Is Ghost Hunters real?

reply to post by fleabit


From what I understand is that they do film over several nights. They just edit it to make it look like one. Why....I don't know.

Makes it look more haunted I guess.

And I am sure there are many houses that they film where they don't find anything and don't show the episode. So who knows how much actual work goes into it.

And I am just gonna play devils advocate here. I have studied this stuff off and on for a long time.

I have found that some people just attract more activity in others. There are people who have waited their whole lives to see a ghost and don't. But then there are my aunts, who are twins and gemini's, who don't get invited back to peoples houses cuz too much weird stuff goes on.

So maybe TAPS does well because they just have the "thing" that attracts activity.

[edit on 20-8-2008 by nixie_nox]

Originally posted by fleabit
Danredd, no reason to get snippy mate, we are all entitled our opinions.

Lighthouse episode: The movement could not have come from inside the room. It was supposedly an enclosed room with the lights off, with a camera facing the door and conveniently, a chair. It's also btw, ironic that nothing happens off screen. There is never a movement reported by someone who does NOT have a camera, and the camera always catches it. A tad too convenient.

The movement was clearly from outside. It wasn't a mirror, it was a window. And it occurred immediately prior to the chair moving. And when I say 1/8th of a second, I mean it happened precisely before the chaired moved. Movement -> chair moved. Nothing prior to that. Yes, I suppose it could have been a great cooincidence and someone did a sharp movement on the stairs at that exact second further down, but when using common sense, you have to think that the movement was responsible for the chair moving.

The prison ghost seemed terribly fake to me at least, I watched it (and redone versions of it) many, many times. It looks like a person underneath a blanket. It reacts in a physical manner (is constrained by the physical location). It screams hoax to me.

As far as them only showing the shows where they got extroidinary evidence, let me ask you this:

There are researchers that have done this a lot longer, and do it more often, than our plumbing ghost finders here. They have taken a ton of video, a ton of pictures. Now and again one MIGHT catch something amazing. ONCE. I have not heard of any serious ghost hunting team that has a plethora of amazing evidence. So these guys are extremely lucky, or it's fake.

Now, you need to consider also: Would it benefit them to hoax amazing stuff? Well, yes, yes it would. Continued shows, higher ratings, more money. So that is an issue. When you introduce media, money, and a need for something to happen, are you terribly surprised something does? I'm not. Yes, it is "lottery like odds."

But you can certainly believe them if you want. I was dissapointed in the show personally, but I am at least pleased the field garners some attention from stuff like this, that's better than nothing.

All the other shows I think are just terrible. The lighthouse one I just cannot catch what you see though I think I watched a video pointing it out once. Where grant leaves and u can see something for like a snap of a finger second. With the prison one I have watched it several times and I have watched light enhanced versions where people take images and lighten them and still dont see anything.

All in all yes some of it may be faked rarely like maybe 1part of every season to keep the show aired? I doubt this though. I believe they just have some dang good luck and they go to a lot of places.

reply to post by Soulstone


Really, Ghost Hunters?

I can't stand how they show footage and then they cut out with the guy telling you what just happened. I'm always like "Hey, numbnuts, I saw what happened. I don't need to watch you telling me that you were standing in the living room when it happened. I freaking SAW it!"

Don't mind me, I just hate that show and the twits that run it.

It is a tiny bit better than Most Haunted which just a whole bunch of:

"did you hear that?"
"did you see that?"
"What was that?"
"Tap once for yes ...."
"Something just touched me!"
And not much else.

And what happened to the nice gay medium. I liked him a lot. We now have this round ball of a woman, who is so unpleasant that she should be working with the TSA screening hand luggage.

i spose it just depends on which way you look at it. soz for gettin angry fleabit
its kind of convenient that they have tech specialists n stuff working as plumbers.

i think i have seen that episode in the lighthouse and remember it being very suspicious. is it the one where he leaves down the stairs then the camera adjusts and the chair slides?

reply to post by danredd


Yes, that's the one. The door is closed, there is a window in it. The lights are off of course (I don't know why they do this, I've not heard that ghosts are more acclimated to the dark than the light, or indeed, even day versus the night, makes it easy to conceal things though). There is no movement, nothing going on. Then there is a sharp movement visible in the window, and the chair immediately slides just after. The argument from the folks at the GH boards (at SciFi.. no such nonsense was allowed on the offical board, you'd get booted suggesting it was faked), was that perhaps someone down the stairs moved just at that moment.

I really try to stay neutral when it comes to anything like this. I do believe in UFOs (as in not from our world, not certain from where they come), as well as ghosts. I'm not positive the are the spirits of dead people, but I firmly believe they exist, whatever they may be. I've read plenty of books, visited many sites, and typically, no matter how many terribly haunted places someone would visit, researchers getting something physical on tape is a spectacular and rare occurence. It happens to these guys on a regular basis.

But when I look at something like this, my mind thinks like so:

Why are the lights off?

Why is the ONLY thing the camera has in the finder, a chair.

