Orbs of Light

I get asked many questions about circles (spheres) of light or orbs some of which I can answer and some I can’t. While orbs have been seen on traditional emulsion film photographs they are mainly a phenomenon of digital photography. A digital camera has an internal ‘hot mirror’ or blocking filter to stop infrared radiation reaching the sensor and blurring the conventional photograph, as infrared focuses differently to visible light. I believe that on some (weaker) lenses the infrared is reflected back off the hot mirror onto the back of the lens and is photographed as an orb. Depending on the intensity of the infrared radiation, the reflection can bounce back and forth a number of times forming several orbs. The photo above was taken of a large target with a Canon EOS350D with standard lens and 720nm filter.

In comparison the same target was photographed above with the Sigma 105mm macro lens, which tends not to produce orbs, possibly because of the greater length of the lens.

 Both photographs were taken during the investigation of a suspected treasure site. Unfortunately the landowners will only allow excavation by archaeologists. To go ahead in this manner would result in the finds effectively being confiscated and no reward payable.

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There are other reasons for the formation of orbs other than buried metal and several books have been written about orbs claiming them to be manifestations from the spirit world. Two I have are The Orb Project and Orbs Their Mission and Messages of Hope, both co-authored by Klaus Heinemann, who is a doctor of physics. And here is a link to a website: http://paranormalresearchforum.net/2011/04/26/orbs/ There are many photos of orbs in the books, a few of which I can explain without reference to the spirit world. Apart from buried metal, there are a number of common generators of infrared, which can result in orbs such as light sources (sky), metal structures, animals and people. When taking photographs of potential treasure targets we should always avoid including any of these in the camera frame.

Here is an example. I took these evening pictures of the cable car across the river Thames in London , England , built for the 2012 Olympics and called Emirates Airline. I was using the Canon camera with standard lens but no filter or flash. I didn’t realize at the time that I had the tops of some street lamps in the frame. Now Klaus Heinemann would probably claim the orbs in the pictures are spirits joining in the fun of the cable car ride but I am convinced they are caused mainly by those street lamps and possibly some of the other lights in the picture.