Orbs Explained

Orbs are the most commonly mistaken evidence of paranormal activity. Many orbs are caused by either insects or dust or tiny water droplets in front of the lens when the photo was taken, which cause them to reflect back light and become spots on the photograph that are out of focus. These are what photography experts call "circles of confusion", which is an optical spot caused by a cone of light rays not coming to a perfect focus. You will notice that the larger the circle, or alleged "orb", the fainter it becomes...this is because the light from the reflection is spread out over a wider area.

With digital cameras, this anomaly on the photo is usually caused by pixelization and can take the form of a pentagon or hexagon-shaped orb, depending on the shape of the aperture on the camera. The Orb Zone Theory determines that the orb zone is the area just in front of the camera lens where the flash is bright enough to illuminate dust or other material, causing it to show up out of focus.

Another cause of orbs is due to lens flare, which is when light enters a lens at a certain angle and bounces between the various elements of the lens, which cause bright spots that are commonly misidentified as orbs. We have seen some photos where there are several "orbs" clearly seen on the picture, but they all take the shape of the lightbulb that is down the hall. These flares can be different colors, since each lens element adds its own color to different spots in the photo.

So, now the question begs to be answered...if most orbs are easily explained by these methods, then how do I spot "the real deal"...orbs that would thrill any paranormal investigator? Look for orbs that are partially hidden by something in the room, this proves that they were captured from a distance further than the Orb Zone. Also be on the lookout for exceptionally large orbs, greater than 1/10th the frame size. When captured by the typical digital camera, orbs of this size cannot be caused by "circles of confusion".

Here are some examples of orbs caused by dust