A Painful Lesson Learned in Paranormal Photography, on the USS Hornet

This blog was posted on alpsyubasutter.blogspot.com, a blog Anna wrote for while a team member for Angels of Light Paranormal Society.


It's every single paranormal investigators dream to capture, every homeowners unwanted visitor, and every child's nightmare. The FBA. The full bodied apparition.

Overlooking the area in question.

Some people go their whole lives working to document this exact phenomena with absolutely nothing to show for it but thousands upon thousands of awkward camera angles, shot somewhere in the dark, in the dankest of places. We buy thousands of dollars worth of equipment, with absolutely no positive result- no matter the fancy name or price tag. We spend thousands of hours wasted in locations that are claimed to have the "highest activity" of any in a given place, only to go home exhausted and empty handed.

That is, until you're taking a photo leisurely, just to show family and friends, by blindly flashing your camera into the dark. You're not serious about the photo, just clicking in the dark, waiting to set up for an investigation. No intentions of capturing anything paranormal, and BOOM! It happens.

This shot also shows the area in question, moments before
 the photo in question was taken. Nothing dark hanging on any bunks.

You go back and look at your photos and you notice something that absolutely blows your mind. You know for a fact you were the only one present for the shot. You know nothing like clothing, was hanging in the location of the shot to cause confusion. But yet, all you're left with is one single photo, that you have absolutely NO supporting evidence to prove what you feel in your heart you may have caught. Something which you cannot explain. Where to go from there? How do you present it? Do you forget it and toss is aside? Do you talk about it? Send it to professionals? Go to your peers? What do you do to share this with people without looking like an absolute buffoon? These are questions, and a situation that came about for a member of our team, Jim Riggi.

On Feb 22nd we investigate the USS Hornet during Grey Ghost Paracon 2014. During this time we were in the Infirmary/Sick Bay area of the ship.

When Jim sent me this photo, I admit. I stared at it, turned my head a little and tried to make sense of what was happening in the photo. Of course, the first thing I asked was who was in the room with him. Jim explains the situation as, "Everyone had moved on to the surgery wing of the Infirmary and I turned back once everyone was in the surgery room to take a photo of Sick Bay so I could show Shannon (Shannon is his wife) what it looks like" Jim assures me that he scans the room and no one else is present at the time except for 1 person who is sitting to his left on a bunk. I can vouch for the people in attendance on our team, which are in the Surgery room. Everyone is accounted for.

Jim is my teammate, I trust him. I know he is honest. Trust and honesty are something that keeps teams like ours afloat (no pun intended), but I also know the general public doesn't know Jim from Adam. To ask the general public to TRUST us based on our "word", just isn't good enough.

Burden of Proof

As a team, we understand that when we make a claim about something that is allegedly paranormal, the burden of proof falls in our hands. This is one of those cases where we are not able to do this. It's a PAINFUL lesson of swallowing our pride, and pointing out what when wrong with this scenario.

A couple things happened here:

We are in the underbelly of the ship, no one has seriously started investigating the Infirmary section of the ship just yet, but we have all moved into the Surgery wing. While this photo in question is being taken, we are taking personal photos of the ship with cellphones, which is exactly what Jim was doing. There is absolutely 0 cell phone reception in this area of the ship, as most areas are down there. There has been no notable EMF spikes from cellphone reception, because there is none. Jim IS taking a photo with his cell phone for this photo. At a $150 per ticket there's no doubt we are photographing everything.

We have examined the EXIF data to ensure nothing has been modified in this photo. We can provide that data to anyone in question of the integrity of digital photo data. (available upon request)

Image Exif Data	Value
File Name	20140223_012454.jpg
Date	02/23/2014 01:24 AM
Filesize	1.83M
Width	3264 pixels
Height	2448 pixels
Horizontal Resolution	72dpi
Vertical Resolution	72dpi
Mime Type	image/jpeg
Exif Version	0220

Camera Data	Value
Make	SAMSUNG
Model	SGH-T999
Exposure Time	1/15 sec.
Aperture Value	2.76 EV
F-stop	f/2.6
ISO	320
Focal Length	3.7.0 mm
Exposure Program	aperture priority
Metering Mode	center weighted average
Flash Status	flash fired
Light Source	unknown
Shutter Speed Value	998/256

Because of the nature of the photo, taking a picture just to show someone the room and not expecting to find anything, Jim only fires 2 shots rather than our protocol of 3 per area. This was not being taken for evidence purposes.

