Various
articles on Kirlian photography collected from the www
1. Kirlian photography Short Version
Description
In 1961, Semyon Davidovitch Kirlian and Valentina
Kirliana published a paper in the Russian Journal of Scientific and
Applied Photography in which they described for the first time the
process now known as Kirlian Photography. The method consists of placing
an object or body part directly onto a piece of photographic paper and
then passing a high voltage across the object (part of what makes the
apparatus complicated, especially when using a human subject, is
ensuring a high voltage with a low current). What the Kirlians
discovered is that the photographic paper will become exposed and will
show a glowing ‘aura’ around the object.
Experimenters with Kirlian photography have created
many colourful and beautiful images. The images are often associated
with the object's ‘aura’, which is supposed to be a product of ‘bioenergy’
or ‘bioplasma.’ Kirlian photographers claim that different moods and
levels of psychic power will show up in these photos. There are several
examples of leaves from which a piece has been removed showing the ‘aura’
of the full leaf in a Kirlian photograph (the so-called phantom leaf
effect). A great deal of research has been done by Dr. Thelma Moss of
UCLA’s Neuropsychiatric Institute, and her former student, Kendall
Johnson. Their conclusions are that Kirlian photography is a window onto
the world of ‘bioenergy’, and they and others have linked Kirlian
Photography to telepathy, orgone energy, N-rays, acupuncture, ancient
eastern religions, and other paranormal phenomena. They also tout the
possibility that Kirlian photography can provide early medical diagnoses
of a variety of ailments. Moss and Johnson believe that the Kirlian
photography actually depicts a heretofore invisible ‘astral body,’
while others believe that it is a merely an electrical effect that is
somehow sensitive to psychic states.
The Sceptical
Viewpont
There is no doubt that Kirlian photographs
themselves are not fakes; they are photographing something, the question
is exactly what are they capturing. The most likely explanation, one
that is accepted even by many psychic believers, is that the effect is a
kind of ‘Corona Discharge.’ Corona discharge is responsible for
regular lightning, the sparks that come off your fingers after you walk
on a carpet, and St. Elmo’s fire, among other effects. Nikola Tesla
used to introduce new discoveries at presentations at which his body
would glow and sparks would fly from his fingertips, using a similar
technique.
A team of physicists and psychologists at Drexel
University has spent some years studying the Kirlian effect, and has
concluded that the major determinant in a Kirlian photograph is the
amount of moisture present on the object or skin. It is certainly
plausible that different moods and stresses might create different
amounts of moisture on the fingertips (for instance). This is the basis
of the lie detector. Phantom leaf effects, on the other hand, are very
rare – the Drexel team has never produced one, but they theorize a
number of possibilities, including residue on the photographic plate and
coincidence, not to mention the possibility of outright fraud in some
cases.
Overall, although Kirlian photography is not
perfectly understood, there is no evidence that variations in Kirlian
photographs are due to any paranormal effects. The Drexel team has
created a list of 25 factors that can affect a Kirlian photograph,
including attributes of the skin, recent physical activity, and mental
stress. All of them affect the amount of moisture on the skin. As for
the medical possibilities of Kirlian photography, they are often
overestimated. Variations have many causes, but it is very difficult to
determine those causes from looking at a photograph – many of the
known causes create exactly the same Kirlian variations.
References:
Davis, Mikol, and Lane, Earle, Rainbows of Life
(Harper Colophon, 1978)
Moss, Dr. Thelma, The Probability of the Impossible (Plume, 1974)
Science and the Paranormal, edited by Barry Singer and George O. Abell,
(Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1981)
The Skeptics' Dictionary - http://skepdic.com
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2. Kirlian Photography Simple Technical Explanation
INTRODUCTION
The technical name for Kirlian Photography
is Electrophotography. Strictly speaking what we see in an
electrophotograph is the Kirlian Effect : the modification
of the electric discharge around the object due to biological
alterations of the electrical parameters of the specimen.
