Is Ghost Hunters real?

reply to post by librasleep


Well I was really floored when they did the one in Dracula's Castle.

Or one of them.

they were only there a few hours and filmed a window and some woods.

Now, I have heard a lot of his doings and I would of had that place far more covered. Not to mention it should of been at least an hour or two episode, or a halloween one.

But it got as much attention as a small rancher in KY.
This castle is one of the freakiste places in the world, but they did a lousy job of it.

I was soooo dissappointed.

I agree with the music and stuff. ANd I have no problems with them artificially upping the spook.

But the evidence itself is what I am questioning.

[edit on 25-10-2008 by nixie_nox]

Did you see the Ireland episode where the 3 shapes were following the camera crew, filmed with the thermal camera?

Originally posted by Soulstone
if there has been any significant evidence to support the idea that they may be faking some of their evidence?

Brian is no longer on Ghost Hunters. (He moved to GHI). He's grown up and moved on so I think the later shows - without Brian OR with a more adult Brian - don't have any fakery.

The earlier ones ... I kinda wonder about Brian a bit.

I do think this is the only real credible show among the group of such, but, as someone who has watched them from day one, I have two thoughts. One is an observation. In the beginning, they were greater sceptics and debunkers than they are now. Now I hear a bit of pseudo-science being stated as 'truths' in their explanations which bothers me a lot.

And secondly, I can't help but think this: why do /they/ have the best evidence I have ever seen or ever heard of? They aren't the first people to hunt the paranormal, nor are they the only people using the sort of equipment and approach that they are. And yet until this TV show, I had never seen the sort of quality, really amazing evidence that they present on occasion.

As much as I want to think they aren't hoaxing, I come back to this thought time and time again.

reply to post by Jadette


agreed. I do not doubt the reality of paranormal phenomenon, I have had my own experiences, but their reactions are usually hokey and ingenuine as well as the evidence being a bit too clear. I am not a fan to say the least.

Ghost hunter groups claim to be scientific, and most give that appearance because they use high-tech scientific equipment. They employ equipment for a purpose for which it was not made and has not been shown to be effective.

TheEquipment used by paranormal investigators is based on theory.

These theories are called basic beliefs which draw an inference of self-justifying or self-evident. Theories provided by ghost investigators sound very scientific, but using scientific language does make it science. A theory qualifies as a good guess, a belief, or practice that is claimed to be scientific or made to appear scientific, but does not adopt the scientific method. Preconceived beliefs can lead to self deception and false conclusions.

There is a big difference between good sound theories and theories that simply just sound good. Propositions accepted as true without proof or demonstration would be more reasonable interpreted as wishful thinking instead of ,IOU an explanation.


"How sure do we need to be that our beliefs correspond to the actual world?

A ghost hunter is in a haunted location experiences a change in temperature His EMF meter is spiking high readings. His theory leads him to believe this may be evidence of a spirit trying to communicate. His theory justifies his belief a spirit is in the room.

Do ghosts really emit electromagnetic fields? Are EMF meters even capable of demonstrating that ghosts emit EM fields?

To justify a belief with out evidence is no more then a theory of the belief. Our ghost hunter believes he is in the presence of a spirit, based on beliefs, of other beliefs. So the ghost hunter’s belief isn’t based on evidence.

In theory thek2 meter can communicate with spirits. The theory is ghosts emit an electromagnetic field as they move about. The meter can detect the field if the ghost is interactive, its movements can act as a response to a question being asked. The theory is based on the led lights move in response to questions and this can only be accomplished by communicating with a spirit.

So the justifying belief is the K2 can communicate with a spirit. And the justified belief is spirits are real. Because the K2 blinks in response to yes and no questions.

But what if the belief is itself unjustified. It would in no way be one's intellectual right to suppose that only a spirit is responsible for the K2 responding to yes and no questions.

Does the K2 really provide an inference of reality based on a theory of belief to suggest a spirit can hear and understand us and manipulate an EMF meter? The theory amounts to nonsense because it is not saying the K2 could be used to communicate with spirits; it is saying ghosts do communicate with a K2 meter. It suggests we rule out the fact it lights up for nearby electrical lines and all other possibilities.

If you check out skeptical viewer you can decide if the show is real or a hoax.

Ghost Hunters in my opinion are as professional as you can get. Their equipment isn't cheap. laptops, recording devices, night video cameras, thermal cameras (very expensive), heat sensors, rad meters. you can easily spend 10 thousand dollars just on a thermal imaging camera.

I find Ghost Hunters interesting, but as to if I think its real... I’m pretty 50/50 about it. I find that some of what they come up with is interesting, and it strikes me that they seem to try and debunk things. However, without really being there we can’t really know what is going on.

I do however like what fleabit's observed.