Here is where we really lose ground on determining whats happening in our photo here.

• Cellphone photography- This is generally not used for evidence simply because of the ability of faking things can happen so easily. In the day in age of ghost apps, we know how easily photos can be maipulated. Having been a Paracon we were admittedly relaxed in our photo taking, in between EVP sessions and such. While in investigation mode, we were however very strict in tagging as we would in any investigation. Photography on the other hand is just too "iffy" and its not something we generally rely on heavily while investigating, at least not with cellphones nor flash photography.

• Scene control- On standard investigations, we are in control of our "scene". We know where everyone is and it is thoroughly documented. Paracons are difficult for this. We are touring with people who don't normally investigate, or don't follow our protocol. In this case all we have is a personal experience and 1 persons detailed account of events. While the rest of our team can vouch that what Jim is saying is true, due to the nature of the situation and moving in between areas of the ship, and lack of DVR footage, we have no way to prove this to the general public. This poses a huge problem. If we can't prove our claim, we have nothing.

• Angles- We have no other angle in this moment of time. The following photos that come after are not at quite the same angle unfortunately. This one detail, even if we had every other detail in line (whether it be a professional photography camera, infrared, or cellphone, and even our DVR system), we have nothing to compare this photograph to in that exact moment. Protocol while on scene is 3 photos per space that are identical for comparison. This makes this a closed case. We cannot use this photo as evidence.

• NEVER GO ALONE- In this case our member had moved on without us. Grant it this is one of those situations that he was not in danger, it was only a few doors down. But this left him alone to experience this on his own without any eye witness. At least with groups of two, there are extra eyes and ears to observe. A personal experience is easier to validate with two experiencers, rather than just 1.

• Supporting Evidence- No emf spikes. No Evp. The only thing we can vouch for, is this area of the ship for us sensitives is very heavy. How do you put a hunch or feeling into tangible form? We can't in this case.

 The Unidentified Sick Bay Buddy

So basically what we have here is a very interesting photo that we cannot explain, and a very cool personal experience. It feels wrong to stow the photo away or to simply delete it from memory. To the person who captured this, this is a lesson learned that I guarantee will eat him up forever. This is something that we all dream to catch, but very few ever get the chance to experience, let alone capture. The "what ifs" in this situation will no doubt cause us to step up our game of being on task no matter the time, place or situation. At a Paracon it is easy to get caught up in the hype of the place you are investigating, the people you are with, and the situation at hand.

I'm proud to say that given the situation of the event, our team did an excellent job of keeping up with our surroundings. This is a hiccup that no doubt made us all facepalm alittle. It seems in the exact moment of us being off guard, the inevitable happened. I've had many seasoned investigators tell me this is exactly when my moment will happen; right when I'm not looking for it.

But the question remains, is this what happened? Is this paranormal? Is this by chance a full bodied apparition, or something else more explainable? This is something that will trouble us forever, but its also something that taught this team a grave lesson: 

• BE ON TASK AT ALL TIMES. 

• FOLLOW PROTOCOL DESPITE: WHO, WHEN,  HOW AND WHERE. THINGS WILL HAPPEN NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE WITH, WHETHER YOU ARE READY OR NOT, AND IT WILL HAPPEN BETWEEN TRAVELING TO LOCATIONS OF INVESTIGATION.

• USE EQUIPMENT THAT YOU CAN VOUCH AT ALL TIMES, WHETHER IN BETWEEN LOCATIONS OR NOT.

• TAKE MINIMUM OF 3 SHOTS. THE SLIGHTEST MOVEMENT CAN EFFECT THE DYNAMIC OF A PHOTO DRAMATICALLY.

• KEEP VIDEO ROLLING TO PROVE YOUR SURROUNDINGS AND PEOPLE IN ATTENDANCE.

