Ghost Hunters International - consistent lack of evidence

I've been an interested viewer of all the Ghost Hunter International episodes and have just finished watching the latest episode. It just occured to me that with the team having visited some of the most "allegedly" haunted buildings and locations thoughout Europe and with the equipment that they use, that surely they, of all people, must be in a perfect position to capture solid, compelling and incontrovertable evidence of the existance of ghosts and/or spirit entities.
But when I think back on each episode, the best that they can come up with from a personal experience point of view is "did you hear that knock ?" or "is that the sound of shuffling ?" or "I think I saw a dark shadow". And from an electronic evidence point of view, it's no better ...

Now remember, they're investigating THE most haunted locations they can lay their hands (and equipment) on and yet the sum total of all their numerous investigations is virtually nil ... resulting in not a single conclusive and undeniable bit of evidence to validate the reputations of these places.

So what are we to make of this ?
The team as a whole appears to give the impression that they're genuinely interested in what they're doing and making a reasonable attempt at trying to record "ghostly" goings on and not simply acting out a charade for the benefit of ratings and viewer numbers (though of course this does have a bearing on the shows life expectancy) ... and yet manage to fail continuously in their endeavours.
Coupled with the fact that millenia of "ghostly sightings" has not resulted in a single shred of verifiable evidence to support the existance of ghosts or if they do exist, has failed in it's entirety to generate a logical and working hypothesis as to the "ghostly state".

Personally, this just tends to reinforce my own beliefs that ghosts and their like simply do not exist and that in fact, there's really no compelling reason why they should.

It all boils down to a simple statement ... if ghosts do exist, then why do we know absolutely NOTHING more today regarding their existance then we did say, 5000 years ago ? Nothing ... nada ... zero ... zip ... bupkiss ... zilch ...

Could it be the reason is something as simple as we know NOTHING because there's really NOTHING there to know ! After all, it's next to impossible to come up with convincing evidence and proof for something that has no basis in reality and doesn't exist outside of the boundaries of human imagination, delusion and wish fullfilment.

But if someone can come up with solid evidence and a logical hypothesis for their existance, then by all means place it on the table for all to see and examine.

Because the show is a sham and is turning into another reality show with drama between the characters instead of its main focus, ghosts. There are good decent shows that have been canceled or delayed because they actually DO show moving shadows and recordings of footsteps on the tape recorders. Ghost hunters is just trying to make a joke out of what some people consider serious investigation. There's a good one on the travel channel but I can't remember the name. Anyway. Ghost hunters is on scifi, the same channel that has wrestling. That should raise a red flag about authenticity.

reply to post by LeTan

There are good decent shows that have been canceled or delayed because they actually DO show moving shadows and recordings of footsteps on the tape recorders.

I tend to agree with you that GHI is by no means "strictly scientific" in it's approach but a "moving shadow" or "footstep recordings" do absolutely nothing to explain how or even if, they're being generated or created by a ghostly presence. A shadow implies light being manipulated ... HOW ? A footstep implies pressure on a solid surface which in turn results in a pressure wave being transmitted through the air ... HOW ??

I cannot help but agree that 'shows' like that do nothing but heed real investigations, the show we get , Ghost hunters or some other name over here in the UK is a load of plop.

The cast/investigators are nothing but people who want to appear on TV, and the 'psychic' they get to tag along is nothing but a phoney " I feel a presence, oh they're angry at us being here , we should leave"
Everytime they say that I want to scream at the TV, " Yeah, leave , leave my TV channel you idiots and go find a real job".

The show annoys me. Apparently nowhere they every go is haunted. Or they are inept at actually catching evidence.

reply to post by DataWraith


No argument from me

But irrespective of those "ghostly" reality shows and what they find or more to the point, don't find ... it still begs the question of where are all the ghosts hiding if they exist ? You would tend to think that proving the existance of ghosts would be high up there on the list of world changing revelations.

While obviously the OP is using his or her own opinion of what he or she believes exist or not, I like the show, regardless of been propaganda, sham or hoax, I just like it.

