On Camera

Photography is still the most controversial method of attempting to catch some proof of a ghost. No matter how accurate a picture looks when taken, there will always be disagreement with what it actually is...and if it's authentic. Nowadays it's even more difficult with photo altering software and the ease of setting up situations and clicking the digital camera.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and no photo is meant to persuade or dissuade our viewers, we repect all opinions.

In our research and experience, photo anomolies can be catergorized into five types: Orbs or globules, vortexes, mist, apparitional writing and apparitions themselves.

To help our viewers, we are going to break down each type and give a defintiton with an example of each.

Please note: We are not sure if any of these photos taken by DCMAG are factual evidence of a haunting or not, but it is our professional opinion that they do represent some type of unusual activity that cannot be explained at this time.

Anomaly #1 Apparitions

An apparition is an extremely rare image of a ghost that somehow came up on camera. This is probably the strongest objective evidence of a haunting and the biggest prize for paranormal investigators. Many times these images aren't seen with the naked eye and show up later on film.

Anomaly #2 Orbs and Globules

The orb phonomenon is in full swing! People are sending us orb pics from all over the country! Orbs from weddings, family functions, cemetaries, concerts, museums, and even pets. Recently Al found one from his aunt's Las Vegas vacation photos! They primarily appear on digital cameras, but not always.

Ghosthunters are divided about these things, some believe orbs and globules are the energy of the deceased that can't be seen with the naked eye but show up on film and cameras. They can be blue, red or any color, which some believe to be the personality of the entity. Often orbs have a thick outline around them and are caught in motion.

The other aspect of orbs is that they are simply dust particles that reflect off a flash camera: Nothing ghostly, just an illumation from a flash.

It's hard to tell the difference. We have dozens of orb pics, but we don't put them all up. You've seen them before ha ha! Chances are they're dust and particles. However we do have some questions for both sides of the argument. If they're really orbs, then..
Why do they seem to show up in any environment?
Why are they primarily on digital cameras?
Why aren't they ever seen with the naked eye?

However, if it's just dust, we have these questions:
Why so often is just one in the picture?
Why do they seem mainly to hover around people, and rarely shot right on the person covering up their face or body?
How can they be recorded on nightshot film, and move in ways that defy the current or breeze, stay still or appear out of nowhere and just vanish? We have footage of orbs zipping around almost like they have a mind of their own. Hopefully we'll get that footage up on-line.

Anyway, here's some great links that may help with the orb phemonenon:

Amomaly #3: Mist

Mist is difficult. Some believe its energy attempting to form into an appiriton. It's believed to be the in-between or an orb and an appirition. The energy starts with a ball, and when attempting to form an apparition, the energy needs to expand and retract to form into what it's consciously attempting to be.

Mist is also simply seen as what it is, mist. Humid weather, breath in cold air, cigarette smoke and radiator steam are all mistaken as apparitonal mist from time to time. The big question about mist is why it appears indoors when no one is smoking?

Anomaly #4 Vortexes

A vortex can be seen as several things in the ghost realm, it can be seen as an orb in motion or a trail of an orb. Think of a comet. When an orb moves quickly, it is reputed to leave a trail behind it. The picture below is considered a vortex. Its a stream, its solid and seems to be a trail in one direction.

Here below is an example of a phony vortex. A vortex-looking image can also be completely natural, often a camera strap or something blowing around that got in front of the camera. The object in the upper left is simply a cathair from Al's white cat Dolly that came too close to the lens.

Anomaly #5 Ghostly writing

How can we explain this one? Mysterious writing that appears on a wall or the floor. In this pic "Lisa", the resident ghost we're quite familiar with, may have attempted to give us a clue about something by putting initials on the floor.

Occasionally a distressed ghost will attempt to communicate with us. This may simply be something natural like energy of some sort, but we know this ghost quite well and we believe (we don't know for sure) that this is initials of some sort.