• MANUALLY VERBALIZE WHERE ALL MEMBERS OF YOU GROUP ARE. *NO ONE GOES ALONE*

Some people are going to look at this photo and immediately dismiss it and that is OK, that's the point of peer review. We would, and ARE doing the same. The WORST thing you will ever have to do as a team, or as an individual, is dismiss your own teams work. This very well could have been the Holy Grail of our investigating careers, but instead has turned into a hard earned valuable lesson. Hopefully our experience will also help you and your team as well.

And here it is for you to scrutinzed or awe over....our own personal, Holy Fail of paranormal photography: The Unidentified Sick Bay Buddy.

WE DO NOT CLAIM THIS PHOTO TO BE PARANORMAL IN NATURE, IT IS SIMPLY UNEXPLAINED AND INTENDED FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES. 

Without prompting what do you see on the right hand side of this frame? The left hand side shows an obstruction of the camera lens, a finger. This is not what it is in question.

The second angle, slightly off. Once again the brightness on the left is an obstruction of the lens.
This is NOT paranormal.

*Authors note: Jim is also learning not to put his finger in front of the flash! :)

Ghost App Ghosts: Fun or Fraud?

This blog was posted on alpsyubasutter.blogspot.com, a blog Anna wrote for while a team member for Angels of Light Paranormal Society.

The old adage, "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is" couldn't be more appropriate way to start this article. The subject alone is enough to make anyone serious about paranormal research pull their hair out. Ghost apps. How are they fooling the masses? Especially "educated paranormal researchers"?? Makes you wonder,  right? 

 But it's true, it's happening.  As a research team ourselves, we find it particularly annoying. I can count on both hands the number of times we've been presented with a photo of a ghost in clear shot, detailed, and staring right into the camera. It's always:

1. Attached to a story about the moment it was taken, and then followed by a story of people wanting to move out of their homes immediately, and then we are asked if we can investigate their home. *SIGH*

2. "My ____ (sister, cousin, friend, uncle) sent me this photo and they are terrified."  Of course then follows the story of torment, wanting to move out of their house, yada yada,  and then of course we are asked if we can investigate their home. *EYE ROLL*

As the person who normally serves as the liaison between our team and the client, I find this to be extremely disrespectful. It's a huge waste of time for us. What an insult to the services we've provided to hundreds. Not only is this an insult to us, but it's an even bigger insult to people who have had true experiences. I have seen some truly tormented people living with things that would make the average person shudder, and here I am stuck arguing the validity of a civil war soldier standing in Uncle Pete's kitchen here in Northern California.

This is about the point an individual gets upset that I am not buying into their claim, and an argument ensues. People can be very hostile, when you catch them in a lie. When you have to be the one to tell them that they have produced a fraudulent photo, the bashing begins.  "You guys have no clue what you're doing, you call yourselves paranormal investigators? Turning away people who truly need help!!" We're paranormal investigators, not psychologists, know what I mean? I'm sure many paranormal investigators can relate.

The Difference Between Fun and Fraud

So of course when these apps originally started I am more than certain they were created to be for entertainment and maybe to pull a prank on someone. They were not created to be used as a tool to gain sympathy and attention from people. But, unfortunately that is precisely what has happened here. In the day in age of paranormal reality television, everyone wants to hop on board and tell their story - even when they don't have one. Sure ghost hunting has been highly glamorized (but really there's not much glamorous about hanging around in dusty barns and buildings with a flashlight strapped to your head talking to something that may or may not be there), so of course everyone wants a piece of the action. With ghost shows being hot on TV, more now than ever, people believe ghosts are literally everywhere. They've become like a very posh pet- all the cool kids have one, or do they? 

While it's fun to play a joke on your buddy, take his photo and show him a demonic looking baby ghost behind him, it's not so funny to produce a photo and tell everyone that you're being attacked, or plagued by a presence. People will go so far to play into this "act" that family and friends grow worried for that person. For example, I have been asked my opinion for a photo submitted by a frantic mother who's teenage child had been claiming to be tormented by an entity of a woman. This mother put her house on the market and began the moving process in order to escape this nonexistent spirit. 

