Please debunk (if possible) - Ghost Hunters Video of full-body "ghost" in the woods.

OK, I'm a little bit embarrassed to be posting a video from the Ghost Hunters television show. But I don't know much about full spectrum cameras and I'm very interested to know theories on what they caught here. Could it be a shadow or some kind of reflection?



It looks pretty compelling, but since it came from the Ghost Hunters TV show I instantly have serious reservations. If not simply outright faked, how could this image have been captured. Any ideas? Anyone think it might be the real deal?

Thanks!

ETA: I should mention that this is not my personal you tube video - I have no affiliation with it or the website listed at the end.

I saw that episode the other night and wondered the same thing....I'm curious if anyone on ATS can debunk it. I do believe in ghosts and spirits, but I'm not so sure this is real.

Inconclusive.

Could be bigfoot, a ghost, a cameraman, wandering local, what have you.

The data is extremely limited and resolves nothing.

Originally posted by Meldionne1
I saw that episode the other night and wondered the same thing....I'm curious if anyone on ATS can debunk it. I do believe in ghosts and spirits, but I'm not so sure this is real.

edit on 2-2-2013 by Meldionne1 because: (no reason given)

I didn't see it and am limited on time today as I have plans.

However, if you could relate to me why they eliminated many of the possibilities (some I listed above) or if they assume they did eliminate them, would you mind letting me know their assessments ?

While I'm not going to call "FAKE", I am going to call misinterpreted data.
The caption on the split screen says the full-spectrum camera detected a crew member but did not detect the original sighting (says "right screen"), yet something is clearly there, walking.
What are they missing, or what am I missing? I wish they had infrared instead. It is easier to see a warm human as opposed to something else.

I am no expert on full spectrum camera technology, but I do notice one thing that could help spark an idea on how to explain this.

In the crew's attempt to re-create what they saw, they are most definitely walking in FRONT of those trees in the background, and the full spectrum camera detects them.

If the original video was of someone (not a ghost) walking AMONG or BEHIND the trees, giving it that shadowy effect, perhaps the camera is not able to pick it up enough to place the rectangle around the object?

I'm not a firm believer, nor a firm skeptic when it comes to the existence of ghosts, but that is just something that popped into my head and I want to hear from others who are more experienced with these types of cameras.

reply to post by csuldm


That's an excellent idea. I rewatched the video and it led me to another related question. Why do all those square rectangles pop up everywhere on the video with the investigators doing the "debunk" walk. Those shapes even flash up on non-moving objects like the tombstones. But in the "ghost" video, there isn't a single square?

I wonder if this motion detection feature can simply be turned on and off? That might be a pretty easy hoax, if they simply turned off the motion detection feature and filmed someone walking back there... and then turned it back on for their debunking. I'd like to think that they aren't doing anything as blatantly hoaxed as that, though. Maybe they simply didn't realize that the motion sensor was off when they caught the alleged ghost? Since it is outside, I don't know how well controlled the grounds are - could be a local lookie-loo checking things out. It could be an honest mistake.


BTW... love your avatar. I can't look at Zach G. without smiling.

reply to post by stars15k



Good point. Surely they have enough cash for redundant cameras. It would be nice to have at least two types of camera rolling at all times when doing these static surveillance shots. It would make it so much easier to confirm or debunk findings. The more info, the better!

Originally posted by muzzleflash

Originally posted by Meldionne1
I saw that episode the other night and wondered the same thing....I'm curious if anyone on ATS can debunk it. I do believe in ghosts and spirits, but I'm not so sure this is real.

edit on 2-2-2013 by Meldionne1 because: (no reason given)

I didn't see it and am limited on time today as I have plans.

However, if you could relate to me why they eliminated many of the possibilities (some I listed above) or if they assume they did eliminate them, would you mind letting me know their assessments ?

From what I remember in watching the full episode, their main arguments were that (1) they insisted there were no crew or team members out there at the time and (2) the motion sensor (those white boxes) wasn't detecting any motion like it does when an actual person walks through.

If anyone remembers other reasons they pointed to to validate this video as "real" please share. Thanks!

reply to post by VegHead


They (ghost hunters) did say that it didn't resembled their crew, their crew was not there at the time, and that the shadow figure was see through and vanished as it walked ...that was their explanation in a nut shell, and they tried to recreate it with the square box's popping up around their crew...so they compared that to the shadow figure that did not have a box pop up around it. So they figured that the shadow man was not solid and the motion sensor did not pick it up....
I'm still not really believing its a ghost. At one point I thought the shadow figure was wearing a hoody pulled up over their head...and some of the crew and cast were wearing hoodies .

reply to post by Meldionne1


Thank you - that was a really good summary of GH's explanations!

