Mysterious Occurrences at Grade 10 Retreat

[danjroman]

So our grade 10 class was having our retreat in some farm here in the Phhilippines. This area is known to be "spooky" and many claim lots of weird things happening. I don't generally believe in these things but as soon as i saw these pics on my friends camera, it kind of freaked me out. Mind you, we saw these strange occurences in the camera prior to it being uploaded to a computer soo things couldn't have been altered. So yeah, its up to you on how you see this.

 

[russ_watters]

You'll have a difficult time convincing me that that is anything but a hoax. Starting with unedited photos would help... Do you have a place you can upload them to? Or crop the unedited photos to show only the dust spots and save them at full resolution, with little compression.

Large dust spots typically have common features such as bright fringes and concentric circles, that those don't have.

 

[WarPhalange]

Human brains are basically designed to find patterns and familiar shapes in things that might not have them. That's why people find Jesus on cheese sandwiches, crackers, windows, etc.

 

[mgb_phys]

Human brains are basically designed to find patterns

Specifically human faces.
You are the result of 100,000 generations of babies that saw a mothers face and responded to it for food. The ones that were more interested in recognising fractals in leaf patterns didn't make it.

 

[jostpuur]

Human brains are basically designed to find patterns and familiar shapes in things that might not have them. That's why people find Jesus on cheese sandwiches, crackers, windows, etc.

This is true, but the faces on the first picture of the original post are little bit too clear faces to be explained purely by the human tendency to see familiar things. Photoshopping or some other trickery remains as the most natural explanation, at least in the lack of better information.

In the second picture, I don't see anything unusual, actually.

 

[Jeremy Vaeni]

I know the brain is trained to see what it wants to see, but that's not the answer here. Very clearly there is a face and you don't need to squint or turn the photo sideways to see it. My guess is it's a hoax. If it's not a hoax, could it be that somehow the faces of the people in the photo are being reflected in what amounts to an accidental in-camera effect?

 

[Boogeyman]

If it's not a hoax, could it be that somehow the faces of the people in the photo are being reflected in what amounts to an accidental in-camera effect?

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[bassplayer142]

I have seen many orbs in pictures and they don't look like faces. It is probably a hoax and since nobody can prove anything about a digital camera why bother?

 

[KellyD]

I actually have a ton of pic's with orbs in them! They seem to be atrracted to me! I have a great one with a face in it that you can't deny! I'll put it on here! I also see lights and ethegeric engery.I've been seeing it since march 15th 2008 it just happened one night standing outside and hasn't gone away! I see it every night! light's activity going on around people and objects, while life goes on that other people don't see!I can see Energy! I'm a 33 yr old good christian girl I don't do drugs or drink! lol that's not why I'm seeing things. I see what they are picking up on camera! ;) So don't be sooo quick to doubt! There is more going on then meets the eye! litterally! Actually some people practice to see what I see! I've since researched it a little, cause I was a little scared at first and you can get in tune with your third eye "your pineal gland" and see it too we all have the ability we just have closed minds! I wasn't trying for this gift. I just was blessed with it! There are Angels and spirits around us!Take Care&God Bless!
~Kelly~;)

 

[nottheone]

You'll have a difficult time convincing me that that is anything but a hoax. Starting with unedited photos would help... Do you have a place you can upload them to? Or crop the unedited photos to show only the dust spots and save them at full resolution, with little compression.

Large dust spots typically have common features such as bright fringes and concentric circles, that those don't have.

A hoax? LOL If this is a hoax so is every picture with reflections or double exposures. Why jump to the conclusion it's a hoax when a simple explanation will do? An explanation that happens all the time. So often that when one turns up where they look like something it isn't too surprising, at least not to some people who know a bit about photography. In this case I would guess spots on the lens rather than reflections or double exposure. A liquid that dried on the lens could leave that wrinkled effect as the edge of the liquid retreats.

 

[zoobyshoe]

The second picture has some garden variety whispy spots: could be liquid drops or fingerprints on the lens.

In the first picture there is an ornamental mask hanging on the ceiling beam to the right of center. The "orb-with-face" toward the left is obviously another ornamental mask which deliberately or accidentally got photographed such that it looks to be floating and somewhat transparent.

 

[electrogluon]

this might sound quite strange but i have a picture of an orb that has a gamma symbol from the greek alphabet in

 

[Anticitizen]

http://schools.webster.k12.mo.us/images/ace/3666/ace_653240523_1194388707.jpg

I thought it looked familiar.

Fake or not, the first image is creep city.

 

[junglebeast]

The strangest thing about this is that, as I was looking at the picture, a new orb appeared! I took a screenshot of it so you all could see..

