Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Orbs

My classes are fairly small this year, which is nice for a change, allowing me to do more in-class discussion. The reason behind the small classes is that in the school year after Hurricane Katrina we had one of our smallest enrollments in 30 years, and that is the class getting ready to graduate now. Since I teach mostly upper-level classes, that's why I'm seeing the small sizes this year.

I don't have much else to post about since I've barely had time to think this past week, but I thought I'd leave you with a couple of intersting photos that Lana took when we were at our local Flatwoods nature preserve this weekend. Did we brush against something mysterious? You be the judge! (You will probably have to click on the pictures to enlarge them to see what I'm talking about.)

In the first picture, on the left, what looks like a full moon toward the top of the photo...isn't. If you look down to the area between the trees you'll clearly see the crescent moon. So what is the other thing? A "fool" moon perhaps?

In the second photo there's something similar. The crescent moon is brightly visible, but look to the left and just a bit lower, to where a faint orb is caught within the branches of the pine. It looks very much like a full moon, even showing, to my eyes, a hint of the Man in the Moon's face.

Are you hearing Twilight Zone music? Or are you a buzz kill who will say: "Oh it's just a camera glitch!"

Personally, I'd really like it to be something weird!




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43 comments:

  1. Wow. I'd say this is ready for prime time paranormal!

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  2. Charles, wish I could help you, but I have very little understanding of astronomy. Does look kinda suspect, tho...

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  3. Lovely photos! Are you using them as fodder for a new story idea?

    I don't start classes til next week. I'm whining and dragging my feet already...

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  4. Rick, maybe the eggs of dragons?

    Jodi, well, despite what I said on the post, I'm guessing it's some kind of camera thing. But hey, why not have fun with it.

    Ello, everything becomes story fodder at some point. My whining is fading as the semester starts. But I know what you mean.

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  5. Orbs in photos are said to be angels!

    Aloha-

    Comfort Spiral

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  6. Charles,

    Very cool pictures! Perhaps a mystical sign?

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  7. Oh wow! That's funky! And I don't think it can be a camera glitch, because in the one picture, the orb is BEHIND the trees. If it were the camera, it would be in front of the trees!

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  8. So, you've been to another planet, one with two moons . . . and back again . . .

    And is Pluto a planet again or still in limbo?

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  9. There is a scientific reason for the phenom, but I'm drunk and lazy.

    Ah. This here Buddh's for you:

    (From the Surangama Sutra, and way out of context):

    Buddha: "Then why do you not see the eye itself when you gaze upon the mountains? This assertion also cannot be."...

    Parallax

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  10. Orbs in photos are said to be angels!
    ...or ghosts. Two completely different creatures.

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  11. Cloudia, well it would be nice to think a couple of angels are watching over me.

    Scott, unfortunately, not the sign of the hammer eh?

    Natasha Fondren, that's a good point. Intersting. I hadn't thought of that.

    Erik, Ding ding ding, you win the prize. You've solved the mystery! ;) Who knows anything about Pluto, man.

    ivan, science is only a tweeting bird in the face of the great mysteries. Or so might say Spock under certain circumstances.

    Mark, if I can pick, I'll take angels. Although I don't know of any particularly vengeful ghosts that might be following me around. Could be following Lana, of course. She knows where the bodies are buried.

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  12. I would say it was dust that caught some light, or a bug that caught some light. I ONLY say that really, because I watch a lot of Ghost Hunters and they debunk a lot of the "orbs" they end up catching on their cameras by saying the same thing. But then again, what do I know??? ^_^ (Ooo, which reminds me, I need to go watch my DVRed, new episode!)

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  13. reflections of something off clouds, or other things?

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  14. Strange things happen all the time like the time I saw something flying high in the sky I could not identify.

    My daughter begins teaching in earnest this Autumn. She has prepared her classroom with pictures of Shakespeare's plays and in giant letters "ALL CHILDREN ARE IMPORTANT"

    She will be teaching in one of the most deprived area's of her city. I am proud, of course, and know she will handle it.

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  15. This has nothing to do with Lana's photos but your post reminded me of how many out of focus mystery pictures have been taken. Even recently when you read about a UFO or some weird sighting in this day and age of 10 MP everyday cameras the accompanying photo is crappy. I bet if Lana sees a UFO we won't get one of those blurred renditions. :)

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  16. Cool pics. Very mysterious...