Why was there a movement just as the chair moved?

Too often they conveniently have their camera exactly where it is needed to be to catch something amazing. The prison: Aside from warning bells going off because this object conforms to physical limitations, you have to wonder: in this LARGE facility, where they have no set up many cameras, how in the world did they get something so perfect? And why did it "flee?" It is almost as if it knew there was a camera. Which imo, is ludicrous.

It wasn't just those two episodes, there were many that seemed just too unbelievable to me. As far as not finding stuff, that's not surprising. They often offset their amazing finds with nothing, otherwise people would outright call them frauds. But it's amazing how often they find things.

Just watched another new episode, at some fellows house, and a restaurant. Restaurant was a flop.. but Lo.. in the house, we have a door opening partially twice. Astounding evidence, once again. You can't see any fraud there, but doesn't mean it was not of course. It was funny how everyone (including the owner of the home) kept pointing out that there was no reflection and no shadow under the door.

So I'd LIKE to believe, I just think SciFi has these guys ham it up for the ratings. There are researchers that see nothing for years. And in the first 3 seasons, these guys probably saw more physical evidence than most combined researchers would see in their lifetimes.

Bottom line: If there was show after show where all they produce are temperature variations and some random possible sounds, their show would flop, they'd be off the air.

reply to post by danredd


Yes, that's the one. The door is closed, there is a window in it. The lights are off of course (I don't know why they do this, I've not heard that ghosts are more acclimated to the dark than the light, or indeed, even day versus the night, makes it easy to conceal things though). There is no movement, nothing going on. Then there is a sharp movement visible in the window, and the chair immediately slides just after. The argument from the folks at the GH boards (at SciFi.. no such nonsense was allowed on the offical board, you'd get booted suggesting it was faked), was that perhaps someone down the stairs moved just at that moment.

I really try to stay neutral when it comes to anything like this. I do believe in UFOs (as in not from our world, not certain from where they come), as well as ghosts. I'm not positive the are the spirits of dead people, but I firmly believe they exist, whatever they may be. I've read plenty of books, visited many sites, and typically, no matter how many terribly haunted places someone would visit, researchers getting something physical on tape is a spectacular and rare occurence. It happens to these guys on a regular basis.

But when I look at something like this, my mind thinks like so:

Why are the lights off?

Why is the ONLY thing the camera has in the finder, a chair.

Why was there a movement just as the chair moved?

Too often they conveniently have their camera exactly where it is needed to be to catch something amazing. The prison: Aside from warning bells going off because this object conforms to physical limitations, you have to wonder: in this LARGE facility, where they have no set up many cameras, how in the world did they get something so perfect? And why did it "flee?" It is almost as if it knew there was a camera. Which imo, is ludicrous.

It wasn't just those two episodes, there were many that seemed just too unbelievable to me. As far as not finding stuff, that's not surprising. They often offset their amazing finds with nothing, otherwise people would outright call them frauds. But it's amazing how often they find things.

Just watched another new episode, at some fellows house, and a restaurant. Restaurant was a flop.. but Lo.. in the house, we have a door opening partially twice. Astounding evidence, once again. You can't see any fraud there, but doesn't mean it was not of course. It was funny how everyone (including the owner of the home) kept pointing out that there was no reflection and no shadow under the door.

So I'd LIKE to believe, I just think SciFi has these guys ham it up for the ratings. There are researchers that see nothing for years. And in the first 3 seasons, these guys probably saw more physical evidence than most combined researchers would see in their lifetimes.

Bottom line: If there was show after show where all they produce are temperature variations and some random possible sounds, their show would flop, they'd be off the air.

I think that they are real soley because if they ever were caught faking something, their credibility would be shot and no one would ever bother watching them. Their shows are not exactly the most exciting, but I do think the little evidence they get is actually real evidence. If they had swathes of crazy things happening, yet were caught faking it, people would be much less inclined to watch the show.

As for people who say the cameras are conviently located on things that just happen to move, I think that is because they have quite a few cameras. I would think they have enough cameras to cover at least one in every room, maybe more. This would allow them to cover most angles in the whole house, and of course if you have the whole house covered with cameras and something happens, you are going to catch it on tape.

The other shows I have seen, such as Paranormal State with that annoingly fake psychic guy, is horrible. Even worse is this new Psychic Children or whatever show. I actually would not be able to sit through that show if someone paid me because its so fake.

Kudos to Ghost Hunters for actually debunking, taking a scientific approach, and really trying to shine some honest light on something that many skeptics would love to deny. Their evidence has a lot of credibility in my eyes, and I hope that their show helps more people become aware of such phenomenon in this day and age.

[edit on 21-8-2008 by deadline527]

I'm sorry I just don't think Grant has a manipulative bone in his body. I see no Guile what so ever.

And yes I liek adn watch the show and yes I'm glad Brian is gone - he was/is a distraction.

I remember watching this part over and over on youtube to try and make sense of it.

www.youtube.com...

Originally posted by danredd
I remember watching this part over and over on youtube to try and make sense of it.

www.youtube.com...

