Orbs & dark shadows.

[Meg888]

My Mum passed away 4 weeks ago after a long illness. Then almost two weeks ago while at home, I was in my hallway, which was in total darkness and I noticed a small light reflection sort of hovering at the bottom of my living room door, I was baffled as there was no lights on anywhere to enable this 'reflection'. I dismissed it, and then the next morning when I woke (it was now light) I noticed it again, this time it was upstairs hovering above a window in my house - I say hovering, but sort of darting about. Once again I was bemused as there appeared to be nothing which encouraged the reflection. I mentioned it to a friend who suggested it was an orb. I'm not a strong believer in things like this as such, but have to admit in taking some comfort from it.

On another level, my partners father passed away almost two years ago. He was not a good man, husband or father in life - in fact my partner likened him to Archie Mitchell in Eastenders! Anyhow in the months that followed, I saw on a few occasions what I thought was a dark shadow, it disappeared as quickly as it caught my attention. I never thought much of it, and nor did I mention it. Then my partner mentioned that he too had seen them but thought he maybe sounded nuts, I told him I too had seen them but wasn't sure. Then there was one occasion when we both seen it - and we sort of looked at each other as if to say 'did you see that or did I imagine it?!'. We've not seen anything of the sort in about a year now. My partner also has a clock which belonged to his Dad, it was broken but a good looking, sort of old fashioned clock. It chimed several times randomly for the first few months after his Dad's passing, but it shouldn't have as it's broke and does not keep the time, my partner was convinced it had something to do with his dad and that the dark shadows meant that he was not in a good place spiritually as he'd been a bad man in life.

I just wondered what other people's opinions would be on this, particularly the 'orb', I've not seen it since, but is it possible I could again?

[LazyGun]

My condolences on your loss, Meg.

I have mostly heard of orbs in connection with unexplained light artifacts usually seen on photographs or videos.

The nearest real world reference I can think of would be something akin to a will of the whisp, but those are usually not found in homes and the like.

I am not,myself, someone with a belief in the paranormal or spirit world, and in my opinion it would seem more likely that a more prosaic explanation is at the root of these, but it would be interesting should you see them again.
Our minds, and our vision, are adept at playing tricks on us - after all, what we think of as reality could more accurately be thought of as a mental construct derived from information passed from our sensory apparatus, such as our eyes, and ears, and much of what we see our brain has actually constructed for us.....

http://en.wikipedia.o...normal_interpretation
http://en.wikipedia.o...ki/Will-o%27-the-wisp
http://www.psychic-ex...-story.php?story=6878

[Meg888]

Thanks for your reply LG. The first time I saw it, I thought it was just odd.. and then the second time, I had just literally opened my eyes and got up to wake my daughter, so it wasn't on my mind at all - and then it caught my eye again. I suppose, I want to believe it's my Mum, sending some sort of signal, but I am sceptical, I wouldn't want to obsess over it, though it is interesting.

[naomi24]

Odd things do happen. I don't know why - but I have no doubt whatsoever that they do.

[chakka35]

Meg888, don't get diverted by photographic 'orbs'. They are not unexplained. They form an excellent example of how a phenomenon considered by some to have supernatural origins is easily explained if it happens often enough to be properly researched.

Alas, experiences like yours don't come ito that category, so only you can have an opinion about it. Objective analysts can have nothing to contribute because they have no data.

[naomi24]

//Objective analysts can have nothing to contribute because they have no data. //

Chakka is, of course, quite right. However, I wonder if absolute objectivity in matters such as this limits our curiosity and blinds us to potential? Experiences like yours are interesting – to say the least.

[chakka35]

naomi, I said that we have no data and therefore no opinion. That is not to say that we have no curiosity about it.

But that's as far as we can go without speculation due to preconceived ideas or wishful thinking. If and when data appears we analysts can start contributing.

[naomi24]

I know Chakka. Just musing, you know.

[jomifl]

There bis a simple experiment that you can carry out which shows how what you think you see is not what you see. Sit in a chair with a headrest in a room with no moving images or objects. Rest your head firmly against the headrest and keep it still. Now stare without moving your eyes at a point in front of you. If you can manage to keep your eyes motionless then everything in your field of view except for a small central spot will appear to vanish. This is because most of your retina is sensitive to movement and cannot detect an image that is motionless on the retina. It is a simple experiment but it isn't easy to carry out as the eye tries to generate information by moving.