Sightings
Orbs are most commonly captured on film in alleged or documented haunted places. They have been seen and recorded above fields with crop circles, at religious services, including baptisms, marriages and funerals and in mundane daily routines. They have been seen near psychics and mediums, sometimes within or emanating from their auras. The spheres have been followed and played with by animals. Cats seem to be particularly adept at seeing orbs.
Faces, both humans and animals, have been found within the orbs. These balls of light have also been photographed having multiple faces, crowds of people and with buildings.
What Skeptics Say
* There is no evidence to suggest that orbs are related to ghosts, while they have often are seen in photos taken at haunted locations; they have been photographed in many other places.
* Orbs can be caused by flash reflection off of reflective surfaces, insects, glass, dust, hair, snow, rain and other moisture. In almost every case, the camera flash reflects on the surface of one of these particles and seems to glow.
* Some of the earlier, low-end digital cameras were made with CMOS chips which could create irregularities in dimly lit photographs that would be mistaken for orbs, so cameras were creating orbs which had no paranormal origin.
* Orbs don't have to be taken with a camera flash. They can be caused by bright lights in an area where the photo is being taken, by angles of light and by many types of artificial lighting.
Orbs
Theories
An indisputable fact is that orbs have shown up in many pictures, so they exist. It is equally true that they can be caused by many normal occurrences, including dust, hair and moisture and have been discounted as such. Obviously, not all of these are perfectly round as orbs are. What about those with paranormal causation? The word, "paranormal" is used in the sense that these have no current scientifically accepted explanation, therefore aren't within scientific standards.
There is proof that some of these balls of light have electrical charges, so these have this type of energy. Many orbs are pure energy, but no one knows exactly what this type of energy is or even the definition of the words.
The fact that faces of humans and animals, crowds and buildings have been seen in orbs leads some to speculate that this orb may be a type of time warp.
There are those who call the spheres of light spirit or ghost orbs because they have been recorded in haunted places, during religious and spiritual rites and by psychics and mediums. Theories include the lights are spirits of the departed, angels or halos, and are forms of spiritual energy.
It appears there are various types of orbs. Only further research into these phenomena can, perhaps, one day, truly define these luminous balls of light.