Sunday, October 18, 2009

Orbs and Orb Streaks

In my investigation of the paranormal and photographing of areas with high paranormal activity it is common for me to encounter spirits in their manifested form as "orbs". These circular balls of light usually occur in areas where my EMF reader has detected higher levels of activity. I have had good success in capturing several "orbs" in many locations.

Digital cameras and use of flash photography seem to help in taking photos of orbs. The experienced hunter will soon be able to distinguish "real orbs" from "false orbs" which are often caused when there is a higher level of humidity in the area or dust particles. I am careful not to get too excited about "orb" photos without knowing the conditions that they were taken in or before carefully examining the photos.

Spirits sometimes manifest as "orbs of light" in different colors and if you are lucky you can catch a "orb" in motion. Photos of orbs moving are rarer and are seen as "streaks of light" across the night sky. I plan to publish several of my better "orb" photos on the site and I'll also publish samples of some "false orbs" so that you hopefully see the difference.

I believe that many of the orbs I have photographed even have faces visible inside the orbs that can be seen upon close inspection. My first post is of a orb and orb streak taken at Colonial Park Cemetery in Savannah. My dog Ellie May is helpful in detecting spirits and she often comes along on my ghost huntings. These photos were the result of Ellie May's barking at a area in the cemetery. When the first photo was taken you could only see one small orb. Ellie continued to bark so I quickly took the next photo which showed the orb "in motion". If you carefully examine the photo you can actually see about five different areas where the orb is seen moving through the streak of light. Very cool photo indeed.

Little Gracie Watson

Little Gracie Watson was born in 1883, the only child of W.J. and Frances Watson. Mr. Watson managed the Pulaski House, which was one of Savannah's leading hotels at that time. Gracie often played the role of hostess at many of the parties her mother hosted for Savannah’s elite high society women. She enjoyed being the center of attention, however the parties would often soon bore her and she would return to her play. It was said that the women enjoyed the parties, especially charming little Gracie, and when she would disappear to play (often underneath the stairwells at the back of the hotel) the ladies would ask “Where’s Gracie?” When Gracie had left the party many took that as a signal that the party wasn’t fun anymore and they would all soon depart. Gracie also charmed the guest at the hotel, but she was mainly the “apple” of her father’s eye.

Tragically, a few days before Easter, in April 1889, Gracie died of pneumonia at the age of six. Her parents were distraught with grief. Mr. Watson kept little Gracie’s body in her room at the hotel for five days before allowing any funeral plans. After her burial, he commissioned a local rising sculptor, John Walz, to carve a life-sized monument from a favorite photograph of Little Gracie. This delicately detailed statue of Georgia marble now stands in the infamous Bonaventure Cemetery where it has captured the interest of thousands for almost a century.

Mr. and Mrs. Watson were never the same after losing Gracie. W.J. slipped into a deep depression and the couple finally moved from Savannah – leaving Little Gracie alone. It is said that folks have heard a child softly sobbing at her gravesite, perhaps Gracie missing her lost parents. Others say they have seen tears run down the statue’s face or caught a glimpse of her turning her head. There have been many recorded sightings of a little girl believed to be Little Gracie around Savannah. Most of these sightings have been in the building of the old Pulaski House Hotel on West Bryan also near Bay Street and the Riverfront.

Little Gracie’s precious life was cut way too short, but she did leave memories for those she knew in this physical world. Now it seems that she continues to leave her tiny footprints in the spiritual world. Daniel may have caught a glimpse of Little Gracie in an abandoned shop late one evening only a few streets over from the site of Gracie’s former home at the Pulaski Hotel. Even if this little girl isn’t Gracie Watson – she still shares her beauty and charm with us in this amazing photo.