The Haunted Lens Flare

If you've seen one you've seen them all. Known to almost all of us in the paranormal field as "orb photos."
I dismiss almost all of these. Not because I am some overly skeptic orb nazi. Ok, so maybe I am an orb nazi. The thing is, orbs are extremely rare. I have never seen one in a photograph that can not be explained. Here are some examples.

Graveyard photography. It is my biggest pet peeve. First thing is you should never be in a graveyard without a permit. I have never known one to give a permit for evening ghost hunting. Second, headstones are made of granite. Granite has flecks of minerals that refract and reflect light. Almost all photography taken in a graveyard can be dismissed as light activity. here is not a proper way to photograph in a graveyard that can not be dismissed. If you feel compelled to "hunt" in a graveyard use your medium,evp,and K2. Leave the camera at home. The best time for graveyard expeditions is in the early sunlight morning hours. When it is legal,quite,and safest to do these type of hunts. Remember you will be using sound equipment so you do as low level noise as possible. the second place you may encounter a haunted lens flare is old bars,restaurants,and houses.

First rule of old is "old and dusty" just because you can not see the dust does not mean it is not there. Earlier today someone made a comment in a paranormal group about swiffering before investigating. Hey, I don't have time to clean my own house as I would like to. I am sure not going to swiffer a clients house. Not only would it be rude but it would also take valuable time away from the investigation. Dust is highly reflective. If you want o ever caption an "evidence' photo as "millions of orbs" you may wanna swiffer and try again. Not only is dust reflective but almost all old furniture is heavily varnished. Varnish,marble,crystal,glass,and metals all reflect. A lot of us do not take this into account when we see an orb. We assume that we are standing in the fabulous house and "OMG ball of light" when a passing car has bounced off a window from 2 streets over and glistened in a bauble on a chandelier. Light is this amazing thing that moves and bounces. Just because no one was outside does not mean a car from 2 streets over that you never saw did not cause this reflection. The next example happens more often then it ever should.

Clothing,makeup,and jewelry. Even your EVP recording device has a little reflective window. To many people wear jewelry on ghost hunts. It's irresponsible. Wedding rings,earrings,even nose piercings have the ability to reflect light. Leave your jewelry at home. Or put a piece of tape over it. Some of the women are looking at this article sideways and wondering how makeup has anything to do with it. Remember up there how I briefly glassed over (pun intended) headstones and reflective minerals? Well ladies makeup is just that. Tintned reflective talc or mineral based eyeshadow,powder,lipstick. Most of us try to achieve an airbrushed look. Well that is done by light reflection of minerals in most makeup. Ok so you went out of the house without makeup and a wedding ring. No I am not going to ask you to investigate naked. Just mind your fasteners. Be aware that you may be wearing a snappy jacket that reflects your flashlight. Anything with a metal shiney fastener could be a culprit. The next example is very simple. So simple almost everyone forgets to do it.
Document the weather. I don't mean. We arrived at 7PM it was cloudy. At 11pm it rained some. That's rookie. Check the weather every 30 minutes and write it down. You want to know the temp,the wind direction,the barometric pressure,and most importantly humidity/dew point. You may even have to do some math. Moisture is (like all other things I have explained) reflective. You may not even notice a mist in the air. It changes so frequently that every 30 minutes should be documented at base camp. If the temperature changes 10-20 degrees in the matter of hours the team should know. Enough examples. From what I have explained in this rough draft it sounds completely hopeless. It's not.

The rare orb. Orbs that can be questioned as paranormal. They are usually caught on video camera. They are almost never white or yellow. They are typically gray,green,blue,pink,and sometimes red. They typically have a specific path. They are usually huge. I am talking 3 feet of globular energy. Yes, I did have a Dan Akroyd Ghost Busters voice in my head when I said that. Yes, I did think of Slimer.

Don't be discouraged. We are all searching for the holy grail. A photographed or videotaped full bodied apparition. We need to concentrate on the best. Do our best work. Keep respect for our craft. We cant do that if we keep over reacting to haunted lens flares.

<i> This is a rough draft. Julieanne Olivier is leader of Georgia Foothills Paranormal in Cummming Georgia. A sensitive who was raised in the paranormal world with her "normal" parents </i>©