Also the luminous halo around the object has nothing to do
with the AURA, it's just a particular type of electrical
discharge.
DISCHARGE ORIGIN
What is this bright luminous halo produced around
the objects? This is the coronal discharge, it appears when
there's a high surface charge density in specific points over the
object. From this point the accumulated charges (either excess or lack
of them) interact with the surrounding atmosphere.
What produces the bright halo is the atmosphere's molecules interacting
with the accelerated charges in those specific points. The gas is being ionized,
therefore the colour (light's wavelength) produced is related to the
type of gas present in the surrounding atmosphere...
Bluish halos? The main component of the air we breathe is Nitrogen which
emits bluish light... Neon produces reddish haloes ... so the colour of
the emitted light is related to the gaseous atmosphere. But the colours
registered on the film depend on additional parameters...
Now comes the main question: If emitted light (luminous halo) appears
due to highly charged areas, how do we increase this surface charge
density?
The answer is quite simple:
Increase the electric field (use High Voltage).
Introduce a dielectric (increase charge)
Keep pumping charges after the introduction of the
dielectric (use a generator).
The introduction of a dielectric while keeping the
electrical field constant produces a charge current and increases the
surface charge density by a value equal to the dielectric constant of
the medium introduced...
The elements mentioned above are all that is needed to produce
discharges around objects... which leads us to HIGH VOLTAGE GENERATORS
& CONDENSER ELECTRODES...
HIGH VOLTAGE GENERATORS
Electrophotography is made with High Voltage
machines.
CONDENSER ELECTRODES
Condenser electrodes are a special kind of
electrode specifically designed for Kirlian Photography. They were very
common in electrotherapy machines used around 1900...
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3. Kirlian Photography full
explanation
In 1939, Semyon Kirlian discovered by accident that
if an object on a photographic plate is subjected to a high-voltage
electric field, an image is created on the plate. The image looks like a
coloured halo or coronal discharge. This image is said to be a physical
manifestation of the spiritual aura or "life force" which
allegedly surrounds each living thing.
Allegedly, this special method of
"photographing" objects is a gateway to the paranormal world
of auras. Actually, what is recorded is due to quite natural phenomena
such as pressure, electrical grounding, humidity and temperature.
Changes in moisture (which may reflect changes in emotions), barometric
pressure, and voltage, among other things, will produce different
'auras'.
Living
things...are moist. When the electricity enters the living object, it
produces an area of gas ionization around the photographed object,
assuming moisture is present on the object. This moisture is
transferred from the subject to the emulsion surface of the
photographic film and causes an alternation of the electric charge
pattern on the film. If a photograph is taken in a vacuum, where no
ionized gas is present, no Kirlian image appears. If the Kirlian image
were due to some paranormal fundamental living energy field, it should
not disappear in a simple vacuum (Hines).
There have even been claims of Kirlian photography
being able to capture "phantom limbs," e.g., when a leaf is
placed on the plate and then torn in half and "photographed,"
the whole leaf shows up in the picture. This is not due to paranormal
forces, however, but to fraud or to residues left from the initial
impression of the whole leaf.
Parapsychologist Thelma Moss popularized Kirlian
photography as a diagnostic medical tool with her books The Body
Electric (1979) and The Probability of the Impossible (1983).
She was convinced that the Kirlian process was an open door to the
"bioenergy" of the astral body. Moss came to UCLA in mid-life
and earned a doctorate in psychology. She experimented with and praised
the effects of LSD and was in and out of therapy for a variety of
psychological problems, but managed to overcome her personal travails
and become a professor at UCLA’s Neuropsychiatric Institute. Her
studies focused on paranormal topics, such as auras, levitation and
ghosts. One of her favourite subjects at UCLA was Uri Geller, whom she
"photographed" several times. She even made several trips to
the Soviet Union to consult with her paranormal colleagues. Moss died in
1997 at the age of 78.
