Credibility of paranormal shows on television
by admin on May.12, 2009, under Shows
A few months ago, my wife was doing some research on paranormal shows that are currently on TV. She was questioning the legitimacy of these shows and came across a few videos on YouTube discussing the accusations that TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) on Ghost Hunters was lying about evidence on the 2008 Ghost Hunters Live episode.. as well as other episodes.
I watched the above YouTube clip, and I was sorely disappointed. I’m now at a point where I’m questioning all episodes of Ghost Hunter. I do realize the show was created for the sake of entertainment, and that investigations (when done honestly) can yield little or now results.. not very entertaining.
There was a response from Grant here about the episode here:
http://www.iamhaunted.com/public/blog/view/id_9719/title_taps-fake-busted-video-statement-from-grant/page_2/
I’m really not sure who to believe here. I am a fan of these shows among others, and maybe naively I believed the evidence presented, and did not take into account that these shows are created solely for ratings.
I think the world of paranormal investigating is shrouded in imagination, hysteria, lies, misinformation and mixed with true paranormal activity. Having shows like this discredits all paranormal societies and efforts made by others over the years. If these accusations are true, I wonder if TAPS realizes how far off the path they have drifted. If these accusations are false, I wish they would do more to discount these allegations, and to promote legitimate evidence and actions.
I think in the future they should never do live shows again since this can harbor malicious or misleading behaviour in the name of entertainment and ratings.
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July 17th, 2009 on 12:44 pm
What I find disturbing about “Most Haunted” in particular is their insistance on investigating in total darkness and the inevitable throwing of pebbles and other objects in every episode. I grew up in a haunted house, lived there for 19 years, and have investigated hauntings for over 40 years, and I’ve never had anything thrown at me. Well, once I saw a jar of jam levitate from a kitchen counter and land in the middle of the floor, upright and undamaged, but it wasn’t thrown at me! Re investigating in total darkness, I think that’s utterly foolish and encourages newbies to take risks. Many of the places MH investigates are derelict or outdoors, with plenty of objects to trip over if someone panics. I saw a woman almost fall into an abandoned well in Roses Woods at Gettysburg during a night investigation. Even with flashlights, accidents can still happen. In my experience, paranormal incidents happen in broad daylight just as often as at night. I do understand that it’s easier to investigate at night because it’s quieter and most businesses are closed.
I enjoyed your comments, please keep up the good work!
Karen Stevens, Billings, Montana
author of “Haunted Montana,” Riverbend Publishing, 2007
July 17th, 2009 on 1:01 pm
Karen
Thanks for commenting and sharing some of your experiences.
November 18th, 2009 on 7:11 am
thanks dude for great info
[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ’0 which is not a hashcash value.
December 8th, 2009 on 11:39 pm
is there any information anyone can give me about where and how to join a group located in billings i would like to join but dont know who or where to look please email me at cooljoshuaone@hotmail.com and let me know anything anyone can tell me please and thank you
February 14th, 2010 on 11:31 pm
I think anyone could investigate footage from any investigators whether they are Taps or my hometown Tacoma Paranormal Society and find ways to debunk what is caught. Even watching this video, the “debunking” does not always make sense. Of course they have to set up scenes, it’s a tv show. Of course they have earpieces, they need to communicate. I can believe that the sound coming in was legit and someone else can believe it was piped in…there is no proof either way except what we want to believe without having the experiences ourselves. As far as the trouble Grant has finding the sound file, people have trouble with electronics all of the time. Push a wrong button, crap, now you have to search to find what should have been easy to access. The battery is dying, the electronic device is not going to work correctly. Do I necessarily believe everything I see on Ghosthunters or other ghost hunting shows? No, but it is pretty easy to debunk the “debunker”.
February 14th, 2010 on 11:41 pm
Hello Tera
Thanks for commenting on the site. I really appreciate your point of view. I definitely understand that things happen, and we can ‘believe’ or ‘debunk’ with all the information. Definitely a TV show introduces a whole new set of variables (editing, angles, script, no-script, etc).
h
February 21st, 2011 on 8:31 pm
Unfortunately ratings matter once a show has some interest. The bottom line is that others outside the actual investigators are in control and advertising is king. Money will make most people do things they normally wouldn’t and humans have a innate way of justifying our actions. The show I like is Ghost adventures because although they have many questionable things like the others they also show some history of the area they are visiting. This is due of course to being the travel channel. They also add some fun theatrics and humor. So if I’m going to be lied to then I might as well be as entertained as possible. Past that I know there is more to the world than what we can see, whether it be quantum physics or paranormal there are things around us we cannot see but exist. My experience knows that there is intelligent energy around us that exists as well as space time issues that may hold past energy. But all this mumbo jumbo aside we should not stop being explorers as the past has taught us this is how we progress and expand our knowledge.