- There are only three words needed to describe the difference
between these two paranormal investigation shows: Night and day.
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- From an earlier essay on Ghost Hunters I still receive
periodic emails from people. The paranormal field is like politics
people either fully support the show and often venomously defend it in
their emails, or agree with me on my appraisal of the many problems it
has. There doesn't seem to be anyone in-between.
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- Having seen a number of Ghost Lab episodes, the two brothers
who run the show deserve kudos for the way they have strived to apply science
to a very difficult field. They have repeatedly recorded and documented
strange events at a number of haunted locations where Ghost Hunters (TAPS)
investigated and found nothing.
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- A recent Ghost Hunters show took place at a home in Groton, Connecticut. Groton is
home to a US Navy submarine base which is also the location of a military
family's home. It was not clear if the family lives on base or off, although
the home did appear compact enough to be located on base.
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- The family's mother presented several events which have
continued to happen to the investigators, including a television that turned
on and off and changed channels by itself, toys that turned on/off by themselves
and a spirit boy having "Black eyes, black hair and a black mouth."
All of these events took place in the child's playroom. The father also
witnessed a strange boy staring at him from the hall, standing in front
of the door to his son's room.
-
- All of these events provide more ample evidence for any
ghost hunting team to investigate. The investigation appeared to take place
at night.
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- The list below documents some of the highlights of TAPS'
investigation:
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- * Television No attempt was made to test the television
or even turn it on.
- * Toys Toys were quickly examined, with the statement
made that most toys have a sleep/standby and could easily turn themselves
on.
- * AC Fields An EMF meter was held up to the ceiling
light fixture, giving a higher than normal reading (!)
- * Ghost interaction or attraction with the child
No attempt was made to test for this.
-
- The following "analysis" was presented to the
mother:
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- 1. She was told that "A remote control in another
room or nearby home could activate or change channels on her television."
(Apparently these investigators don't yet realize near-infrared light from
television remote controls *cannot* penetrate drywall, bricks or concrete.)
It was claimed that two-way radios the TAPS team has can change television
channels, although no such example or evidence was given. Nor was any such
test performed.
-
- 2. It was determined nothing was wrong with the child's
toys which were determined to be "Sensitive to vibration."
-
- 3. TAPS' told the mother "AC fields extend
from the light fixture straight down to the floor." Apparently TAPS
still has no knowledge of power line AC fields or how AC fields propagate.
-
- 4. No mention of paranormal interaction or attraction
with the family's child was suggested or even considered. A good investigation
would have had the child in the room, during normal hours playing. There
would be no one else in the room, just monitoring equipment. But this was
not done.
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- To summarize, this was among worst paranormal investigations
I've ever seen TAPS do to date. This was almost as bad as another incident
I exposed in another episode. A man in a dark cloak-type costume ran up
to the camera and quickly turned around and ran away on a catwalk in dim
light, at a closed correctional facility investigation a few years ago.
He was wearing white sneakers, yet this blatant fake was heralded as "evidence"
that the former prison is haunted.
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- I did receive an email from a former TAPS film crew member
after that article about the correctional facility and other issues was
posted on Rense.com. He claimed that it was faked as were some of the other
incidents shown on other episodes.
-
- Lead characters on the show seem to convey in this recent Groton Connecticut episode
they are tired of doing the show by their attitude and actions. (Perhaps
without Brian to pick on all the fun has evaporated.) If they are bored
and tired of doing the show they should quit at the end of their contract.
This is a far better thing to do, than to trash the reputations of people
in communities all around America. It would also stop making fools
of paranormal witnesses that alienates friends, co-workers and family members.
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- I've received emails from readers who have been humiliated
and laughed at after being told by TAPS in the "Reveal" segment
of the show their business is not haunted - on national television. This
was done in spite of numerous eyewitness accounts of paranormal events
to the contrary, too.
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- Ghost Lab on the other hand is a very thorough show.
The brothers and their Ghost Lab team use data recorders which record temperature
and voice. They also research the people, building and grounds being investigated
and set up wireless/wired cameras and microphones at critical locations.
Working through the night often until dawn, this team just don't suddenly
quit in the middle of the night as TAPS usually does. A second day of investigating
is also used if needed.
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- The two brothers of Ghost Lab carefully examine all the
data collected and conduct remote television interviews with experts from
around the country to seek their help. Interviews, discussions and data
analysis are performed in their large, towed mobile command center.
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- Documented and recorded paranormal events are often found
by Ghost Lab at locations TAPS had previously investigated but found nothing.
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- RECORDING PARANORMAL AUDIO
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- Of great importance in paranormal research is quality
audio recording. Quality audio recording is critical for paranormal work.
Digital recorders in use today utilize high compression ratios. This creates
the underwater-sound heard during playback. Internal noise from the recorder's
solid-state circuitry creates problems for analog to digital converters
inside the recorder.
-
- White noise also contains a broad spectrum of frequencies,
some of which are too high for cheap analog to digital converters to work
correctly. It is aliasing that creates the garbled audio you often hear
on ghost hunting shows when the recorded audio is highly amplified. (For
the techies this simplified explanation for aliasing was given on
purpose here aimed at a broad audience - so don't write me about it!)
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- The most useful recorders for any paranormal investigation
team will employ a purely analog design. One such example is older audio
cassette recorders with Dolby noise reduction. High quality audio cassettes
should be used that have never been previously recorded on. Tapes should
be electro-magnetically erased before use in the recorder to minimize noise
issues. Virgin audio tapes (which are increasingly hard to find in a digital
world) will deliver the lowest possible noise.
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- In lieu of analog any digital recording system should
meet or exceed the following specs:
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- * 16 bits analog to digital converter resolution (24
bits or more is better)
- * Anti-aliasing filters must be used if analog to digital
converter speed is limited
- * Audio compression must be disabled
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- A laptop or other computer can be configured to accomplish
this with the right software/hardware, but be aware that digital noise
may be present in the audio as a whining sound.
-
- Equipment used during paranormal investigations will
make the difference between trying to guess what some dis-embodied entity
is saying - and easily determining what it IS saying.
-
- Going digital is not better if quality software/hardware
isn't used. Professional broadcast- quality cameras have dead-quiet audio
and can do the best job of recording EVPs. But this audio is rarely used
during investigations.
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- I sincerely hope that Ghost Lab will continue doing diligent
work in all their future investigations. They are setting a new standard
in the field of paranormal investigation for others to follow.
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- Ted Twietmeyer
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