An esteemed friend just pointed me to this picture on the web knowingly anticipating my reaction. And I appreciate this perfect example illustrating the need for critical thinking about orbs. Here was my response:
Yes that house is interdimensional obviously
perfect for seances.
OR
It’s a Nikon Coolpix.
in most pics the orbs are biased to the right side–that’s a flash giveaway.
but surely, “emanations of spirit” probably should go in the house listing as a nice feature
instead of “I have a point-and-shoot camera”
Then I realized dropping the pic into Aperture might give me its EXIF data. Please look under the photo where I have arranged the Camera Model column.
Haunted by Coolpix
How did I know? Simply, two years of hard-earned unglamorous experience with a Coolpix S10, after which I concluded these cameras generate faux orbs due to their flash design. A time-lapse series and many examples are ready to post (along with one puzzling and incongruous anecdote). Generally, a Coolpix in the hands of a predisposed believer is a mightily deceptive machine. And how many millions of these cameras are out there?
Please understand: I do not deny anyone’s orb experience. There are many more challenging pictures that do not so easily disintegrate.
But I hate like hell to see an environment created where knowledge of these kinds of obvious failures is buried and discouraged by mutually-indulgent ‘scientists’ in favor of the profit motive; to say nothing of inexcusably screwing with people’s belief systems on questionable if not false evidence.
Raising a theme that may appear again here in many forms: I hold that the pictures are at most secondary. The story, your story, is primary. That’s why you need to take your own pictures.
At least until the point where you know what you know. Not what anyone tells you. Including me.