What Color is a Ghost?

There's an old joke that asks: "What color is a ghost?"
The answer : "Boo."
A pun on "blue" of course. The joke may not be especially funny
but it could be just a few nanometers away from the truth...

The history of photography in paranormal research is a fascinating subject. Reports of ghostly images appearing in photographs date back to the earliest days of photography itself. The first well-documented incident of what eventually became known as "spirit photography" occurred in 1862 when a professional engraver from Boston named William Mumler was experimenting with his camera by posing for self-portraits. When it was developed, one of Mumler's photographic plates revealed a ghostly figure visible in the background. Mumler claimed that it was the spirit image of a deceased relative and news of his other-worldly discovery quickly spread around the globe. Soon other photographers on both sides of the Atlantic were claiming to find "spirit extras" in their own pictures.

Numerous examples of early-day spirit photography have been published but most of them are not very convincing. Many, although taken quite seriously at the time, seem like obvious hoaxes to us today. Remember Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the case of the Cottingley fairies? Even William Mumler's spirit photographs were eventually declared to be fraudulent. (The enterprising gentleman's lucrative production of spirit photos for clients on-demand was cut short in 1863 when one of his "spirit" images proved to be that of a living person who's portrait he had taken a few weeks earlier.)

Nevertheless, the flow of purportedly paranormal photographs remained strong throughout the 19th and 20th centuries and it continues today, apparently enhanced rather than abated by the latest advancements of 21st century technologies. Digital cameras, infrared surveillance equipment, video tape and DVD recorders, etc. are all standard equipment for today's paranormal research teams and, as before, seemingly inexplicable images will occasionally appear with these new media.

Convincing photographic proof of anything paranormal remains elusive however. Serious research in the field is chronically disrupted by a few who try to perpetrate deliberate hoaxes and it is further confounded by many who honestly but naively misinterpret the images that they see in their photos. Furthermore, we seem to be lacking any consensus of opinion as to exactly just what it is that we, as paranormal researchers, are trying to photograph in the first place.

What does the paranormal look like? Should we really expect to see something as familiar looking as a face, a full-bodied apparition or anything even at all human-like in appearance? Or should we instead be looking for something not so easily recognizable, perhaps something completely unknown? After all, what color is a ghost?

There is a certain category of paranormal photograph that I've always considered to be extremely intriguing from a theoretical viewpoint. These are the photographs that show a wispy mist or sometimes a glowing streak of light superimposed onto an otherwise ordinary looking scene. Usually appearing as white or bluish in color, these anomalous shapes seem to represent not so much an "entity" per se, but rather the presence of a raw and ephemeral form of pure energy. This type of photographic anomaly has been referred to by various terms: ectoplasm, mists, vortices, beams, streaks, orbs, etc. In almost all cases, the photographers state that they had not seen anything unusual with their eyes and that the phenomenon was only revealed after the photo was processed.

The problem with proof of anything paranormal in these cases has been that we couldn't rule out the possibility that the images in question were merely aberrations produced by reflections, glare or some other technical glitch involving the camera and its lens. The recent move to digital cameras has only compounded the problem of spurious image effects, but regardless of what type of camera you use, ordinary causes for extraordinary looking images can't be ruled out whenever a strong light source, including the camera's own flash, was present when the picture was taken. Glass and mirrors, dust particles, cigarette smoke, water vapor, flying insects, traffic, the sun and moon - you name it - all frequently interact with ambient light to create unusual effects that mislead people into thinking there is something paranormal in their photographs when there really isn't.

How can we ever hope to be absolutely certain that something which appears to be "abnormal" in a photograph is genuinely "paranormal"? This was a question I'd asked myself numerous times when circumstances began steering me toward a possible solution...

On my very first attempt at haunted house photography in February of 2003, I recorded a set of blue streaks in a shot taken during an investigation with the Virginia Ghosts and Hauntings Research Society (now known as CPRI, the Center for Paranormal Research and Investigation) at a private residence in the Roanoke, Virginia area. One bright blue streak can be seen just above the aquarium in the cropped and slightly enhanced image to the right. A weaker looking blue streak is seen following close behind the first, and another even fainter blue streak can be seen higher up the wall adjacent to the fireplace bricks. Please take a moment to study them closely.

This picture was taken using an oldie-but-goody 35 mm film camera. It was taken without using a flash or any auxiliary lighting. In this case, as you can see, ample ambient light for a 1 second exposure was provided by a halogen floor lamp (just outside the cropped image), a candle on the table in the foreground, and the aquarium light.

After a little research, we learned that the lamp for this salt-water aquarium had a high ultraviolet content. Ultraviolet light is invisible to the human eye, it radiates at frequencies higher than light of the visible spectrum just beyond the blue-violet range. However, it turns out that ordinary photographic film is extremely sensitive to ultraviolet light. Depending on its intensity, UV will appear as blue, bluish-white, or even white on color film, white on black and white film of course. Hmmm . . .