Another more recent submission came from a woman trying to convince my team that the spirit in the photo shes showing us, is that of her mother that had committed suicide years before. I was luckily able to produce another photo of the exact same ghost in which I stuck to my laptop, right next to the image she sent me on my computer screen. She adamantly denied fraud. I was then verbally assaulted and told I had no business doing what I do, because I was a moron. 

Once again. We are not psychologists, we study spirits, not mental disorders. 

Where to Draw the Line?

While we cannot stop Ghost App Developers from creating these pesky little applications, we can educate the general public on telling the difference between an app and the real deal (which are still up for debate). 

Let's think about this logically for a minute; someone is able to produced an extremely detailed photo of a ghost. Sometimes not even once, but over and over. If ghosts have the ability to stop and pose for a photo on demand, then what are we doing here? Why is it always with cellphones?  The capturing of valid evidence is not that easy. Matter of fact no one has EVER produced a photo that is 100% without a doubt, void of speculation. Even some of the most famous ghost photos ever captured for decades, are still up for debate. No one truly knows what they have captured. Yet little Timmy has captured at least 3 full body apparitions in the last year. Red flags? 

A couple ways you can tell if a ghost photo is fraudulent:

1) Is this photo taken with a cell phone? If so, be leery. There are a TON of applications out there that can produce very convincing ghost photos. Not just apparition photos, but mists, vortexes and even, ORBS. Yes, I said orbs. There are actual ghost app orbs. Why anyone would want to hoax one of the most easily debatable subjects in the paranormal community is simply beyond me, but it happens. (wanna know our theory on orbs? that's a whole 'nother subject )

2) Ask to see the original. There are tons of programs out there that can let you know if a photo has been modified using the EXIF data. http://www.exifdata.com/  is a great one. If there is a complete lack of EXIF data then you know someone has modified the photo. Not only can you tell if a photo is modified, you can also tell what equipment was used to take a photo. If it says Samsung S3 and they say they took it with a regular digital camera, you know that they are not being honest with you. Want to learn more about EXIF? Check out our blog about it: EXIF DATA.

3) Check out the Internet, there are more and more databases being built by teams so you can find Ghost App Ghosts easily there are a few on the Internet that circulate frequently, and are STILL fooling people. New ghosts are popping up daily, though.

 4) Use common sense, trust your gut. Does it look too be good to be true? Then question it! Especially paranormal researchers! It's our job to question. Ever notice how alot of "ghost photos" are of awkward corners or seemingly have no subject matter? Look at things logically. If someone is unwillingly to produce the original photo, or gets easily upset when you question it, then something is up. People who are being honest or have a legitimate claim, will not mind being asked questions or providing what proof they have. Remember not all ghost apps are just straight up full body apparitions, there are monsters, Bigfoot, UFOs, mists, orbs- you name it.

5) Save yourself a headache. NEVER diagnose a photo that is sent to you over social media. You cannot properly analyze a photo that is sent this way. Facebook, Twitter and other social media networks change the data format of photos, plus they compress images. You cannot give an educated guess about a photo with out examining its data. Plus bottom line, you weren't there! Too many factors play into analyzing a photo. But remember, just because someone was there, doesn't make them right when they say it's a legitimate ghost. Who's to say they're being honest?

Admitting a photo is a ghost without knowing for sure, can ruin the integrity of your team, and all of your hard work.

Conclusion

Paranormal ghost apps are damaging to the paranormal community. Being slightly skeptical of what others produce as "evidence" is completely healthy for the community. Many people feel that in order to be skeptical, that you must not be a believer of the paranormal, but that is completely untrue. Being skeptical of the paranormal, and being skeptical of people and their methods of evidence collection are two different things. These apps are a major set back for us. They undermine true paranormal phenomena, and the experiences that people have. As investigators, we should be banning together and educating people. There should be a zero tolerance for people using these apps as a means of seeking attention. It is a waste of time and energy that should be spent on helping people who truly need it. It's a waste of time that can be used on conducting studies that benefit the paranormal community. It's also a waste of time from our personal lives that we could be spending with out families and enjoying our down time. It is truly unfair and disrespectful to the people who dedicate their time to help others.

Pareidolia; funny name, funny phenomena, not so funny problem...

