A few pictures from an old cemetery...

It's a little intimidating to be the first one to post here! haha I'd like to start off by saying that I'm not posting these as definite proof of anything! They're just some shots of stuff I happened to capture, and since I'm not sure what to think about them, I thought it would be a good idea to have someone (or more than one someone) take a look to get a better idea of what's going on. So I promise you won't hurt my feelings if you tell me they're just a bunch of nothing.

These pictures were taken in early November 2007 on a trip I took from western Nebraska to South Dakota. This was a trip I took by myself. I was driving on the highway about an hour out of where I live when I reached a stop sign. I noticed to the right of me down the road a little ways was a very small, old-looking cemetery. I'm not one to pass up an opportunity to go exploring something like that, so I parked my car and went inside. The vast majority of graves were very old, dating from the mid/late 1800s through the early/mid 1900s. The odd thing was that I would say at *least* half of them were infants and young children. Very sad. It makes me wonder what could have possibly taken the lives of SO many young ones, especially considering that this cemetery is *not* in an actual town, it's just along the highway. So it's not like it was inside a big town that would have lots of residents. A lot of the engravings on the headstones weren't even in English. It was a very very interesting place to check out.

Anyway, I took the first set of pictures not so much thinking I wanted to (or would) catch any spirits, but more because I'm really into photography as a hobby and just wanted some pictures of the place. It wasn't until after I saw the results of my first set of shots that I decided to stop there again on my way back home and take some more.

This picture was taken on that first stop. It was broad daylight, around noon. All of these pictures I'm going to be posting were taken with my Canon PowerShot A620 digital camera. I did use the flash in this picture, but there was absolutely nothing in that area that it could have reflected off of. My camera has never malfunctioned nor has it ever given me a result like this in a picture. If I had been using my regular 35mm camera I probably would have brushed it off completely, but seeing as I wasn't using any FILM in this one, it caught my attention. As you can see, the white light isn't at all see-through.



This picture was taken in the evening on my way back home. Again, flash was used.
Above the headstone on the left (as you're looking at the picture) there is a yellowish-green orb-like object.

Cropped and lightened up

Cropped and enlarged, color again adjusted to see it better

I see a little bit of movement in it, and the fact that it's not a perfect circle and is not of the typical "dust orb" color and composition is what made me wonder.

I would also like to note that after I took that picture, my camera started acting up. It was by no means completely dark out yet (I wouldn't have been in the cemetery if it had been), and my flash was firing, yet my next set of 5 or so pictures were practically completely BLACK. I took picture after picture and they all turned out that way. I even watched the flash fire to make sure it was working correctly. I turned the flash output up to as high as it would go and they were still black. The strange this was, when I would point it at the ground directly in front of me, the pictures turned out totally bright like they should. Then I'd hold it up and try to take a shot of a headstone and it would be black again. In a couple of the pictures I even got a strange result that you could barely make out the headstone and it was like a negative effect. Very odd. Shortly after that, I figured I'd better leave. As I was thinking that and turned to start walking, I heard rustling behind me. It wasn't windy outside and when I turned I didn't see any animals or anything like that. So it was an interesting experience.

I wanted to make another trip out there and plan to spend more time, but the weather got icky shortly after and then I became busy with a whole mess of stuff and never got the chance. Now that it's starting to warm up I'm hoping to get out there soon. I'd also really like to find some information about the cemetery itself.

So, any input would be appreciated!

Well, we're definitely always happy to help and give our opinions, especially if there's any confusion about the evidence.

That cemetery that you described sounds very interesting. It's funny that you managed to stumble upon it while on a trip, also. That's very sad, though, that so many of the bodies belonged to such young people. I wonder if the area had once be home to a town a long time ago, and it was simply abandon? However, I would expect signs of such, like older homes or at least some wreckage if they had been torn down. It's odd that that cemetery would have been placed in such a random location.

That anomaly in the first picture is very bright! Since you had your flash on, it might be possible that maybe something in the extreme foreground (such as a finger, the camera strap, your hair even) could have reflected the light like that. If anything comes very close to the camera while you're taking a picture with the flash on, it's likely to produce something with such extreme light. However, the object in the picture is very oddly shaped. It seems to be a blur of some sort that I can't even make out or even guess what it could be. I would say it definitely is odd and out of the ordinary when it comes to pictures. Whatever it is, it's very pretty! I myself am not an export when it comes to cameras - that's never really been my field, so perhaps someone else can offer some better input on what they might think it could be. It could very well be paranormal.

