Ghost Hunters- Closed minded?
As you visit websites, hear or see teams present themselves to the public you will notice the phrase “we have an open mind” pops up. Other phrases that people should notice are “we believe”, “we can help” or the most classic “we want to find the truth”. There is a Catch-22 more than often as you learn more about today’s Ghost Hunting Teams and it’s not stopping.
Claims to believe? If a person makes the conscience choice to believe in such things as ghosts how exactly are they going to help out in certain unexplainable situations? They have already established that they believe in everything the “client” is willing to throw at them. Perhaps the phrase should be “we understand, for now”?
Not all paranormal claims can be explained. Therefore “helping” clients is nothing more than an exaggerated declaration made by teams that perhaps need to validate themselves. Making sense of the situation, well, in the real world, that is what we do. We attempt to make sense of the unexplainable events to make the, well, explainable.
Finding the truth is not as easy as it sounds. Truth is based off of facts. Let’s face it. The paranormal field as a whole has nothing factual about it. The only thing that may have a firm grip to reality could be history. But we all know, there is flaw in history, especially the history of brutal murders, suicides, hangings and so on. History is documentation presented by a persons opinion, especially when it comes to pulling history from newspapers, diaries, journals and of course witness accounts.The newspapers can only report so much. The truth is, there is no truth. There is opinion. This is what teams do. They visit locations, conduct an investigation and do nothing more than offer their opinions on the subject. Opinion is not fact. Yes, this even applies to me.
The truth may not be screaming banshees in the hallways or tapping on ones chamber doors. The truth may be that there are mice, rats, raccoons, electrical problems and of course over active imaginations of clients and ghost hunters.
Teams will throw in the phrase, “we have an open mind” usually hear during media stints and moments of public recognition. It bothers me to the fullest that I am skeptical about such things as “ghosts”, therefore I do not have an open mind? Having an open mind is also thinking outside of the realm, speculation and expectation of a location being haunted. It’s applying critical thinking and a rational mindset all of the time. In my years of research, I have noticed too many times that the phrase “open mind” has become converted to “one track mind”. It’s okay to believe, but there should be a stopping point when it comes to paranormal research. More and more teams show up to locations and find ghostly activity. They are either creating it themselves through unintentional taught hysteria or they have mastered the art of blind ignorance. The rare occasion that there may be something “ghostly” on the premises is now being overlooked by pure exaggerated ghostly greed and the closed mindset of one team’s protocol and methods of investigation.
Before anyone suggests that I may be harsh on this subject. I wanted to state. I do believe and I want to believe you. But, I want to think rational and apply critical thinking to help you make sense of your ghostly inhabitants. I want to witness what you have witnessed and to help others understand the importance of possibility verses proof of my opinion.
Not all things that go bump in the night are ghosts. The closed minded behaviors of teams across the nation and locally are creating more “ghosts” than working to find the truth that they are claiming to seek. In reality, they are not seeking the truth. They claim they believe. They just want people to believe them and their opinions.
Sincere Blogger,
Tonya Hacker
Paranormal Eyes
Ghost or an Angel?
A special thanks to a reader in Covington, OK that has submitted a photo for review. Over the years I have received countless photographs asking one simple question. Is this a ghost? It’s not that simple.
While reviewing suspected ghostly photographs there are many questions that arise. But there are five main questions I seek answers on when offering an opinion of a spectral snapshot. I invite you the readers to offer your own opinion on this photograph asking these five questions.
1. Why would there be a ghost in this photo?
2. Why did they take the photo in the first place?
3. Was it day or night?
4. Was the flash on or off?
5. What is lurking in front of the lens?
The information I received about this photo was limited but here it is.“This was taken in from of our house in Bartlett, TN three years ago. Weird. It was a beautiful night.”
As an investigator, I view photos a lot differently than most people. Even my own family photographs I catch myself inspecting them differently than non-ghost hunters. For quality, light source and sometimes unexplainable images. I along with many others see the photos a screen shot, separated by layers . The first layer is the image as a whole. The second is what is closest to the lens if a flash is being used. The third but not final image is the objects that are behind or in line with the “anomaly” featured in the photo. And last, sizing. Is the “ghost” too big or too small within the natural setting of the photograph?
