It was the most glorious ghost orb ever caught on film. I was positively gloating over it. This orb appeared to be on the outside of the family room window, in the yard. Its eerie presence seemed to float up at me from the photo. I marveled at its solid appearance and its unique, grayish center. "Look!" I cried triumphantly to my eight year old, fellow ghost hunting daughter. "What do you see in this picture, just outside the window?" She took the photo and studied it. "The satellite dish," she replied. I grabbed the photo back and was instantly devastated. She was right.

Much is said about what an entity IS when caught on film, perhaps not enough is said about what an entity is not. In an attempt to help you avoid your own satellite faux pas, I’ve compiled a list of non-ghosts on film from other ghost hunters who, like me, have learned that appearances in photography can indeed be deceiving.

1) Avoid shooting through GLASS! Windows and mirrors can cause the flash to bounce around. Your picture could end up with streaks and blobs that are not paranormal.

2) Watch out for LENS FLARE! If your “entity” is a hexagon (six-sided), or a stream of orbs in a straight line coming from a light source, it is lens flare. This will occur when the photographer is shooting in front of the light. Although less likely, lens flare can occur at night. Car headlights, for example, can cause lens flare if the light is in front of the camera. Check out the shadows in your photos. The shadows will show you where the light source was.

3) Beware of the dreaded CAMERA STRAP! Unless your camera has a neck strap, the camera strap should be removed. In fact, I absolutely insist on strap removal during a ghost hunt. A camera strap MIGHT look like the anomaly ghosthunters call a “vortex”. (See photo below.)

4) Forget ghosthunting in BAD WEATHER! Snow and rain can look a lot like a globe-of-light on film. Which reminds me, forget shooting film during dry, windy, dusty conditions. Shoot some film on a dirt road after a car drives by and you'll see what I mean.

5) Check the NEGATIVES for scratches and mysterious crustacious matter! (Ick!) If the photo tech is careless, you’ll end up with scratches on the film that look like streaks in your pictures. Look for scratches, dust, gunk, etc., with a jeweler’s loupe (available at camera stores for around ten bucks). And by the way, I keep all paranormal negatives on file so that anyone who wishes to view them may do so.

6) Ask yourself if your film could have be subject to "FOGGING". Fogging of film occurs after the negative is exposed to a light, heat, or radiation source. Check the negatives. If the "ectoplasm" in question extends over the edge of the frame, you have a fogging, not a haunting.

7) A non-ghost will look FLAT. (This should have occured to me while I was looking at my false "Glorious Orb" photo.) A true paranormal phenomenon caught on film will look dimensional. For example, globes-of-light on film usually look as if they are floating in space.

Another note: there is a difference between Kodak Royal Gold film and Kodak Gold Max film. Though it may be great for taking pictures at the family reunion, I do NOT recommend the Kodak Royal Gold for ghost hunting. The Royal Gold film was developed to limit the film’s sensitivity to the infra-red wavelength. Many researchers believe ghosts manifest primarily in the infra-red wavelength. Existing in spectrums of light not visible to the human eye may be one reason we normally can not see entities, yet the camera captures them. I’ve had quite a bit of good luck with the Gold Max film because it automatically adjusts itself to light or dark, no matter which camera I use. (I use a few different cameras.) The higher the speed film of film used, the easier it will be to catch a fast moving object.

Finally, think of your camera as a “remote eye”. You'll be amazed at the things your camera can see...that you can’t.

CLICK ON THE PHOTO BELOW FOR THE RESULTS OF THE TEST!