PAST PHOTOGRAPHS DEBUNKED

After eight years of taking tens of thousands of photographs, I can now debunk several pictures that I once thought were paranormal.  Spirit Photography is a learning process.  Here are some of the shots than I can now explain away as pareidolia, lens flares, slow shutter speeds, or other human contributory factors.

I would consider this my "holy grail" of pareidolia.  This photograph was taken at the Kaniakapupu ruins in Nuuanu.  On a previous investigation I thought I heard a woman's voice coming from the trees.  I heard a distinct, "Hello?" not once, but twice.  When we revisited this location I took several pictures of the trees.  Needless to say when I saw this female face peering at me from the branches with a sideway glance, I was ecstatic.  My bubble burst when my son (who was on the investigation with us) said it was just a light colored bump on the tree trunk.  When I reviewed my other photographs of the same area, I realized that there was indeed an abnormal growth on one of the trees.

This shot was taken in San Diego at the Whaley House Museum.  I originally thought I had captured a full bodied apparition.  After taking other photographs in the dark, it dawned on me that I may have snapped an unseen visitor at the museum who was just standing in the dark.  It looked so distorted that I didn't think it was a human being.  However, I've since noticed that the dark does distort colors and shapes.  

After seeing an orb fly across this room at the Davis-Horton House museum in San Diego, I thought I had captured in a photograph what I had seen with my naked eye. I later discovered that when there's an outside light source, that light can reflect off of the camera's inner lens, creating what looks like an orb with a nucleus.

Another example of an "orb" with a nucleus created by light reflecting off of the camera's inner lens.  This photo was taken at the Manoa Chinese Cemetery.

This is an example of the camera being moved while using a slow shutter speed.  The clarity of the fence in the foreground really stumped me, but with a slow shutter speed, the slightest movement can cause background lights to appear as lines. This was taken at the Kawaiaha'o Cemetery in Honolulu.  These anomalies were caused by the condominium lights in the distance.

An out of body experience?  Not really.  This type of photograph sometimes happens when the camera's shutter lags and the subject is in motion.  Even the slightest movement will cause a blurred image, which can sometimes be mistaken for a spirit or paranormal experience. 

(photo by Raina "Abby" Molina)

These "spirit lines" are actually bugs in motion that were caught by the camera's flash.  Sometimes the camera's shutter will lag a bit, showing the insect's flight pattern.  This happens a lot if there's a lot of moisture in the air.

One of my first paranormal photographs was similar to this picture of a curious light anomaly.  I later realized that these fairy-like apparitions were actually mosquitoes that were illuminated by the camera's flash.