Reviewing this photo I was instantly drawn to what appears to be smoke a.k.a. the suspected “ghost or angel”. The smokey image is not set back into the photo, in fact it is directly in front of the lens. I noticed the photo was taken at night of Christmas decorations. Christmas in Tennessee, I am pretty confident the weather was cold outside. It may have been a nice night, but it was probably cooler temperatures. I then noticed that the photo was taken in the dark, with a very bright flash. I highly recommend with nighttime photography or even spirit photography, refrain from using a flash at all times and it’s been suggested to that you invest in a tripod to eliminate the “smeared light” effects involving nighttime photography. Sure, you may get a lot of blank photographs, but at least you will not share with your friends and family that you “caught a ghost” and later be the laughing stock. The flash will illuminate anything and everything that is directly in front of the lens or within the flashes range. The flash then lights up whatever is there in front of the lens. In this case, it’s more than likely that it is nothing more than a deep breath captured in a photo. Moisture, cold breaths and even cigarrette smoke can, will and is destined to be mistaken as a ghostly apparition maybe even an angel. I will not get into “orbs” right now, that’s another blog for another day. But with orbs, the same rules apply but then you are getting into dust, dirt, dander, dry skin, fabric fuzz, pollen and even bugs. If they glow and have wings and you used your flash, it’s 99.9% of the time going to be a bug, not a fairy, angel or the spirit of tinkerbell.
Reflective sources- It’s important to not utilize flash photography into reflective sources. Day or night. Wallpaper, paneling, mirrors, doors, windows, glass, shiney wood, gloss paint, slick plastic, TV’s, cars and pretty much anything that reflects light. Turn the flash off!
In closing, to our Covington reader, I am sorry but you did not photograph anything supernatural at that time. It is my opinion that you captured a deep breath on a cold night. Sorry! You have a right to believe that you did of course, but at least you got a second opinion on a very controversial subject.
Do I believe that ghosts could be caught on camera? Sure! I have seen apparitions with my own eyes, so why not be able to capture one on camera, even video!
Until then, I will have to wait until the next ghostly photo arrives in my inbox! tonya@ghouli.org
NOTE: I am not a professional photographer nor do I claim to be one. I do have a close affiliation with professional photographers that have allowed me to learn about photographic discrepancies that are often confused with “ghosts”. As readers submit photos I will explain more about spirit photography right here on this blog. From orbs to visual matrixing,with your help I hope to cover it all and to learn more about paranormal photography. I will even be analyzing my own old “ghost photos” from over the years. They were “paranormal” then, but today I may have a different opinion. Looking forward to your feedback, suggestions and of course your photos!
Sincere blogger,
Tonya H.
a.k.a Paranormal Eyes
PS- Want a comparison photo? Click below
Believe in Paranormal TV?
As a paranormal researcher I have an open mind and I am ready to witness the next extraordinarily unexplainable event just as much as the rest of the world. Over the years I have witnessed strange events, heard noises, voices, been touched and have even seen my share of ghostly apparitions while visiting some of Oklahoma’s most haunted places. One thing that seems to confuse a lot of people is how often does a true paranormal event take place? If you watch those nifty television shows, like SciFi’s Ghost Hunters or A&E’s
Over the past nine years I have been to many places. I have posted most of my findings on my website. I have some great and often unbelievable stories to share about things that go bump in the night. The fact of the matter is, real paranormal research is nothing like what is seen on TV. It has taken me nine years to substantiate any morsel of belief that I have within my soul. At times, I do find myself in a state of non belief, but it comes and goes. Nine years is a long time and I will admit that it looks like what I do is pretty exciting. It’s not. I live in the real world with real time. My adventures do not have expensive opening and closing credits, nor do they have custom theme music or suspenseful graphics indicating that something ghostly is lurking around the corner. It has taken me nine years to collect a handful of moments that I feel were truly unexplainable. It’s not as easy as it appears to be on television.
