Reading, PA Paranormal Group Publishes Book Entitled, "Ghost Hunting from A to Z, A Scientific Approach to Paranormal Investigation"
Reading authors and residents, L. Lindeman and J. Kroenig, have recently published "Ghost Hunting from A to Z, A Scientific Approach to Paranormal Investigation," a 108-page book that details applying the scientific method to the field of Paranormal Research.
Reading, PA, August 04, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Authors L. Lindeman and J. Kroenig, Founders of The Supernatural Research Group, Raise The Bar for Other Paranormal Investigation Groups
Reading authors and residents, L. Lindeman and J. Kroenig, have recently published "Ghost Hunting from A to Z, A Scientific Approach to Paranormal Investigation," a 108-page book that details applying the scientific method to the field of Paranormal Research. The authors were astonished by some of the claims as well as methods being made by others in the paranormal field while investigating claims of paranormal activity.
For a limited time (Thursday, September 1 through Monday, October 31) an electronic book version of "Ghost Hunting A to Z," normally priced at $4.99, will be available to the public at a reduced cost at Smashwords at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/21976.
While there are many publications out there covering the same topic, none cover it from a scientific prospective in plain English, with as much detail.
For those readers who prefer the printed version, they can purchase a copy at www.ghosthuntingatoz.com for $9.99 ea.
About the Authors
Originally from Pennsylvania, the authors have been formally researching the paranormal for eight years. In August of 2006 the authors joined forces and formed The Supernatural Research Group, a paranormal research team based out of Berks County Pennsylvania, dedicated to applying scientific methods and principles to paranormal research. Their group can be reach via their website www.tsrg.org.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Searching for ghosts in Scugog
From Durham Region.com: Searching for ghosts in Scugog
SCUGOG -- Things that go bump in the night -- and creak, and thump, and even, "Geeeeeeeet ooouuuut!" -- were on the minds of those who gathered at Scugog's Museum Village Saturday.
It was Durham's first Paranormal Day, an event that attracted psychics, mediums, and ghost hunters. Members of SCOPE -- the South Central Ontario Paranormal Enthusiasts -- were on hand to show off an array of ghost-hunting equipment they used to scan the historical buildings on the site for denizens of the past who may yet linger there.
SCOPE member Chris Goring of Whitby was happy to discuss the science behind ghost hunting, and the interests that motivate him and his colleagues to tread where those with less of a taste for the paranormal might not.
"We don't necessarily go in to prove a place is haunted. We try to find a rational explanation," he said. "The definition of paranormal to me is something that can't be explained by rational means."
The crew set up cameras in buildings on the museum site and also scanned them with devices that measure temperature, electromagnetic fields and radiation. They also toted sensitive recorders, video and still cameras and meters to measure energy surges.
The arsenal of equipment helps detect phenomena that might indicate a ghostly presence, or some perfectly rational explanation, said Mr. Goring. An energy spike, for instance, might be caused by old, bare wires. A cold patch picked up by an ambient temperature thermometer could be explained by something as pedestrian as a drafty window.
Or it could be something else.
"There is an element of excitement when things happen," Mr. Goring said. Those things, he explained, could range from anomalous readings to ghostly images on photographs to actual contact.
Mr. Goring got interested in paranormal investigations, as you might expect, after a personal experience. Years ago he was installing sprinklers in an aged Toronto building, working alone, when he heard a voice whisper in his ear, "Why?"
"I was freaked out," he said.
But he was also curious. He began looking for ways to delve into the paranormal and discovered SCOPE, a non-profit organization whose mandate is to investigate what appear to be manifestations of paranormal activity. Their motivation is simple.
"For us it's a personal validation of our interests," Mr. Goring said. "We've had experiences we want to validate."
Mr. Goring's first foray with SCOPE yielded a profound experience. It was when the crew was examining audio from an investigation that they discovered what paranormal investigators call an electronic voice phenomenon -- voice-like sounds audible only on recordings. On the sound clip, posted on the SCOPE website, investigators are heard chatting amidst an eerie swirl of ambient sounds. As they pause, there's a sound, like a low growl: "Get out", it seems to say.