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/8721/orbs.jpg

If it weren't for the faces, the orbs look just like regular water droplets on the lense. Notice how the faces appear to be semi spherized, and that the eyes appear white. The bright light of a flash causes red-eye by reflecting off the back of your eyeball, and convering this back into grayscale, can make the eye appear to glow white;

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/9831/redeyesyt.jpg

Reflection off of the spherical surface of a water droplet could have the spherizing effect. Water droplets could be either on the lense itself, or micro-droplets that got onto the optics inside the camera.

It's also highly possible that the poster is flat out lying, as this is the simplest explanation, and as I have shown, it's not difficult to manufacture this time of effect in Photoshop.

 

[joe-g]

this took me a bit to do, but as you see these are real, no fakes, they have cheeks eyes nose even hair, let me know what you think
here is 2 i took from within the orb that was in my room,
here is the original picture of the orb on the black border,
http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/4994/pfsdc11789w.jpg

http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/7857/pfsdc11789wsm.jpg

[PLAIN]http://imgcash3.imageshack.us/img269/5108/faceinorb.png?0.9976573616353165

[PLAIN]http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/5539/weeface2bmpnormalized.png

[PLAIN]http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/6194/weeface1bmpnormalized.png

Edit by Ivan for size

 

[russ_watters]

Joe I certainly believe your pic is real as. It shows nothing but a garden variety dust spot.

 

[MotoH]

My GOD! That picture is huge! Re-size, re-size, re-size sector 5-alpha

Orbs are just reflections off of different bits of atmospheric particulates.

 

[DaveC426913]

I spent ten years processing peoples' pictures.

danjoroman's first pic contains garden-variety focus artifacts; dust in the forground caught in the flash.
Snow does the same thing.
http://aprilius20.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/dscn3530.jpg
http://aprilius20.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/dscn3531.jpg
Same thing with snow:
http://dbeckerman.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/snowy-crosswalk-2706.jpg
etc. etc.

The faces have been PhotoShopped in.

joe-q's pic is a similar focus artifact, though it is not dust or snow and has not been doctored. Most likely a smear of liquid on the lens.
http://www.sharonscreativeart.com/Niagra%20375%20resize%20-%20Maid%20with%20water%20on%20lens.jpg

There is nothing even the least bit mysterious or intriguing about these images.

 

[Evo]

Joe, for posting pictures here please resize to a maximum of 480 x 640.

 

[joe-g]

Joe I certainly believe your pic is real as. It shows nothing but a garden variety dust spot.

garden dust :rofl: give me more credit than that lol, so you think that orb is dust, i was there, that is no dust, that border is 8inch high lol the pics i took are to highly detailed for dust, unless the flash creates the orbs, but wait for it, it also sends face images into them lol, i have tried to debunk them best as i could,

 

[joe-g]

Joe, for posting pictures here please resize to a maximum of 480 x 640.

yes sorry about that, normaly forums reisize automaticly, and i thought this one did to,

 

[DaveC426913]

garden dust :rofl:

OK, Joe. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/garden-variety" is an expression meaning ordinary, unremarkable..

As in "it is ordinary, unremarkable dust".

give me more credit than that lol, so you think that orb is dust, i was there, that is no dust,

Are you saying that you saw this with your own eyes? Or that you saw it once you looked at the pictures?

that border is 8inch high

What border? The one eight feet away? The artifact is extremely close to the camera.

but wait for it, it also sends face images into them lol, i have tried to debunk them best as i could,

Sorry, now you're confusing the issue. Are you talking about the faces in the OP's pics?

There are no faces in your pic.

If you're saying there are faces in your pic, I have a few pieces of toast I'd like to sell you. I'll let them go for a paltry sum compared to the millions you'll make off them.

 

[russ_watters]

...and yes, when the spots are dust in the air, it is the flash that illuminates them. Next time you are at a beach at night try taking some pictures and you'll see with your eyes what the camera is capturing.

 

[joe-g]

russ,, i can assure you this is not dust, look at the colour for a start, this pic was not taken by accident, one of my bedrooms has unusual activity, noises, stuff being droped and moved, i put a cam in there, and cought a manefestation of what i assume is a spirit, and yes my lens was cleaned, i only did this after i could not explain the noises, i am just an ordinary working guy looking for explanations, and i get plenty of that from the skeptics, but it still does not stop the noises and movement in the room, also explain how i can tak to the spirit, and it knocks every time to my questions, frighting stuff, when the knocks are right next to you, explain that one away

 

[DaveC426913]

russ,, i can assure you this is not dust.