Originally posted by fleabit

Lighthouse episode: A moment before the chair moves, there is a reflection in the window of a sharp movement outside. Like, 1/8th of a second before it moves. It's obvious to me that someone pulled a string. It's less obvious to those who believe (from the official site, when I would chat with them about it); they would rather think someone just happened to be moving on the stairs at the very moment the chair moved. Sorry, I don't buy that.

I don’t see the movement flea's talking about, but the way the chair moves made me think it behaves as if its being pulled. I’ve been trying to figure out where the string would be pulled from if that’s the case, and its very hard to tell because the room’s dimensions are hard to see in the dark. Someone may be standing just off camera. If the room is as small as it seems, it may simply be that it was small enough to have one camera get lucky and catch something real. But I think fleas points are valid here. Its unfortunately impossible to tell.

Originally posted by fleabitPrison episode:

Laughably fake imo. You see a "ghost" move up the walkway.. then running away. It was wearing sneakers. I guess those old prison ghosts just like wearing Reebox or something. hmm.. a ghost wearing sneakers moves up along the walkway, then runs away on it, obeying the laws of physics.. (not moving through bars, off the walkway, etc), one would guess it is a physical object..

I don’t see the sneakers here, and there is a way that it moves when it flees the camera that seems like it runs backward (like a film being played backwards) rather than turns and runs away. It may be that they looped the film of someone running at the camera in a cloak, or it may be that it truly does move in an unnatural (perhaps paranormal ) way. I have seen some debunking films on YouTube that imitate this piece of film fairly well, so I am pretty skeptical of this one (although as I said, it does move in a very weird way).

The sound effects and background music on the show drive me nuts, as it makes it impossible to hear anything the cast is claiming to hear, (which I wonder sometimes if its not for the purpose of covering up the fact that they aren’t hearing anything at all.) I also wonder why the whole team doesn’t carry digital thermometers to record the temperature changes they always claim to feel…I know in the first few seasons they seemed much more careful about having readable evidence on camera.

I think that they do a lot of stuff that’s admirable in an investigator: Looking for explainable EMF fields for example….but I feel like the longer the show has gone on, the looser they’ve been with covering bases.




[edit on 2-11-2008 by Sarahtdl]

Personally im much more keen on a show called "ghost adventures" on the travel channel. It is much more realistic and convincing, because they only have 2 people holding a camera, and one man doing the ghost hunting. No huge crew. And they are locked in the whole night and cant leave, and no one else can enter. So they get some real interesting activity.

Check it out. Its on the travel channel. Pretty good show. Plus the host is much hotter than the ones on ghost hunters

Originally posted by calihan123
Personally im much more keen on a show called "ghost adventures" on the travel channel. It is much more realistic and convincing, because they only have 2 people holding a camera, and one man doing the ghost hunting. No huge crew. And they are locked in the whole night and cant leave, and no one else can enter. So they get some real interesting activity.

Check it out. Its on the travel channel. Pretty good show. Plus the host is much hotter than the ones on ghost hunters

yes i agree, i dont think its shown over here in the UK yet, but i have seen the feature length one and series one episode one in the music bar. Already prefer that to all the others ( but they do need to get rid of the music its so annoying!)
Nice choice Calihan!

Originally posted by grifta

Originally posted by calihan123
Personally im much more keen on a show called "ghost adventures" on the travel channel. It is much more realistic and convincing, because they only have 2 people holding a camera, and one man doing the ghost hunting. No huge crew. And they are locked in the whole night and cant leave, and no one else can enter. So they get some real interesting activity.

Check it out. Its on the travel channel. Pretty good show. Plus the host is much hotter than the ones on ghost hunters

yes i agree, i dont think its shown over here in the UK yet, but i have seen the feature length one and series one episode one in the music bar. Already prefer that to all the others ( but they do need to get rid of the music its so annoying!)
Nice choice Calihan!

Yeah its definitely my choice for any of those paranormal shows. I was watching the ghost hunters live on halloween... and you could see just how many people are inthe crew when the investigate. Its insane! They arent going to get the results they could if they had less people on their camera crews.

I have watched the show for a couple years now and tho I think they started out for real, I think they have become hooked on the power of being stars and now most if not all of it is bull. When the show started they would show how the scariest looking stuff was just an illusion or trick or normal stuff that just looked scary. Now tho, they seem to find something scary in everything they do and do not bother to try to disprove things like they used to.

