Do you believe in UFO's and Ghosts?

I missed this thread before, somehow. I am refraining from voting in this poll because I'm really not sure. But I have had some wacky, possibly-paranormal-related stuff happen to me regarding my daughter in the past few years.

I got a digital camera in December 2002 and started taking a huge amount of pictures of my kids as a result. I found that "orbs" often show up in pictures taken of my daughter, who was two years old at the time. (I went back and looked at some other pictures I'd taken before with a standard camera and noticed some light anomalies in them, but orbs seems to show up more in the digital photos, for some reason.) Here is a link to a geocities page with some of my orb photos on it.

After I found some large orbs in pictures taken of my daughter, I contacted a local paranomal group and asked about this orb phenomenon. I was told that my daughter could possibly be more attuned to psychic energy or spirits in the environment, so they might show up in pictures taken of her. Unless she seemed to be particulary upset or unhappy, the person I spoke with said I probably shouldn't worry about it. So, since my daughter seems to be a fairly normal and happy kid, I put it out of my mind for the most part.

Then, in November 2004, I was having a talk with my kids about what they see in their bedrooms at night (since my son has a large imagination and gets scared by shadows on the walls and whatnot). I asked my daughter what she sees, and she said, "Nothing... well, except the dots." After I quizzed her on what she meant, she said that she sees small, grayish-white "dots" floating around in the air on a regular basis, especially when it's dark. She said they aren't scary and don't make any noises, just fly around.

I was shocked and didn't know what to do; I was all set to get her in to see a psychologist or a paranormalist or both, when my husband finally admitted to me that he, too, can see "dots" floating around. He said that he doesn't see them as clearly as when he was a kid because he's learned to sort of tune them out as noise and not pay attention to them; he said he can still see them if he tries, though. I asked why, in the over eight years I've known him, he's never told me about them; he said he was afraid I'd think he was nuts. He said he's never told his family about them, either. He doesn't know what they are, but he's not afraid or worried by these dots. He did also admit that he's seen what he thinks might be ghosts on a number of occasions. He described it as seeing a person out of the corner of his eye, usually a woman, but when he turned to look she was gone. (My husband is a totally logical engineer, and it sort of pained him to admit to this sort of stuff, I think. )

I don't think I have a psychic bone in my body, so it's hard for me to relate to things like this. I do keep an eye on my daughter to make sure she doesn't seem abnormally upset, and I ask her about the "dots" occasionally. My son can't see them, by the way.

Ghosts, aliens, paranormal activity... who knows.

You're not alone Beryl .

Venus was at its peak brilliance last night.
You probably thought you saw something up in the sky other than Venus, but I assure you, it was Venus.

(Bonus points for where that is quoted from - and the names of the 2 'actors' saying it)

Siggy.

I'm still waiting for my proof Eins

I am absolutely shocked that 70% of people believe in ghosts and UFOs. Our society has come so far yet the majority remains demon-haunted savages. Educate thyselves!

~Ulrika~

This sounds a lot like something I experience fairly often. I see little dots swimming around in the air. They look like a cross between paisley and sperm. It's caused by something in the eye. I've been told it has a correlation to low electorlytes or something. If they're experiencing the same phenomenon, it has nothing to do with anything paranormal.

The only thing is, my daughter sees them every day. I've asked her about it on a number of occasions, and it seems she can see them pretty much whenever there is a somewhat dark spot. And they don't seem to be outside, just inside a house or car, in her near vicinity. I truly don't think she's lying, either; she's only four years old and she sounds very sincere. Also, I've knelt down by her bed at night, with the lights off in her room and asked her about the dots, and then watched her eyes follow them around the room in a very convincing manner.

I have no idea what this all means. I certainly can't see any dots or feel any "psychic energy" or anything like that. I've never experienced "cold spots," another thing that "ghost hunters" typically talk about, or anything that I would attribute to any paranormal cause. My only concern is for my daughter, that she doesn't feel threatened or scared by something she doesn't understand or can't control.

I'm also curious about why I get the orbs in the pictures of my daughter; they're never in other pictures, or pictures of my son, just ones with my daughter.

My husband said that he has thought maybe the dots are some form of matter or energy that he can somehow tune into or something, that most people just can't see. He'd much rather have a logical explanation for it, too.

I have read on a few websites about other people who see these dots, but most of these people want to call them "angels" or "fairies." It's probably comforting for them to characterize them this way. My daughter and I just call them "the dots."

I remember seeing them very often when I was a kid, and gradually less and less as I got older. I only notice it once in a great while these days. The spots are darker than what's behind them, and are ringed with thin lines lighter than what's behind them. Their motion is akin to the erratic flight of small insects, or the little insects that skim around on the surface of a pond. I just call them the little floaty paisley thingies I'm a diehard skeptic so tuning in to some weird kind of energy or other paranormal ideas would be about the last way I'd try to explain it. I'm sure the actual cause is far more mundane. Floating spots can also be a sign of retinitus or diabetic retinopathy.

Here's something else a quick google turned up...

Hmmm, I think a trip to the doctor is in order...

I still don't know about these orb photos, though, Chip.

If they're flash photos there's a 99.9% probability that what you're seeing are out of focus dust particles in the air being illuminated by the flash. When thinking about the cause of odd things like this you have to always ask yourself what's more likely... a simple physical world phenomenon, or that you've captured disembodied souls from the netherworld? (Sorry. I'm no fun at all, hehe).

Chip,

Yes. I've had two digital cameras. The first one regularly produced 'orbs' - or white blobs as I prefer to call them, while the second one does not. The difference between the two cameras is that in the second one the flash is mounted higher on the camera body, and is further away from the lens.

Oh, I agree, Chip, the probability that orbs are just a result of the flash catching some dust particle makes much more sense. I think the thing that makes me think twice is that the only time I get orbs in photos, no matter how many pictures I take, is when my daughter is in the picture. That's the thing that makes me go "hmmm..."

(And, of course, I should probably vacuum and dust my house more often. )

Is your daughter very dusty? hehe

No, more like sticky and occasionally covered with sweets.