Rethinking the Notorious "ORB" Controversy

Greetings all!

I know that I've been using this blog for all sorts of strange writings in the past not related to "Ghost Hunting" but today I'm going to go back on subject.  I want to talk about Orbs.

For those of you who aren't in the know, theoretically, orbs are balls of spirit energy that can be captured on film or in photographs. Think of it this way...a white ghost that has been crumpled up and shaped into a ball.  In previous decades orbs were given credence as evidence of paranormal activity.  In more recent times, however, Orbs have become rampant due to an anomaly that makes them easy to recreate using a digital camera with a flash.

If you were to through you're digital photo albums, I'll guarantee that somewhere you'll find a photo with a strange ball of light somewhere in your collection of photos.  For many it looks like a living cell, or perhaps a human egg.  In reality, the orbs that you've captured are most likely particles of dust reflecting off of the light from your flash to create that shape on the finished image.  There are other things that cause these to present themselves on finished photographs too, like moisture in the air, and even insects can appear as balls of light in motion.  A good article on the controversy and supposed truths regarding orbs can be located here:

Due to the difficulty in determining a photographed orbs true nature, they have all but been given the boot as any sort of proof of paranormal activity.  There are two exceptions to this rule however...

1. When the circle of light appears to be giving off it's own light in the photograph.  The way to determine this is to see if it is casting shadows off of nearby objects.
2. Actually seeing the orb in real time, and taking the photo of it on purpose, announcing it as you take the photo.

Additionally, a real orb will most of the time be moving, and will most likely show up with a trail of light following it, like a comet.  Ghost's don't like to be photographed for some reason (based on experience) and they will usually be trying to escape being around humans.

There may be other ways, but those are the two main ways that I'm aware of after a decade of paranormal investigations.  The only way that an orb can be given credence as paranormal evidence in this day and age is for at least one of the two criteria listed above to have been met.

Changing subjects here really quick, I'd like to explore some things that have come up on the paranormal show "Ghost Adventures" on the Travel Channel.  

Zach and company have encountered what they consider to be several severly haunted locations, and all of the cast members profess to have been affected or effected by spirit energy on several of their broadcasts.  In some of these shows, they've shown examples of  "orbs" that have been in the vicinty of the team member that was currently being attacked or contacted by a spirit.  In many of these instances the orbs have even landed on the team members right before the activity has begun, or leaves the team member right after the team member recovers.

I've look at these scenes closely, with a trained eye, and the skeptic in me recognizes these orbs as being either dust orbs, or in some instances as insects.  Yet, if what the investigators are claiming is happening is real, then what am I to think?  My logical mind tells me that the current fad of these Paranormal TV shows is nothing but hooey.  Anyone who has ever been on a ghost hunt knows that it takes hours and hours...even days to get any sort of real paranormal activity if one gets any at all, much less evidence captured on camera!  Personally, I've investigated some of the biggies (Lemp Mansion in St Louis, and I've spent the night in the Villisca Axe Murder House) and even the most active of these well known haunts really don't demonstrate a lot of activity.  So this almost HAS to be showmanship happening in these shows, correct?  But then, I don't truly believe that it's ALL showmanship.  There has to have been a least a couple of real discoveries there in all that footage.  And given that some of the things that they present as evidence are real,  lets give these folks the benefit of the doubt for a minute.  What IF the orbs that they film ARE connected with the paranormal attacks that this team experiences?

Perhaps we've written off the orb a bit too soon.  Lets all have another look at this phenomenon as investigators and see if we can find links between our experiences and these dust orb looking things.  Lets put the orbs in context with what we are experiencing at the time, and base our findings on THAT rather than just dismissing these orbs out of hand.  

Just a .02 from me...a ghost hunter.