Orb - The Real Dirty Word of the Paranormal Community

OK - first and foremost the opinions I express here are my own, personal and individual thoughts, feelings, ramblings... whatever.

Since the influx in digital technology and the availability of high quality digital images the paranormal community has experienced a wave of pictures and footage claiming to be proof of the existence of the paranormal. These pictures and footage show small... or even large 'orbs' of light that some believe are the first manifestation of a ghost or spirit.

Personally - I think it's a load of old balls! No offense - but, as one of my colleagues from Scottish Paranormal likes to say, if this is the first stage of manifestation... (An example of an 'orb' - or rather 'dust') ...why do we never see the second or the third... if orbs, light anomalies or LBTs (Light Blobby Things) are proof of the paranormal... well, I'll agree to salt and pepper my pants and chow down!

Ok - all joking aside... When I first entered the world of paranormal investigation I was like a lot of other people, niave and inexperienced and taken in by just about everything I saw. I'm thankful that now, however, with a little more experience under my belt I'm proud to be a lot more sceptical about things and feel the need to demand something a little more concrete than a blob of light on a photograph.

You see pictures taken in dusty environments... and people still insist that what you are seeing is a ghost of a spirit... no... it's light refracting off a partical of dust... simple at that. Or moisture... or an insect... or a photon... or a fibre... or any number of logical and perfectly natural items. It's been investigated, debunked, tested and analysed who knows how many times... and people still insist that an orb is evidence of a spirit.

I don't know about 'scepticism' being the paranormal communities dirty word... 'Orb' gets my vote every time!

Great article to be found at http://www.parascience.org.uk/articles/orbs.htm - it explains it much better than I can!

Comments Received:

Sue said...
It's funny, today I got back some photos from our niece's 6th birthday party and they are filled with orbs!

No, my sister's house is not haunted, but 25 kids under the age of 6 sure kick up a lot of dust .. lol .. :)

I agree that those who are really interested in advancing this study, and care about it must learn to demand better evidence.

Cheers!

12:36 PM


Rachel said...
Thanks for your comments Sue - couldn't agree more.

How can the paranormal community ever expect to be taken seriously by the scientific community unless we demand more solid evidence that the paranormal really does exist.

1:41 AM