This blog was posted on alpsyubasutter.blogspot.com, a blog Anna wrote for while a team member for Angels of Light Paranormal Society.


How many times, while surfing the Internet, have you seen someone post photos on a paranormal society's Facebook, asking if a face in an inanimate object is paranormal or not?

A face in toast, plaster, smoke, a ceased shirt, trees and foliage, and.....CLOUDS? The clouds should have given this away. Remember laying on your back as a child and looking up at the clouds and seeing animals? We would point out dolphins, alligators, dragons and elephants. This is the same thing. This phenomena is called pareidolia matrixing.

Pareidolia (ˌpæraɪˈdəʊlɪə) — n the imagined perception of a pattern or meaning where it does not actually exist.

It seems that over the course of evolution, human beings have adapted a survival skill of recognizing human faces in shapes and patterns. American astronomer and astrophysicist, Carl Sagan hypothesized that as a survival technique, human beings are "hard-wired" from birth to identify the human face.

This is referred to as face perception. This survival skill gives us the ability to discern emotion. From birth, faces are key to the individuals social interaction. This can help us figure out if we are in danger, or if another individual is safe or approachable. Faces are key to a humans interaction with the world around, therefore we recognize them immediately, even subconsciously.

EXAMPLE: This is simply 3 circles and a line, but configured into this pattern, the human brain perceives this as a face. The human mind is also so quick to sum up the image, one may assume this face has a negative demeanor such as disappointment or mild unhappiness.

This is a survival skill.

Famous examples of pareidolia: 

Face on Mars

The Rabbit Moon

The Old Man of the Mountains in Franconia, New Hampshire

The Man in the Moon

The "Rock Face" in the Rocky Mountains,Colorado

Horsehead Nebula, Orion

There are literally millions of other examples of this, but these are some people may recognize right away.

Childhood Fun

As I mentioned earlier in this entry, I talked about clouds. Clouds are probably the most common way we can demonstrate pareidolia, in a way in which everyone can relate. While we recognized that this takes place in abstract patterns, we also recognize that the lion cub we see in the clouds, is not in fact a lion club, but a pattern that happens to look like one. This is the same when it goes for human faces in patterns. Whether its animals, humans or objects such as planes trains and automobiles- the basis is the same, our brains are trained to recognize familiar objects in patterns.

Pareidolia and the Paranormal -
Greying the area between Paranormal and Paranoid

To our team, education is extremely important. We feel that if we want to see positive changes in the Paranormal community, we must be part of that positive change. We cannot complain about how things are being handled, if we are not willing to help change it. Education is key. It's a goal of ours to help educate the public as well as new investigators who might be coming into the field. We're sorry if what we're about to say comes off as critical or rude. It's not our intention. We do however feel this all needs to be said.

 In the day in age of the Paranormal reality revolution, its easy to get caught up in the hype. In the attempt of being recognized and  being seen as really open minded, some have become so open minded that they have become closed minded to the idea of anything "normal". Believing skeptics are becoming harder to find. This does not mean being skeptical of ghosts or other paranormal phenomena, but being skeptical of the people who give us material and skeptical of the methods being used to capture it. Some things that can be easily explained, are being labeled paranormal in fear of appearing close minded. Critical thinking has fallen by the way side.

Before the internet there was more of an excuse for this sort of thing to be believed of as paranormal. Unless we had access to scientific journals or knew someone who understood these things, we may not know. But now days with information readily available at the tips of our fingers, there really is no excuse for passing off common human reactions to patterns, as anything but just what it is: a survival skill.

We learned that the world wasn't flat, we should be able to understand this.

Also, we are also in the age of "not offending anyone", so instead of offering a plausible explanation for phenomena, we find ourselves nodding and saying "maybe" as opposed to educating the public on whats really happening. 

Paranormal Investigators are especially guilty of this. Everyone wants a piece of the "paranormal glory", and to be part in an ongoing popularity contest in the community. This is very prominent on social media. People seem more concentrated on numbers on their counters in the form of "likes", than producing valid evidence and giving good plausible reasons for unexplainable phenomena. It doesn't have to be unexplainable, if we would just do our duty of explaining. In the effort of proving that the paranormal exists, we are deeming anything "possible" into being absolute. Evidence review has become very diluted when we are calling a face in a pile of unfolded laundry, the spirit of a deceased human being. This is not helping the community, this is damaging it's integrity.

