orbs - The Skeptic's Dictionary

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head><title>orbs - The Skeptic's Dictionary - Skepdic.com</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="_style/style.css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="_style/printstyle.css" media="print"/> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="s1.ico"> <script>(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.0"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));</script>  <script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=ra-5487a05a7e027f30" async="async"></script>  </head> <body><br /> <div class="container"> <div class="header"> <div class="logo"> <img src="_images/logo_01.png" alt="The Skeptic's Dictionary" width="270" height="60" border="0" />           <br /> by <a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/bio.html">Robert Todd Carroll</a> * est. 1994 </div> <div class="slogan"> <img src="_images/slogan_01.gif" alt="A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions" width="362" height="30" /> </div> </div> <div class="menu"> <ul> <li></li><li><a href="http://skepdic.com/">Home</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/news/">Newsletter</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/feedback.html">Feedback</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/faq.html">FAQ & Interviews</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tour.html">Site Map</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="middle"> <div class="left"> <h2>Topical Indexes</h2> <ul class="nav_1"> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tialtmed.html">Alternatives to Medicine</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/ticriticalthinking.html">Critical Thinking</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/ticrypto.html">Cryptozoology</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tialien.html">ETs & UFOs</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tifraud.html">Frauds, Hoaxes, Conspiracies</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tijunk.html">Junk Science</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tilogic.html">Logic & Perception</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tinewage.html">New Age</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tipara.html">Paranormal</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tiscience.html">Science & Philosophy</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tisuper.html">Supernatural</a></li> <li> </li> </ul> <h2>Other Writings</h2> <ul class="nav_2"> <li><a href="http://59ways.blogspot.com/">Unnatural Acts blog</a></li> <li><a href="skeptimedia/skeptimediaarchive.html">Skeptimedia</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/funkarchive.html">Mass Media Funk</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/bunkarchive.html">Mass Media Bunk</a></li> <li><a href="refuge/harmarchive.html">What's the Harm?</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/news/">Newsletter Archives</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/wwwbunk.html">Internet Bunk</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/2good.html">Too good to be true</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/essays.html">Skeptical Essays</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/randr.html">Book Reviews</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/suburbanmyths.html">Suburban Myths</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/memoriam.html">In Memoriam</a></li><li></li> </ul> <h2>Other Resources</h2> <ul class="nav_3"> <li> <a href="http://sd4kids.skepdic.com/"> Mysteries and Science for Kids</a> </li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/UnnaturalVirtue.html">Podcast: Unnatural Virtue archive</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/hollow.html">A Skeptic's Halloween</a></li> <li><a href="http://renish.skepdic.com/AllNotes.html">Editor's Notes</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/getinvolved.html">Get involved</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/future.html">Future Topics?</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/permissions.html">Permission to print</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/report/">Site Statistics</a></li><li></li> </ul> </div> <div class="content"> <div class="it"> <h2>From Abracadabra to Zombies<span class="small"> | <a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html">View All</a></span></h2> <ul class="alphabet"> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#A">a</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#B">b</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#C">c</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#D">d</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#E">e</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#F">f</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#G">g</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#H">h</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#I">i</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#J">j</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#K">k</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#L">l</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#M">m</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#N">n</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#O">o</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#P">p</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#Q">q</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#R">r</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#S">s</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#T">t</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#U">u</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#V">v</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#W">w</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#X">x</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#Y">y</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#Z">z</a></li> </ul> <webContent><h1 style="text-align: left">orb</h1> <p style="text-align: left"></p> <p style="text-align: left"> <font size="3"> <img border="0" src="graphics/orb.jpg" align="right" hspace="3" vspace="3" alt="orb photo by R. Carroll - reflected flash on a rainy night" style="float: right" width="192" height="313"></font><font size="3" face="Arial">An orb is an alleged ghost, spirit energy, or <a href="http://www.orbsbybeans.com/photogallery.html"> multi-dimensional being</a> invisible to the naked eye but visible as a ball of light on film. Though some people believe orbs are <a href="http://www.ghoststudy.com/a_what_are_orbs.html">life-forms</a> that travel in groups, they are most likely due to reflections caused by flash or other naturalistic light sources caught on film. </font></p> <p style="text-align: left"> <font size="3" face="Arial">One <a href="http://www.ghastlyghosthunter.com/orbs.html">orb enthusiast</a> claims that "the orb is the basic energy pattern of the spirit world," though how he knows this is unclear. </font></p> <p style="text-align: left"> <font size="3" face="Arial"> <a href="http://theshadowlands.net/ghost/orbs.htm"> Another</a> thinks "the orb is the energy being transferred from a source (i.e. powerlines, heat energy, batteries, people, etc.) to the spirit so they can manifest." This explains why they are round, he says, because that is what one would expect from the laws of physics. He fails to mention which laws he has in mind, however.