Ghost Photos: A Clear Picture

According to CBS 5’s Scott Davis ghost photos may not be picture perfect, and even some paranormal investigators agree. In a recent article Davis wrote, “So what do ghosts look like on camera?

First of all, they’re not orbs. You’ve seen photos with white or clear ‘balls’ in them. Most serious investigators dismiss these as simply specks of dust, moisture or even insects reflecting the camera flash.”

Davis even took the time to sit down with the Phoenix Area Skeptics Society’s own president and chairman Matt Londen.

“ ‘It’s fun to believe in this stuff,’ Londen said. ‘But I would guess that almost all of what people would call ghost photos can be explained by several things like photographer error- the strap gets in the way, or dust gets in the lens or the flash, or outright hoaxing, to anything else that’s more mundane than ghosts.’ ”

Ghost photography has been around just as long as cameras. In the 1800s several photographers caused quite a stir with their pictures- many of them obvious hoaxes, using double exposures and other tricks.

Davis also interviewed a member of a local group the East Valley Paranormal Society, Kale Kelly the tech manager for the group said “I always tell people when they say, ‘what’s the most important piece of equipment you can have’ and it’s your brain!”

Davis reported “Londen says it’s hard to find anything objective to measure against. ‘Let’s say I wanted to know if the picture I have of an orb is dust. I would do an experiment where I recreate that scenario- with dust- take a picture and see if it looks the same. How do you do that with a ghost? You don’t have a real ghost to compare to!’ ”