DISQUS

Perspective Shift Chris · 8 months ago

Wow... I figured something like this COULD be going on. You can't be all too hard on them though. It's their job to make us sit on the edge of our seats and encourage mystery. Hence why the figures they always see never seem to make it on camera. Although, I definitley wouldn't put off all of their stuff, but they need to bring in viewers and keep up the ratings at the same time. Though, I would honestly prefer straight honestly, it's understandable as to why they would lie about some stuff. It's a show, not a scientific study or anything like that. *shrugs* I'll still watch and enjoy the show.

AbbyCat · 2 months ago

Well, I am the biggest skeptic of them all but this video is really poor. They don't take the time to explain anything they are claiming. Grant could have been looking at his recorder because it stopped working, wasn't working right, or because he wanted to see if he caught something. He does that on the show all the time. Seeing them fiddle with recorders isn't anything new or shocking.
The guy who said he heard the EVP through his ear piece - again, so? How does this prove GH is fake? If all the investigators are hooked up to ear pieces to communicate or hear what the others are doing in different areas, then wouldn't they be able to hear what's happening in those other areas? That EVP was really loud. If it was loud enough for both Grant and Jason to hear it clearly, then why wouldn't someone wearing an ear piece that is hooked to the mics of Jason and Grant be able to hear it too?
Lastly, I totally missed what I was supposed to see in that collar clip. I watched it 5 times and can't figure out what I am supposed to be seeing that's so shocking. What am I missing with this one? Please tell me.
So, my take is that either the people who put together this video did a really bad job setting it all up and explaining it all, or there's nothing shocking to explain. I am more than ready to accept that GH and every other paranormal show on TV is fake. But this video doesn't do it. Sorry. And if I am missing the point here, please explain it to me!! I would love to see the shocking truth!

sgprs · 2 months ago

Hi Abby!
Thanks for visiting and commenting. I really appreciate your honest, open views. First, let me say that I don't believe that GH is fake. In fact, the ONLY paranormal show that is 100% staged simply for entertainment is Most Haunted. GH, GHI, Paranormal State and GA are totally real. But here's where the fine line comes in:

GH is a reality TV show, produced and owned by a professional production company... who are out to make money. And that's natural, of course. TV shows are made to produce revenue. They're made to make the production company and all involved "rich" (not that these guys on reality tv shows are making tons of bucks though). But the stations and production companies ARE making a killing... as long as the ratings are high. GH's ratings started to slip a bit a year or so ago... not doing bad, but did drop. The highest rated paranormal show on TV right now is Ghost Adventures. Others like Paranormal State were never a threat to GH's ratings... but when Ghost Adventures became a series, it became a huge threat to GH's ratings. In the case of GH, Jason and Grant don't own the show and they don't have a whole lot to say about what goes on in the production area, but they do choose the cases and where they go, and they own the TAPS name and organization, of course. Basically, they're at the mercy of their production company, the owner of the show, Pilgrim Films. Pilgrim also produces shows like American Chopper, GHI, Extreme Loggers, Dirty Jobs, The Ultimate Fighter, etc. Not all productions companies own the shows they produce. An example of this owuld be The Ultimate Fighter, which is wholly owned by Zuffa, LLC, American Chopper, owned by Paul Tuttle Sr. and Paul Tuttle Jr. and Dirty Jobs, owned by Discovery Communications, Inc. In the case of GH, Pilgrim owns the show, as they purchased the original rights from Inca Productions when it began in 1996 in the UK as Ghosthunters. What does this all mean?

Well, it means that they have a greater interest in GH. Pilgrim must keep the ratings high to keep it profitable. Basically, they direct the investigations. They CAN force (or encourage, however you look at it) TAPS to, well let's say, "enhance" evidence and results... all for the sake of ratings. Jason and Grant are at their beckoning call... and despite what a lot of people think, they ARE compensated quite well for the show... enough so that they no longer need to keep their day jobs as a means of income. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with that. I think both Jason and Grant have poured enough heart and soul into this field that they SHOULD make a healthy living from it. In the end, it you're lifeline, your means of support. If ratings drop, things have to be done to bring them back up. Halloween 2008 was a good example of that.

