S.Y.P.R

Paranormal poetic license at its worst.

A Quick trawl around the paranormal type websites will reveal an abundance of dodgy looking mists, flares and, dare I say it, the dreaded orbs that most people claim and believe are paranormal in origin. This page attempts to 'shed light' on the various effects that can be captured on digital cameras or your mobile phone.

PLEASE NOTE: None of these photographs are paranormal.

This photo was taken on a mobile phone. It shows the interior of a little used subway. It was taken at around 8pm by myself.It clearly shows bugger all that could be considered paranormal by even the most hardened orbchaser.

BUT..... If we do this....

This Area is known for sightings of phantom Civil War soldiers. 1500 men and boys lost their lives here fighting Newcastles troops. The atmosphere is oppresive, its absolutely pitch black and there is an odd cold breeze blowing through the tunnel. Its a pretty scary place!

In the inset photo, there apears to be the figure of a Civil War soldier, holding a staff of some kind, hes wearing a dark colored tunic with his white sleeves and collar clearly visible.... Oh - and theres a skull like face in the bottom left hand corner, and a couple more shadowy figures further down the tunnel on the right....

Not really....

What you actually can see is the photo above, enlarged slightly - with the inset further enlarged and a few scuff marks and shadows on the wall.

A large mass of presumably moving light crosses the room in front of the camera... or does it??? Well, no - actually it doesnt..

What actually happens is the photographer puts a piece of crumpled clear plastic in front of the camera lens, and sets the camera to flash... simple really!

If youd like to create a similar picture, you need to hold the plastic about an inch from the lens, or the flash doesnt reflect, and you dont get the lovely spooky tendril effect...

Ectoplasm??

Nah - cigarette smoke, actually... Im sure i dont need to explain how to do this one....

Ive seen this type described variously as ectoplasm or moving orbs...And look - its even coming out of the wall!!

No, really - its not! Its a hair! one of my own, about four inches away from the cameras lens. The light from the flash reflects on the surface of the hair, Oh - and for the coloured orb fanatics, its not red because its evil, its red because my hair is red. It appears to be coming out of the wall because your eyes are unable to calculate the distance from the camera to the nearest reference point, which is the  wall.

By far my favorite picture... A classic 'Moving Orb'...

This one is pretty difficult to recreate admittedly, but its still not paranormal. Simply put, this is an airborne particle of ... something, probably glitter judging by the fact that theres a lot of sparkly stuff in the area. Caught in the near focus area of the cameras lens range, it reflects the light from the flash causing this very pretty effect, lovely, isnt it?

If your about to recreate this one for yourself, i suggest using a slower shutter speed than you normally do - you get a better 'flight path' that way.

Two effects in one here... might even be three!

Firstly, we have a reddish mist - this is caused by moisture in the air.

Secondly, a lighter mist at the bottom of the picture, probably the breath of the photographer.

Thirdly - great big pinkish orb, bang in the middle of the photo. Now, the fact that this photo was taken around midnight on Pearoyd Lane, above Stocksbridge Bypass, which is allegedly the haunt of a phantom monk and a group of children singing Ring around the Rosie, does not change the fact that what you actually see here is a grain of pollen, lazily drifting across the road..Not, as some would claim, the first stages of spirit manifestation.

Other common causes of the nonparanormal picture are:

Spraying an aerosol into the air, wait a few seconds and take a picture with flash - excellent 'spooky mist'

Take a picture in the bathroon an hour or so after youve had a bath or shower - its like the attack of the orbs.

Run through long grass, then take a picture - orbs, and the odd fairy - well, pollen and insects actually, but some people are stupid enough to believe, it would seem..

We encourage you to try it yourself. Send us your best fakes and  false positives - we will include the best ones on the website, or the forum, where you can find many more examples of fakes and false positive effects.