Paranormal Orbs 101: What is an Orb?

Today we'll explore orbs and what they look like if they are connected to a ghost or spirit. 

What is an Orb?

A Dictionary definition of an orb is an unexpected, often circular photographic artifact. In terms of paranormal activity, orbs are the most simple form a ghost or spirit can take. However, you need to be careful in calling something an orb.

What do Genuine Orbs Look Like? 
  I've found that orbs that are associated with a ghost or spirit can be diffentiated from non-orbs in a couple of ways. One is that they usually have designs or colors in them. Reflections, bugs, dust or pollen do not have designs or colors in photographs and are often mistaken for orbs. Further, genuine orbs may also have a face in them!  In one investigation I wrote about in my book "Lessons Learned from Talking to the Dead" myself and Troy, another medium in the group sensed 2 female ghosts in a home where a double murder occurred (unbeknownst to us). One of the Inspired Ghost Tracking Team captured an orb in the area where we sensed the two female ghosts. In the orb was the FACE of a woman. You can see it here and it appears in the book (available on Amazon) that also explains the entire investigation. 

Face in an orb during a murder investigation. Credit: IGT/Rob Gutro

Orbs During Paranormal Investigations
   I've noticed orbs appear in photos whenever I'm sensing a ghost. There were several instances when orbs have appeared in photos when I sense a ghost nearby. In Riversdale Mansion, Riverdale, Md. I sensed a woman and a little girl in a large room. At the time, one of the members from Inspired Ghost Trackers was taking photos, and in one of them, several orbs appeared in front of a window.
  During a private investigation, I sensed a lot of emotional energy and distress in a furnace room that turned out to be where two women were murdered. In a follow-up investigation days later, an orb appeared with the face of a woman behind it! (It will be in my 2nd book coming later in 2012 called "Lessons Learned from the Dead.").

 Orbs may Indicate Ghostly Activity
    A friend from Florida sent me a photo of an orb that appeared in a photo taken outside his house. What's interesting is that he's had paranormal activity in his house -including footsteps, movement of doors and objects, and he's seen shadow figures. So, I sent the photo to the Inspired Ghost Trackers of Maryland to analyze it.

What do others say about orbs? 

Orbs appear in Riversdale Mansion room when I sensed 2 ghosts.

Dave Juliano of Shadowland.net, a ghost hunter, defines an Orb this way: 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 may not even be a conscious thing the spirit is doing, just a natural way they get their energy.  This would explain why the orbs are round balls.  According to the laws of Physics energy being transferring like that would assume is natural shape of a sphere.   This theory can also be tied into the EMF readings we get during spirit activity. Source: http://theshadowlands.net/ghost/orbs.htm
   Dave brings up a good point about Camera Processing errors: The digital cameras can't have film-processing errors.  I am aware that some people feel that the orbs on a digital camera are an error in the digital processing of the image.  When that error does occur in digital photos, the objects tend to be square in nature, not round and they cannot be semi-transparent, the pixel behind would have to be corrupted also.