That's supposedly a thermal capture of a ghost at locker #2. I can believe that one. Earlier this year I went on a ghost hunt with Antar at the Crescent and while in that very room, about half a dozen cameras quit working at the exact same moment. Spooky stuff

In short, Ghost Hunters=real, everything else=mostly fake

I think you've almost got it there, except that I'd say 'Ghost Hunter=mostly real, everything else=mostly fake'. You see, I strongly believe that the scenes where the Sci-Fi camera guys follow around the team as they investigate are edited to seem more spooky than they are.

For example, Grant says 'If anyone is here with us, please make a sound', and straight away there is a sound. I reckon there's probably a good couple of minutes gap between the question and the sound, but: a. who wants to watch a couple of minutes silence waiting for the sound and: b. it's a lot spookier that way.

I think the editing of the show is misleading (fake is probably an unfair word) although I do think that the evidence they find is genuine.

And to the guy complaining about 'show event, then show character describing event' formula, have you never seen a reality show before? Happens all the time, the interesting parts of an 'episode' of reality are far shorter than the 42 minute run-time of a television show. The only way to stretch them out is with filler like that. I'm not the biggest fan of it either, but it comes with the territory of reality tv.

I think the best thing they have going for them at this point is that all this time of it being on air no one has come forward (ex-employee i.e.). saying some of the evidence was faked. You'd think after these years of it being on you'd get a squealer if it was faked.

The biggest problem with Ghost Hunters is that they are not a scientific investigation team, but just a team of people who do a particular kind of "evidence" gathering at a location.

They don't start with a hypothesis that they hope to prove or disprove. They just have a story, and maybe some wild-ass theories. Like that spirits draw energy from their surroundings to help manifest themselves. Huh?

Then they go in and do a lot of uncontrolled filming and taping. Sometimes they get something odd on video or on tape, but that's to be expected when you do a lot of it. The areas they're working with aren't necessarily closed off to outside random influences. Then they try to see if what they've caught matches up with the story.

So at the end of the day (or night), all they really have, if they're lucky, is some odd stuff that nobody knows what is, or how it really relates to the situation, and nothing is really proven. It's like half an investigation, done without any controls.

Then they're under the gun to be entertaining, so the stuff is edited in a way that makes a lot out of nothing, and in the end we get that cotton candy feeling. Cotton candy is enjoyable to eat at the time, but afterwards you realize that you didn't get any substance or nourishment.

reply to post by Nohup


Exactly. Paranormal State is the same. Except PRS over produces and adds creepy audio so you don't even know if the sounds are intentional or unintentional.

Cool avatar

TAPS take a very professional and Realistic direction when on their side job as Ghost Hunters. They pretty much try to debunk the stories and tales that the location they're scouting gets.

Sometimes, they get Nothing.

Sometimes, they Do.

To me, it's real. However they need to cut down on the spooky music during the hunts because it's so damn annoying and hard to hear what the TAPS members hear or experience.

But whatever, it owns.

I think they are real. The only thing that I think makes the show stupid is everytime they supposedly find something crazy they get scared and run out.

Originally posted by Nohup
The biggest problem with Ghost Hunters is that they are not a scientific investigation team, but just a team of people who do a particular kind of "evidence" gathering at a location.

And I think every single Ghost Hunters watcher would love to see a real scientific investigation team looking into ghosts and other paranormal areas, but you take what you can get. Much as I might like to, I won't get into the dogmatic nature of present day science. While they may not be 'real' scientific investigators, but as investigators in this field go, they are among the most scientific in their approach.

And yes, fantastic avatar

What all of the people that are saying the TAPS team are hoaxers don't realize is this: Jason and Grant have been doing investigations for a number of years before the show Ghost Hunters came about. They never have taken a dime in payment from any of their "clients". I feel this makes them much more credible.

Also, since they have been on SciFi, they have had access to more well known haunted sites. They very rarely do personal residences anymore. When you are in a location with years and years of haunting claims, you are more likely to find evidence. Plus, there have been many well-known "haunted" locations that they have found nothing and debunked many of the claims.

[edit on 23/8/08 by quaple_pouge]

I think of all the ghost shows ghost hunters is the best. Its the most scientific and they'll throw out a lot of "personal experiences" because its not proof. Also, they dont throw the word "haunted" around. All the other shows like paranormal state are ridiculous. They dont use any scientific methods and just bring "psychics" in. Then they take the psychics word as gospel and don't debunk anything. I hate all this ghost hunters bashing. They're the best ghost show on tv.

I can vouch for EVPs. I belong to an active group in Central Illinois, and we have a few pieces of compelling evidence on audio. One is absolutely verifiable. I had two devices on me, going at the same time. One device picked up the clearly audible voice, the other device did not when played side by side. Eventually I'll get all of our evidence posted up online. We got a Class A EVP from Waverly Hills. A distinct and up close voice clearly says, "Hey,...I've been doin this a long time." It's creepy to hear it.