What Are Orbs?

What Are Orbs?Orbs have awed people since being witnessed, usually at night, in the natural environment. Orbs are transparent, balls of light commonly found in photos but can also be seen with the naked eye if light-emitting plasma. These "light balls" appear in a variety of different shapes, sizes and colors. They have been captured outdoors, indoors, in churches, schools, businesses, homes, construction sites, burial grounds and more. Videos of orbs are quite common, showing light anomalies moving across the frame. They appear as circular lights, either floating or moving, and sometimes, traveling at a high rate of speed.

Are Orbs Ghosts?
Orbs still fascinate when found in photographs taken at purported haunted places, being especially intriguing to the novice ghost hunter. But, are true orbs actually ghosts?

Orbs are also known as "ghost orbs" or "spirit orbs" and are often thought to be the souls of people. Most orb images, however, are caused by the camera flash, or light of some sort, reflecting off of something such as glass, mirrors, metal, walls, dust, pollen, lint, moisture, snow, hair, or even insects. The rise in the "orb phenomenon" became especially prominent with the increased use of digital cameras. Digital cameras capture a higher amount of dust orbs in photos than do older, film cameras that typically have a portruding lens or flash unit that is further away. With pocket, digital cameras, the placement of the flash near the camera lens allows dust and other particulate to be more easily illuminated. Consequently, some orbs in photos are easily proven to be dust, especially when spokes radiating from the center are apparent, being the source of the light reflection. For more on this subject, be sure and read, Get Rid of Dust Orbs.

Brown Mountain LightsSpirit Orbs and Plasma Orbs
Some orbs are definitely energy, and energy is spirit. However, no one knows what this energy is, for sure. Plasma balls of light, or ghost lights (orbs), have been proven to be electrically charged. Some of them are a naturally occuring phenomenon created through static discharge. True (plasma) orbs will normally have a more solid center, without any spokes radiating from the center, and emit their own light. Whether or not plasma-type orbs are only unintelligent, electrical discharges remains to be discovered and better understood. It's possible that some plasma orbs are intelligent spirit energy that manifests similarly.

Paulding Ghost LightGood indications of real orbs are those that have been photographed without the camera’s flash or those that are seen with the naked eye and self-illuminated. Eye-witness accounts of moving balls of light at night on the Gettysburg battlefield have been reported, for example. Video recordings of these lights did not require any artificial light source. We must also consider that some orbs have been video taped floating with purpose, intelligently moving around objects, etc. Whether moving fast, moving slow or standing still, orbs are spiritually intriguing. Orbs have been known to, sometimes, “hang around” people. This would tend to cause some to believe that orbs might be angels, spirit guides or deceased relatives.


Not surprising, orbs have been seen with psychics and mediums while they work. Sometimes, the orbs are said to be within or emanating from their auras. It is also claimed that any spiritual ritual, such as prayer, worship or healing services can bring forth spirit orbs in photos. Accordingly, some have asked if orbs could be an indication of the presence of enlightened spirits or if orbs could be halos?

Orbs have been reported above fields with crop circles, at funerals, births, death scenes, religious services and around every facet of every day life. Interestingly enough, orbs have been followed and even played with by animals, such as cats and dogs. Cats seem to be particularly adept at seeing orbs, and some people claim that animal friends who visit from the other side are occasionally seen as orbs.

Face in OrbWhat's Inside an Orb?
It is very intriguing that people are finding faces inside of orbs. At first, one might think this to be silly, but some of the orbs we have received with facial features are astounding. Orbs have been captured with both human faces and animal faces in them, as well. If that wasn’t mind blowing enough, people have also shared photos with multiple faces, even crowds of people within the orbs that were photographed. And what’s even more amazing are the orbs we have seen that contain buildings within them! This has led some to believe that orbs may be some sort of time warp. With orbs being explored even deeper, we’re sure to see some other amazing things.

See: Orb Picture Examples and Orb Photographs