# Glowing Orbs in digital photos **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 27, 2006, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glowing-orbs-in-digital-photos/350108 "2006-03-27T16:45:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TwoTrouts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@TwoTrouts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoTrouts)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glowing-orbs-in-digital-photos/350108/1 "2006-03-27T16:45:08Z")
A co-worker has directed me to a tin-foil hattery site that has [photos of glowing orbs appearing in digital photos](http://www.earthfiles.com/news/news.cfm?ID=1069&category=Environment). He went home, looked through his photos and found some with the same orbs. He is convinced that these orbs are supernatural, etc. Since these orbs only appear in flash photographs, I am sure that they are simple optical artifacts. Has anyone found an explanation for thses? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glowing-orbs-in-digital-photos/350108/2 "2006-03-27T17:00:27Z")
> [@TwoTrouts](#): > > A co-worker has directed me to a tin-foil hattery site that has [photos of glowing orbs appearing in digital photos](http://www.earthfiles.com/news/news.cfm?ID=1069&category=Environment). He went home, looked through his photos and found some with the same orbs. He is convinced that these orbs are supernatural, etc. Since these orbs only appear in flash photographs, I am sure that they are simple optical artifacts. Has anyone found an explanation for thses? IAAPhotographer, and there are several things that will cause orb-like objects to appear in photographs and none of them are supernatural. One is simple lens flare. Another is when a small object, like dust or snow or even rain, appears as an out-of-focus object (because it is close to the lens) and is illuminated by flash. This is very common. If you’ve ever taken flash pictures in the rain, you’ll see this effect. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glowing-orbs-in-digital-photos/350108/3 "2006-03-27T17:01:34Z")
The general consensus is that they are reflections from dust particles close to the lens. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glowing-orbs-in-digital-photos/350108/4 "2006-03-27T17:03:27Z")
Oh, and I forgot to mention a third one. In certain lenses, sharp bright points of light can get refracted in a funny way and cause orbs or other anamolous spots to appear on your picture. I don’t know the technical term for it, but my Fuji S2 used to do this with my 85mm lens under certain conditions when candles were in the picture. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glowing-orbs-in-digital-photos/350108/5 "2006-03-27T17:21:26Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > In certain lenses, sharp bright points of light can get refracted in a funny way and cause orbs or other anamolous spots to appear on your picture. Isn’t that what a lens flare is? ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glowing-orbs-in-digital-photos/350108/6 "2006-03-27T18:04:56Z")
Rain and dust are reflective - when they’re close to the camera, the flash will reflect back and appear as a bright spot. One of my co-workers knows someone who went to South America on missionary work. They sent back pictures taken at night in the rain, and interpreted the resulting ‘glowing orbs’ as angels. :rolleyes: Ask your co-worker to grab a camera and take photos of their shower with the bathroom light off. Either the ‘orbs’ are reflections from the water, or their shower is full of supernatural voyeurs. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glowing-orbs-in-digital-photos/350108/7 "2006-03-27T18:09:40Z")
> [@Nanoda](#): > > … their shower is full of supernatural voyeurs. Well, they do say that cleanliness is next to godliness. ---
**Author:** ![matt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@matt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glowing-orbs-in-digital-photos/350108/8 "2006-03-27T18:10:16Z")
Check out Bill Beaty’s idea for an Orb-detecting camera… [http://www.amasci.com/freenrg/ideas.html#orbs](http://www.amasci.com/freenrg/ideas.html#orbs) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glowing-orbs-in-digital-photos/350108/9 "2006-03-27T18:29:06Z")
They’re Vitons. Try not to think about it. [http://www.sfreviews.com/docs/Eric%20Frank%20Russell\_1939\_Sinister%20Barrier.htm](http://www.sfreviews.com/docs/Eric%20Frank%20Russell_1939_Sinister%20Barrier.htm) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glowing-orbs-in-digital-photos/350108/10 "2006-03-27T18:31:01Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Isn’t that what a lens flare is? Yes, but what I’m describing isn’t flare. It’s sharper, more defined points that [look like this](http://www.peterpawinski.com/redspots/spot3.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glowing-orbs-in-digital-photos/350108/11 "2006-03-27T18:40:45Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yes, but what I’m describing isn’t flare. It’s sharper, more defined points that [look like this](http://www.peterpawinski.com/redspots/spot3.jpg). Those look like internal reflections of those candle flames. If I use my handy-dandy piece-of-paper measuring device, they appear at the same position and angles of those two candles in the picture. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glowing-orbs-in-digital-photos/350108/12 "2006-03-27T18:59:40Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yes, but what I’m describing isn’t flare. It’s sharper, more defined points that [look like this](http://www.peterpawinski.com/redspots/spot3.jpg). Oh. I think those are called “ghost images.” Unfortunate term, I know… ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glowing-orbs-in-digital-photos/350108/13 "2006-03-27T20:05:56Z")
> [@Belrix](#): > > Those look like internal reflections of those candle flames. If I use my handy-dandy piece-of-paper measuring device, they appear at the same position and angles of those two candles in the picture. That’s exactly correct–they are some sort of internal reflection–I just didn’t know what the term was for it. ---
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glowing-orbs-in-digital-photos/350108/14 "2006-03-27T20:18:14Z")
Ah - misunderstood. [Here’s](http://www.imagearts.ryerson.ca/PPCM/Glossary/Glossary%20of%20Terms.htm) a list of photographic terms. “Ghost Image” seems to be about correct for these: > [@](#): > > Ghost image: 1. Bright spots of light, often taking the shape of the aperture, which appears in the camera viewfinder or in the final photograph when a lens is pointed at a bright light like the sun. Ghost images have been almost eliminated through the use of multi-layer coatings of the lens elements. 2. During the long exposures required by nineteenth-century photographic processes, if a person, animal, or carriage moved from its initial position a blurred, faint, residual impression of it remained on the negative and appeared in the print. This image is called a ghost from its transparent, whitish tone. (I knew the second definition, not the first.) ---
**Author:** ![bbeaty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c0e974/32.png) [@bbeaty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbeaty)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glowing-orbs-in-digital-photos/350108/15 "2006-03-27T20:57:51Z")
> [@matt](#): > > Check out Bill Beaty’s idea for an Orb-detecting camera… > > [http://www.amasci.com/freenrg/ideas.html#orbs](http://www.amasci.com/freenrg/ideas.html#orbs) Last April I tried out this idea. The thin slice of tape worked partially. Much better was to use a parallel grid of human hair stretched across the lens. With the hairs, each “Orb” caused by droplets or dust will have a black line through it. I placed six hairs about 1/16" apart, but this was a bit too wide to catch every “orb.” So next time I’ll try ~20 parallel hairs, spaced just under 1mm. PS Something interesting: it takes quite a while for water droplets to settle. If you spritz a cloud of water droplets with an old Windex bottle in a dark room, the flash photograph of the droplets will be dense and bright with hundreds of “Orbs.” But if you wait ten seconds later, when all visible droplets are gone, then a photo taken at that time will still show a large number of “Orbs.” The droplets are too small to be seen with room lighting with the naked eye. But the camera strobe certainly makes them visible. This shows that suspended water droplets can be present even when there is no visible fog to be seen. If you’re in a cemetary at night, look along your flashlight beam. If you see any tiny motes of light from drifting water droplets, this means that flash photography will record “Orbs.” Here are some photos of our test. > **[Seattle Chat Club](https://www.seattlechatclub.org)** > > Giải mã giấc mơ - Phong thủy - Sổ mơ WHen I have time, I’ll post some photos of water-mist “Orbs” with the tape-stripes and the hairs on my camera lens.