"I was hooked," said Mr. Goring.
Most folks, if they believe in the paranormal at all, might be inclined to shy away from such brushes with the inexplicable. Mr. Goring and his colleagues seek them out. But they try to stay objective, looking for explanations for what they encounter. Consequently, they tend not to be too skittish when they do.
"We really don't get on edge. We don't get afraid, because that's what we're looking for," he said. "Not everything is paranormal. There can be a lot of explanations."
So: What happened Saturday night?
For the most part, it was quiet. The SCOPE crew fanned out across the museum site, consulting with mediums to get a feel for the place. Then they worked from 9 p.m. until about 3 a.m., taking readings in various locations. Mr. Goring and his partner encountered a few interesting moments, one of them in the basement of the school house, when a First World War-era gas mask repeatedly fell from a hook as they observed it.
In the Lee House -- where, legend has it, a ghostly lady walks through walls -- they used a ghost box, a device that scans radio frequencies, emitting white noise that can sometimes sound like speech.
"We kept getting the name John Gibb," Mr. Goring said.
"Apparently, he wanted us to leave."
The SCOPE crew now has hours of video and audio tape to review for more hints of anything ghostly.
You can visit the SCOPE website at www.scopeonline.ca.
SCUGOG -- Things that go bump in the night -- and creak, and thump, and even, "Geeeeeeeet ooouuuut!" -- were on the minds of those who gathered at Scugog's Museum Village Saturday.
It was Durham's first Paranormal Day, an event that attracted psychics, mediums, and ghost hunters. Members of SCOPE -- the South Central Ontario Paranormal Enthusiasts -- were on hand to show off an array of ghost-hunting equipment they used to scan the historical buildings on the site for denizens of the past who may yet linger there.
SCOPE member Chris Goring of Whitby was happy to discuss the science behind ghost hunting, and the interests that motivate him and his colleagues to tread where those with less of a taste for the paranormal might not.
"We don't necessarily go in to prove a place is haunted. We try to find a rational explanation," he said. "The definition of paranormal to me is something that can't be explained by rational means."
The crew set up cameras in buildings on the museum site and also scanned them with devices that measure temperature, electromagnetic fields and radiation. They also toted sensitive recorders, video and still cameras and meters to measure energy surges.
The arsenal of equipment helps detect phenomena that might indicate a ghostly presence, or some perfectly rational explanation, said Mr. Goring. An energy spike, for instance, might be caused by old, bare wires. A cold patch picked up by an ambient temperature thermometer could be explained by something as pedestrian as a drafty window.
Or it could be something else.
"There is an element of excitement when things happen," Mr. Goring said. Those things, he explained, could range from anomalous readings to ghostly images on photographs to actual contact.
Mr. Goring got interested in paranormal investigations, as you might expect, after a personal experience. Years ago he was installing sprinklers in an aged Toronto building, working alone, when he heard a voice whisper in his ear, "Why?"
"I was freaked out," he said.
But he was also curious. He began looking for ways to delve into the paranormal and discovered SCOPE, a non-profit organization whose mandate is to investigate what appear to be manifestations of paranormal activity. Their motivation is simple.
"For us it's a personal validation of our interests," Mr. Goring said. "We've had experiences we want to validate."
Mr. Goring's first foray with SCOPE yielded a profound experience. It was when the crew was examining audio from an investigation that they discovered what paranormal investigators call an electronic voice phenomenon -- voice-like sounds audible only on recordings. On the sound clip, posted on the SCOPE website, investigators are heard chatting amidst an eerie swirl of ambient sounds. As they pause, there's a sound, like a low growl: "Get out", it seems to say.
"I was hooked," said Mr. Goring.
Most folks, if they believe in the paranormal at all, might be inclined to shy away from such brushes with the inexplicable. Mr. Goring and his colleagues seek them out. But they try to stay objective, looking for explanations for what they encounter. Consequently, they tend not to be too skittish when they do.
"We really don't get on edge. We don't get afraid, because that's what we're looking for," he said. "Not everything is paranormal. There can be a lot of explanations."