Ranting Moment: Problems in the Paranormal Community

At the risk of sounding catty or rude, the best way I can express how this makes me feel as a paranormal investigator who has dedicated their time into educating themselves-
"Let's not be SO open minded, that our brains fall out."

YOU MUST THINK CRITICALLY.

Our team has collectively over 20 years experience in the paranormal. On most cases, considering that we visit highly active areas, we produce a small handful of EVP, and rarely something photographic (or visual) per case. 70% of what we find is usually personal experiences. If your team is rendering 30 EVP, 40 "evidence" photos, and other phenomena, its time to consider possibly honing in on your evidence review skills.

It very easy to spot out teams on social media who have been in the field for a long amount of time, or who strive for education of their members. We do not mean to demean other teams who enjoy doing what we do, everyone is entitled to be here. We certainly do not feel that we are better than anyone else. We do however pride ourselves in doing the foot work of educating our members on common phenomena that occur in this "field" (word used loosely), that are frequently mistaken as paranormal. And by this, we mean having strict standards in what we call evidence of the paranormal. Our evidence goes through rigorous debunking before we label it. This includes submitting it for peer review to others in the community, NOT JUST OUR TEAM MEMBERS.

"When in doubt- THROW IT OUT!"

I would rather have 1 solid piece of evidence, than a thousand "maybe" pieces of evidence.
Which would you rather have? One $1 bill or one hundred pennies?

Many teams do not like being told anything contrary to what they believe they have captured. If you do not agree with them that it is paranormal, and all out war ensues. Blocking and nasty words are exchanged. If you do not wish to have your work critiqued, it is suggested that you do not put it up on social media. Because, eventually, people will question your work.

While we have no problem with people having teams who ghost hunt, what we do have a problem with is people who do not understand these basic debunking fundamentals.  These are the individuals who proclaim themselves as professionals and who go into peoples homes and declare some very basic non-paranormal phenomena as evidence of a haunting, leaving their clients more confused than ever and with no resolution. This is not okay.

And the clean up for teams who do strive for paranormal excellence and professionalism? This is a nightmare.

PAREIDOLIA IS NOT PARANORMAL PHENOMENA.

So PLEASE, educate yourself and your team on these different subjects. Learn your equipment. Learn what causes these phenomena. Read books. Read articles. AND PLEASE, learn as much as you can before going into people's homes and causing more panic and disorder! They still have to live there long after we are gone.

ABOUT OUR TEAM:

We are a paranormal research group based out of Marysville, Ca. We are here to help our community & surrounding areas through paranormal research. We strive to help people who are either curious, or in distress due to unexplainable events in their homes or businesses. We use a "believing-skeptical" approach to prove or disprove paranormal activity. Our services are always free of charge! Aside from what we do at home, we are also hoping to help educate the paranormal community and the general community about common misconceptions about the paranormal, and easily explainable phenomena often mistaken for paranormal acitivity.

To find us head to Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/AngelsOfLightParanormalSociety

EXIF is good, EXIF is our friend!

This blog was posted on alpsyubasutter.blogspot.com, a blog Anna wrote for while a team member for Angels of Light Paranormal Society.

So already this article's title is going to do one of two things:

Make you nod in agreement -or- shake your head in confusion.

If you're shaking your head and don't know much about EXIF, don't feel bad, many people don't! 

So what is "EXIF"? 

EXIF is the acronym for "Exchangeable Image File Format". EXIF specifies the format information for sound, images, and ancillary tags used by digital cameras. It also is used for scanners, and other systems that use images or sounds from digital cameras. The formats we are specifically talking about here, is the formats of photos. This information includes the make and model of a camera (including camera phones), exposure lengths, file types, dates taken, dates modified, whether or not a flash was used, and an assortment of other information. 

This information is very important in the paranormal field to determine a slough of possibilities for photographic phenomena. EXIF data is especially important when analyzing photos sent to you by others. In order to determine the authenticity of a photo, it must be analyzed in raw form. This means no cropping, no contrast adjustments, or renaming of the photo in question. 

