Bright Orb Moving Fast in Very Clean Air

Photo date: November 17, 2014.  Photographer: Mark Mahin.

In this indoor photo of a wall, we see what photographers call a "ghosting" effect that is a sign of rapid movement. Given the camera's shutter speed of 1/2000 of a second, an effect like this would never be produced by something like the movement of an insect. The orb was apparently moving  much faster than any insect does. No insect was observed at this location during the previous four days, and no insect larger than a gnat was observed during the previous two months.

At the time this picture was taken, an air quality monitor showed the air quality was very good, with a reading of  32/2 (anything below 50 is "very good" air according to the monitor's back plate). Dust cannot account for the image, because the air was too clean for dust to be a plausible explanation.  The orb was 11% of the total height of the picture. The image below was color-adjusted using the "Auto-adjust colors" menu option in the IrfanView program.

Reflective surfaces nearby: none. No orbs were seen in photos taken at the same place and angle, shortly before and shortly after this picture was taken, which argues against any dust explanation. No artificial light was involved in the photo area except the camera flash. There was no possibility of a hair in front of the camera lens, because the photo was made by someone with very short hair. No flying insects were observed at the photo site.