Your Experiences

Although the investigations carried out by the 'Gloster Ghosts' team is more or less confined to our county of Gloucestershire in England, we do receive some interesting correspondence from afar, including images which are purported to contain glimpses of the paranormal. Of course, it is not possible for us to investigate such cases directly, and we assume in good faith that those granting us permission to publish these images are the copyright owners.

If you have any paranormal stories or photographs/film footage that you would like us to feature on the site, please Email us.

There's not much accompanying text with this first collection, which were taken in the home of the photographer's grandmother. The photographer is called Jonathan. These are really good examples of orbs. They're certainly worth taking a close look at:

(Note that we've blanked out part of the child's face in the centre photo; it isn't an oval orb!!)

We received some fascinating e-mails from a novice Buddhist monk practicing in England. He has witnessed many orbs, and has likened them to phenomena of the Devas described in the Buddhist scriptures called Theravada. He is particularly interested in their colours, which have included blue, yellow, red and white orbs. He reflects on the possibility that the brightness of an orb indicates the power or vibration of the Being. Trevor speculates on other paranormal phenomena:

"I have also noticed that since the inception of digital cameras that an increase in UFO's have also been taken. I believe that is because their stealth technology puts their crafts at a vibrational level just outside the human spectrum of vision, deliberately. Whether when they realise this they will change their technology and become invisible again only time will tell. But what a great way of introducing Aliens into society! .. People don't have the shock and scare of seeing them first hand, but rather see them when they look at their photos after the event, softening the blow, and acclimatising them to their existence, maybe that is deliberate? So perhaps it is the same with the spirit Orbs, some people can see them first hand, maybe because they are vibrating at a higher spiritual level themselves, and therefore able and probably ready to see such things. So perhaps they stay invisible to most people deliberately ... I feel that may have some truth in it."

We think that these thoughts have some merit. Trevor has kindly sent us a digital photo taken at his monastery that certainly has some rather unusual orb phenomena. We have blown up parts of the image for you to take a closer look:

Here are more pictures of orbs sent in by Trevor. He recently went to Portugal on a trip to promulgate knowledge about Therevada Buddhism amongst the Portuguese. He took several sets of photos containing orbs, some of which were taken during the daytime, without the use of flash photography. This particular photo is quite exceptional:

"We were invited by a Portugese Buddhist society, myself, Anagarika Eduardo (Postulant in white, and the other photographer, who was also Portugese and looked after us) and Ajahn Nyanarato (Japanese origin) . We held a weekend retreat in Porto and Ajahn Nyanarato (18yrs in Robes senior monk, and my mentor when I was in Robes myself) gave some talks in Lisbon and Porto. We were well received by the people and everyone was very interested as they have had only Tibetan and Zen Buddhism there up to now. Theravada is a more straightforward and practical teaching, closer to the original way taught by the Buddha Himself, so the reason for us being there was important and even historical maybe, so this is perhaps one reason why we had such a good presence of Orbs. But that's just my own reasoning!"

Trevor took a series of photos inside the Jeronimo Monastery, Lisbon. The orbs picked up are familiar, being similar to the ones we often capture on our paranormal investigations around Gloucestershire. Perhaps they are dust particles picked up by the flash, although they are persistently found on the entire series. The picture above is typical. But in case a physical explanation seems just a little bit too self-evident, you might want to consider the next image carefully, taken whilst in the same setting:

Vic Hopson of Rialto, California has sent us some remarkable images after visiting our 'Gloster Ghosts' website. He has been interested in the paranormal for years, having witnessed several ghosts himself.

The first image shows what might be a guardian spirit alongside a little girl. It also might be a swirling water sprinkler in the background. A similar effect can be seen on the second image, this time of a road traffic accident. This looks more like smoke, but this doesn't seem to make any sense in the context of the picture; there's no fire after all. Is this an example of ectoplasm?

"Check this one out of a demon investigating this guy's dresser. Over here they're always red.........and this one was taken very near an old Indian Sacred site, where the Shaman used to "Go between the crack in the worlds" and visit the underworld for advice and power."

Vic is a seasoned investigator of the paranormal and has provided us with some cracking tips to help us with our investigations. Thanks mate!

This section highlights the case of Pam, who lives in San Diego, Ca. Her e-mail described how she had looked at the orb photos we have published in these pages, and wanted us to take a look at some of the many examples that she has on file. She is quite certain that atmospheric conditions, like dust picked up by the flash, cannot account for the orbs on her digital photos, some of which didn't make use of a flash anyway. We think these examples serve to illustrate the mystery surrounding the orb phenomenon well.

This family photo of Pam's two children is full of mist in the centre-ground of the photo. Having lived in San Diego myself for a couple of years as a student I can well remember the 'June Gloom', but surely this is a little too localised for that!! What's more, there is a very noticeable lilac/purple colouring in the centre of the mist. Perhaps it is nothing more than a lens flare, but the general photographic context of the image would suggest not.

"Our house is haunted. It is a new house, built in '99 but we know there is someone else here, maybe more than one "thing". We have had our doorbell ring for no reason, several times. The phone rings almost every day with no one except static on the end of the line. The piano plays on its own. Lights turn on by themselves. Things fly up in the air and drop to the ground. Stuff gets moved all the time - I mean when there is no way it is any of us doing it.

"I am not bothered by it at all but it sure freaks out my husband and the cat knows when the "thing" is around too. I actually think the "thing" follows me from place to place - In other words, I am the one that is haunted, not the house."

The children are surely a little young to be the centre of poltergeist activity, it must be said. But the array of different experiences is not uncommon for the claimed paranormal activity. Combine that with the photographic evidence and a fairly good case emerges. Is Pam the source of these events, through psycho kinesis, or is there an entity involved in some way who is attached to Pam or someone else in the house?

