I know I usually tackle the UFO and monster sides of the paranormal and leave the ghostly stories to Laura, but I had to comment on this story after watching the accompanying video. Being a paranormal investigator for the past four years, I have seen many things, and many of those things have been extremely strange. But many of those extremely strange things, upon closer examination, could be explained rationally. And perhaps the biggest thorn in the side of any serious paranormal investigator with half a brain is the orb phenomena. Orbs are little round objects, usually semi-transparent, that show up in pictures. This basically happens when the flash of the camera illuminates tiny objects that usually can’t be seen by the naked eye, like dust, water droplets, pollen, bugs, etc. But there is a certain segment of people out there, and many of them calling themselves serious paranormal investigators, who think these are ghosts. So they’ll take a picture in a cemetery at night, or in a building where lots of construction is going on, and see all the little dust particles or raindrops and say “Look at all the ghosts we caught! I can see faces!” These people are seeing what they want to see. And the media is not doing anything to help. Witness this story from WHNT News:
TUSCUMBIA, AL – Something eerie may be lurking in the Colbert County EMA office. On the surface, his office appears normal, but EMA Director Mike Melton is convinced that he may be sharing his office space with the paranormal.
“It appears that there’s some type of dimension or something that a flash of the camera can pick up that we might not be able to see,” said Melton.
That’s because of a photo taken of Mike’s office during it’s renovation several years ago. The original image is covered in blurry white spots with faint outlines of human figures in the background. EMA employees agreed it looked peculiar.
John McWilliams, a local historian, enhanced the clarity of the image, revealing what appears to be a line of ghostly figures.
“When I saw it, I didn’t realize it was a saloon scene,” said McWilliams, of Tuscumbia. “I could just see the people. It was not until I started processing it that I saw that it was a saloon scene.”
That prompted McWilliams to do a little homework on the building. After looking at old maps, he determined what’s now the Colbert County EMA office was a saloon and bowling alley back in 1884.
“I have records here to find out what was in those buildings at that time during that period,” said McWilliams. “The picture meets that criteria.”
He said that explains why the figures appear to be waiting in line, while others appear to be perched at a bar.
Photos snapped at the EMA console reveal what appears to be three figures in the foreground, wearing microphone headsets. Mike suspects they once worked in the building.
“Evidently, we’re sharing their space and they’re not sharing ours,” said Melton.
Photos taken since the construction work suggest there could still be some sort of supernatural activity in his office.
We wanted to check it out for ourselves, so we posed for the camera after our interview with Melton. John processed the image for us and revealed nine ghostly figures after enhancing the photo clarity.
Ghosts or not, Melton and other EMA employees aren’t spooked.
“It is something to be lighthearted about,” said Melton. “It’s just an unknown, something creepy you can try to figure out and try to understand what it’s about.”
Melton and McWilliams both joke they know it sounds crazy, but can’t help what they see.
Again, the fact that these pictures were taken during renovations to the office says a lot. Tons of dust and debris is bound to be kicked up during those times, and that is going to be captured on camera as “orbs.” But it’s just dust and particulate matter. And are they serious about the “faces” wearing headsets? They look like the ghosts of Muppets, if anything. I’m all for investigating the paranormal, but people need to do their homework first, and remember to always look for rational explanations before jumping to ghostly conclusions. Unfortunately, even paranormal investigators who claim to be scientific don’t always stick to that philosophy.