Here is an example of an unaltered photo:

As you can see the photo above, has complete EXIF data. You can tell that this photo was taken by a Samsung Galaxy S3 (SCH-R530M). Also by looking at the data you can see that a Flash was used. You can see the software that was used to create the photo, which was R530MVQAMF2, the original Samsung Galaxy S3 Software. File size is 2.4 MB, also note the Resolution is 72. 

You can see by this data that this photo is completely unaltered.

Using this article here, you can see a complete explanation of what each format line means: EXIF DATA EXPLAINED

This photo on the other hand, you can see a major difference- and we're not just talking about that spooky face!

This photo has been saved from Facebook via mobile. It then was put through the Android Application, "GhostCam". It's been emailed back to the computer and put through the EXIF Data Website. As you can see there is a huge lack of EXIF data. This is because the information for the camera used is void. It has been put through a 3rd party program. This is an indication that the photo has been modified in some way. You can now see that the photo's file size is 47 KB and the resolution has dropped to 1. Software to create this photo is Picasa, which is a 3rd party image organizer and editor created by Lifescape and used on Android.

What Phenomena can be explained using EXIF Data?

Many different types of suspected paranormal photographic can be explained using EXIF Data. 

Orbs: Was flash used? EXIF data can show the flash used.

Photo was taken in 2011 at a Ranch in the Sutter Buttes using flash photography

Squiggly glows lines: What was the shutter speed? EXIF data can tell you if long exposure or short exposure was used. Many settings that are used for night photography uses slower shutter speeds, causing trails of light.

Photo taken 2012 Valentine construction Company using Night Scenery, Long Exposure, Slow Shutter Speeds. The purple lines are coming from the Infrared cameras being used. The photo taker has lowered the camera before the shutter has completed its action.

"Apparitions" or ghostly images that seem like blurry transparent people: Same as before, check the exposure. Was long or short exposure used?

This photo was taken at the Silver Dollar in 2012, using Night Scenery, long exposure (slow shutter speeds), no flash. One of our investigators was moving out of frame when the photo was taken.

http://completelyfreetutorials.blogspot.com/2012/07/photography-tutorial-shutter-speed.html

There are other factors that will play into how photos will turn out, especially at night. This includes the camera's ISO. ISO is your camera's sensitivity to light. Aperture is also important, which is the hole that light travels into your camera. Bottom line: MANY factors play into photos and how the camera itself effects the way photos are recorded. BUT YOU GET THE POINT! :)

This does not include ambient room lighting, environmental conditions, and the user themselves. These are only a few examples of how EXIF can help to factor in the authenticity of photos, and whether or not they are paranormal. 

If a photo is found to be altered using the EXIF data, it should be thrown out. There is no way anyone can diagnose any photo as being authentically paranormal without proper EXIF data. This goes both ways for people sending in photos in to paranormal teams for analysis, or even for teams who may think they have caught paranormal evidence. The original photo should be available with EXIF data in tact. 

The other factor is the photo taker themselves, take into consideration the environmental factors mentioned above. And HONESTY! Always be honest!

There are many FREE EXIF data viewers you can download and some websites that you can view EXIF data online, such as:

exifdata.com/‎
www.exifdataviewer.com/
www.findexif.com/‎
exif-viewer.com/‎

Hopefully this little article helps people understand the importance of these data files. Debunking isn't always a bad thing, in fact, its essential in the Paranormal Community! Through education we better our chances of producing legitimate photos, making stronger investigators, and in turn strengthening this community! :)

Theory of "Spirit Orbs" and The Diagnosing of Online Photos

This blog was posted on alpsyubasutter.blogspot.com, a blog Anna wrote for while a team member for Angels of Light Paranormal Society.

We are often sent photos and asked what we think of them. After feeling like a broken record, I felt like maybe I should explain why we do not "diagnose" photos that are sent to us over the internet. It's not that we're being "para snobs!" Honestly! Bottom line, whether its a potential spirit orb, apparitions, vortexes, mist, or shadow figure - we can't say, simply because we weren't there! In the day of photoshop, photo editing and camera phones, we feel it would be irresponsible to do so.