This last Halloween show I was really taken back by how Grant's Jacket was pulled by a ghost, not once but three times. I was a believer right then and there!! However, after watching it on my DVR a few times I noticed that he keeps his right hand in his jacket pocket the whole time. So it would be easy to pull a cord that was setup to put the jacket hood like it was. If something was pulling my jacket like that I would have both hands out and ready to run! For the rest of the show and up to that point where the jacket was pulled, he has his hands out of the jacket, only when it was being pulled was his hand in the pocket. I was really bummed out that it was not real. Yes, he has Jason look in the jacket to see if there was something funny going on but Jason made sure to keep his hand in the way so "we" did not see to much and also, why not have the other guy look and not just Jason??

The other thing, Jason and Grant will say the see a shadow, does the camera that is on them turn to catch what it is they see? NOOOOO it stays on them the whole time and they just tell us what they are watching.

So as much as I do want to believe the show is "still" real, I think they are getting money from places to say they are haunted so that they get more tourist, heck in the feedback show last week they even said how they go to a place that is having a hard time of it and boom they pick up business. So there ya have it!

Look I'm a huge GH fan. I've seen every episode and actually went to a 'ghost hunting event' at the Trans Allegheny Lunatic aslyum for a couple hundred bucks. I've believed everything these guys do....that is until the 2008 live halloween episode. I'm not saying I totally thinks it's rubbish, it's just, it had a different feel to it. Grant seemed like he was setting things up. Jason seemed a little dispondent. Everytime something happened Jason would just ignore it at first. I don't know I kinda feel a little sad because this was my favorite show. Every Wed. I knew where I would be. To me I've seen Jason and Gran'ts myspace pages and I know at least Jason is so worried about ratings. He is always announcing when they hit a new high or when they go to an event and there is a huge turnout. Maybe the halloween show is a product of wanting more ratings and being on television?? Maybe they wanted to add a little something to excite their fans. I don't know whatever the case I hope they've learned something and everything is legit from here on out. I hope that they just stick to catching stuff that's not there. I've met all the members of TAPS...well most of them in person and actually had a chance to hangout and have a conversation with most of them. Here is my take...... 1. Grant....was very friendly in person...seemed like he was very grateful for his fans and seems genuine. 2. Jason Now he's a little different he seemed a little more judgy, stand offish. Jason didn't like to hold a conversation with someone he didn't know. 3. Kris W. Kris I have to admit is actually very pretty. I'd say so more in real life then on TV. Very quiet. I approached her and tried talking to her ,but was ignored. At one point during the investigation she actually came and sat by me. I again tried to talk to her and she ignored me again. She kept texting someone while she was supposed to be w/ fans having fun. 4. Dave T. Dave was awesome!! His personality def. does not show his potential on t.v. I actually talked to Dave for about 1/2 hour. I don't have any bad things to say about Dave. 5. And lastly Steve G. I thought Steve would be the cool buddy I could just go up to and have fun with. I was totally wrong....He was arrogant, conceited, and since I didn't have breast he didn't have much to say to me. There was a good looking girl in my group that he was just all over. Maybe he wants to portray a rockstar persona but It's def. turned me away. Like I said I paid a couple hundred dollars didn't find any ghosts, and even though Tango was awesome and surprising I was a little let down by the experience. Thanks for reading my comments everyone!

I've been watching GH since its inception, and at first I was skeptical too that the SciFi production crew (the ones who add the lovely music and noise effects) would be adding in little things to keep interest.
Over 4 seasons, I have not seen an instance where I think someone from the SHOW (someone did once try to fake them out of the Queen Elizabeth) purposely faked something.

People complain that they are not "scientific". Well, they're normal people with regular jobs (rotor rooter, PD officer, ambulance company etc) without scientific background. What do you want? All of them to go get a degree in nuclear physics for credibility?
I agree I don't like all the tech stuff (K2 meter, ugh).
However, they have caught some stuff on tape that cannot be explained, such as season one with the camera guy getting hit by his on audio equipment bag. More recently, Grant's jacket was pulled on by an unseen force. So either ELABORATE hoaxes are being pulled, or it's real.
And these guys, if you have been watching since day 1, have expressed their evidence is their reputation. I doubt it's fake.

Near the beginning of this thread, someone stated that they disregard 90% of evidence that would otherwise be associated with paranormal activity. If this is true, the fact that they throw out a majority of reports/personal experiences is absolutely obsurd.

Obviously since we barely understand most "ghostly" phenemona, there is no valid way to document occurences of them. Even when you do, you can't be sure that it's actually ghostly activity. The practice of discrediting evidence, in a paranormal investigation, simply because it is not scientifically feasible is what distinguishes the novices from professionals.

The very nature of word paranormal is indicitave of the lack of the current understanding surrounding it.

In the early days of Earth, fire was considered paranormal. Medicine was considered sorcery. Even the basic concepts of aviation were considered paranormal until the past couple hundred years.

Am I saying that every report is completely accurate? No. As a matter of fact, some are outright lies.

