“Who Ya Gonna Call?” The Ghost Hunter Buster

In October, 2004, the SyFy channel introduced its hit ghost-hunting television program, Ghost Hunters. This program has been so successful that dozens of ghost-hunting and ghost story shows have popped up in the eight years since the show began. For those who are interested in ghost-hunting programs, this would seem like a great thing but the reality is that not all ghost-hunting programs are created equally.

Seriously, how many orbs are really out there? If we have learned anything from Ghost Hunters, it is that orbs are really just bugs. Bugs really do look like orbs in night-vision cameras therefore if these so-called investigators would actually investigate this, there would be far fewer fake orbs on these programs. These orb-loving ghost shows are giving ghost hunting a bad name.

Another issue is the whole I-see-a-face-in-the-mist assertion. Those are not faces. Because far too many ghost hunters make this claim people at home feel encouraged to make similar assertions with any kind of fuzzy picture. No, that fog does not look like your great aunt Betty. No, that reflection in the window, which is probably just your own reflection, does not look like your cousin Joe. Only you can see that because you think you can see that. Have you never heard of the research that indicates humans find human faces in shapes because our brains are looking for them? Remember the face on Mars?

Finally, it is important to address EVPs. EVP stands for Electronic Voice Phenomenon. Certainly, there are some interesting EVPs out there however these ghost shows are ruining any credibility this science might bring by reading way too much into garbled sounds. When one person says: I think it is saying GET OUT, and, then, everyone else suddenly agrees, your team of investigators has no credibility. Have you never heard of the power of suggestion?

These knock-off ghost-hunting television programs are giving the whole field a bad name so people need to try out a little skepticism instead of running out and buying their own ghost-hunting equipment in an effort to get on television. Wait, did you see that? I think something just set off my thermal camera I have set up to go off when something disturbs my laser field. Finally, I have the proof we have been searching for!