Moss paved the way for other parapsychologists to
speculate that Kirlian "photography" was parapsychology's
Rosetta stone. They would now be able to understand such things as
acupuncture, chi, orgone energy, telepathy, etc., as well as diagnose
and cure whatever ails us. For example, bio-electrography claims to be
...a method
of investigation for biological objects, based on the interpretation
of the corona-discharge image obtained during exposure to a
high-frequency, high-voltage electromagnetic field which is recorded
either on photopaper or by modern video recording equipment. Its main
use is as a fast, inexpensive and relatively non-invasive means for
the diagnostic evaluation of physiological and psychological states.
The reliability of diagnosing illnesses by
photographing auras is not very high, however. Bio-Electrography should
not be confused with Esogetic
Colourpuncture, Peter
Mandel's therapy, which unites acupuncture
and Kirlian photography "to detect energy imbalances."
None of these Kirlian methods of diagnosis should
be confused with other types of medical photography, e.g., roentgen-ray
computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, single photon/positron
emission computed tomography and other
useful types of medical imaging, none of which have anything to do with auras.
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Investigative Files -
Aura Photography: A Candid Shot
Joe
Nickell
note - I have removed his
subjective personal accounts to leave only the more factual parts of his
report - Geraldine
At psychic fairs and other popular venues,
"aura" photographic portraits are all the rage. But are they
really what they are claimed to be?
According to belief that has persisted since
ancient times, the aura is a radiance from the "energy field"
that supposedly emanates from and surrounds all living things. It is
perceived not by ordinary vision but by clairvoyance. Although "no
evidence has been found to prove its existence" (Guiley 1991), the
concept has thrived as pseudoscience. For example, in his 1911 book, The
Human Atmosphere, Dr. Walter J.
Kilner claimed he could not only see the aura and use it for medical
diagnoses, but he also accepted the validity of nonexistent
"N-rays" and clairvoyance. The British Medical Journal rightly
scoffed.
Today self-professed "medical intuitives"
like Caroline
Myss (1997) claim to describe the nature
of people's physical diseases by reading their "energy field."
Thus Myss "can make recommendations for treating their condition on
both a physical and spiritual level." She calls this supposedly
auric process "energy medicine," but offers no scientific
evidence to substantiate her alleged powers. (New Age
magazine stated Myss no longer gives readings, and quoted me as terming
the practice "offensive and dangerous" [Koontz 2000, 66,
102].)
The human body does, in fact, give off certain
radiations, including weak electromagnetic emanations (from the
electrical activity of the nerves), chemical emissions (some of which
may be detected, for instance, as body odor), sonic waves (from the
physical actions within the body), etc. Paranormalists sometimes equate
these radiations with the aura (Permutt 1988, 57-58), but they do not
represent a single, unified phenomenon, nor have they been shown to have
the mystical properties attributed to auras.
Not surprisingly, there have been various attempts
to photograph the aura. For example, in the 1890s a French army officer
tried to record alleged psychic force fields on photographic plates but
with reportedly poor results (Permutt 1988, 89). Claims that the aura
has been successfully photographed are typically based on a
misunderstanding of the simple scientific principles involved. For
instance, while infrared photography can produce images of people with
aura-like bands of radiance around them, these are actually only
emanations of body temperature (Nickell 1994; Permutt 1988, 123).
More serious claims that the aura could be
demonstrated scientifically through Kirlian photography were publicized
in the 1970s. In this non-camera technique a high-voltage,
high-frequency electrical discharge is applied across a grounded object.
The "air glow" or "aura" that is yielded can be
recorded directly onto a photographic plate, film, or paper. Such
Kirlian images (named for the Russian inventor of the process, Semyon
Kirlian) show fuzzy glows around fingers, leaves, and other objects
(Ostrander and Schroeder 1971).
Although the Kirlian aura was claimed to present
information about the "bioplasma" or "life-energy"
of the object, actually it is only "a visual or photographic image
of a corona discharge in a gas, in most cases the ambient air."
