? OK. I admit. I don't believe it either.

Bear with me a little more. You may recall, in early September, friends and I stayed at Asilomar; a cute place known as ‘Guest’s Inn’, in which John Steinbeck's sister used to live. I told my friend Diane, I hoped, just this once in my skeptical life, I could see a ghost there in that old house - preferably, the ghost of Steinbeck's sister. During the visit, the Ghosts seemed to be a no-show.

Here are 2 photos I took there. I didn’t notice anything weird about the photos until after the trip when I took the time to really examine the photos.

First up, a HUMONGOUS fat white orb
showed up with Robbie, on the left

It is impressively as orbs go, isn't it? Now, what is it? Uh... ?


Close-up of Robbie's Orb - see a face?
Now, up until I saw my rain drop orbs, I thought the orb on Robbie must be a spirit. Now, alas, now it only looks like light bouncing off a dust mote floating close to the camera, which is why it appears so large. I'm a spoil sport, aren't I?

Now look at this next photo: five orbs; three floating in the top of the photo, right of the lamp. There is a forth orb on the bottom of the photo, barely visible on the far left coffee table leg. I choose to assume those upper orbs are dust.


See the white orb, under the table,
streaking away from Ingrid's knees?
You might have noticed the fifth orb - under the coffee table - see that cotton ball-ish thing that seems to be caught by the camera, streaking toward the left?


Close-up of cotton ball orb with a short, comet-like tail
That little Q-tip is dead weird! Matches what I've read about orbs exhibiting a trail, or a ribbon-like appearance". Here is a quote from an on-line orb site by an author describing the difference between 'true' spirit orbs and dust bunnies in the headlights:
As mentioned above there is no official way to determine authenticity of an orb within a photo but here are a few key elements to keep in mind.

1. A bright orb is more likely to be real than a faded one.
2. Multiple orbs in a single photo are most likely dust motes.
3. Orbs that are bright and show a vibrating effect within the photo are likely to be real.
4. A slight trail is also something to look for in determining true orbs.
AHA! So, out of all the orbs I posted here, the one moving under the coffee table fits the markers of true orbs - spirits or sentient beings of nature forever to be ignored by mainstream science. I love the corny sound of TV shows on the paranormal, that end with this type of quote:
Is the mysterious & eerie cottonball, the forlorn ghost of John Steinbeck's sister? Or... might it be the manifestation of an old friend, come to join in on the festivities? Could the mysterious moving white orb be the spirit of our beloved Hen, Fran, who traveled from beyond the grave to enjoy one more night out with the girls?
Not buying it? Well then bugger all! Ok, I still have the remainder of the week to screw with you. This post is only a moderately spook-worthy. But give me just a little more of your precious time, that I can enlighten you with tales of the paranormal ... BWAH HA HA HA HA HA HA!