So: What happened Saturday night?
For the most part, it was quiet. The SCOPE crew fanned out across the museum site, consulting with mediums to get a feel for the place. Then they worked from 9 p.m. until about 3 a.m., taking readings in various locations. Mr. Goring and his partner encountered a few interesting moments, one of them in the basement of the school house, when a First World War-era gas mask repeatedly fell from a hook as they observed it.
In the Lee House -- where, legend has it, a ghostly lady walks through walls -- they used a ghost box, a device that scans radio frequencies, emitting white noise that can sometimes sound like speech.
"We kept getting the name John Gibb," Mr. Goring said.
"Apparently, he wanted us to leave."
The SCOPE crew now has hours of video and audio tape to review for more hints of anything ghostly.
You can visit the SCOPE website at www.scopeonline.ca.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Paranormal Phenomena Investigated in Wine Country
From Temecula Patch: Paranormal Phenomena Investigated in Wine Country
Mysterious photos, ghostly apparitions and signs of an ancient dwelling were investigated at a house in Temecula.
Full Tech Paranormal Investigations, a Riverside-based group, trekked out to a rural Wine Country home near Lake Skinner on Monday in hopes of verifying -- or dismissing -- the residents' fears that their home is haunted.
Numerous unexplained events happened at the home during the last few years, they told the lead investigator, Jon Kirchoff.
The investigator and his colleague, Jayne Light, sat in the homeowners' living room with two of their friends talking about what they experienced.
The homeowners -- a well built middle aged man with silver hair and his upbeat wife with a propensity for smiling -- wished to remain nameless for fear people might trespass onto their property in hopes of finding ghosts.
While sitting in that same room recently, the female homeowner looked up and saw what looked like a Native American woman dressed in traditional animal skins holding what appeared to be a bundled baby, she told the investigator in quiet tones.
The woman walked to a 500-year-old oak tree and disappeared, she said.
“She walked right into the tree. She looked beleaguered and tired and never looked in my direction,” she said.
The couple's friends also experienced things they can't explain while at the house.
Recently, several friends were sitting around a bonfire on the property and saw orbs of light around that same tree, they said.
People saw unexplained clouds of mist in that area too, the homeowner said.
“One of our friends is extremely skeptical and could not believe what he was seeing,” she said.
The couple thinks their home is the site of an ancient Indian village, they said.
An expert on Native American culture came to the property recently and identified artifacts and signs that a village most certainly existed on their land.
A creek runs through the property, which is shaded by tall trees and dotted with large granite boulders. Numerous smooth indentations in several boulders may have been used for grinding, the couple said.
“The expert pointed out grinding bowls peppered throughout large granite boulders along with tools used to grind acorns. He also pointed out a wash basin and scorch marks on other boulders,” the husband explained.
The couple took the investigators out to the area near the oak tree. Kirchoff opened his toolkit and pulled out a handheld device he said "measures energy."
He held it in front of the tree and read off a series of numbers to his co-investigator as she jotted notes.
Kirchoff is no stranger to supernatural situations. His journey into the world of paranormal began when he was an investigator for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
“As an investigator, I would sometimes have to investigate unattended deaths and photograph the scene,” he said.
One of those pictures changed the course of his life.
“I took a photo and over the body was a mist. It was unexplainable and definitely there,” he said.
He showed the photograph to his colleagues who joked that it could be a ghost. It wasn't a joke to Kirchoff.
From there, he threw himself into studying and learning everything he could about paranormal science. He purchased a simple tape recorder and a digital camera and began investigating cases.
He founded his company, Full Tech Paranormal Investigations, in 1992, and his team of investigators and their arsenal of high-tech equipment has done investigations throughout California, Nevada, Oregon and Arizona.
“We aren’t there to prove there is a ghost or a haunting. We aim to give a reasonable explanation as to what is occurring and what the homeowners are experiencing,” he said. “After an investigation we painstakingly review all of the footage gathered and reveal our findings to the owners,” he explained.
Through all of his investigations, Kirchoff says about fifty to sixty percent are deemed paranormal.