Now as for the existence of Ghosts, well that is just a matter of personal experiences, interpretations and opinion.

In this world we always going to find those that have the ability or are born with the ability to see what others can not.

And that is how is going to be because we all human are different in one way or the other how we perceive the world.

Its people that are born without the abilities that others have and that doesn't mean is bad but is just that always controversy will ensure that is two sides of an issue.

I for one am a believer, why? because I have personal experiences that only I can understand.

Originally posted by jjkenobi
The show annoys me. Apparently nowhere they every go is haunted. Or they are inept at actually catching evidence.

And I repeat ... could be as simple as there's NOTHING to find ...

reply to post by marg6043


Don't get me wrong, I also watch the show for it's entertainment value rather than in any expectation of them actually obtaining undisputable and irrefutable evidence of anything paranormal.

But I just can't understand how something like the supposed existance of ghosts can withstand all attempts at proof and basically come down to nothing more than a "personal belief" based on something that MIGHT have been seen or that MIGHT have been heard.
This is a physical world that is part of a physical universe and as such, cause and effect are intrinsically linked down to the most fundamental level. So if ghosts exists (effect) ... then why do they exist (cause) ?

reply to post by afoolbyanyothername


Like I say is a matter of personal experiences you can never prof to me that I have not seen things or people that are not longer with us since I was nothing but a child that at the time had not clue who where the people around me that others could not see.

But I could, until I got old enough to understand the truth.

See that is a matter of personal experiences and only a person that have them can tell the story.

But it was something that I could prove, as soon I describe the people to others they knew that it was some long gone family member.

The same way that when you have strangers invading a place that is suppose to be hunted by people that have been in the place all their lives is going to be instances that they will not be able to see anything.

Sometimes this shows that is a certain amount of intelligence coming from the other site.

If you are familiar with how huntings, ghost and residual happens you know that they are different.

Only in rare occasions a real ghost will show to a stranger, meanwhile you get more of the residual huntings that you do of real apparitions.

Ghost hunters have their good shows and then you go those shows that makes you wonder as if all they are doing is wasting their time, but for somebody that have experiences with Ghost you know that no always you are going to get what you are looking for.

reply to post by marg6043

Sometimes this shows that is a certain amount of intelligence coming from the other site.

If you are familiar with how huntings, ghost and residual happens you know that they are different.

I'm not disputing your personal experience as I'm certain to you they were very real indeed.

But look at the quote above where you mention "the other side" and "hauntings, ghost and residual".
You speak of these things as if they were real, proven to exist and that someone has researched them and arrived at evidence to categorically say that these "states' actually do exist and that there is some definable difference between them.
Take "residual hauntings" as an example and assume it does actually exist. Then one can reasonably ask and expect an answer to the following simple questions:
- what's the purpose of a "residual" haunting ?
- how does it work ?
- how is the "residual" energy stored ?
- how is the "residual" energy released to interact with people ?
- does it interact with animals ? if not, why not ?
- what form of energy is "residual" composed of ? heat, light or
another type of electromagnetic energy entirely ? Perhaps a
totally unknown form of energy ? if so, why is it still unknown ?

As you can see, just a simple statement can generate a multitude of questions that we don't have ANY answers or knowledge of.

reply to post by afoolbyanyothername


Well I would rather have that than some of the fake stuff portrayed on reality shows as real. Wine and Spirits is a good example. Not saying what they experience is not real but it surely has staged events whether the investigators know it or not I'm not sure.

As for advances there actually have been many advances. Not sure whether these devices truly work or not I can't say unless I had some to test.

I already debunked one device used on the original ghost hunters series. They at one point had a EMF detector some guy invented that lights lit up on.

A lot of people asked if it was manipulated somehow. So I bought one from the guy who made it. Turns out you can manipulate the lights to flash very easily by reducing thumb pressure on the button that is held down to activate it because there is a light test mode that lights it up that is activated by a very very slight pressure change so much so you can't even see your thumb move.