Moreover, experiments have failed to yield any evidence that the coronal
pattern is related "to the physiological, psychological, or psychic
condition of the sample," but instead only to finger pressure,
moisture, and other mechanical, environmental, and photographic factors
(some twenty-two in all). Skeptics observed that even mechanical
objects, such as coins or paper clips, could yield a Kirlian
"aura" (Watkins and Bickel 1986).
Aura Imaging Photography
Following in the Kirlian tradition is a development
called Aura Imaging photography introduced in 1992 by Guy Coggins, a
California entrepreneur with a background in electronic engineering.
Coggins's Aura Camera 6000 is a combined optical-electrical system that
produces a Polaroid colour photograph of the subject together with his
or her "electromagnetic field or aura." Coggins's company, Progen,
also markets a software program called WinAura that allows one to
"see the aura move and change like a movie in real time on your
computer or TV screen" and to "print your aura image from your
computer printer" (Progen 1999).
Coggins concedes that most who purchase and use his
device fail to understand how it works. "These people live quite
different lives than the rest of us," Coggins told a reporter.
"Sometimes, we have trouble explaining to them how to plug the
thing in" (Sullivan 1999). Scientists, on the other hand, continue
to be skeptical of all claims made about the alleged aura. Observes
Sullivan (1999):
The reason
little of the research on energy, auras, and energy healing has been
accepted by the scientific community is that it's unpredictable. To be
proven as concrete, science demands that an action, performed in the
same way under the same circumstances, must yield the same results. No
such luck in this area, Coggins admits. "None of this is
duplicatable. It works once, but maybe not the next time. So there's
no way to prove it, according to scientific standards."
But what about Coggins' aura-imaging technology?
Can a photograph lie? A look at the actual process employed - described
by Coggins as "intensified Kirlian imaging" - shows it to be
not the actual image of the body's unseen image field but the imitation
of such a field based primarily on something called skin resistance.
That is one of the physiological variables measured by a galvanometer as
part of a polygraph or "lie detector," whereby an unfelt
electrical current passes through the subject's hands and detects
sweat-gland activity associated with nervousness. (Cheap lie
detectors-as well as the "E-meters" used by Scientologists in
their controversial pyschotherapeutic technique called
"auditing" [Behar 1999]-are essentially only galvanometers.)
As one source explains the aura camera's technique
(while neglecting to mention that the electrical current is induced):
The hand
plates on the electronic modules contain sensors that are located at
specific acupuncture points on each hand. Each one of the points
corresponds to a different area of the body. Coggins said the sensors
pick up the electrical current on the skin at each of those locations.
This current is called "skin resistance."
Next, according to this source:
The
computer plots the information from the sensors. Within the camera is
a liquid crystal display [LCD] of different colours. Each electrical
frequency plotted by the computer is assigned a different colour. The
higher frequencies are assigned warmer colours-reds, yellows, oranges.
The lower frequencies fall toward the cooler end of the spectrum-blues
and purples. Greens and shades like turquoise, aquamarine, and
yellow-green fall into the center of the vibrational spectrum. Coggins
said he worked with psychics who helped him interpret the frequencies,
and the colours they could represent. People with a lot of high energy
in their field - red and orange - are described by most clairvoyants
as vibrant and passionate.
Finally,
The LCD
flashes lights according to the pattern and frequencies plotted by the
computer. The Polaroid film is thus exposed to the coloured lights,
which show up on the photograph in the areas of the body where the
corresponding electrical currents were sensed (Sullivan 1999).
This tortuous process - involving obtaining dubious
electrically stimulated data from the hands, extrapolating it by analogy
to acupuncture to the entire body, translating the electrical
frequencies into alleged colour equivalents, and then substituting for
them simple flashes of coloured lights - can scarcely be called
photographing the aura. As is typically the case with photographs of
alleged paranormal phenomena, what you see is not what you get. |