The investigation at the property in Temecula was just a walkthrough, he said, and it revealed some interesting findings.
The team was scheduled to go back to the home within two weeks to perform a longer investigation.
Mysterious photos, ghostly apparitions and signs of an ancient dwelling were investigated at a house in Temecula.
Full Tech Paranormal Investigations, a Riverside-based group, trekked out to a rural Wine Country home near Lake Skinner on Monday in hopes of verifying -- or dismissing -- the residents' fears that their home is haunted.
Numerous unexplained events happened at the home during the last few years, they told the lead investigator, Jon Kirchoff.
The investigator and his colleague, Jayne Light, sat in the homeowners' living room with two of their friends talking about what they experienced.
The homeowners -- a well built middle aged man with silver hair and his upbeat wife with a propensity for smiling -- wished to remain nameless for fear people might trespass onto their property in hopes of finding ghosts.
While sitting in that same room recently, the female homeowner looked up and saw what looked like a Native American woman dressed in traditional animal skins holding what appeared to be a bundled baby, she told the investigator in quiet tones.
The woman walked to a 500-year-old oak tree and disappeared, she said.
“She walked right into the tree. She looked beleaguered and tired and never looked in my direction,” she said.
The couple's friends also experienced things they can't explain while at the house.
Recently, several friends were sitting around a bonfire on the property and saw orbs of light around that same tree, they said.
People saw unexplained clouds of mist in that area too, the homeowner said.
“One of our friends is extremely skeptical and could not believe what he was seeing,” she said.
The couple thinks their home is the site of an ancient Indian village, they said.
An expert on Native American culture came to the property recently and identified artifacts and signs that a village most certainly existed on their land.
A creek runs through the property, which is shaded by tall trees and dotted with large granite boulders. Numerous smooth indentations in several boulders may have been used for grinding, the couple said.
“The expert pointed out grinding bowls peppered throughout large granite boulders along with tools used to grind acorns. He also pointed out a wash basin and scorch marks on other boulders,” the husband explained.
The couple took the investigators out to the area near the oak tree. Kirchoff opened his toolkit and pulled out a handheld device he said "measures energy."
He held it in front of the tree and read off a series of numbers to his co-investigator as she jotted notes.
Kirchoff is no stranger to supernatural situations. His journey into the world of paranormal began when he was an investigator for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
“As an investigator, I would sometimes have to investigate unattended deaths and photograph the scene,” he said.
One of those pictures changed the course of his life.
“I took a photo and over the body was a mist. It was unexplainable and definitely there,” he said.
He showed the photograph to his colleagues who joked that it could be a ghost. It wasn't a joke to Kirchoff.
From there, he threw himself into studying and learning everything he could about paranormal science. He purchased a simple tape recorder and a digital camera and began investigating cases.
He founded his company, Full Tech Paranormal Investigations, in 1992, and his team of investigators and their arsenal of high-tech equipment has done investigations throughout California, Nevada, Oregon and Arizona.
“We aren’t there to prove there is a ghost or a haunting. We aim to give a reasonable explanation as to what is occurring and what the homeowners are experiencing,” he said. “After an investigation we painstakingly review all of the footage gathered and reveal our findings to the owners,” he explained.
Through all of his investigations, Kirchoff says about fifty to sixty percent are deemed paranormal.
The investigation at the property in Temecula was just a walkthrough, he said, and it revealed some interesting findings.
The team was scheduled to go back to the home within two weeks to perform a longer investigation.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
'Paranormal Housewives' hunt for ghosts in California.
From Scrippsnews: 'Paranormal Housewives' hunt for ghosts in California.
VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. - The business analyst, the Spanish professor, the homemaker and the others hang out at graves shaded by coastal pines or hotels haunted by rumors. They use gadgets to track strange electromagnetic fields and record a disembodied voice in the empty room that says "hello."
Call them ghost hunters. They prefer their official title: the "Paranormal Housewives."
"We are a drama-free, all-women paranormal investigative team," said co-founder Kirsten Thorne, sitting on a wall bordering a graveyard outside Fillmore, Calif. She acknowledged skeptics are everywhere and include her husband, though his certainty sometimes wobbles.