I explained this in a recent exchange of emails, when a photo of an orb was sent to us. Orbs themselves are a little bit of a different issue. Our team simply does not support the theory that these little balls are spirits.

I won't post the original photo but instead, post some photos we took on a ranch in the Sutter Buttes, as well as some from Preston Castle in Ione. These are very obviously dust orbs because of the outside location we were in. Plenty of dust, wind, and plenty of feet moving around. In these conditions it is nearly impossible to keep a lense clean. An uncontaminated area is very important to determining if something is paranormal in nature.



People often make the argument, "well if they are just dust, then why don't we see them all day long?" Simple. It's because these microscopic pieces are not illuminated. They are so small they are nearly invisible in ambient lighting. The next time a sun ray comes through your window, like a concetrated beam, get down next to it and check it out. Fluff your blanket, shake your hair, sneeze, walk across the carpet. What do you see? Dust, pollen, and other air particulate is everywhere.

Have doubt about the "dust level" of a room? When you go to take a photo, simply look just beyond your flash from behind your camera. As the flash shines, you can see the dust zooming back and forth. When all else fails, take a bright flash light point it across the room, and look into the beam.

Taking photos in an overly dusty area, is kind of like doing an EVP session during a party. If the environment is contaminated, how can you tell whats paranormal and what's not? Even the cleanest person has SOME dust in their homes or businesses. We carry it on our clothes!

Then it's asked, "well I took two pictures! why is it in one photo and not the other?" Simple. These orbs you see, are much closer to your lense than you may think. Add the exaggeration of a convexed lense, and you can nearly cover the entire photo with 1 orb. Bright flash reflecting on a piece of lint very close to the lense can create a very large magnificent orb (in colors too!). In between taking photos so much as a fraction of a cm. can cause the dynamic of a photo to change. The smallest amount of our movement, microscopically speaking, can make a very huge difference. Plus, drafts and even something as simple as our own breath, can quickly move these small pieces completely our of range of shooting. 

Before I started paranormal investigating, I admit, I thought these glowing balls were spirit energy. Shortly into my paranormal investigating career, I may have STILL thought so. But after years of sitting in the dark, at location after location, I cannot deny that I no longer support the orb theory. I've seen dust in photography in all forms. I'm confident in my conclusion.

Here is my response to the fan of our page who asked us our opinion of his photo.

"Well as I explained in the previous message a lot goes into our analysis of photos, and as you know I don't have a lot of the factors I would use to make a determination about your photo. We're very careful about our own photos as well. A big part in determining if a photo is paranormal or not, goes into environmental conditions, dust, and whether it correlates with other evidence such as EMF readings, etc etc. Another important factor when it comes to other people's photos is EXIF Data. It's a little more complicated than it may seem. The person that is present during photography, is usually the best bet for telling if anything might be supernatural.

What was happening at the time? What caused you to shoot the photo? Was anyone feeling strange? Generally with our team, we dismiss orbs like this as particulate in the air, whether its dust, moisture, lint, pollen, etc. This usually happens because of the usage of flash when taking photos, such as yours. A very small piece of dust close to the lens when the flash goes off, can cause this huge magnificent orbs. The face you are seeing within this bright orb, is what we call "pareidolia" or matrixing. The human brain is taught to instantly recognize human looking faces and other familiar objects when looking at collection of shapes and colors. The orbs we usually look for as a team are anomalies that appear to have their own light source, as in energy. They are self illuminating. The ones we get most excited about are the ones we can see with the naked eye and/or caught on video. They fly with intention and some intelligence, rather than loftily floating, and even then we must be mindful of insects. I hope this makes sense This has a higher probability of being particulate rather than spirit. We really appreciate you sharing your photo. Thank you!"

While we know many teams do support the orb theory, our team just doesn't. We, however, do respect others and their beliefs. We are not knocking anyone that believes in them. We just cannot find enough reasons to support the theory that they are in fact paranormal. Hope this helps others understand why we don't diagnose photos sent to us, and thank you all for your continuing support! -ALPS

Want to learn more about dust orbs? Check out this study done by

Midnite Walkers Paranormal Research Society