original photo (unretouched)

scanned image, outlined

 
We took the photo on our webpage, Ghost Hunters - Ecto and Smoke, as part of a controlled experiment. We were demonstrating how smoke can look like “ecto” in photos.
However, although this picture was not taken in a “haunted” location, we wonder if the spirits are [...]

We often see photos that claim to display ‘ectoplasm’ but actually show smoke. Even if someone had been smoking 20 minutes earlier, smoke particulate lingers in the air and can reflect light. This is easy to confuse with genuine anomalies.
Here are some results from our initial [...]

False ‘ghost orbs’ and anomalies can happen to anyone, even professional ghost hunters.
On damp or rainy nights, most of our photos include false anomalies. (We take photos anyway. After all, we might capture something genuine in our pictures.)
But, many of the photos that we receive in email are clearly false orbs. That’s not the fault [...]

False ‘ghost orbs’ can be caused by holiday lights. It’s fairly rare, but worth mentioning. Take a look at the bluish orb in the picture below. It’s at the far right side of the photo, almost at the middle of that side.

This false orb was only one in [...]

False ghost anomalies can appear in photos if hair is in the way. The ‘ghost photo’ below shows a dark vertical shadow near the center of the picture.

At right you can see the same photo with white lines on either side [...]

 
Fake ghost pictures can be created using as little as one piece of hair.
Most of these ‘vortex’ photos aren’t as dramatic as the ones featured in our other article, Hair tests - False vortex photos, but serious researchers will want to review these to confirm the effects of hair.
The [...]

Fake ghost orbs and researcher error can be problems for all ghost hunters. We regularly test sources of false orbs, to see if we can learn anything new from them. The photo at left shows how a lawn sprinkler looks from a distance of about three feet, with a [...]

Ghost vortex claims are even more controversial than ghost orb pictures. Most vortex photos show a swirling line on the right side of the photo. Many skeptics correctly guess that this can be caused by a camera strap.
However, the ‘ghost picture’ at left could fool many [...]

False ghost orbs can appear in pictures for a variety of reasons. We’re running experiments to help you separate them from real ghost orbs in your photos.
We’ve always heard–and believed–that it’s important to watch out for reflective jewelry near the camera lens, [...]

“Ghost orbs are just dust!” That’s what we’ve heard from skeptics. So, we decided to test their theory. At left you can see our best result when tossing sidewalk dirt and dust in front of the camera, trying to duplicate a breezy, [...]