"Every once in awhile he'll listen to an EVP (electronic voice phenomena) and say 'What the heck is this?' " she said.
The Paranormal Housewives are made up of five women. They're trying to let area homeowners, church leaders and business owners know they're available to investigate things that go bump in the night -- for free. They'll bring their full-spectrum video cameras and the K2 monitors that flash red lights when detecting energy that could mean spirits are lurking.
There is one caveat.
"We need absolute silence," said Thorne, worrying about the integrity of audio recordings, "and all the dogs must be muzzled."
Thorne, 46, is a professor who earned her doctorate from Yale University and teaches at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif. She sat at Bardsdale Cemetery as trees tossed shadows over headstones that date back to the 1870s. With her was Kimberly Demmary, a community theater actress who plays the canine lead in an Ojai, Calif., production about a talking dog, "Sylvia." Demmary lives in Camarillo, Calif., and works as a health insurance business analyst.
Wearing jeans and carrying their gear in what they call ghost bags, the women said they've been into the paranormal since they were kids. Thorne and Demmary both said they were visited by their grandfathers -- postmortem.
"He would stand in the corner of the room and he would just stand there," Demmary said. "He was a very tall man. He was like Abraham Lincoln."
Demmary and Lizeth Martinez, an office assistant with the Ventura County Probation Agency, were doing paranormal investigations on their own. They hooked up a year ago with Thorne and two of her partners from Los Angeles and San Diego counties: a homemaker and the owner of a loan processing business.
In a surprisingly crowded field of ghost hunters dominated by men and fraught with battles over who's calling the shots, they decided a group of women working together as friends would mean an end to the drama.
"We're nothing like the 'Housewives' TV shows," Demmary said with a laugh. "Our friendships come first."
They've done investigations at a church on Olvera Street in Los Angeles where a request for spirits to announce their presence was followed by a loud bang on a table. They've teamed up with police officers interested in noises and images they can't explain. It was at the Bella Maggiore Inn in downtown Ventura where they entered a room and heard a woman's voice.
"No one was there," Demmary said. They don't make any conclusions about what they've seen or heard until they've examined all the evidence, applying what they called the scientific method.
Bardsdale Cemetery is tucked between citrus groves and South Mountain. "Private Army, World War I," reads one plaque. A large headstone topped by a cross commemorates 11 people who died on March 13, 1928, when the St. Francis dam broke. The flood killed at least 500.
Thorne and Demmary walked to a row of small headstones pockmarked with decay. Four siblings died in 1878 within four days of each other.
The ghost hunters took pictures, then pressed play on their Olympus digital recorder. Thorne crouched down to talk to the graves. "If any of you are still around and you can see us, go ahead and say something," she said.
Nothing happened.
"There will be some times when I say 'This was a bust'," Thorne said, explaining discoveries come later when she reviews the recording. "Then I'll call someone and say 'Oh, you won't believe what I have on audio'."
Demmary said she's seen massive shadow figures, heard voices and has been touched by hands that felt like a child's. Some spirits are friendly; others not so much.
"I was almost strangled by my own necklace at a church," said Thorne.
Many people don't believe the stories. The women said the word they hear often has four letters and rhymes with trap.
But there are enough believers to support a genre of television shows. Group members have appeared on "Ghost Adventures." Now something else is in the works.
"We're working on a project for television and that's all I'm allowed to say," Thorne said.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
‘From Beyond’…Belief. Another Paranormal Reality Show
From Ghost Theory- Skeptical Approach to the uneplained website: ‘From Beyond’…Belief. Another Paranormal Reality Show
If there is one thing GhostTheory readers know about me, is that I hate/despise paranormal reality television shows. I do. And I say that wiith a total and utter passion. I tend to write less about these shows nowadays. After awhile, it just begins to feel like a Sisyphean task.
