The "Orb Zone Theory" Flunks Another Test

Photo date: March 13, 2015.  Photographer: Mark Mahin.

In a previous post I described two experiments I performed that discredit the "orbs are dust" theory (sometimes called the orb zone theory) -- the theory that orbs are mainly caused by little particles of dust a few inches from the camera. This post describes an experiment with a similar result.

I took 80 photos while pouring a very fine cinnamon powder a few inches from the camera.

My electronic dust monitor showed that this was degrading the quality of the air. The second number on the monitor is typically  only between 1 and 10, but during this test that number spiked up to be 206.

But even though I took 80 pictures pouring all this dust-like cinnamon powder right next to the camera, not a single decent orb appeared in my photos (certainly nothing that anyone would ever post to the internet as an example of an orb).

Again, this "orb zone theory" completely flunks the test. Having taken many photographs of orbs, often when measuring the air quality with the dust monitor above, I can say with great confidence that (with the exception of poured dust or odorous dust or dust conditions so dense that it impedes visibility or causes you to cough), there is simply no correlation between dust levels and the frequency with which orbs appear in photographs -- which shows that the "orb zone  theory" is untenable, and that the more interesting photos of orbs are not generally caused by dust.

This test also showed another thing discrediting the "orbs are dust" theory -- the fact that when dust levels are raised because of a particular event that doesn't continue, the dust levels very rapidly fall as dust settles. In this case the measured air quality (as indicated by second number on the monitor) improved by 300% within a few minutes after I stopped pouring the cinnamon.  Dust spikes are almost always very short-lived things, but I routinely get orbs appearing though a photographic session lasting an hour or more -- a fact that indicates that dust is not the main cause of the appearance of orbs.