Nexus - 1603 - New Times Magazine-pages

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EXPLORING THE ORBS PHENOMENON Luminous spheres are increasingly being photographed with digital cameras and are often observed to have similarities with plasma balls and to interact with human consciousness. n July 2008 my partner Katie and I, along with other researchers and presenters from around the world, joined together in Glastonbury, England, for a conference entitled "Orbs: Interacting with Other Realms". Earlier in the year we had made a presentation in Palm Springs, USA, on the same subject and were amazed at the positive interest now shown in this phenomenon from all strata of society. Orbs have caught the imagination of people around the planet. Whatever we may think about them, orbs are an undeniable phenomenon. Thousands of people worldwide are now photographing these strange circles of light. But what are they really? For the past two years, we've had a full schedule of conference presentations and interviews on the subject of orbs, but five years ago neither of us had any idea of the effect orbs would have on our own lives or on the lives of thousands of others around the globe. Our own acquaintance with orbs began in 2002, when one afternoon we happened to photograph a strange ball of light against a tree, after which orbs began to appear regularly on our photographs. We'd had a digital camera for two years and had never before taken anything resembling an orb, so we set out to discover what was happening. After four years of experiences and hundreds of hours of photographing and researching orbs and related phenomena, we produced our book Beyond Photography (published by O Books, December 2006). Since publication, we have received many hundreds of emails, photographs and communications on orbs from people all across the world. When we began to photograph and study orbs, we really had no preconceptions as to what they were. Orbs ranged from the very large to the very small. Some looked like faded concentric-ring patterns of a gossamer thinness, while others were brightly coloured or opalescent. As we became more familiar with the phenomenon, we divided it into two distinct categories: 1. Orbs—the disc-like images which appear on photos but which are mostly invisible to the naked eye. 2. Luminosities—moving luminous spheres which are often visible. Sometimes small, sometimes large, they can be picked up by camcorders, using night vision, as fast-moving objects. For the purposes of this article, | use the term "orbs" to refer to both aspects of the phenomenon. by John Pickering © February 2009 Investigating the realm of orbs Let us take a rational look at the orbs phenomenon. Here, a few questions may be helpful: ¢ Can orbs be adequately explained by normal phenomena? Sunlight, flash feedback, raindrops and small reflective particles in the Website: http://www.lights2beyond.com NEXUS ¢ 51 APRIL - MAY 2009 www.nexusmagazine.com