The orb of the KTPR...

The eye shaped anomaly I have spoken about that shows up in photographs taken here sometimes...honest, not a trick or a smudge...always different distance and brightness but the same distinctive eye shape. The eye of Tongaroa peeking in on the Paradise Room? The ghost of Donn Beach, Vic Bergeron, or Bob Thornton popping in for a nightcap? Who knows...the mana is pretty good here. Above the mask in this photo with Pablus, 2AM on a Tuesday In front of the shaft of the Akatara I am holding, 11PM on a Monday. In front of the striped mask high on the wall while I was arranging the Imperial Luau tikis one night two years ago 12AM In front of the left eye of the Luau tiki above our friends Brad and Shelley Fisher..This is the closest it has ever gotten to the camera... There are many more.

It could be your camera. Hopefully not though. Have other people taken photos in KTPR? If so see if they have the same occurance. This is very interesting. You seem to be very passionate about what you do and it may not have gone unnoticed by the the gods that be. I believe you also have some items of age in your bar which could definitely carry some mana.

This phenomenon has been termed "orbs" by ghost hunters. There are a zillion sites dedicated to pictures of these things and they believe they are ghosts. I do not. I have taken lots of pictures and what it seems to be to me is either a dust spot on the lens that is illuminated from the side, or more likely, a dust speck illuminated by the flash. That is the usual occurance. In fact I have never seen one appear without the flash. Although, like I said, tons around the world have decided they are ghosts. Here is one page.

I've heard of this phenomenon. You realize of course, that what we refer to as "tikis" are craven idols that represent greater and lesser deities, supernatural beings and ancestor spirits. All of these images were created to function as a sort of conduit betwixt the supplicant or worshipper and the spiritual being to which they wish to communicate and pledge loyalty for some boon. The thing is...if you have TOO MANY "tikis," then all the spirits struggle for your attention. You may not notice it, rarely anyone does though you may have feverish nightmares, but the spirits are fighting to be recognized! They're jumping out in the photos as if to say "Hey! Don't forget about me stuck back here in the corner!" Things could get ugly if this situation continues. The best thing to do is give your tikis some breathing room. I advise that you start breaking up your collection.

As much as it would inconvenience me, I'd be willing to take some of your "tiki" collection from you. It would be for your own good. I would not expect compensation for my act of compassion. Send some mugs too. The spirits like mugs.

Whatever it is - I hope to be amidst it, near it, standing on it or drinking it often because the freaking KTPR is one of my favorite places on earth.

The only thing that could scare me away from there is if Cher stopped by. Now THAT'S frightening.

I get those odd spots in my pics every now and then. I think it's a minute defect in the lens itself or maybe a little dust behind the lens and sometimes the light just sets it off when it hits it just so.

I had thought they were dust spots, too, until I noticed that out of thousands of pictures we have taken for e-bay and of the family, these only appear on shots taken in the paradise room. I clean my lense with silicon eyeglass cleaners. And they don't look like the "orbs" on those goofball sites...they all look like EEEEEYYYYES.....

"Here's looking at you kid"

you don't think it's the reflection off something in the room bouncing back to a slight flaw in the lens? That's what I blame mine on. Now I'm going to have to check my 10,000 plus photos to see! Never heard the energy theory before if that were true then I'd have them showing up in ALL my photos.

I really think it's caused by flash photos in dark rooms/places. A tiny speck of dust, that is close to the camera and way out of focus, becomes large.

Would be an easy thing to recreate, but you couldn't prove it was dust. Well, maybe. Take a few pics in the dark KTPR, then beat the carpet a bit and try again. If you get a lot more orbs, I say the mystery is solved.

A coworker of mine is into this. He went into a notoriously haunted house on L.I. circa 1600s with an infrared video camera. He has vid of orbs following him down a hall, curving past him, and it seems, going through a wall. I could probably email an mpeg to whomever is interested. Neat stuff.

Great topic. I'm a paranormal investigator with the Wisconsin Paranormal Research Center http://my.execpc.com/~wisprc/ ,and I would have to agree with Swanky's conclusion. Nearly all of these "orb" shots are caused by moisture, small particles or critters (dust,tiny insects,snow flakes etc.) in the atmosphere. They reflect the flash giving the subject a larger spheroid appearance. My team has done a lot of research into this sort of phenomena. This is also very common with low megapixel digital cameras. When photographing in low light areas the camera's chip fills in the gap of information with an "orb". However, if you catch this "orb" moving on video, and it appears to interact with or be aware of you then you may have something more....... interesting...and feel free to PM me :wink: Below I have included a false "orb" shot I took in a cemetery.

Cmon, guys...you're spoiling my bar's potential fame and legend here with all of your "Doubt talk"...Just humor me on this one..Think "lizard man, lizard man"! :)

Hey BK. If it IS something paranormal, maybe it's attracted by all the other "spirits" around there :wink:

It's Aliens!

Ghosts of aliens more like.

I still think it's either a minute flaw inside the lens itself or dust behind the lens because the ones I have are consistently in the same areas and look similar so that would not coincide with the dust in the air theory. And I also have more than one in each photo when they do appear. It also seems to just happen when the flash is used so that made me think that sometimes the flash light gets bounced back to the lens if it is hitting a shiny object or if another camera flash sets it off.

Anybody who wears Glasses can tell you this happens all the time. I just got gone pouring another batch of plaster, and there at least a dozen "Orbs" floating over the TV.