</font></p> <p style="text-align: left"> <font face="Arial" size="3">The photo of the orbs above, taken with a flash through a car window on a rainy night, shows that orbs sometimes look suspiciously similar to reflections of light. Sometimes they might be insects, lint, or dust (<a href="http://www.csicop.org/si/2007-05/radford2.html">Radford</a>). Distinguishing orbs that are ghosts from those that are not is on par with trying to distinguish which of two people playing tennis had his soul removed last night by the soul stealer.</font></p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><b>See also </b> <a href="rods.html">rod</a> and <a href="pphotog.html">psychic photography</a>.</font></p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><b>further reading</b></font></p> <p style="text-align: left"><b><font face="Arial" size="3">books and articles</font></b></p> <p style="text-align: left"> <font face="Arial" size="3"> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0813118948/roberttoddcarrolA/"> Nickell, Joe. <i>Camera Clues: A Handbook of Photographic Investigation </i> (University Press of Kentucky, 1994).</a></font></p> <p style="text-align: left"> <font face="Arial" size="3"> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0879759615/roberttoddcarrolA/"> Nickell, Joe. <i>Entities : angels, spirits, demons, and other alien beings </i>(Amherst, N.Y. : Prometheus Books, 1995).</a></font></p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><a href="http://www.csicop.org/si/9607/ghost.html">Nickell, Joe. "Ghostly Photos," <i>Skeptical Inquirer</i>, July/August 1997 </a></font></p> <p style="text-align: left"><b><font face="Arial" size="3">websites</font></b></p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><a href="http://www.ghostclub.org.uk/winter2000.htm#Orbs">The Riddle of the Orbs</a> by Philip Carr (<i>Fortean Times</i>)</font></p> <p style="text-align: left"><a href="http://www.csicop.org/si/2007-05/radford2.html"> <font size="3">The (Non)Mysterious Orbs by Benjamin Radford </font> </a></p> <p></webContent>Last updated 27-Oct-2015 </p> </div> </div> <div class="right"> <div class="right_it"> <div class="search"> <form method="get" action="http://www.google.com/custom" target="_top"> <input type="hidden" name="domains" value="skepdic.com" /> <input type="text" name="q" maxlength="255" value="" size="20" /> <input type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" /> <br /> <div class="search_2"> <input type="radio" name="sitesearch" value="" /> Web     <input type="radio" name="sitesearch" value="skepdic.com" checked="checked" /> Skepdic.com <br /> <img src="_images/logo_google.gif" alt="Google" width="48" height="19" /> </div> <input type="hidden" name="client" value="pub-3542920166946725" /> <input type="hidden" name="forid" value="1" /> <input type="hidden" name="ie" value="ISO-8859-1" /> <input type="hidden" name="oe" value="ISO-8859-1" /> <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="GALT:#008000;GL:1;DIV:#336699;VLC:663399;AH:center;BGC:FFFFFF;LBGC:336699;ALC:0000FF;LC:0000FF;T:000000;GFNT:0000FF;GIMP:0000FF;FORID:1;" /> <input type="hidden" name="hl" value="en" /> </form> </div> <div class="center"> <p align="right"><a href="http://skepdic.com/authorpage.html"><strong>Books by R. T. Carroll </strong></a></p> <p align="right"><a href="http://skepdic.com/authorpage.html"><img src="http://skepdic.com/graphics/CTDcover140.jpg" alt="cover The Critical Thinker's Dictionary" width="140" height="212" /></a></p> <div align="right"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0471272426/roberttoddcarrolA/"> <img src="_images/book_01.jpg" alt="The Skeptic's Dictionary" border="0" width="140" height="171" /></a> </div> <h2 align="center">OTHER LANGUAGES</h2> <ul class="nav_4"> <li><a href="http://nederlands.skepdic.com/">Dutch</a> </li> <li><a href="http://sdkinderen.skepdic.com/">Dutch voor kinderen</a></li> <li><a href="http://dictionnaire.sceptiques.qc.ca/">French</a> </li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/German/morgenwelt.html">German</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.gr/">Greek</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.szabadgondolkodo.hu/szkeptikus/szotar/">Hungarian</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.vantru.is/efahyggjuordabokin/">Icelandic</a></li> <li><a href="http://italiano.skepdic.com/">Italian</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.genpaku.org/skepticj/">Japanese</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.rathinker.co.kr/skeptic/index.html">Korean</a></li> <li><a href="http://brazil.skepdic.com/">Portuguese</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.ru/">Russian</a></li> <li><a href="http://slovnik.skepdic.com/">Slovak</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepticus.org/dicc/">Spanish</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.vof.se/skepdic/">Swedish</a></li> <li><a href="http://turkish.skepdic.com/">Turkish</a></li> </ul> <p>Print versions available in <a href="http://www.lannoo.be/content/lannoo/wbnl/listview/1/index.jsp?titelcode=24816&fondsid=8" >Dutch</a>, <a href="http://skepdic.com/russian.html">Russian</a>, <a href="http://www.rakkousha.co.jp/info/index.html#2" > Japanese</a>, and <a href="http://www.aladdin.co.kr/shop/wproduct.aspx?isbn=8995876441" >Korean</a>.</p></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="footer"> <a href="oracles.html"> <img src="graphics/larrow.gif" alt="larrow.gif (1051 bytes)" border="0" align="bottom" width="14" height="26"> oracle</a> | <a href="organic.html">organic <img src="graphics/rarrow.gif" alt="rarrow.gif (1048 bytes)" border="0" align="bottom" width="13" height="26"></a></div> </div> <div class="bottom"> 漏 Copyright 1994-2016 <a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/bio.html">Robert T. Carroll</a> * This page was designed by <a href="http://www.cristianpopa.com/portfolio-2/">Cristian Popa</a>.</div> </body> </html>

CINXE.COM

orbs - The Skeptic's Dictionary - Skepdic.com