I forgot they said the apparition was see-through. I didn't see it as transparent, even at the end --- were you able to confirm that in your own viewing of the video?

reply to post by VegHead


They said the ghost vanished as it walked...but to me it looked like it just walked out of view and out of sight...I didn't see it dissipate or vanish..it didn't look solid , but it didn't looke see through either . It looked like a video taken at dusk when visibility is bad , creating a shadow look, and then transposed onto the tree line video. You know, sort of like overlapping videos......I thought I saw a hoody at one point, you kow the pointed part of the hood when it's pulled up over your head. And I thought that was odd...not that a ghost couldn't be wearing a hoody sweatshirt, but some of the ghost hunters had them on, and that raised my red flag.

reply to post by Meldionne1


Now that you say "hoodie" that's all I can see! D'oh!

Anyway, great observations - thanks for sharing!

Looks like a cast shadow to me, I see the exact same thing all the time when I go camping in the summer at state parks...it occurs from varying light sources and people walking around. If they set up a lantern source and walked past it at a certain distance it would project the shadow of the person walking the same way, the trees become the screen for the projected image.

It's a trick that plays on a persons assumption that shadows from a light source have to be distorted. Remove the assumption and the explanation becomes clear. Just like understanding magic tricks; most magicians play off of an accepted assumption and exploit it for the illusion.

reply to post by VegHead


Lol! ...thanks for posting this thread , !

Have any of these ghost hunting shows ever bagged a ghost? The few times I've wasted minutes watching them nobody ever thought of turning the lights on, as walking in the dark with maybe a flashlight made for better tv. Then a mouse or something would make a noise down the hall and they'd all pretend like it was Jack the Ripper coming to get them and get all bugged eyed, and take their flashlights to chase the sound. So, seriously, have any of them ever come close to finding a ghost?

As for the ghost who is the subject of this thread, Houdini can be seen on internet videocam rolling over in his grave.

Originally posted by BigBrotherDarkness
Looks like a cast shadow to me, I see the exact same thing all the time when I go camping in the summer at state parks...it occurs from varying light sources and people walking around. If they set up a lantern source and walked past it at a certain distance it would project the shadow of the person walking the same way, the trees become the screen for the projected image.

It's a trick that plays on a persons assumption that shadows from a light source have to be distorted. Remove the assumption and the explanation becomes clear. Just like understanding magic tricks; most magicians play off of an accepted assumption and exploit it for the illusion.

Thanks for your post! A shadow was top on my list of things I thought it might be, but I wasn't totally sure how that would work in terms of this type of camera and the fact that the motion sensor didn't pick it up.

Good point about magicians tricks - and because the show isn't live, they don't even have to be very good magicians to pull off tricks.

I would love for this to be a real solid piece of evidence, but given the source it is unfortunately less likely to be what they present it to be. *sigh*

Originally posted by Aleister
Have any of these ghost hunting shows ever bagged a ghost? The few times I've wasted minutes watching them nobody ever thought of turning the lights on, as walking in the dark with maybe a flashlight made for better tv. Then a mouse or something would make a noise down the hall and they'd all pretend like it was Jack the Ripper coming to get them and get all bugged eyed, and take their flashlights to chase the sound. So, seriously, have any of them ever come close to finding a ghost?

As for the ghost who is the subject of this thread, Houdini can be seen on internet videocam rolling over in his grave.

I've wasted more time than I'd like to admit watching ghost hunting shows. I'm not sure what I'm expecting to see. I justify watching dumb shows by being on the treadmill at the same time. Of course, it makes the EVPs impossible to hear, but I can rarely hear them even without the sounds of a treadmill covering them up.

Anyway, to give you some perspective, the Ghost Hunters were holding this up as some of the best evidence they have ever gotten. Most shows, it's a lot of "did you hear that?" and "did you see that?" to which my answer is "no" and "no". I swear, some alleged EVPs are stomach gurgles. Haha! But from time to time there is something compelling... but the problem is, when there is something compelling you don't know if it is "real" because this is, afterall, a television show. They may have a quota of ghost "sightings" in their contracts for all I know.

I love the new show Ghost Mine, I'll admit that. Most ghost hunting shows aren't great. My husband likes to play a drinking game when I have him watch "ghost adventures", which is pretty hilarious. He drink when they say "dude", "bro", and takes a double drink every time Zak misuses the term "debunk". There are a couple of other rules, I don't remember. Ghost Hunters is really my least favorite of the ghost hunting shows. And like 99.9% of television, it is not a great use of my time. I will keep watching, though, waiting for that moment that will likely never come - the moment when somebody somewhere captures something definitive.

I would like to know why they showing the video with apparition starting more than halfway way across screen ?
Where was it before ?
Why don't i see it starting from far left of the screen ?
Even if that was real thing the video is highly suspicious and lacking any detail we could work with.

to me it looks like a guy walking in the woods with his hands in his coat pockets.
But that doesnt make it a ghost.

The part i call shanangins on is all this ghost tv show's...See it after the fact..never during.
If i saw a guy walking in woods in front of my camera id instantly say hey dude and walk over to them to see for sure...then there would be 0 doubt.
But they never do that NEVER.
Cause if they did they would find a man in the woods and there show wouldn't be as interesting now would it.