I See Dead People: Orbs or Not?

Happy Halloween

I seldom weigh in on the paranormal world controversies, but once in a while I decide maybe I will. What usually moves me is something that actually happens to me. Aunt Belle and I just shrug off comments from naysayers when we experience the paranormal and there's no one around to witness it. This happens to her and me both. Sometimes we're together and can "witness" for each other; sometimes we are solitary, like when I saw the naked ghost of Patrick at the Baker Hotel.

We are somewhat lucky, though, when we have a photo. The one I took last week shows what appears to be orbs. Are they? This is one photo that I'm on the fence about, sort of the way I'm on the fence as to orbs. However, I do lean towards rare orbs being actual ghosts or spirits, depending.

When Aunt Belle first dragged me ghost hunting twenty-five-plus years ago, most of our pictures were memorials of our visits somewhere. Once in a while we did capture something paranormal, and it usually shocked us at first, then we would feel really cool about the picture. Recently, when it seems half the population on earth is calling themselves ghost hunters, photos started appearing claiming they were of something paranormal. At first, I was one of those people who jumped up and down and screamed, "Look, I got orbs!" Then I started realizing the orbs were usually in a place I'd walked through and stirred up dust. Oops, all those little circles looked different after that.

Orbs are those little round circles you see in some photographs. Most of them are very light gray or white and you can see through them. Others are really dense and vary from white to dark gray. Once in a while a colored orb shows up. Some claim they see faces in these orbs and that makes them paranormal. Others debunk all orbs as dust particles.

I'll have to say that 99.9% of the orbs I see in photos are dust particles. I'm rather on the side of taking two photos in exactly the same place when I see something on that little digital screen. However, if it's dust, you can be sure that by the time you click that shutter a second time, the dust that reflected off your flash has gone elsewhere on the breeze. Even if you're in a closed up room, the movement of you walking will stir up dust and a tiny breeze to carry it.

Another thing that leans me toward believing some few orbs are truly ghosts or spirits is seeing them with my naked eye and then capturing them in a photograph. In the paranormal side of my life, I've seen thousands, maybe a million, so-called orbs that are dust. I've actually seen two or three dozen with my naked eye that there were no other explanation for than something paranormal. A ghost or spirit? I won't go that far because I'm not sure.

Billy and Lucy York and I saw a pretty blue orb out at Goshen Cemetery once. It danced up and down a pine tree for a long while. We were using 35mm cameras at the time, and neither of us had any film left. But we watched that little sucker for a long time, and since we were out in the middle of farm land, with very few houses around and none near us, there wasn't any way it could have been someone fooling us.

With the blue orb, I didn't feel any paranormal energy. However, another time I did, again at Goshen, and I looked all around me. Finally I was drawn to look down. I was standing right in front of a large yellow ball of light. It was at the toes of my shoes and was probably 18 inches across. It only lasted about five more seconds after I saw it. I was so awed, I forgot to take a picture, but as soon as it disappeared, I remembered my camera. No, it didn't show up in the picture, but it was there.

Kelly French-Kissing a Ghost

Last week, we were in Fayetteville, Arkansas, at a biker rally. Late Thursday night, we were at a bar where my daughter-in-law's cousin, Samantha Fish, was singing blues. (If you ever get a chance to see and hear the Samantha Fish Band, do go. She and the band are great!) I took pictures, and this one is me, my husband Barney, my son Kelly, and my son Joe. Kelly says he was french kissing a ghost in this picture <grin>. Anyway, I took lots of pictures that night, and this is the only one that showed orbs. I'm leaning toward it being paranormal for a couple reasons.

One, no orbs showed up in any other photos, so if there was a bunch of dust around, you would think it would photograph at least another time or two. Two, it's the feeling I got when I saw this photo. When I have feelings like that, it's usually paranormal.

So that's my feelings about orbs. Are they real? Once in a while.

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What's going on with Silent Prey? It's still being read by one of my friends. When I get it back, I'll do an edit myself and send it to another friend. When will it be up? Sometime in October, I'm sure. You can count on one thing: it won't be for sale until I believe it's a wonderful book for my readers. That's a promise.

The photo above, as I said, was taken at the bike rally. Yeah, I'm an ex-biker babe, but we gave up motorcycles long ago. My son Joe, in the red shirt, and daughter-in-law, Lisa (taking the picture) ride a Harley. My grandsons Ransom and Bryan also ride bikes. Joe and Lisa rode their Harley to Arkansas, and I drove with my son and husband. Still, I got in a bike ride, and this is one of the rare pictures you will see of my when I'm just chilling.