I began to wonder if the invisible but photoactive rays of ultraviolet light could be responsible for some of the unusual images in certain pictures being presented as paranormal? On the other hand, could simple glare from that UV-rich aquarium light have caused those blue streaks to appear in my own photo? We scheduled another visit to the house to try and answer these questions.

For our return trip, I had two strategies in mind for testing my UV hypotheses. One was fairly straightforward: I would try to duplicate the shot of the blue streaks near the aquarium by using the same camera, same lens, same type of film, same angle, same lighting conditions, same exposure time, etc. I took a series of shots in this manner but, after processing, none of the new photos showed any blue streaks. Not scientifically conclusive perhaps, but this result tends to support the premise that my original shot was not simply the result of glare from the aquarium light. Had I fortuitously snapped the shutter at the exact moment of a paranormal energy display?

Interestingly enough, one of the photos taken during this second visit did show an anomaly of a different type:

The image at left above is representative of the shots taken near the aquarium during our second visit, with nothing particularly unusual showing up. The image on the right however contains a dark shadowy shape that appears to be hovering along the ceiling. It is the only frame of the series in which this mysterious shape appeared. This series of aquarium shots was taken consecutively with only slight variations in camera angle and position from frame to frame, and with no changes in the ambient lighting. Again, there was no flash used for these photos - in fact there was no light source or object at all in a position to cast a shadow on the ceiling like this.

The blue streaks, the mysterious shadow, as well as other audio and electromagnetic evidence obtained during our investigations at this house all combined to suggest that something unusual was at play here.

The second part of my strategy for testing possible photographic effects from the UV-rich aquarium light requires a bit of technical explanation:

You may remember from high school science that the range of visible light is but a tiny slice of the total electromagnetic spectrum. As we move higher up the spectrum in frequency, the wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation become shorter. Extreme low frequency radio waves (ELFs) have wavelengths that can be expressed in terms of miles or kilometers, whereas frequencies in the standard radio and television bands are expressed in meters. The wavelengths of light however are expressed in terms of nanometers (nm) or billionths of a meter !

The visible light spectrum ranges from about 760 nm at the red end of the scale to about 380 nm in the violet. Remember, shorter wavelengths equate to higher frequencies and higher energy levels. Wavelengths of light longer than 760 nm fall into the zone known as infrared, wavelengths shorter than 380 nm are termed ultraviolet. These parameters are defined in accordance with the range of normal human vision with the infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths being invisible to our eyes. Some insects and other animals can perceive electromagnetic wavelengths that are not visible to us however.

Actually though, different reference sources will vary a bit as to the exact limits of human visual perception and there is a certain degree of individual variation as well -- some individuals may be able to perceive light waves near the extremes of the range that others cannot. In fact, people who have undergone cataract removal surgery can perceive light down to about 310 nm which is well into the ultraviolet domain and normally invisible to humans -- a fact that could have interesting implications for anyone recruiting paranormal researchers. It might be quite useful to have such a person along on your investigations!

During my research into ultraviolet light, I learned that there is a special type of filter available for camera lenses called a "UV transmission filter".

Note: There is another better known type of "UV filter" that is often used by photographers to block ultraviolet light. The "UV transmission filter" discussed in this article has essentially the opposite effect. A UV transmission filter allows ultraviolet light to pass (be transmitted) while it blocks (absorbs) most visible light. To help avoid confusion I'll use the abbreviation "UVTF" to denote "ultraviolet transmission filter".

Intended primarily for medical and scientific applications, UVTFs give photographers a practical means for studying various subjects as they might appear if we could see into the ultraviolet wavelengths. Thus they provide a convenient and less painful alternative to cataract surgery.

So, for our second trip to the house with the aquarium, I purchased a UVTF and used it in taking another series of photographs in and around the area where the blue streak anomalies had previously appeared. For this series of photos I used another 35 mm camera, loaded with black and white film this time and, again, no flash. Take a look:

The photo above was taken with my camera aimed almost directly at the aquarium. Note the intensity of the aquarium lamp itself and the reflection of UV light by plants in the water underneath it. Otherwise, little or nothing of the surrounding area appears visible in this shot.

The two pictures shown below were taken with cameras aimed down a hallway directly opposite the aquarium. The picture on the left was taken on our first visit to the house with the original camera set-up (no UVTF) and is shown here for comparison to a corresponding shot (below right) taken with the UVTF equipped camera on our second trip. The camera position was similar but not identical for these two shots, however you should be able to identify the relative positions of the same door frames, walls, etc.

The vertical lines of the door frames are clearly seen thanks to their ability to reflect UV from the aquarium light that was about ten to fifteen feet behind the camera. Several other hazy patches of light seen in the UV photo and these are (presumably?) also due to reflections from the aquarium light.

