Spherical near field acoustic holography (spherical NAH) is a technique that makes it possible to reconstruct the sound field inside and just outside a spherical surface on which the sound pressure is measured with an array of microphones. This is potentially very useful for source identification. The sphere can be acoustically transparent or it can be rigid. A rigid sphere is somewhat more practical than an open sphere. However, spherical NAH based on a rigid sphere is only valid if it can be assumed that the sphere has a negligible influence on the incident sound field, and this is not necessarily a good assumption when the sphere is very close to a radiating surface. This Letter examines the matter through simulations and experiments.