h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I had a rather odd experience last night, was wondering if anyone can tell me about 'orbs'. Apparently I was attracting them last night and they are visible in three of the four pictures taken of me. They look like perfectly round balls of dim light and they are translucent. I don't know what they ARE, though.

I was with some friends on the beach, took almost 30 pics total, and these things only showed up in the three of me. Very strange. My friend who took those particular photos is one of those types who 'sees' things, and she has mentioned in the past that she doesn't like to take photos because the things that she 'sees' sometimes show up on the film. I'll have to remember to ask her to take a pic next time she sees one of my spirit guides with me. According to her I often have an entourage of dead people hanging around, not anyone I know though.

Anyway, in all seriousness, I'm a bit curious about these orbs as I developed the photos. They aren't in the same spot on the pics, so they're not water spots and they aren't reflections of anything. All she said was that they are energy, move around faster than we can usually see and that they are good things.

Do not know but I have seem them many times. My sisters mother(long story), had the orbs in photos of her. The picture before she died, had what looked like; faint appearance of someone in pink and purple robes. The cat was looking at *it in the picture. My sister often has orbs around her in photos, epecially if its during a highly emotional experience.

These are caused by reflections of the sun in the lens of the camera. If you point the camera too close to the sun you get them.

I did a little bit of googling after I typed this last night, seems some people think these orbs are spirits or ghosts. I saw some pics where there were oodles of them. Some people say these things are caused by reflections off dust motes or things stirred up in the air. I had only one floating around and it's not something I've noticed before.

These things weren't reflections of the sun, Gnomon. It was night time and pretty dark. Also, the pics weren't all taken facing the same direction. One of them was facing the ocean and in the others I was sitting on a ramp leading to a lifeguard's tower, so that was between me and the street. I took a whole bunch of pics of my friends sitting on the ramp and the orbs weren't in any of them though the conditions were the same.

If it was dark, then I can accept that they were not reflections of the sun. But I would try and find some other scientific explanation before assuming that they are spirits. Whatever you feel about spirits making themselves visible to you, I think the only thing that can be captured on a photgraphic film is light.

Er, does it say something about me that when I saw this subject title, my thoughts immediately turned to breasts.

It says that you are male.

And how do you know I'm not a lesbian?

Perhaps you're a lesbian trapped in a man's body.

No, that's Eddie Izzard you're thinking of.

I'm not assuming that these things are spirits but don't deny the possibility either. Those things are outside my experience. My friend sees all the ghosts and things. If they're around me like she says, wellll... they haven't manifested themselves to me in a way that I recognize. These orbs were the first evidence *I've* actually seen of something around me. That's why I'm curious about them.

The orbs you describe in your photos sound exactly like the glowing spheres you get in photos taken pointing in the general direction of the sun. Since the sun is so much brighter than everything else, it can reflect a number of times inside the lens, ending up with a transparent "orb" appearing in the photo in quite a different place from where the sun actually was.

I assume that something similar has happened from a bright light source in this case. Were the pictures taken using a flash? Was one of the people photographed wearing glasses? Was there a bright moon that night? I admit I am skeptical about spirits. I see no reason to assume they are the cause until I have exhausted all the physical possibilities.

It's nothing to do with the sun. If anyone has managed to see the series "Most Haunted" they will have seen *orbs* feature every now and again. Most of the time in a pitch black room. There is no scientifical explanation for them - said the resident scpetic parapsychologist. They are believed to be the first physical manifestations of a spirit materialising. Like little balls of energy.

Wish I had some

I didn't say they were the sun (except in my first posting). I said they were similar to the ones caused by the sun. If there is light enough to take a picture of Mother of God, then there must be a light source. Perhaps there is a reflection of this light source.

If there is no scientific explanation for them, then in my opinion there is no explanation for them. There's no point in telling me what it is believed they are. If you have evidence that they are spiritual emanations, then that is scientific.

I agree with Saturnine. It's balls.

Yes. Balls.

Saturnine, I saw that 'Most Haunted' prog about the orbs. Flaring usually shows up as the shape of the diaphragm and looks like polygons.

Alji the Magus

Eh? Been a few days since I posted...