There’s this new show though; and this might just end up being the crème de la crème. Not in any good way of course. Telemundo’s sister network ‘Mun2′ or Mundos (worlds) –which is a clever play on the name TeleMUNDO– is now promoting their new paranormal show called “From Beyond”.From Beyond, a chilling new reality series featuring a young psychic medium AJ Barrera and paranormal investigators Christian Vera and Ramiro Ramirez who investigate and document paranormal activity in Latino communities in and around Los Angeles. Throughout the 13 episode unnerving series, the ghost hunters take viewers on a personal journey into hauntings, urban legends and ghost stories proving that the paranormal needs no translation. For more information, visit: mun2.tv/beyond. — Mun2
The three person paranormal crew consists of a “ghost hunter“, a “medium to the rockstars” and a producer.Intuitive A.J. Barrera has helped thousands of people worldwide by sharing with them his experience of The Beyond, giving them an understanding of what spirit communications is all about. A.J. is one of the youngest and most accredited Latino mediums in the industry, with a roster that includes his own radio show on the CBS Radio Network, “Breakthrough with A.J. Barrera, appearances on KOST 103.5 Angels in Waiting and Radio Medium on KBIG 104.3.
Due to A.J.’s amazing reputation and credibility, the media coined him as The Medium to the Rock Stars and Celebrity Psychic Medium to the Stars. Through inspiration and intuitive counsel, A.J. helps people to expand the limits of their own consciousness, explore their inner-guidance, and experience the awakening of a Soul Discover
I’m not so sure A.J. “manager” to freak out his female companion, Christian Vera. She’s fully aware of the frightening events that unfold before the young Latino viewers, after all, she is the writer and producer.Christian Vera is a national television host, correspondent, writer and producer based in Los Angeles, California. Her experience covers all aspects of media, news, politics, entertainment, fashion and music. She can be seen on CNN en Español and on “ABC’s On The Red Carpet”. She is also a writer and producer for the national award winning show American Latino. Christian has been seen on the Emmy Award-winning television show LatinEyes TV, and also breaking entertainment news on E! News Now as well as on the red carpet reporting live for KTLA in Los Angeles.Currently, I’m in mun2’s new paranormal reality series, “From Beyond” where I brings a critical eye, always looking for a logical explanation and asking the questions the viewers are thinking.
The show is written and edited in such ways that it’s clear what the producer’s intentions are: To get the short-lived attention of today’s kids. So they default by adding “spooky” sounds and fake EVP whispers and noises. Which brings me to our last From Beyondcrew member. Ramiro Ramirez.For 15 years Ramiro has experienced personal encounters with the paranormal. He has found a better understanding of what spiritual movement is through his association with 3am Paranormal, a team of respected investigators who have been carefully examining paranormal activity throughout the U.S. for over 22 years. From Fairhaven Cemetery in Santa Ana, California to Private residencies in Guadalajara, Mexico, Ramiro continues to bring pure respect and intentions when conducting professional investigation. Ramiro is a certified EVP/ITC audio analyst who has investigated hundreds of locations throughout the country and over seas.
What’s worse is that I couldn’t even bring myself to watch an entire episode. From the moment A.J. Barrera butchers the pronunciation and use of the words apport and “repport”, to minutes later when the show added a ghostly exhale effect during an EVP session, I clicked it off. The show is riddled with a lot of ghostly sound effects and catholic symbolism to appeal to the young Latino crowd. It’s a shame really, because a more interesting show would focus on what scholars think the paranormal is, and how we go about quantifying the unexplained. Instead, we are left with kids running around in the dark with night-vision cameras pantomiming their confrontations with the unseen spirits.
Who cares though. Do the fans of these shows really care about critical thinking or fringe science? I’m not saying that their audience is composed of mindless zombies, but what I am saying is that these young viewers really can’t be bothered with research and proper scientific conduct. I do want to believe that their audience is more demanding and could see through the smoke and mirrors — and sometimes sound effects– But, alas, browsing through the From Beyond website, I’m reminded why I consider writing about paranormal reality shows a Sisyphean task.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Are Ghost-Hunting Shows Real or Faked?
From EOnline. The Answer Bitch. Are Ghost-Hunting Shows Real or Faked?
