7.5: What is Kirlian Photography?
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This article is from the Scientific Skepticism FAQ, by Paul Johnson Paul@treetop.demon.co.uk with numerous contributions by others.
7.5: What is Kirlian Photography?
[Information from a posting by Dave Palmer <dpalmer@csulb.edu>]
The technique involves applying a high-frequency, high-voltage
electrical source (such as from a Tesla coil) to a subject. The source
is also very low-current, so the subject does not get electrocuted
(it's the current in electricity that does the harm, not the voltage).
When this is done, an "aura" of lightning-like electrical discharges
forms around the subject. This field is visible to the naked eye (in
a dark room, anyway), and may be photographed. Adherents of Kirlian
photography claim that this field is some sort of "life energy" which
may indicate things about the subject, such as health, psychic
ability, and so forth. They claim that Kirlian photography sometimes
shows the "phantom effect." That is, if a limb is amputated from the
subject (or, less gruesomely, if a piece is torn off a leaf), that the
field will still show the missing piece for a time, because its "life
energy" is still there.
There is no truth to the claims that it shows any sort of "aura" or
"life energy." It is merely a coronal discharge, complete with ozone
production. The most damaging argument against the "life energy" claim
is that Kirlian photography works on ANY subject that conducts
electricity, even completely lifeless metal, or synthetic sponges
soaked in salt water.
The field produced jumps around quite a bit. Because the shape of the
field changes, it can occasionally appear to outline non-existent
areas of the subject, hence the phantom effect. Dave Palmer reports
producing the phantom effect with tin foil about as often with leaves.
Far more often, he got false phantom effects, that is, pictures of
pieces of the subject that had never existed.
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