As far as the orb picture goes - I myself am extremely hard to convince when it comes to orbs. I've seen so many pictures, each with varying colors and intensities. I do not think that the color so much matters in an orb, as there are numerous things that can produce the effect of such colors. Although the majority of orbs that have been ruled out as dust are plain and white, not every one of them is. I personally have even captured pictures of them in shades of blue at night in the past. There are just so many things a so-called orb could be, such as dust, obviously, or bugs and insects, a reflection, moisture in the air, and any other particles that float around that we normally cannot see. (A good example of knowing how much is in our air, is by looking at the air when light is shining through a window. You'll notice all the dust and little things floating around.) For the most part, I simply just rule out orbs as evidence unless I really feel unsure about it. Also, with digital cameras, orbs are much more easy to photograph. Prior to digital, orbs were basically nonexistent. So, I personally don't believe that that's anything really to worry about, but I'd like to hear what others have to say!

Thanks for sharing your evidence, Heidi! Whether or not they are paranormal or not, you experienced things there that sound very paranormal indeed! I can't imagine anything that would cause your camera to behave like that. That's very odd!

Oh hey! I have another suggestion as to what that first picture could be. Were there many bugs around? It could have been that? Just trying to think of reasonable causes. Sorry, I don't mean to completely disprove your photos.

You made some very good points! Thanks a bunch for your input! And don't worry, I don't feel at all that you're setting out to disprove my pictures! I appreciate any and all feedback. I've always been very "into" the paranormal but I've never been the type to believe blindly and accept every little thing that could be paranormal as being definitely so! I would love to see undeniable proof, but not so much so that I'm willing to label everything strange as being paranormal. I think that one of the really fun things about all this IS trying to debunk things... Thinking of all of the other possibilities and explanations. Of course the best part is when you [/i]cant[i] come up with anything!

I'm sorry, I should have described the conditions better. In the first picture it was around noon, very sunny outside and a little breezy. My hair was only about shoulder-length at the time but I did have it tied back so there were no loose strands flying around or anything. I also don't have a strap on my camera, nor did I have any strings on my clothing or anything that could have gotten in the way. Since it was early November and was already turning pretty chilly out, there weren't many bugs around. (None that I saw, actually, but I'm sure there had to have been at least a few!) It does seem very likely that it could be a reflection of the flash. A bug could be a definitely possibility.

I totally agree that orbs, most of the time, are nothing but dust or moisture or things along those lines! You said that you don't really think that color makes a big difference and that makes sense. Considering it was getting dark out, the reflection of the flash off of a dust particle or some other object could create that different color. Someone on the GH forum recently posted about having ordered a book about all different kinds of orbs. That sounds really interesting and I'm thinking of getting it myself! I'm sure it'd be very informative. I see loads and loads of the typical see-through-ish dust orbs so anytime I see one that actually has *light* to it, I get all excited. hehe

I'll be sure and post more pictures from my next trip out there if I get anything strange! Hopefully I'll make it out soon.

Thanks so much for your reply. I really enjoy talking to other people about this stuff but don't really get the opportunity do it very often, ya know? I'll keep checking back here for new stuff!

Thanks! I'm glad I didn't upset you or anything with my analytical thinking.
I definitely can understand about getting excited though! The paranormal is such a fickle field - you never know when something could happen or when you could get lucky enough to get evidence.

Well, I'd say the conditions for that first picture then lead me to believe that it could be more likely that this is in fact something of paranormal nature. If you can rule out the possibility of so many things, then there's not a lot left that it could be! The odd shape of it leaves my mind boggled! I can't imagine what it could be. That's really amazing. And, like I said before, I think it's really pretty.

Oh I didn't realize there was actually a book on orbs now. That could be very useful! I think that would not only help us determine which are fake and which could be real, but also to analyze them better to determine their sources for circumstances like this. hehe Back when I first started ghost hunting a couple years back, an old friend of mine used to believe every picture of orbs she captured (even in the most random places, like a school gymnasium), were of real ghostly phenomenon. I was too nice to tell her otherwise back then, plus, with her personality, I wouldn't be all that surprised if she didn't want to be friends with me had I told her what I thought.

Sure thing, Heidi! I love talking about this stuff too. Thanks for visiting us here and hopefully as our group grows more, these boards will have some more activity! You seem really nice and cool to talk to - it's a shame we live so far from each other!