So I posted the exact results up on the ghost hunter message board so now they jam a quarter in it to hold it down. Problem is the quarter moves even less than a millimeter it will cause the test light to be activated for a split second. At least the one I own that is what it does.

Ghost Hunters uses the same things over and over again so they are no where near up to date on the "fringe science" of devices available.

New stuff I've seen or old stuff they never seem to do are:

1. the electromagnetic head piece that places some type of field around your head. If this is actually an EMF field then that device needs to be scrapped because EMF fields interfere with brain activity and cause hallucinations and such. So not sure I even want to mess with that.

2. the hand held monitor that translates energy into words. Supposedly if you use this and the "spirit" learns how to manipulate the energy the computer will say the word out loud and show it on a night vision set of goggles that are also attached to it. It's a pretty cool device being as small as it is but again not sure how it works or if it's all coincidence yet sense I don't have one yet.

3. I have yet to see them attempt the video camera TV trick that supposedly you point the camera at the tv's snowy image and supposedly spirits can manipulate it to appear in the snowy image. This one I've played with and have seen done but for the most part nothing really seems to come out of it although a lot of different movies have been made off this old idea so many people just assume it was from some idiot watching a horror show that came up with it but in fact it's the exact opposite.

4. I told a friend of mine we needed to make a battery pack. Reason being power many times is drained from full batteries and is claimed that spirits may be trying to use that to manifest themselves. I said just get a trunk load of car batteries set up a camera, a volt meter and see what happens. She told me there is already a device invented specifically for it and sure enough there is. Problem is the device is drained of power sometimes but no manifestations appear so I like my idea better lol.

5. Of course they could go real old school and try the ping pong balls and red lights but that just doesn't seem to hold any water from a scientific stand point in my mind.

6. I'm surprised they haven't tried to mess with a ghost box yet it's cheap if you can find the parts to make it.

I've actually discussed with a friend of mine on how to trap a spirit if they are indeed spirits and just not some natural thing occurring we have yet to understand.

My idea was to produce some type of field that would absorb EMF's into an enclosed container/field and keep them inside the container/field.

For example similar to taking a magnet with 2 poles (north and south) and having one magnet on the outside that only has one pole (say south only). The negative pole on the container would attract the positive pole on the outside magnet, when that magnet flew into the container/field it would them be exposed to a positive pole and because the magnet that entered the container is only a one sided pole it would then be repelled by the walls of the container and be stuck in the center unable to move.

The problem is this, if there is such a thing as a spirit in what we define as a spirit and every single person has a spirit the device could in theory rip a persons spirit out of their body and trap it within this field. Um this would be bad lol.

Like other have said it's the Sci-Fi channel and they have messed with peoples work in the past making it their own and destroying the original idea. Every business is out to make money by spending as little as possible so no big surprise they don't go after and test out more of the "fringe science" stuff today. It's there you just have to look for it.

reply to post by afoolbyanyothername


For the answer to that you can go ahead and search the definition on the internet.

And as for me my personal experiences has always been one on one, not huntings, bad or evil just people wanting to show themselves and that's it.

I have never been into anything that has been dangerous in any way or form.

As I have gotten older I don't see as many and they come in clusters and it can take from months to a few years. When it happes it happens and just go on.

I never try to find why this is the way it is and I am ot going around ghost hunting, I just live my life.

Originally posted by LeTan
Because the show is a sham and is turning into another reality show with drama between the characters instead of its main focus, ghosts. There are good decent shows that have been canceled or delayed because they actually DO show moving shadows and recordings of footsteps on the tape recorders. Ghost hunters is just trying to make a joke out of what some people consider serious investigation. There's a good one on the travel channel but I can't remember the name. Anyway. Ghost hunters is on scifi, the same channel that has wrestling. That should raise a red flag about authenticity.

Huh?

Thats like saying ATS is a sham because a plethora of shady topics is allowed. I mean we just a 100 page topic from that Mulder guy explaining that we are all star people, or something. Anyways, that show is garbage reality junk and it shouldnt be viewed as anything other than entertainment.