Why are people so obsessed with these ghost-hunting shows, when they are so obviously faked? I don't want to believe that people are this stupid.
—Justin M., via Facebook
Well you've just scared up a big old mess for me, haven't you? There are plenty of those shows: Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures, Haunted Collector, Ghost Hunters International, How I Met Your Mummy (I made that last one up ... or did I?). If you're a fan, I have some dish you'll definitely want to read:
For this, I donned my jumpsuit, grabbed a ghost trap and solicited the help of Benjamin Radford, managing editor of the Skeptical Inquirer science magazine and a research fellow at the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. The reason I chose Radford is that, though he is, by definition, a skeptic, he also conducts scientifically based ghost hunts of his own, and leaves his mind open to the idea that, sometime, maybe, in the future, a real ghost just might come along and blow all our minds. (Probably not.) (But maybe.) (Not that he's ever found a ghost on one of these hunts.) (But you never know.)
As part of his work, Radford has ridden along on some of those ghost hunts that you see on TV. He says he's never seen blatant evidence of deliberate fakery. However, one former Ghost Hunters castmember, Donna LaCroix, has hinted that the Syfy show may not totally be on the up and up. She wasn't specific, though, and, for the record, she also stated that she was upset over how show producers had treated her.
Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player.What Radford has seen, though, is earnest people, at least some of whom genuinely believe they're interacting with ghosts, psyching themselves out, fielding perfectly earthly noises and sights and leaping to the conclusion that they can't be explained. Example: The show MysteryQuest. Radford says he went along for an investigation of the Wolfe Manor in Clovis, Calif.
"People who were there when I was there weren't necessarily faking anything," he recalls. "But I did see cases where the crew inadvertently made sounds or lights that were at least briefly interpreted as ghostly."
Indeed, many ghost-hunting shows rely heavily on sounds they say they can't explain or debunk—footsteps, squeaks, even voices. However, Radford notes, those shows also appear to have only two or three people in a dark room at the same time. Not so; there are actually as many as eight or nine, exponentially upping the chances that a random sneaker squeak or sigh from a second A.D. could appear to be unexplained.
Or maybe it isn't so random.
"Even if the people you see on camera aren't intentionally hoaxing, there is no reason why the rest of the TV crew isn't doing that," Radford tells me. (Indeed: Listen to that podcast featuring LaCroix above.)
Either way, Radford says, "What investigators tend to assume is that, if they can't re-create it, therefore, it is a ghost. But just because they may not be able to figure out what that weird light was, it doesn't mean it was a ghost."
Lastly, let's talk about the equipment: Ghosty hosts love to whip out blinking electromagnetic field detectors and laser grids and infrared lighting, all in hopes of trapping missives from the spirit world. It's always fun to watch those instruments freak out all by themselves. Trouble is, what does it mean?
"When you actually pin down these investigators, and ask what exactly are you claiming the connection is between an EMF detector and ghosts, they don't really have an answer," Radford says. "They just say that, you know, it's thought that, or some people claim, that ghosts give off EMFs."
All that said, for the record, the people currently on these shows, particularly Ghost Hunters, insist that they have no reason to lie.
Can I take off this jumpsuit now?
Nevada X-Ray Technician Moonlights as Ghost Hunter
From Fox News: Nevada X-Ray Technician Moonlights as Ghost Hunter
Brian Purdy's colleagues at a Nevada trauma center think his hobby is a little, well, spooky.
The Nevada X-ray technician and surgical assistant works up to 60 hours-a-week helping with medical procedures such as extracting kidney stones and tending to dialysis patients.
But in his downtime Purdy is a ghost hunter.
"They think I'm crazy," said Purdy when asked what his co-workers thought about his side gig. "Some of them believe (in ghosts), some of them don't."
Purdy is the founder of Elite Vegas Paranormal Society, a Nevada-based paranormal investigation team that searches for evidence of ghost activity in buildings and homes.
The investigation team includes his wife, Linda, who serves as one of the lead investigators, and their 19-year old son, David. He also helps out with the investigations, but is also in charge of purchasing the ghost-hunting equipment.
