Sir Arthur Conan Doyle once quoted his infamous detective character, Sherlock Holmes, as saying “whenever all other possibilities have been ruled out, the improbable, however unlikely, must be the truth.”  So must be the case in paranormal research—rule out all of the likely possibilities before declaring evidence paranormal.

There seems to still be a great deal of paranormal investigators out there who take Doyle’s approach in the opposite direction when considering orbs.  So called “orbs” are dust or bugs—nothing more.  To actually consider any image of an orb “paranormal” we are jumping right over these two very reasonable possibilities. 

“Oh, Matt, you skeptic.  But if a spirit orb looks just like light reflecting off a speck of dust or a wily bug, then you could be discounting proof of the paranormal, and possibly overlooking something that could lead you to help a family in need.”  Yes.  Someone has made this argument to me, and as noble a gesture as it is, I have a counter-argument.

It is more common to catch a non-spirit orb (dust, bug, etc.) than an actual spirit orb.  Chasing after something that is in no way paranormal will do more harm than good for individual or business that you may be investigating.  I’ve seen literally thousands of orb photos, and probably hundreds of video clips.  I wouldn’t call any of them paranormal, because they fail a very basic test that many novice investigators tend to overlook.  I call it the Perspective Test (PT), and it is quite simple.

The PT accesses an “orb’s” position within the Z axis (or depth) of the photo.  Quick, go look at every picture of a spirit orb that you can find, and tell me how many of them are in the foreground—how many are in front of everything else in the image?  If you can’t tell, you have to assume that they are.  Now, how many orbs are partially behind someone or something?  I’ve never seen one, but I can tell you that if I did, I’d really take a second look at it as legitimate evidence.  To demonstrate what I’m talking about, consider this basic visualization of a pass or fail for the PT.

With orbs in the foreground, it is impossible to accurately determine their true position within the Z Axis, therefore, impossible to determine important aspects, like size.  However, if the orbs are visually obstructed by something opaque, then not only can a position along the Z Axis be determined, but also a size of the object.

Let’s face it, as individuals who are already subject to extra scrutiny because of what we are investigating, putting forth evidence of something so easily explained as orbs effects the integrity of all the evidence that we put forth for public review.  If we hope to be taken seriously by believers and non-believers alike, we owe it to the community (and indeed the entire field of paranormal research) to present the most irrefutable evidence that we have.  Without passing the perspective test, orb evidence is hardly irrefutable.

Be safe in your investigations.