Now, I didn't create the video and can't stipulate to it's authenticity. BUT... I did watch the Halloween special in 2008 and did come to my own conclusions, which happen to be inline with the video. Here's what's questionable:

First, the EVP, which sounds too live and "piped-in" to be real. You have Grant fiddling with the digital recorder. You're right, seeing them fiddling with receorders isn't unusual. But, here's what is: (1): If you just heard an EVP, you'd be able to immediately stop your recorder and play the previously recorded clip. That's VERY easy to do as the recorder stops exactly where it is. All you have to do is push the preview button... and there you have it. The recorder's batteries weren't dead. You can also hear the recorder beeping, which is a signal of cycling through media that's on that recorder. The "assertation" is that the EVP was a prerecorded one that was already on the recorder, and that Grant was actually looking for the clip... cycling through the media on the device. He finally says "I got it, I got it". What does he have? If the clip was "just" recorded, you DO NOT need to go searching through sound files to find it; it's right there. I mean, you don't just lose the clip you just recorded. Ghost Adventures plays their audio clips back immediately.

But ok, maybe it was a recorder malfunction. But, him searching through the sound files really casts a big shadow on the authenticity of the EVP. What some think is that someone actually played the preloaded EVP from a recorder while Grant was recording, then they claimed it was a live EVP. Seems that it could be a production technique gone wrong. While he and J are talking, and Grant plays the EVP, Jason says "Just make sure you save it". Why would he say that? First of all, if he was searching through the sound files on the recorder looking for it, then obviously it was already saved. And if it wasn't, then when the battery "just died", it would have lost it. Something just smells fishy there.

About the earpiece: All the investigators should NOT be wearing earpieces. They communicate via walkie-talkies. If they're wearing earpieces, then their sense of hearing can't be fully dedicated to listening for evidence and their surroundings. Steve Valentine is wearing one because he's the presenter. I'm sure Jason and Grant are too, but they really shouldn't be. This leans too much to the side of a scripted TV show, NOT reality.

Now the jacket tug: To me, this is the most damning piece. If his collar was jerked or pulled by an entity, there would: (1) Some type of actual indention at the point it was grabbed, (2) Would move in a backwards motion, NOT downward and (3) The entire collar would move, NOT just the fabric alone. If you watch closely, you can see the middle part of the fabric move, but not the top or bottom, which makes it seems as though there was a string attached to the inside of the collar that could be pulled to create this unprofessional and amateurish illusion.

Once the video ends, looks for a Youtube video at the bottom of the player that says "Jacket Pull Debunk 3" and watch it. It provides a bit more info. You can also search Youtube for people who have done experiments like this and have recreated the jacket tug to a tee.

I don't these guys do it all the time. For the most part, I think they're pretty honest and seem to be pretty decent guys. BUT... when ratings come into play, as well as money, you do what you have to do. I think that's what Jason and Grant did. The recorder incident is up in the air. The jacket tug? That was undoubtly, 100%, completely..... fake. There's no question. All in all though, I still like GH.

Thanks again for the comments! Happy hunting!

AbbyCat · 2 months ago

Thank you for replying!! I was certainly hoping that someone would. This was my 1st post here so I wasn't sure if I would get a response.

I have been going over that video again and again in my head. I am a very logical person with a philosophy, paranormal and science background. So I consider myself a pretty smart chick and am usually able to follow good arguments and other such things. I just couldn't wrap my head around this video. It did just boil down to the makers of the video not explaining it good enough though. Now that you took the time to break it down, I understand their points. It makes sense to me now and I think this video is pretty damning to the GH guys.

I agree with your synopsis of Ghost Hunters. Completely. I think that as far as "true" shows go, they are probably as close as we will get. I have seen Most Haunted and Paranormal State many times and I personally feel that those 2 are on equal ground when it comes to over the top, fake, ridiculous, laughable productions. :-( I'm not sure, but I *think* that this website is associated with Paranormal State, so I'm not sure how my comment is going to be taken, but that's my honest opinion. I see GH as being in a different league than the others.

I'm not naive. I know that GH is a business now. So I get it that ratings need to stay up and that entertainment needs to be an issue. I keep all that in mind when watching the show. I have been studying the paranormal since I was old enough to read and have been always searching for some good, honest evidence and investigation. So GH sucked me in right away. It is a bit disheartening to realize that evidence might be faked on occasion. But, to be honest, I can't say I'm surprised. The more I read, study and experience, the more I realize that the paranormal is simply naturally occurring things that we are unable to explain at the time. Meaning - ghosts probably don't exist. It's a pretty big bummer to come to such a realization but my search has always been to find the truth. And, well, if that's the truth then I still want to know. I will never stop searching and hunting though. I am holding out in hopes that my skepticism will be crushed someday! ;-)

Anyways, thank you for typing that whole explanation out. It helped. I am also going to look at the videos you recommended. I bookmarked this site and look forward to future interactions with you and others!