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  17. I hate to burst everyone's bubble, but it's really just insects that flew past the lens as the shot was taken & ended up highlighted by the flash & blurry because the focal point was beyond them. ;)

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  18. Gabby, apparently insects are a cause for a lot of such phenomena,


    laughingwolf, the second one really looks like some kind of reflection, perhaps of water droplets.

    Middle Ditch, I like the strange, sudden, and unexpected. Good luck to your daughter. Teaching is rewarding, thoug often frustrating.

    BernardL, I'd want Lana womaning my camera on the day I saw a UFO for sure.

    Chris, yep, neato.

    Lana Gramlich, You are of course mistaken my dear. Crepuscular angels perhaps but surely not crepuscalar bugs. I still love you though. ;)

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  19. My husband's classes are small, too. Too much unemployment here.

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  20. Interesting--and I think it has to do with the way the light travels through the camera lens. That second shot is a nice cresent view--one of my favorite views of the moon.

    Enjoy your small classes!

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  21. THey look at least as good as some of the 'ghost-proof' I've seen on TV. Myself, I want rattling chains and a chorus of doomed voices, the laughter of small children, that sort of thing!

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  22. THey look at least as good as some of the 'ghost-proof' I've seen on TV. Myself, I want rattling chains and a chorus of doomed voices, the laughter of small children, that sort of thing!

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  23. Did you see the orb, or did it just show up in the pictures?

    I can't believe it's been four years since Katrina. Eeek. What's my excuse for my house STILL not being finished?

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  24. pattinase, it seems to be going around. Friends at LSU have said their classes are way down too.

    sage, I'm sure there's a logical explanation. I know insects do show up as blogs of light or as bars sometimes because they are moving across the lens so fast. It's fun to speculate.

    Steve Malley, yes, I'm a doubting Thomas myself. I need to stick my hand in the wound. Or close to it. :)

    Candy, just showed up in the pics. We didn't see anything unusual. I know, the time goes quickly.

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  25. We visited a haunted house in New Orleans (the Ashley House on... St Charles?). My daughter was nervous about the tour but became quite brave AFTER THE FACT (and told her friends about her "experience"). She wanted there to be something... after she wasn't there. Made for a better story :)

    Fool moon is a great way to describe your photos.

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  26. Oh! I'm with Erik... what is up with Pluto?

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  27. I absolutely hear X-Files music, Charles. So sweet to my ears... :-)

    And I do not want to know about any insects... Besides, in the second photo, the orb appears behind the trees.

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  28. jennifer, I used to go to "haunted houses" a lot as a teenager. Never saw anything weird, though I kind of hoped to.

    Vesper, I also used to run the mountain roads at nights with friends of mine watching for UFO's. Unfortunately never saw any. Sigh!

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  29. seems the sky has a pimple.

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  30. Very cool, and makes you think.

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  31. benjibopper, now that's a gross thought. Imagine it popping!

    Heff, I'll drink to that.

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  32. Definitely something weird going on over those trees Charles... Is it going to inspire you to write a brilliant blockbuster bestseller about mysterious weird intergalactic vampires descending from an alternative universe . . . oh heck, clearly not my genre! I'll stick to crime fiction.
    Thanks for all your comments on my blog, Charles.

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  33. Were you eating cheese when you shot these pictures? I think it's a perfectly round piece of cheese you got on the lense.

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  34. Leigh, everything is grist for the mill. It may well show up.

    JR., no, we weren't eating cheese, but that's probably the best guess so far as to what these could be.

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  35. Aimless writer, that would be nice!

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  36. I'd say, Charles, you have yourself a UFO. I don't think it's a camera thing.

    What I know of angels, they tend to be close to the person and often only appear in brief glimpses to the eye combined with a pleasant scent, not unlike baby powder.

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  37. My comments keep being eaten on your blog lately! Probably payback for the typepad problems!

    I suspect insects for that photo orb, too, but there are plenty of odd things out there that have been photographed.

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  38. I'll vote for angels too. NOLA needs someone watching over it.

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  39. The pictures are beautiful. Something mystical in them, like the moment between the day and the night is captured, some border state.

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  40. Barbara Martin, there was at least one angel there watching out for me. I call her Lana!

    writtenwyrdd, insects are what Lana thinks they are too. That's probably most likely. Sorry you're having trouble. I've not been having trouble on your site lately.

    Shauna Roberts, I need someone watching over me. Even Lana has to take a break some time.

    Lena, twilight witchery!

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  41. Cool! It's almost like there are a couple of moons in the sky.

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  42. Travis, amazing how moonlike they look.

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