On that same note, someone who tells you they came face to face with the devil himself should clearly be scrutinized. As expected, 99.99% of the time you will be unable to draw conclusive scientific evidence. Does that mean it didn't happen? Of course not! It simply means that our society is not scientifically advanced enough to objectively document many of the cases you will encounter as a paranormal investigator. It could also mean that you are just a crappy investigator.

That statement is, of course, directed to those who watch a TV show - like ghost hunters - and then go out and think they are the next Ed Warren. When clearly, they haven't the faintest idea of what they are looking for.

A true investigator would already understand the concepts presented in this post. I know this, because a true investigator is well read in the subject and suffers the all too familiar frustration of being unable to produce any smoking gun evidence that ghosts exist.

Bottom line, the TV show ghost hunters exists - therefore it is real. Is the evidence they collect actually ghosts? Who knows! Maybe some is, and maybe some isn't. Perhaps it is all a scam. Unfortunately we have no reliable method of determining that.

[edit on 11/27/2008 by JBurns]

I used to be a big fan until the 2008 live Halloween special. To many inconsistencies pop up, that are impossible to hide on a live show. This video here sums its all up really well:



I think the TAPS guys started out innocent enough, but were corrupted by fame and dollars. I also think the show's network had a big part in it, wanting to get ratings at the cost of TAPS's credibility.

reply to post by calihan123


Are you serious?

I'm starting to wonder about Ghost Hunters, but that show on Travel Channel is a joke. I'm not trying to be mean here, but if I had to choose between the two based solely on technique and evidence gathering, I'll take Ghost Hunters any day.

[edit on 11/28/08 by VeeTwin60]

My colleague is and has been a paranormal investigator for ten years now! I asked him about various things to do with the paranormal which led to me asking him about different TV series and what his oppinions are.

The first was about 'Most haunted' on Living TV. then we discussed the media reporting and putting on shows on sky channels of ghost hunters and the like. He has all the expensive equipment along with volunteers from the city university who are taking this stuff seriously as scientists.

I asked a question! When you started your investigations, were you a skeptic?

His answer was.............Yes definately. then he added, but now I just dont know! Too many experiences he and the team cant explain scientifically have occured so more experiments are on going.

I also asked what they thought of the likes of 'Most Haunted'. He said good telly and if they and many paranormal investigators got in his ten years what they get in one night of television broadcasting, he would be a happy man.

Ghost hunt, Most haunted, same gig different stations. Same goal, people in front of tv sets and good viewing.

So something exists we just dont know how to film it yet properly.

My wife loves the show, I sit there and quietly allow myself to enjoy it as well, even though I can figure out how some things are done. I do the same thing at magic shows too. The fun is when they pull off a bit that I can’t figure out.

It is entertainment, nothing more and was never suppose to be anything other than entertainment.
They produce a reality type of show based on ghosts and haunting investigations, key word here is “show”. If it were based on fact, you couldn’t stop Rather, Wallace, Walters, Geraldo or people like them from being right in the middle of it all, think about that for a moment. No serious news reporters or any media whores to be seen, it is a show, only a show. Just keep saying it over and over again until it replaces the voices in your head that sound like Jason and Grant explaining how spirits effect EMF meters, K2 devices or drain batteries. It is only a show for our entertainment, just like wrestling. De-program yourself.

Can each and every thing recorded in these episodes that are being presented as evidence, be faked? Of course they can and it doesn’t take that much imagination to do so, but can anything be proven? Not without the co-operation of the camera crew, sound techs, editors or the members of the show. So, enjoy the show if you’re into that sort of thing, if not, watch something that you do enjoy. But don’t waste your life repeatedly watching each frame of the show trying to second guess the editors and catch proof of fraud or a hoax. If they are any good at their job, you shouldn’t see anything. Remember, they control what you see and hear.

But if you are a serious die hard, consider that most everyone has a pair of shoes that can generate a static charge when they walk on carpet. Rubbing an eel skin wristband against your shirt or jeans will create a static build up as long as you aren’t grounded. Ladies will tell you that certain pantyhose or leg warmers will do the same thing, so there is your EMF and K2 action. The EVP is easy to hoax if you have an ipod on your person. Many of the shadow thingies appear to me to be nothing more than shadow crisscrossing of light sources from two different angles. Thermal imaging is funny because I see two different methods in different shows. GH shows mostly heat reflections being passed off as entities while another show uses cold spots created by someone spraying a mist of alcohol. And the oldest magic trick, fine black or clear thread to move something (blanket, chair, jacket, picture, etc) and I am still waiting to see Grant spinning a card in mid air for the camera.


[edit on 11/28/2008 by eaganthorn]

Originally posted by JoeyVilla
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.

Dude thats not true at all, have you even watched the show? That happened like once.