What are orbs?

According to Wikipedia:

"The term orb describes unexpected, typically circular artifacts that occur in flash photography—sometimes with trails indicating motion—especially common with modern compact and ultra-compact digital cameras."

Orbs in photos can be due to a number of things, and they appear the way they do because they are reflections of something out of focus.

Orbs can be:

• dust particles, pet dander  
• rain, snow, mist, etc. 
• insects 
• pollen 
• something on the lens of the camera 
• etc, etc, etc. 
• And if none of the previous could be proven, maybe, just maybe, "ghosts". And I use the term lightly. 

Many people are quick to believe that orbs are spirits in their photos, and that's just not always true. Do tests with the camera, try to recreate the effect. 

To cut down on the amount of unwanted orbs in your photos, I suggest using a non-compact camera, something that takes quality photos and video. Also, make sure you and any investigation partners are aware of where they are shining their flashlights, so not to create false positives, very similar to a photo technique called light painting. 

And remember, don't declare a place haunted based on orb photos alone. They are not always reliable. 

If you have any orb photos you'd like to share with us, please post them on our Facebook or Google+ pages. We're looking forward to seeing them.

[Guide To Choosing A Good Paranormal Investigative Team]

Kings Park Psychiatric Center - Long Island, NY (Pt2)

More photos from Kings Park Psychiatric Center! 

In my first post, I wrote about my experience and shared a couple orb photos. And after reviewing everything again, I found more.. 

**I ruled out a lot of "orb" photos as insects. These were different.

I took the following photos as I was walking the dark path through the grounds at night. I threw many out under the assumption I caught the reflection of insects or dust particles, but these two shots caught my eye. In the first, I captured an orb. (*Note the position of the piece of trash in these photos.)

After catching a glimpse of the orb on my screen, I immediately snapped another photo. It was gone.

Kings Park Psychiatric Center and Mount Misery Road - Long Island, NY

This trip happened to be a fluke on my part, which added an extra 3 hours each way, and we had to fight crazy NYC traffic…

I must state that when my friend Chris and I went last summer, I was a nonbeliever. Strange things have happened in the past, but I ruled them out as I was delirious from not sleeping.

We did bust a few local rumors about Mount Misery Road. (...or did we?**)
1) That underpass at which your car is supposedly dragged uphill? That's a downhill slope.
2) There was a van full of kids hanging out near a wooded area, obviously there because of the urban legend. As we were about to get out and ask for a quick interview, the local police showed up. (I'm sure the locals called in about the suspicious looking van.) We were asked a few questions, then told to move along. As the cop walked away, his head was fully intact. Obviously not the supposed ghost cop.
3) Mount Misery Road is in a beautiful neighborhood. Not at all creepy.
**As we were driving around, we noticed an older road that is now blocked off and signless. Could that be the old Mt. Misery? Is that why GPS took us into the woods?

 It wasn't a total bust. 

Although the sun was about to set, Kings Park Psychiatric Center was closeby.

 My goal was just to explore the place and get some photos and cool video footage. I got more than that.

 It was an easy drive in, and there was a bar right across the street. Turns out the area around some of the buildings is a historic park, then there are more buildings across the road, fenced in. We were not about to go hopping fences at dusk, so we explored around the park area.

 I was recording most of the time, when I wasn't taking photos. And while I got little with my camera, Chris managed to capture colored orbs around me, which happened to be when I felt a change in energies. My camera, however, did not save the video I recorded at the time this happened, and I could not come up with an answer why. It was working fine, plenty of space on the SD card, and near full batteries.

 Chris also got plenty of photos with white orbs in them, but I am automatically ruling them out due to the bugs and dust and pollen, etc.

These photos are different. They are larger, bright, and colorful.

Is Kings Park Psychiatric Center haunted?
Judging by what we gathered, my camera fail, and personal experiences, I want to say yes. However, there is still the possibility that this could be debunked.

**UPDATE**
More photo evidence here!