This past Halloween, SciFi’s Ghost Hunters a.k.a. TAPS, had a real live paranormal investigation. The event lasted more than five hours with many, and I mean many commercial breaks. As a “ghost hunter” myself, I of course had better things to do on Halloween night than watch five hours of live TV. After trick or treating with my family, I went to sleep! The next day or two passed by, the video from the event was beginning to get posted on the internet. The next week, they had a recap show, highlighting all the “paranormal” events that took place during the live show. I was intrigued, especially by the jacket tug phenomenon. I even boasted a bit about it on our radio show. The next day I wanted to see the jacket moment again. I found the show footage on youtube. I was not aware that Grant Wilson’s jacket was tugged a total of three times. “Three times, really?” I asked myself, I was not buying it. As I watched more I realized that there was something seriously wrong with the situation. I have yet to find a paranormal researcher or ghost hunter in the United States that have had that much “luck” while on an investigation, something was pointing to the shady side of research and it was not shadow people. The jacket tug was just too much, a blatant production overkill perhaps. I watched the below footage and still was not convinced that it was paranormal. No matter how much I wanted to believe, what I was seeing was nothing more than a parlor trick. Perhaps some fishing line, hand in pocket with each tug, each tug the lack of use of the right hand, the unnatural reaction within a human being to regain balance, none of it added up. And I was not alone.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE FOOTAGE
After watching the footage, I noticed on the menu that there was a breakdown of the jacket tugging. I viewed the video and realized that this was bigger than just a few people. Thousands upon thousands of views and comments were posted in retaliation of this video, some supportive of the “jacket phenomenon”. Here is the analysis that opened many eyes in the field of research and with fans of the show. This video has single handedly created a scandal in the field of paranormal research.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THIS VIDEO!
I am one of the hosts of a Paranormal Radio show on the Para-X network called the Ghost Divas LIVE. We have a very active and adult rated “blog” where we talk about all kinds of things involving the paranormal field. We offer commentary on things we see, read, hear or handed to us by “informants”, it often gets heated but it’s all in good fun in hopes to educate others. We decided to attempt to reenact the “jacket tug”; we spent a minute or two and figured out the best way to recreate the event. TAPS preaches continuously on their show that if things can be recreated, it’s more than likely not paranormal, it has been “debunked”. So, we did what they would do. We reenacted the jacket tug seen by millions. Of course our version is a bit different. We included some humorous sarcasm and over acting, just to make it entertaining. Yes, I do have a sense of humor. I take this research serious, but I am still a human being that can laugh at what we do as “ghost hunters”.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH OUR VERSION
After the posting of our recreation on the internet, the backlash from supporters of the show started to pour in from everywhere. The video analysis that was posted, the originator was even getting death threats from crazed fans that claim that it was paranormal and that the cast of Ghost Hunters would never stage paranormal activity. The rebuttals ranged from “they are honest and would walk off the set if they were asked” to “It’s normal to keep your hand in your pocket if you are looking for something”. We offered up a challenge for anyone to “debunk” the “debunking” or any other common sense analysis of the video in favor to it actually being supernatural. To date, not a single person has stepped forward to validate the claims made by these paranormal celebrities. Not a single person! But there is a lot of this floating around!
Why does it matter to me that some guys were caught faking evidence on TV for a Halloween show? It doesn’t in the grand scheme of it all. Unfortunately, this particular show has been representing a field of research that I have been involved with for many years. I am not a fan of the show. I have had my suspicions as the seasons continued on, it was becoming more and more common that they would witness and capture purported paranormal activity. Although I never idolized them as much as some people and teams, they were the closest thing to what I do as a paranormal researcher. Their show has pushed our little “hobby” into the mainstream which in turn has allowed more cases to come forward. The “shame” was being lifted and it gave people who were experiencing a suspected “haunting” the courage to come forward. As a researcher, this is a moment where I am ashamed to be in the same category as these guys. Faking evidence is not standard practice with 90% of teams that I know of here in
Don’t believe in claims of the paranormal, until all possibilities of it being normal have been eliminated.
Sincere blogger,
Tonya H.
aka-Paranormal Eyes
PS- I did not miss the "EVP" captured on the live show. It's not worth the time and energy to discuss it, because it was not paranormal. Even TAPS are now disputing the audio being an authentic EVP, even after they played it off during the live show! The mas majority of EVP's collected are not audible buy the human ear and "looped" for our pleasure.
