Ghost Hunting Done Right

Lord Poe · Post by **Lord Poe** » 2007-11-23 06:35am

Anyone here watch the show TAPS?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZReJ8GmVGLU

Rosie and I spent a lazy Turkey Day watching the SCIFI marathon of this show. I never saw it before, as shows like this are so full of crap that they're a waste of time. But after watching several episodes in a row, I'm hooked.

I like how these guys conduct their investigations. They don't say OMG!! GHOOOST! at every unexplainable occurrence. They actually investigate, try to recreate any phenomena they encounter, and always attempt a rational explanation for what they witness. A far cry from the usual crap I see, and the easily debunked "ghost" footage floating around the web.

Indeed, we watched hours of episodes, and 98% of them were easily explained phenomena, with no ghostly activity. In fact, I've seen more unexplainable stuff from TAPS in highlight reels on Youtube than I saw on the actual show. I began to wonder how this show is still on the air without a bona-fide ghost every week!

Fire Fly · Post by **Fire Fly** » 2007-11-23 07:31am

I have trouble trusting anything put forward by the Sci Fi Channel anymore; they've repeatedly mislead their viewers. With regards to the show, their work seems rather sloppy and their analyses lack rigor; they go in, film something unusual, think how it might be wrong and then move on to the next.

Here's an example regarding the lack of rigor: link.

Big Phil · Post by **Big Phil** » 2007-11-23 02:15pm

Their early seasons were better than the more recent ones. Now they seem to be finding ghosts nearly everywhere they investigate, whereas in the early episodes it was common for them to investigate and conclude that either a place wasn't haunted or they couldn't find any evidence of a haunting. I suspect they're finding more "ghosts" because it helps the ratings.

Big Phil · Post by **Big Phil** » 2007-11-23 02:16pm

They've also started bring along "psychic investigators" occasionally, which they never did early on.

Lord Poe · Post by **Lord Poe** » 2007-11-23 03:06pm

SancheztheWhaler wrote:Their early seasons were better than the more recent ones. Now they seem to be finding ghosts nearly everywhere they investigate, whereas in the early episodes it was common for them to investigate and conclude that either a place wasn't haunted or they couldn't find any evidence of a haunting. I suspect they're finding more "ghosts" because it helps the ratings.

Well, that just sucks. Oh well.

SancheztheWhaler wrote:They've also started bring along "psychic investigators" occasionally, which they never did early on.

[R_H] · Post by **[R_H]** » 2007-11-23 03:17pm

Why are these kinds of shows so popular?

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2007-11-23 03:22pm

Charlie Brooker delivers logic and reason. The attack is super effective.

Post by **Lagmonster** » 2007-11-23 03:34pm

[R_H] wrote:Why are these kinds of shows so popular?

People want to think there's a chance ghosts exist because people don't want to cease to exist themselves. Ghosts have always been ludicrously popular and remain one of the earliest forms of folklore. I have ghost stories in my collection that originate in the fog of prehistory.

More than that, people like to be scared; watching people flip out at bizarre phenomena makes us giggle.

So at least one of the reasons I was so fascinated with ghost stories and related folklore as a youth is that they scare us and they reassure us at the same time - a rather common trick throughout mythology ("the gods might turn me into a frog on a whim, but they also make the rain water my crops on time, so it's okay").

Lord Poe · Post by **Lord Poe** » 2007-11-25 05:35pm

I've really got to say I'm disappointed in the news I'm hearing about these guys basically "jumping the shark". When I watched the marathon, I thought of them as the "Mythbusters" of ghost hunting.

I've seen some of their stuff (when the actually DO find something unexplainable) debunked, or just questioned. But it looks like they own up to it when they're wrong. Then of course, I see the people who are largely there to attack the show at any cost, and whine that the SCIFI forums are censoring them. Of course, they fail to mention that SCIFI censors them when they attack the family and friends of these guys who don't even appear on the show.

The thing that really drew me into the show is that they DON'T find ghosts most of the time! I saw a very intersting clip of them investigating a Florida lighthouse, where they allegedly found a couple things they couldn't explain away. Was this debunked as well?

Big Phil · Post by **Big Phil** » 2007-11-26 11:07am

Lord Poe wrote:I've really got to say I'm disappointed in the news I'm hearing about these guys basically "jumping the shark". When I watched the marathon, I thought of them as the "Mythbusters" of ghost hunting.

I've seen some of their stuff (when the actually DO find something unexplainable) debunked, or just questioned. But it looks like they own up to it when they're wrong. Then of course, I see the people who are largely there to attack the show at any cost, and whine that the SCIFI forums are censoring them. Of course, they fail to mention that SCIFI censors them when they attack the family and friends of these guys who don't even appear on the show.

The thing that really drew me into the show is that they DON'T find ghosts most of the time! I saw a very intersting clip of them investigating a Florida lighthouse, where they allegedly found a couple things they couldn't explain away. Was this debunked as well?

Ghost Hunters is a great show; I enjoy watching it, but the hokeyness of it in recent years grates on me. To my knowledge the St. Augustine Lighthouse moving chair has never been debunked, and many of the debunkers use even more shoddy methodologies than those they criticize.

The episodes that really irritated me, because they immediately leaped to the conclusion of a haunting rather than somebody fucking with them, or just somebody flat out lying, were #310 (the toy that "responded" to their questions) and #312 (a guy brought along some instrument that "detected the presence of ghosts") where they spoke with Sharon Tate's ghost.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2007-11-26 11:41am

I like the shows, and from other Ghost Hunters that I know, people either respect TAPS professionalism and methodology, or they hate the fact that they're the only ones with a show.

Whenever I see them bring out dowsing rods, though, I change the channel.

Big Phil · Post by **Big Phil** » 2007-11-26 11:56am

Another thing, the incidence of them claiming a haunting has gone up significantly from season 1 to now. In Season 1, only 25% of the places they visited were declared haunted, and that increased to 50% in Season 2. I haven't watched enough of Season 3 to say for certain that % has increased, but it sure seems like nearly every place they visit they claim as haunted. The only place in Season 3 I can recall them deciding wasn't haunted was the Viaduct Tavern (#307).

Zixinus · Post by **Zixinus** » 2007-11-26 12:14pm

I don't think that the guys could both believe in ghosts and be objective when they are running the show. It only makes sense that after a time, they will lean towards the easier pathway, the one where they have to do less work, that is, that ghosts exists.