http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orb_(paranormal)

This page will explain the defination of orbs.

Specialty: informative

Can we post some pics of orbs? I have a great one next to the crystal at TMI. :)

Thank you, Candie!

It looks 'posed'  :D, as though it wanted its picture taken by the crystal!  :)

Bets

I suggest, if one wants to show pictures, please only pictures without flashlight. It is (at least to me) obvious, that almost all photos I've seen with so-called "orbs" are actually flashlighted dust particles near to the camera's lens and it's flashlight. We've had the topic on the main forum in the past, and I presented some fabricated ones.

Spooky

No matter what you chose to fabricate the orbs, Spooky-- as I said once before--- the conditions still must be conducive. Whether it be from the spiritual atmosphere or the physical atmosphere.
I think orbs are here as a reminder, just like rainbows, that there is a higher intelligence at "work".  Be that science or spiritual. The interpretation is up to the individual.  

That's true identcat. Finally everyone must decide on it's own. But as there are so many spiritual theories about orbs out there in the web, I thought I'd put up the dry natural science version. Yes, science tells of color frequencies of a rainbow and such, but it can't tell about the actual experience.

I recently noticed, there is no bright red in a rainbow! Only the rusty red at the one, and the bright etheric red purple on the other side, but no scarlet or ferrari-red.  :)

Spooky

Speaking of having the right conditions,
Dear Identcat and Spooky --

Tonight we had an intense lightning storm and my husband saw an orb in our living room when lightning hit closeby. It was near where our dog frequently stares and tracks some ovement at about that time of night. There is no wiring for phone or electricity in that area.
If it had been lightning it seems it would have affected the nearby television, but it didn't.
I'm thinking the lightning charge was strong enough to light up a visiting OB soul. Is that possible?

Bets

Why, yes, of course!  Once again, a condusive atmosphere presented itself, and voila--- there was your orb. I think that we as humans aren't at a high enough frequency to see them with our "naked" eye most of the time.
The closest to the Orbs I have seen onTV was on Star trek, New Generation  called "the Child" (11/21/1988) ---where a pure energy light orb penetrated Counselor Troi and she became pregnant.  When I see my "sparkle" lights as I am meditating-- I see my orbs in a similar form. But, I can't recall seeing orbs with my "naked" eye very often.  I do recall seeing some years ago while at a pond.-- Love and Light Carol Ann

Orbs seen with your eyes, or with your mind's eyes, or with a mix of both (what the bleep do I know?) is another category as the only photographic orbs.

When I read Bets' post, I thought of ball-lightnings. Could there be a connection to orbs? Ball-lightnings are, from a physicist's perspective, mysterious phaenomenons. They mostly occur with thunderstorms, but  often slightly before it. They are real, there are too much eyewitnesses, and physical damage to deny it. But no physical explanation. These ball-lightnings though don't seem to be intelligent of any kind, they just happen, scare people, and puff off.

Spooky

Thanks. Spooky--- I learned something new. Love with lots of hugs--cat

I have trouble with the orbs. While it is nice to wax poetic about their origin, and much of the value in poetry is in the eye ....or ear...of the beholder/listener, I have difficulty with claims that they have a physical origin that indicates a message from the other side. If there is some personally meaningful interpretation to where/when they show up, even if they are anomalies, I won't argue with that. But often the question really means ..what are they in physical terms.

And after I saw this question, I came across the following on a website that is dedicated to showcasing pictures of what are supposed to be ghosts:

something to the effect that you cannot distinguish a true orb from dust particles, etc., and that digital cameras have a camera flaw that can cause a false orb to be produced. (decided to not use as quote because they are adamant about stuff from their site not being copied!)

Note also that they do not deny the existence of what may be "real" orbs...they just question how photographically accurate they are.

The web page this came from is this:

http://www.ghostfiles.org/photos.htm

and the home page for this website is this:
http://www.ghostfiles.org/

Ball Lightning is too odd a phenomenon to ignore! I first heard about this from reading something about Charles Fort...another interesting phenomenon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_lightning

It is fun to have such a mystery happening in the 21st century!
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/03/20/2194630.htm