Though you wouldn't know this from all the TV shows and day time talk show interviews. This is not to bash or criticize any particular show. More over, in this column I hope to further share my great wisdom and enlighten my readers as to the true meaning of what is being shown on TV – to wit: Not a lot!
Consider for example the Ghost Hunters series. In it's 5th season it is still the #1 rated show on the SciFi Channel (Battlestar Galactica is #2). In the 5 years of the show – I have been watching it since day-1 – the show and approach have clearly changed. But that's the nature of TV. It's not National Geographic or Discovery channel. But I'm not going into all that. It's been beaten to death on many forums and sites.
The point to make about GH is that in all that time when you look at the body of collected evidence, it's rather anemic. We have to exclude persona experiences (things the team members claim they saw, heard or felt) because personal experiences are just that – personal. They weren't objectively documented (no video, audio or photos) so the same thing can't be experienced by someone else and draw their own conclusion.
There were a few possible shadow-like somethings recorded on the DVR but that's it. Much of the "solid" evidence has come under significant scrutiny from all sides and I think is definitely possible to have been at best misunderstand, at worst faked, but more likely someone playing a joke or hoax on them. Things like the shadow person on the first investigation of Eastern State Penitentiary, the apparently figure walking across the far end of the hallway as seen on the thermal imaging camera during a Waverly Hills episode as well as several other apparent human figures seen the thermal imager.
But no "Oh my G-d! What an incredible thing!" video or photographs. In fact the majority of the more solid evidence over the last 5 years, and in more recent episodes, have been EVPs.
So, still using GH as an example (but not singling them out for any specific criticism), it begs the question: With all the investigations they have done, with all the hours spent on site, with all the hours of audio/video collected, that's the best they can do?
There are only two possible explanations:
1) For whatever reason the production company edited out some pieces of evidence in favor of showing something else. This is possible as the production company is doing this for ratings and not for evidence presentation. In fact, Grant once told me on their first investigation of the Stanley Hotel they did get something on the thermal imager and chased it down two hallways before it disappeared. But the production company cut the whole thing out and didn't air it. He had no idea why.
2) Real, solid, Oh-My-Gd! Paranormal activity is rare to encounter and even rarer to have the right devices to document.
Again, this is not to be critical of GH or TAPS or any other show. This is directed at other paranormal investigation groups and the general public who also has an interest in the paranormal. When these TV people who have access to places and equipment (and the time to go there and use it) that you and I and other paranormal investigators don't and they don't get much, we need to be more critical of alleged paranormal activity. Too often people – both paranormal fans and supposedly seasoned paranormal investigators – so badly want to find evidence of the paranormal or experience the paranormal themselves they make the leap too soon and call something very normal paranormal.
The paranormal is out there. But definitely not everywhere.
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