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90 ‘Ghost Hunters’ TV Is More Fiction

'Ghost Hunters' Is More

Fiction Than Fact, And

Here's Why

Continued from Page 83

While viewers don't know for certain that those
things are happening, that they're questioned by
former cast members speaks volumes to the
veracity of the narrative that Ghost Hunters is
trying to sell.

Night Is A Convenient Excuse For Phony
Evidence
Ghost Hunters' distinctive night vision is
all part of the experience, but when you really
stop to think about it, it doesn't make a whole lot
of sense. Ghosts are always associated with
nighttime, despite there being no real reason
they shouldn't be spooking the living all day
long. But night makes a convenient cover for
camera tricks and suggestion rather than
concrete evidence. Flashlights do strange things
to shadows and silhouettes, and people are investigation is a good story. But sometimes a harm to the field of paranormal research by
naturally predisposed to seeing things that aren't good story is nothing more than rumor and shutting others out.
there in the dark. It's all part of the atmosphere, superstition, as one investigator proved when
but it's also a convenient way to show something both he and T.A.P.S. investigated the same site. Replicating The Evidence Is Easy
by showing nothing at all. The investigator, Joe Nickell, had heard from the Any person that makes claims about the
staff of The Myrtles a story about a slave named supernatural is bound to be investigated, and the
The Flashlight Communication Trick Is Just Chloe who had murdered people at the thriving fan community around Ghost Hunters
Physics plantation. When he did some research, he found means that they've seen their fair share of people
The Ghost Hunters crew has a few spirit that Chloe had never existed. Still, the Ghost trying to replicate their evidence. What fans
communication tricks up their sleeves, but the Hunters cast recited the story as if it was fact. have found is that it's not all that hard to
flashlight bit is one of the easiest to replicate Historical evidence is just as important replicate even the most seemingly concrete
without expensive equipment. As the story goes, as the scientific stuff when you're talking about proof of paranormal activity. Black string,
you simply unscrew your flashlight slightly and the paranormal, but that piece was left out of the fishing line, and duplicitous editing have all
ask questions, and the spirits can turn the light investigation in favor of a better story. been tested and examined by organizations like
on and off to answer. S.A.P.S. These organizations don't exist to rain
But the explanation is less that ghosts are The Hosts Blame Ghosts For Easily on everybody's paranormal parade, but rather to
talking to you and more that heat expansion and Explainable Phenomena show how easy it is to fake paranormal evidence
contraction are making your light blink on and When you're trying to prove or disprove in a field that desperately needs rigorous
off. A flashlight's bulb generates heat, warming the supernatural, you're going to have to make adherence to the scientific method.
the reflector and making it expand. When you some claims that not everybody is going to
switch the flashlight off, the reflector cools and believe. But Ghost Hunters has a serious Ghost Hunters Are Prone To Misusing
contracts. If you unscrew the flashlight a tiny problem with connecting easily explainable Scientific Equipment
bit, that cycle of expansion and contraction will events to paranormal evidence. When a lamp Equipment like EMF readers and
make the light flicker on and off, as inner pieces moved on its own in one episode, the cast said thermal energy cameras lend credence to
briefly make contact and light the bulb. that it could have been Grant that moved it by paranormal investigation, which struggles to
It requires no interference on the part of mistake, but still chalked the event up to find footing in scientific communities.
the investigators, no post-production, and looks supernatural forces. Worse, fans analyzed Unfortunately, that equipment is as subject to
pretty creepy, making it a perfect fit for selling footage from the show that seems to show Grant user error as anything else, and using it doesn't
paranormal activity to viewers. with the cord in his hand. automatically make you an expert on its
The site was ruled haunted regardless of function. This is a big problem for paranormal
EMF Readers Are Easy To Fool the questions surrounding the moving lamp, investigators like those on Ghost Hunters, who
EMF readers are a major tool of with the event being all the more damning may not understand exactly how the equipment
paranormal investigators like the Ghost Hunters because it appeared that Grant had knowingly they're using works.
cast. By reading electromagnetic fields, done it.
investigators say they can detect ghosts through False Positives Don't Work As Evidence
anomalous readings - a spike in your reading They're Rarely The First Investigators It's a simple fact that you're more likely
when not near an electrical device may indicate Ghost Hunters, as a hit TV show, has to find something you're looking for than
a ghost. access to a lot of places everyday folks don't. At something you aren't. This applies double for
Unfortunately, this mainstay of the ghost some historical places or otherwise off-limits fields like ghost hunting, especially when it's
hunting toolkit is notoriously prone to sites, the hosts often claim that they're the first to televised - finding something gets ratings, and
malfunction. Even moving an EMF reader too do a thorough investigation there - but past crew it's far more interesting to watch people
fast can set it off, and there's no real conclusive members have revealed that's not really the case. wandering through an abandoned house that
evidence that electromagnetic fluctuations While it might seem like a little white lie might be full of ghosts than one that's just full of
indicate paranormal activity. If you throw out for drama's sake, it also serves to bolster the spiders. But this attitude, along with finicky
even half of Ghost Hunters evidence that crew's reputation in a way that might not equipment and a lack of knowledge on how to
involves an EMF reading as a error, that doesn't actually be deserved. Long-standing experts in use it, mean that false positives are disturbingly
leave much evidence. the field are losing opportunities and speaking common on shows like Ghost Hunters, hurting
engagements to TV hosts, which, when the show's approach to paranormal investigation
Made-Up Stories Are Presented As Fact combined with these claims and their faulty as a whole. []
The heart of every good ghost science, means Ghost Hunters is doing actual