No. you cannot. You cannot make this claim.

look at the colour for a start,

Those of us who deal with this stuff all the time do not find this at all remarkable. You're dealing with light being refracted.

this pic was not taken by accident, one of my bedrooms has unusual activity, noises, stuff being droped and moved, i put a cam in there, and cought a manefestation of what i assume is a spirit, and yes my lens was cleaned, i only did this after i could not explain the noises, i am just an ordinary working guy looking for explanations, and i get plenty of that from the skeptics, but it still does not stop the noises and movement in the room, also explain how i can tak to the spirit, and it knocks every time to my questions, frighting stuff, when the knocks are right next to you, explain that one away

Ah. Gotcha.

Forgone conclusion. Cart before the horse.

Thanks for playing.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

russ,, i can assure you this is not dust, look at the colour for a start, this pic was not taken by accident, one of my bedrooms has unusual activity, noises, stuff being droped and moved, i put a cam in there, and cought a manefestation of what i assume is a spirit, and yes my lens was cleaned, i only did this after i could not explain the noises, i am just an ordinary working guy looking for explanations, and i get plenty of that from the skeptics, but it still does not stop the noises and movement in the room, also explain how i can tak to the spirit, and it knocks every time to my questions, frighting stuff, when the knocks are right next to you, explain that one away

Hi joe-g, you are welcome to share your story, but understand that the point of forum is to allow people to share and then to offer alternative explanations for various experiences, whenever possible. You won't find many believers here.

 

[russ_watters]

russ,, i can assure you this is not dust...

I can assure you it is. I'd hazard to say that most pictures taken with a flash have dust spots in them if you look hard enough to find them (naturally, those taken on flat, black backgrounds, like yours, are easier to find). My first attached pic is my favorite such picture, showing - as I mentioned before - what you get at the beach. Whether it is actually suspended water droplets or salt I'm not sure, but either way, it is clearly kicked-up by the surf...either that or ghosts like the beach.

...look at the colour for a start,

I thought all ghosts were white? Seriusly, what does color have to do with anything?

...this pic was not taken by accident...

What does that mean? Clearly, you didn't see this with your eyes before taking the picture - you took the picture (several?), then went searching for patterns that vaguely resemble faces. And the amount of processing required to find this one speaks volumes for how well-developed your pattern recognition engine is...to the point of running amok!

...one of my bedrooms has unusual activity, noises, stuff being droped and moved, i put a cam in there, and cought a manefestation of what i assume is a spirit...

Assume? How can you assume that? Why don't you assume that black wall borders are noisy? The corellation here is so obviously, yet poorly coincidental you could conclude anything with the starting assumption that you have ghosts. Do ghosts like black paint? Or maybe black paint causes structural problems in houses, resulting in noises? If these suggestions sound silly, they are meant to: you are really reaching for a corellation between events/things that are so obviously coincidental.

...and yes my lens was cleaned...

No it wasn't: it is essentially impossible to completely clean a lens (more on that later), but that's besides the point: this dust spot wasn't on the lens, it was in front of the lens, where it was illuminated by the flash. If it were on the lens, it would be dark, not light.

Like Dave, I have some unique expertise on the subject: I'm an astrophotographer and fight a constant war against dust. The second attached pic, I took last night. The dust spots are doughnuts because of the type of telescope I have. There are actually calculations you can do (even software, I think) to help figure out where a spec of dust or other flaw is is based on its size. These, I know where they are: I have a filter just next to the CCD chip (which is otherwise naked) that doesn't seem to want to come clean. Perhaps they are imperfections in the glass.

There are many different types of visual artifacts that people call "orbs", some already mentioned, some not. They include (but aren't necessarily limited to):
1. Dust or other suspended particles in the air illuminated by the flash (the first attached pic).
2. Dust or other particles on the lens/filters/other glass surfaces that casts a shadow on the chip (second attached pic).
3. Internal reflections from bright objects (third attached pic).
4. Diffraction (third attached pic...and all the others).

The third attached pic is a crop of one of my best astrophotos, showing #3 and 4. The bright star is so bright, the camera captures reflections off the internal surfaces of the many lenses in the light path. Since different filters are used for different colors and the focal lengths of different frequencies of light are different, there are different reflections for different colors...hence, the blue and green.

The third pic also includes good examples of diffraction. The first example is the spikes on the star. These are an artistic flair I added by strapping some thin wires across the front of the telescope. Light from the stars diffracts around the wires, causing the spikes. Also evident in the internal reflections are diffraction rings - concentric circles, mostly on the outer edges of the internal reflection spots. Virtually all examples of the first three (including yours, which is #1) include diffraction rings.

