Potential Digital Communicator? NOT... 

Paranormal TV shows are everywhere these days. But, how authentic are they? After all, it IS television and you don’t believe everything you see on the box, do you? Let’s talk about the existing shows, their pros and cons, what we like about them, what we don’t like about them, and how genuine we think they really are.

 

Ghost Hunters: For me, the TAPS crew is far and away the best and most truthful. Jason and Grant have held out for four seasons now, refusing to acknowledge “orbs” as paranormal evidence, conducting numerous investigations in which absolutely nothing happens, and telling people they don’t have ghosts even when it’s obvious that’s not what their clients want to hear. They exposed the fake activity on a well-known ship and confronted a restaurant manager about their trick images embedded in mirrors and the speakers hidden in strategic locations. But, I’m starting to wonder. It seems that this season they’re encountering more and more entities, particularly through use of the K2 meter. I haven’t encountered anything nearly as interesting with my K2 meter, although I admit that I have only used it a few times. The question remains, though: are they starting to hype up the activity level for fear of losing viewers? I have to admit that the possibility has crossed my mind.

 

Paranormal State: They have two strikes against them, in addition to the unlikable Ryan and the boorish Chip (if there was ever a man who does NOT look as though he would be named Chip, it’s got to be this guy). Their first strike is their apparently serious use of the so-called digital communicator with the dead – in one episode, when asked to identify itself, the entity obligingly intoned “Demon,” right on cue. You have got to be kidding – no one could possibly believe this. I searched on the Internet and found some scammer selling these for $25. Well, he doesn’t actually sell the devices themselves – he sells the plans to modify a common radio device. Please don’t be taken in by this sort of sleazy gimmick. If someone had invented a device to talk to the dead – similar to the “spirit phone” Thomas Edison was working on when he died – don’t you think it would make headlines even in the mainstream media? I understand that there is serious research being done in this area, but I can assure you it’s not happening on Paranormal State. I witnessed the second strike against these guys in last week’s episode in which someone in the Pacific Northwest invited them to participate in a drumming ceremony to welcome aliens. Ryan and the others gazed in awe at the bright lights in the sky and agreed that they must be UFOs and they couldn’t possibly be satellites since the timing of their appearance was not included on NASA’s website. Ryan apparently never considered the fact that the schedules of our numerous spy satellites aren’t published and that other countries also have satellites orbiting the earth. Not to mention the fact that there is tons of space debris – inactive but still visible every night. They gasped as they watched the objects grow brighter or dimmer – but we’ve seen this happen at least once a week as we sit around the fire bowl in our backyard. There’s nothing unusual about it. Don’t waste your time watching this show.

 

Most Haunted: This has got to be a joke. Between annoying close-ups of Yvette’s terrified face, and bad acting on the part of the resident “guest mediums,” I don’t believe that they have ever encountered anything even remotely paranormal. Spirits who tap on cue and levitating Ouija boards are additional highly dubious features of this series. Oh, and there’s also the stone throwing episodes. Now, that’s believable as Yvette and company toss pebbles or other objects down a dark hallway – right to the “concealed within the darkness” crew member who obediently tosses them back. Having said all that, I have to admit that I generally watch at least the opening scenes because they go to some fascinating places in the U.K. – and, look out, they’re heading to Gettysburg this Friday (October 10^th) for a seven hour live broadcast. Well, since Gettysburg is supposed to be genuinely haunted, perhaps even this crew will encounter something paranormal.

A Haunting: Once in a while, there’s evidence that some of their episodes resemble reality; for example, Bill Bean’s account of his family’s demonic possession is considered authentic and their experiences were re-created on this show. However, I think that, overall, it isn’t one of the best.