"We go through every frame, every audio, every video captured," said Brian. "When I'm done reviewing it, David will review it, Linda will review it, and then we'll call in each other to sit down and discuss it."
The Purdys interest in the paranormal began after David, who was then just 5 years-old, claimed his baseball uniform smelled like his recently deceased great grandmother's perfume after a Little League game.
"For a week straight, (the uniform) had the smell of her," said the youngest member of the investigation team, "and then it just disappeared instantly."
The family began doing some research and this, coupled with their innate fascination with the current slate of ghost-hunting reality television shows, led to the creation of their own ghost tracking company in 2008.
The team has all of the necessary ghost-hunting equipment, including night-vision cameras, laser thermometers that read the temperature of the building, and the all-important Ovilus X, a small black device that’s used to talk to ghosts, said Brian.
So how much did all of this stuff cost?
"Right now, probably with the computers at all, about $10,000," said Brian.
And despite the expensive gear, the Purdys don't get paid, at least in real-live dollars, because their services are free.
So far, the Purdys have taken part in about 10 investigations throughout Nevada, New Mexico and California. But as with any family, they're bound to have their fair share of disagreements.
"It’s fun and frustrating," laughed Linda. "You know, it's just like any normal family would be. But once we get down to business, we know our jobs.”
In the meantime, Brian continues to work long hours at the trauma center, in part to help pay for his passion. As far as getting one of his co-workers to join him on a ghost-hunting mission, well, that's another story.
"I offered every one of them to come out with me on a hunt and they've said 'I can't do that, I just can't do that," said Brain. "I don't think you grow up saying you want to be a ghost hunter, however, I can't imagine not doing it.”
Brian Purdy's colleagues at a Nevada trauma center think his hobby is a little, well, spooky.
The Nevada X-ray technician and surgical assistant works up to 60 hours-a-week helping with medical procedures such as extracting kidney stones and tending to dialysis patients.
But in his downtime Purdy is a ghost hunter.
"They think I'm crazy," said Purdy when asked what his co-workers thought about his side gig. "Some of them believe (in ghosts), some of them don't."
Purdy is the founder of Elite Vegas Paranormal Society, a Nevada-based paranormal investigation team that searches for evidence of ghost activity in buildings and homes.
The investigation team includes his wife, Linda, who serves as one of the lead investigators, and their 19-year old son, David. He also helps out with the investigations, but is also in charge of purchasing the ghost-hunting equipment.
"We go through every frame, every audio, every video captured," said Brian. "When I'm done reviewing it, David will review it, Linda will review it, and then we'll call in each other to sit down and discuss it."
The Purdys interest in the paranormal began after David, who was then just 5 years-old, claimed his baseball uniform smelled like his recently deceased great grandmother's perfume after a Little League game.
"For a week straight, (the uniform) had the smell of her," said the youngest member of the investigation team, "and then it just disappeared instantly."
The family began doing some research and this, coupled with their innate fascination with the current slate of ghost-hunting reality television shows, led to the creation of their own ghost tracking company in 2008.
The team has all of the necessary ghost-hunting equipment, including night-vision cameras, laser thermometers that read the temperature of the building, and the all-important Ovilus X, a small black device that’s used to talk to ghosts, said Brian.
So how much did all of this stuff cost?
"Right now, probably with the computers at all, about $10,000," said Brian.
And despite the expensive gear, the Purdys don't get paid, at least in real-live dollars, because their services are free.
So far, the Purdys have taken part in about 10 investigations throughout Nevada, New Mexico and California. But as with any family, they're bound to have their fair share of disagreements.
"It’s fun and frustrating," laughed Linda. "You know, it's just like any normal family would be. But once we get down to business, we know our jobs.”
In the meantime, Brian continues to work long hours at the trauma center, in part to help pay for his passion. As far as getting one of his co-workers to join him on a ghost-hunting mission, well, that's another story.
"I offered every one of them to come out with me on a hunt and they've said 'I can't do that, I just can't do that," said Brain. "I don't think you grow up saying you want to be a ghost hunter, however, I can't imagine not doing it.”
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