And the fourth picture is proof that I am, in fact, a ghost (much to the dismay of my parents). I can assure you I didn't alter this photo and I used an automatic mode on the camera: no special modes or trickery involved. So it must be real, right? I must be a ghost, right? Again, if this sounds silly it is only because it is supposed to: Yeah, it's "real" but only insofar as I'm pretending I don't understand what happened. Can you tell me what happened?

...i only did this after i could not explain the noises, i am just an ordinary working guy looking for explanations, and i get plenty of that from the skeptics, but it still does not stop the noises and movement in the room, also explain how i can tak to the spirit, and it knocks every time to my questions, frighting stuff, when the knocks are right next to you, explain that one away...

 

[russ_watters]

Fourth pic attached...

I assure you there was no trickery involved in the taking of this photo. I set the camera up on the tripod, used the fully-auto mode (ehh...it may have been a portrait mode) and set the self-timer, then ran in front of/stood in front of the camera. I'm certain I got to the front of the camera and was standing still before the shutter released. So it must really prove I'm a ghost...Right...?!

 

[zomgwtf]

May you eventually RIP russ

 

[russ_watters]

You came in here for help and I provided what I believe you need, including a way for you to test/exercise of your photo-interpretation skills. I'm not interested in your gamesmanship. Frankly, the effort you had to go to to find a "face" in a dust spot is so extreme it makes me have some doubt as to if you're really serious or are just joking.

 

[joe-g]

You came in here for help and I provided what I believe you need, including a way for you to test/exercise of your photo-interpretation skills. I'm not interested in your gamesmanship. Frankly, the effort you had to go to to find a "face" in a dust spot is so extreme it makes me have some doubt as to if you're really serious or are just joking.

russ, i am sorry for my little outburst, i was angry at that psychologist bit, as i said, i don't go looking for for these type of things that go bump in the night, i am a hard working family man with plenty to keep my brain active, i was looking for real possitive answers, this all started 2 months ago, so as most folk do, you look in google and see what answers you can find, while reading i came across orbs, which cought my attention, as i had many in the photos, now i thought faces in orbs they are mad, but as an open minded person, i gave it a bash, and you seen the results, i have some experts coming round to my house tomorrow, so hopfuly i can get some peace of mind if they can discover what is causing all this, thanks for your help

 

[DaveC426913]

...i have some experts coming round to my house tomorrow...

What kind of experts? Licensed house inspectors I hope.

I hope it's not paranormal experts. They will simply tell you what you want to hear and feed your worries.

 

[zomgwtf]

What kind of experts? Licensed house inspectors I hope.

I hope it's not paranormal experts. They will simply tell you what you want to hear and feed your worries.

I agree.

And although russ's post may have sounded slightly rude it was very detailed and to the point. I don't think any other poster at these forums would have taken that amount of time for you joe and I think you should honestly take what he has typed up in.

I know I did after I read it, I never knew half the stuff that he had put into that post (the detailed parts I knew the general idea) and I'm thankful that he put that up but it seems to be falling upon deaf ears in his intended audience. Your asking HIM to prove to you that HIS photo's are genuine?

I mean I don't think that russ would consider himself a professional photographer or astrophotographer but I've seen his work and he his definitely at the upper end of the amatures. I've taken photography classes myself and I had never learned half the things that he's able to do.

Not only that but you also have Dave, who I'm not sure of his experience in the professional world but I certainly know he also knows a lot more than you or I, telling you the exact same story.

So here you have two honest men taking the time to explain to you possible explanations for your artifact who are certainly more experienced in the matter than yourself. Yet you're going to take what you learned about 'orbs' from google as truth? When you were googling I assume you were specifically looking up paranormal explanations because I don't believe you would be looking for honest scientific explanations and come across orbs.

I truly hope that you are not having 'paranormal' experts come to your house. I mean I could get them to come over to my house too and they would probably tell me that I have the worst case of paranormal activity they have ever seen. Probably scare the hell out of my family and we probably WOULD start experiencing paranormal activity after hearing that.

So in short I believe you should put your 'god given' critical thinking skills to use and take in what the photography experts have to say and take what the other experts have to say with a grain of salt.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

The amateur psychology comments have been deleted. Please stay on topic.

 

[Evo]

An expert in things that people have made up to verify things that have, basically, no basis. Like ghosts create "cold spots", really, says who? I could go on and on, but I'm sure that everyone looking in here has already read the old stories that created the myths.

Don't get me wrong, I love watching the TAPS guys. I can't stand the Irish weirdo on their "International" version though, he's just too fake for the original premise of the show which is to use logic to find a realistic explanation for what goes bump in the night.

I hope that the people that come over help to give you some assurance joe and don't end up frightening you more. I've had an unexplained experience myself, but Zooby assures me it was a partial seizure.