Ghost Hunters Is Back

[ArlanKels]

I love this show.

Not because I believe with 100% certainity that it's completely real.
But because I know at least HALF of the crap is BS.

And it's funny to see how hideously horribly warped they try to take some ordinary "Evidence" and craft it into the supernatural.


For example: In last week's episode there's a video tape which has a split second where everyone claims "They see a face". Now mind you it's this nice white blur(It's dark and they had flashlights), and it lacks an eye, nose and mouth, not to mention isn't round in any way shape or form.

Then it ticks ahead a few seconds(the tape), and it's obviously a tree that someone shined a flashlight on, as more of the tree becomes visible(And the "face" even less believable). Yet they completely claimed that it was a face, continually...constantly...retardedly.

So I laughed. Oohhh how I laughed.

[mazx]

Well i'm sure some of it's got to be real, and anyway after sitting through hours
of boring footage i'd start to get a little desperate for something too.

[Mike McC]

Hey, even at stretching some evidence out, at least they keep a skeptical stance. At least one of them does.

[ArlanKels]

See, this is the brilliance of what they do.

By taking the "Skeptics first" stance they subsequently have more leverage to go "Our things are real, cause we're skeptics first".

[mazx]

well, psychic investigators are worse.

I don't think battling a ghost would consist of a fat man sitting in a chair
groaning you will leave this house repeatedly.

So you know they do far better then other ghost investigation shows.

[ArlanKels]

One of the only other Ghost Investigation shows out there, the one with the funky british lady, is actually known to be fake thanks to crew of the show admitting to it.

Which, in turn, sheds a dubious light upon Ghost Hunters.

[POS Industries]

Which, in turn, sheds a dubious light upon Ghost Hunters.

It does? Are they in cahoots? Is there an organized paranormal investigation conspiracy at work? That changes everything, actually. I mean, pro wrestling is fake, which sheds a dubious light on professional basketball, what with them both being in the field of sports entertainment.

I'm not saying Ghost Hunters isn't week after week of some guys utterly failing to find a ghost and put it on TV, but because someone else in a related field was actively faking it doesn't have any bearing on their methodology.

[Mike McC]

There's no doubt a lot of it is dramatized, and they focus a lot on interpersonal stuff with the people. In the end, it's entertaining, and at least they're shown disproven some obvious things, like sounds, or faulty circut breakers, banging pipes, and the like. Sure, there will always be the question of the interpretation of things (they themselves multiple times have looked at stuff others have taken, and broken it down into essentially not paranormal, but environmental), but hey, at least it's not a 'psychic' going around "Ooh, there's... something here... Oooh... something where, I feel a presence... right here... in this room... ooh... there's a presence..." Yeah, anyone who acts like that is most probably faking it.

And hey, they don't always find stuff. And they don't claim to. So, that may lend some credibility to them.

I think my biggest criticism about these shows is they only spend a few hours in a location looking for something to happen, and only at night. What's to say there's not something there, but decided not to do anything that night, or is active during the day?

[ArlanKels]

It does? Are they in cahoots? Is there an organized paranormal investigation conspiracy at work? That changes everything, actually. I mean, pro wrestling is fake, which sheds a dubious light on professional basketball, what with them both being in the field of sports entertainment.

I'm not saying Ghost Hunters isn't week after week of some guys utterly failing to find a ghost and put it on TV, but because someone else in a related field was actively faking it doesn't have any bearing on their methodology.


See, the problem is the average person will look at one and go "It's fake?" and then look at the other and go "It's probably fake too."

People leap to these conclusions.


but hey, at least it's not a 'psychic' going around "Ooh, there's... something here... Oooh... something where, I feel a presence... right here... in this room... ooh... there's a presence..." Yeah, anyone who acts like that is most probably faking it.

They do that, however without the psychic aspect. Instead they go "Wow, it FEELS stranger doesn't it? It feels weird doesn't it? It feels spooky doesn't it?"
This is, I believe, to heighten the "suspense". Then they'll do something like "What was that?" and point off camera, or in the direction that a camera is blocked. Then any camera that was pointed in that direction previously will magically NOT have anything on it.

During the "evidence review" if they encounter something they ALWAYS react the same way. ALWAYS the same exact way, no matter how often they've seen something like this, no matter how unastounding it is. Though probably the worst was the Lighthouse review, where they're non-chalantly talking(And not even reviewing their evidence) when the sound of a chair moving is clearly heard.

Ghost Hunters is heavily staged, they give performances and their poor acting. I expect this is because they don't video tape the guys non-stop as they're reviewing the evidence, and so when something is found they go "Hey come in here and tape us, we found something but since you weren't here we'll act like it just was found."


Lastly, the way they don't share their videotapes with anyone outside of TAPS is heavily suspect. Take last night's episode. They claim 0 people were in the area where the alledged activity was occuring(That looked like a flashlight mind you). However, they won't produce those tapes for anyone so they can subsequently PROVE that nobody was there.

Take some of the evidence they've found in the past. During one investigation they had an "Apparition" on tape. It looked like someone wearing a heavy black cloak running back and forth. Every single incident they've had has the potential to be faked. Every single one. And again, their lack of producing copies of the tapes for others to review besides themselves means that nobody can corroborate their claims of "nobody being there".

And I think that's what aggravates me the most, because if you could corroborate that, then mysterious crap happening in places where 0 people are located would obviously == undeniable proof of hauntings. Which would help revolutionize the science community I would think.

[Living Bobbeh]

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the reason I do not watch these shows. I present to you: The Bullshit Detective Parts One (http://youtube.com/watch?v=YRZT7ab3-jw) and Two (http://youtube.com/watch?v=F890zMbVv9E)

[ArlanKels]

Whoa whoa whoa...Bull* detective? Is this an actual like..show?

[Mike McC]

I still find them entertaining, despite the hokiness of some things. It's fairly obvious the interpersonal drama is at the very least amped up, so yeah, it's a dramaitzation.

Meanwhile, Bobbeh, that Bullshit Detectives show is really good. I love exposing fake psychics like that. I'm a believer of paranormal stuff, but a skeptical one. I will attack some of these things with the skepticism of Harry Houdini.

I think that these type of things tend to lose credibility once money becomes a factor. Writing a few books, running a bookstore on the paranormal is one thing, getting a TV show with the pressure to entertain is another entirely. So, it's best to look at Ghost Hunters more like a less crappy Blair Witch Project than an accurate portrayal of ghost hunting. The fact that they rarely even acknowledge the camera crew is also something that irks me about it.

EDIT: A thought occurs, not to say it's proof of the reality of it, but petrhaps the reason they don't realease the taps of evidence from the show is due to some sort of complicated contract arrangement with Sci-Fi (and therefore NBC-Universal).They may not be able to release the videos because they may not technically own them. Wouldn't surprise me if a network screwed people over like that.

[Living Bobbeh]

Whoa whoa whoa...Bull* detective? Is this an actual like..show?

Yes, it is a real show, put out by the BBC. They do shows on different topics each week, like how you can't buy a full priced sofa, or Tarot Cards.

[mazx]

Heh. that show was great they even made excuses after they where caught.