Pam sent another photo of her sister and her sister's boyfriend. Tragedy struck not long after the photo was taken. There are some bluish orbs to the right of the image, and blown up one of them reveals some rather startling, seemingly facial, characteristics:

Pam writes:"I have closed in on these orbs and some have faces and they are multi dimensional - also if it is a particularly large orb and it is under a table and the leg of the table is in front of the orb but the orb appears "behind" the table leg on each side. They are not always perfect spheres either - some are elliptical and then we have some streaking orbs. When we have taken a series of photos within seconds of each other you can go from image to image and track their movement across the room. Some are very bright and tiny - Most are medium sized and semi transparent (like the ones on your site)."

A Mysterious Orb near Wrexham

A correspondent called Glyn sent us a very strange photograph taken just before midday on 21st August 2004. The location is a hillside about 5 miles south of Wrexham, and is of some importance to Glyn because the ashes of one of his relatives were scattered here. The left-hand image is the complete photo, and the bright orb has been shown in close-up to the right. The image is entirely unaltered:

We saw a very similar orb to this in a picture taken in Gloucestershire, by a man visiting his mother's graveside. We were invited onto the John Rockley show on Radio Gloucestershire to discuss the picture and a possible explanation. However, that particular orb was taken during a flurry of snow, so could be readily explained by the weather. Unfortunately, we are not at liberty to publish that particular photograph for comparison.

The images shown here, taken near Wrexham, does not avail us of the same solution. The orb is surely too bright and isolated to be a lens flare (although there may be some reflected light from the cars along the road ahead). A flash was not used, so this is evidently not reflected light from a dust particle, or anything like that. To all intents and purposes, this is a highly mysterious image. Glyn, the photographer, claims some contact with spirit, and is interested in the paranormal. One wonders whether he has inadvertently photographed a spirit present with him, as he visits the resting place of his relative's remains?

Glyn has sent through a second photo, this one taken just 2 minutes after the first, and at a different angle. Again, this shows a very similar translucent orb (but not exactly the same!) taken without a flash, in broad daylight. As an aside, orbs such as these bear a close resemblance to the controversial 'UFO' photo taken in Bonsall, Derbyshire some years back.

Here's another example of an orb taken by Glyn, this time whilst fixing his fence in his back garden. This was the only orb to show up in a series of about 9 digital photos taken at the time. Note the similar pattern structure to the previous orbs, and the angle of the orbs with respect to the direct sunlight. Could these observations suggest that the orbs may be lens flares whose structure is determined by the internal mechanism of Glyn's camera?

Las Vegas Orbs

Kathy from Las Vegas sent a selection of her favourite orbs, and also a possible 'Shadowman' image, which seems to be a more rare occurrence.

In the above picture with the dog, the right hand orb might be dust. But compare it with the brighter orb to the left, which appears to be in motion. This seems a rather unusual object, semi-luminous and coloured.

Some of these orbs have been blown up and rendered with a selection of paint-packages by a friend of Kathy's. Like an old familiar recipe, the exact compliment of photo-suites used is a closely guarded secret, it appears. Certainly, the images are knock-out. We particularly like the third orb, which seems to contain a strong visualisation of a human face.

Is this a "Shadowman"? To our eyes, the depth and timbre of the colour of the shadow does not work within the general context of the rest of the photo. It seems anomalous. Does anyone else have Shadowmen images out there to compare with?

Again, this has been rendered with a paint package, but is illuminating nonetheless. The hues are quite spectacular. Is this some kind of portal through which the spirits beyond move into our reality? It's hard to say, but the aesthetic of the orb is remarkable in itself.

Down on the Farm

This photo was taken by Sean Inglis at his farm. He has sent us further close-up image of some of the orbs in this, and other digital images. There are parts of this barn which Sean feels uncomfortable entering at night, and photos taken nearby after twilight have picked up orbs. The above image is superb and seems authentic enough given Sean's correspondence with us. So make of it what you will; is this a bona fide ghost caught on camera?

Kaitlyn Barone's Orbs

Here are some remarkable photos absolutely crammed full of orbs, taken during a visit to a graveyard. The clothes worn by the gentlemen shown would indicate that it was a dry evening, which rules out water droplets as a source for these orbs.

Chaz Brand, one of those present, writes: "The photos were taken in Oak Grove cemetery (the old one on the right hand side off I-69). We pulled up and we got out and we immediately started snapping photos, we got lots of orbs right off the bat, we went to the witches pit (supposedly where a women was set afire back in the early stages of my town). The pole where she was tied still stands and it is burned like it was in flames.

"I tried to do an EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon is an experiment where a tape recorder is left at a spot capture the sounds of ghost activity or spiritual voices) with a little 1 minute voice recording on my friends digital camera but we got nothing, just orbs.... For the feeling I think we were all a little scared we didn't hear any voices all three times we tried to do an evp. As far as I know a couple of the pictures show faces. One in the leaves and one just over my head.. we didn't see any human figure of a ghost or anything like that, but the orbs it was like a party or something; they were all out chit chatting with each other, having a good time.. it was a really cool feeling... they were all taken after 10:30 PM"

Fireworks Night

I don't have much information on these photos, but there is a possibility that the orbs were generated as lens flares from the bright yellow reflected light from the pick-up truck. Again, the structure of the orbs could be a result of the internal dynamics of the camera. However, the photos were taken with a flash, and the yellow light source that would have to have created these 'flares' is simply reflected light from the camera flash. Would this be sufficient to create such strong lens flares? I'm not so sure.