10/07/2025
To this day we still see individuals and teams using orbs as evidence and before you start grabbing your pitchfork, I have seen light anomalies with my bare naked eyes and I have years of watching video of dust on a DVR plus photography experience with dust and moisture. Simply put, there are differences and there are explanations for why it seems these are "intelligent". I have shared many different videos, pictures, and explanations for these over time but we often have to do it again just to dispel the misinterpretation.
Photography. When you are taking pictures you may sometimes capture what is called backscatter or near-camera reflection. This is the appearance of round artifacts on images due to light reflection on the unfocused surface of fine objects like hair, dust, skin cells, moisture, or even insects. Depending on the quality of the camera, the integrity of the exposure, and other influences these round artifacts can have different characteristics. (Color, texture, etc.) While many people still subscribe to the theory that "orbs" are the presence of spirit(s) or even an indication of paranormal phenomena, there are many ways that these can be debunked within the same session of photography. Taking several pictures and it not being present is not enough validation, unfortunately small particles move and may not have a similar presence in subsequent images. Areas of high moisture, dirty, in disrepair, or that have been occupied will have these round artifacts in images.
Video. When you are recording a certain area you will notice similar round artifacts just like in photography, what is often pointed out is that "they don't move that fast or that slow" or "they seem to be intelligent". Anything in the air is subject to detectable and undetectable drafts, breezes, thermal areas, static, and more. Dust as I have seen in the thousands of hours of DVR footage I have reviewed can have no rhyme or reason that is detectable. I have seen it shimmer, shine, flip, blip, shimmy, shake, swoop, throw, bounce, zoom, groove, turtle, and more across the screen. We usually like to go in the area and "dust it up" to see how the room temperature, drafts, and our movement alters its pattern. Sometimes it makes no sense, but yep it can seem like it is "intelligent", but it isn't. Bugs on the other hand can be intelligent and do have a method to their madness, and some bugs are really small and some may look like angels. You should see what an unfocused stink bug looks like on a ring camera, it's creepy. Suffice to say, you can't claim for it to be paranormal.
Naked eye. Okay so here is where I will step off the "orb" train. I have seen many round light anomalies in my time in various colors, these WERE NOT picked up on any camera even though the camera was trained on the area where multiple people saw the same thing. I do not call these orbs, I call them light anomalies because they seem to be light itself. Is it paranormal? I have no idea, but they are an anomaly and we do make notes of these in case we find an explanation or it correlates with other events.
Ultimately 99.9% of those round objects you capture in photography or video are NOT paranormal at all. I highly recommend if you are starting out to be skeptical of everything until you have tested the equipment you use and the environment to start forming theories. Never state anything is paranormal until you have exhausted all attempts at debunking or attempting to recreate the "anomaly". Chances are if you are moving around in an area, whether it is clean or not, you will be "dusting it up."
-Rebecca-