However, two distinct sources of illumination appear to be glowing with more intensity and with a more clearly defined shape than those areas that are just fuzzy reflections. I'm referring of course to the two orb-ish images which appear near the top center area of the UV picture. Here they are again, in close-up detail and a bit of colorization added:

Note the spherical shapes and especially the sense of strobe-light or pulsating motion effect displayed by this image. The camera was mounted on a steady tripod and a shutter release cable was also used to help avoid movement or vibration, thus camera movement can't be cited as an explanation for the apparent motion here.

I'm somewhat reluctant to use the term "orb" in this discussion because of the notoriety generated by the many so-called orb photos which show nothing more than distortions caused by out-of-focus dust, water vapor, bugs etc. reflecting flash or other strong light back into the camera's lens. Remember though, the picture above was taken without a flash and with a lens filter that eliminates virtually all visible light. There doesn't appear to be either a primary source of UV or a surface capable of reflecting UV in the position and with the intensity of this orb-like form that was captured by my camera.

Again, not scientifically conclusive, but this photo encouraged me to continue my attempts at probing the paranormal with the special tools of ultraviolet photography.

My next opportunity to experiment with the UVTF in a reportedly haunted setting came several months later at The Exchange Hotel and Civil War Museum in Gordonsville, Virginia. Originally built as a hotel in 1860, this three story building served as a busy hospital during the Civil War. Records indicate that over 70,000 wounded soldiers (from both North and South) were treated there. Some 700 of them died on the premises and were originally buried on the surrounding grounds. In recent years numerous members of the museum's staff and visiting tourists have reported a variety of paranormal experiences at this location.

On my preliminary visit to the Exchange on November 14 of 2003, I took a series of shots in each room. Not only did I avoid using flash for these night-time shots but there were no aquarium lights this time and, in fact, no lights at all. Lights in the building were deliberately turned off and it was so dark that I had to "feel" my way around with my equipment. If anything was to be photographed on this occasion I wanted to be absolutely certain that it was not from any ordinary source.

With the UVTF firmly in place on my camera's lens, and the camera resting solidly on a tripod for all shots, only one frame from that night's series of exposures gave the slightest hint of anything whatsoever showing up on the film when it was processed.

Far more intense and apparently much closer to the camera than the anomalies seen in my earlier UV photo attempts, this one nearly filled the frame with amazing clarity. The image above is not an enlarged detail, it is more-or-less the actual size of the finished photograph! Note the striking similarity of form and apparent movement between this image and the "orbs" seen in my hallway photo above from the Roanoke residence. There are also similarities between this image and the streaks from my photograph taken near the aquarium there. Perhaps those little blue streaks would have looked more like this one had they been as close to the camera?

During the weeks and months that followed my preliminary visit to the Exchange Hotel, I had numerous opportunities to use the ultraviolet photography technique in a variety of settings -- both "haunted" and not. Roll after roll of film was shot but no further anomalies appeared. In fact three full rolls of film were shot on a subsequent all-night investigation at the Exchange Hotel Museum but, while several odd electromagnetic effects were observed during that visit, the amazing blue orb did not give a repeat performance.

Then in November of 2004, I finally succeeded in recording another streak of light with my UVTF equipped camera. This was at another historical museum site, the Andrew Johnston House, located in the southwestern Virginia town of Pearisburg. An 18th century residential structure, it is significant for being the first brick home built in the county, and it is also noted for the numerous strange occurrences experienced there by staff and visitors. Of particular interest, the curator reports having seen a glowing blue ball of light move slowly across the hallway where she was working on one occasion. Curiously enough, this new photograph was taken just one day short of a year to the date of the photo taken at the Exchange Hotel -- and this just happened to be the eve of the anniversary of the death of Andrew Johnston, the original owner and resident of the Pearisburg home. Johnston is believed to have died in the room where this picture was taken:

Perhaps not quite as dramatic looking as my earlier pic from the Exchange Hotel, but still just as remarkable in view of the fact that it was also taken in a dark room with the camera aimed away from any windows or reflective surfaces, without flash or auxiliary lighting and, of course, with an ultraviolet transmission filter over the lens.

The images that I've captured on my investigations defy all normal explanation. Although even I must admit a shadow of a doubt as to "paranormality" with the original blue streaks and the hallway orbs which led me to pursue the techniques of UV photography in the first place, the two subsequent images that were obtained at the museum locations are virtually beyond the question of having any normal cause. They were literally "shots in the dark" , and that darkness was made even darker still by utilization of the ultraviolet transmission filter.

Do my pictures show a ghost, a poltergeist, or perhaps some other more fundamental and as yet unknown and unnamed form of energy? I'm already working with some new ideas and equipment for further exploration, and I hope to share more information with you soon. Meanwhile, if you ask me, "What color is a ghost," I'll say, "Ultraviolet".