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DAY 58 | PHOTOGRAPHIC CURIOSITIES |
Ghost Photography
SHOOTING SPECTERS, AVOIDING FALSE APPARITIONS
Those who dismiss the very idea of “ghost photography” as superstitious nonsense would be surprised to learn that devoted paranormal investigators spend most of their time seeking natural explanations and ruling out “false positives.”
Some of the most common ones include a person’s breath on a cold day, electrical charges from static in the air, lens flares caused by sunlight, motion blur from a jarred camera, or something as simple as cigarette smoke or a finger on a lens. According to ghost photographer Jim Eaton, “very few orbs are true supernatural beings.”1
After subjecting their work to intense scrutiny, professional ghost photographers have sifted out a small handful of shots featuring ethereal mist, orbs, and humanoid figures that have no apparent natural explanation.
Many hold to the most traditional definition of a ghost as a human spirit that is bound to the earthly realm, producing the phenomenon of a haunting. More innovative paranormal investigators, however, have theorized that when emotionally traumatic events occur in a particular location, the experience itself is recorded, or “imprinted,” onto the physical locality through a process that is entirely natural, albeit little understood by modern science.
Should this be the case, it suggests the possibility that entire new fields of recording and imaging technology may be uncovered in the future. —DJS
The Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, California, appears surrounded by orbs. Evidence of a ghostly presence or moisture on the camera lens? (Photo by Melanie Stein and Kristen Anthony)