What are orbs?
Orbs are white or translucent balls of light that appear in photos and videos. The word means “sphere.” Though nothing was visible to the naked eye, looking back at the photos may reveal several round lights seemingly floating in the air. As a kind of “spirit photo,” they are sometimes said to be souls, spirits or energy.
Why orbs became a topic
Orbs became especially talked about from the late 1990s into the 2000s, after digital cameras and cell phone cameras spread. Taking flash photos in dark places produced many orbs at shrines, old buildings and graveyards, and people said “spirits showed up because it’s a haunted place.”
What are orbs really?
Orbs are thought to be the camera flash reflecting off particles floating in the air, such as dust, pollen, raindrops or mist, snow and small insects. In compact cameras and smartphones, the lens and flash are close together, so when the flash hits tiny particles right in front of the lens, they show up as large, out-of-focus round lights. That is also why they appear more often on rainy days or in dusty places.
