TV not Truth

Television Shows are Entertainment- NOT Truth (with Proof)

June 2013

By Mitch Silverstein

We have touched upon this subject in previous articles but it is a subject that needs more attention. Paranormal TV shows are no more than basic entertainment. They are not reality but scripted stories edited to make an entertaining show. But why is this important?

It started many years ago; Ghost Hunters (GH) was a groundbreaking show and a ratings bonanza for the SyFy channel (SciFi back then). It was so popular the production company expanded into Ghost Hunters International (GHI) and then a whole slew of shows began appearing on various networks. It did bring the appeal of the paranormal to the mainstream.

If you go back and view these early incarnations of GH and GHI you will find many episodes where little or no “evidence’ was found. It was still appealing because it was fresh and interesting. The people involved seemed genuine and the accessibility to possibly trying these techniques for oneself was easy.

The popularity then caused many people to form their own groups and base all they do on what they learned from watching these TV shows. This is when the problems started. Like a snowball rolling down a hill, the yearning for things paranormal grew exponentially. For these TV shows to maintain and increase ratings they needed to be more exciting, they needed more results, they needed theater.

All of a sudden these shows were providing evidence. Almost all attempts and techniques found results (see article http://nyackparanormal.com/SuccessEditedFinal.htm ). This made the audience feel they can do it the same way with the same equipment and an industry was born. How did these shows all of a sudden find evidence in almost every episode? It wasn’t the increased availability of new equipment, it wasn’t the more experienced ghost hunters, it wasn’t the special guests on these shows and it certainly wasn’t spirits now eager to be on TV. It was production values.

We now are subject to every bump and shuffle being called an Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP). Even extremely poor and overly enhanced sounds are being shown as evidence. They also make sure it matches the back story. Camera anomalies of both still and video are being presented as evidence. Dust orbs being called intelligent spirits. Shadows of living people being called ghosts. OK, at times something interesting is presented that gives pause, but it’s rare and can it be trusted?

By now, if you are truly interested in the paranormal and have been around a few years, you have heard of some infamous events on TV that have been called out for obvious staging. The most popular was the GH Jacket Collar Pull on a live Halloween episode. It was so poorly done and obvious (Google it if not familiar) that maybe they wanted it to be caught, sort of telling viewers that we are not real, we are providing entertainment. Not likely, these shows do not provide disclaimers and they lead you to believe what you see is factual and not manipulated. Another famous event happened on a live show from Ghost Adventures, the Meter Throw. It was obvious someone threw a meter and claimed it to be a paranormal event, refreshingly though this person was called out on the episode, but the attempt was made.

These were just some basic examples, the list goes on. So what do we believe and not believe on these shows? The majority of the thousands of groups out there investigating and ghost hunting and going into people’s homes have used these TV shows as their mentors. They only know what they have seen from these shows. What if it was all staged, or mostly staged? We do have an example of a recent show broadcast in 2013 which was so obviously edited and staged the events that it’s almost funny. We are not sure if a producer or director should be fired at the feeble attempts to make it seem real, or they really don’t care and the blind faith followers of the show just wouldn’t notice. Either way in a seven minute segment of this show there were a multitude of production errors that prove these shows are staged and scripted.

Let us add one more thing before we show the proof. We understand this is entertainment. It does not fool us. It does fool many though. We have met some of the people on the show in the past. They are nice people. They can be entertaining too. We totally encourage people to keep watching the show and other shows. Support them, watch the commercials and buy the products. Hope for more shows to be put on the air. Just realize it’s mostly fiction. Don’t base your beliefs on these shows. Please go out there and find your own experiences, it can happen. Don’t screw up people’s personal lives by telling them their house is haunted because you saw the same thing happen on TV.

I have included a link to screen shots of the events. Hulu may not always have the episode available or they may take it down eventually. I have provided the episode title so you may be able to find it in the future. Although the time stamps may vary the events will not. There are minor events that also seem unbelievable which I will not cover. They are, however, integral with the scripted story.

Haunted Collector Gold Rush Ghost 3.10 http://www.hulu.com/watch/488179 Second half of show.

The obvious events- Each event is designated by the elapsed time in the episode at the link above:

30:30- Room 1- Aimee on bed- leaning on headboard and pillows.

30:54- View in bathroom cam with faucet off

30:55- Suddenly faucet handle turns on- handle ever so slightly above 9 o’clock position

31:08- Room 1 Aimee gets up off of bead to head to faucet- notice messed up uneven pillows

31:18- In Bathroom notice handle a little higher than last position and a fan on a stand appears out of nowhere to the right (implies that the handle pull scene was filmed out of sequence, before or after the investigation. I am leaning towards it being done after because nowhere in the episode do they actually comment on catching the handle move, at the time they didn’t know what the producers were likely to film)

31:38- DVR cam Room 1- the sheet lift- notice pillows are even and neat- also camera view angle a little different

32:08- Aimee and Jason return to Room 1 to check out the sheet lift and you see the pillows are messed and uneven again (obviously the rigged sheet, maybe with monofilament line, was likely filmed after the investigation, possibly before, but certainly didn’t happen in the order presented. The camera angle and view likely changed to hide the rigging for the sheet)

34:24- Aimee mentions the faucet handles are loose which implies it’s easy to rig with a wire to turn on.

34:47- Room 1 shown with investigators for a moment. It’s likely added footage filmed out of sequence since the pillows are neat and the camera view is the same as the rigged sheet view.

35:00- K2 meter shown in hand with power on- first green light remains on after powered on. Notice that a thumb is not needed to maintain power, has built in switch, not a momentary switch.

35:35- K2 close-up, maybe stock footage but it shows a fake ‘hit’ on the meter. When a K2 is turned on it flashes a bunch as a self test but the first green light will remain on unless powered off, You can see the first green light go off which means the power was cycled and you are seeing the self test not an EMF spike.

35:44- Looks like the same K2 clip was used again

36:16- Jessalyn claims she is being touched and you see her hair behind her left ear a bit messy and sticking out.

36:21 > 36:29- Jessalyn’s hair still messed

36:30- Jessalyn’s hair is neat ( this implies that there is heavy editing going on, any scene can be reshot at any time, that does not bode well for presenting ‘evidence’ as it likely didn’t occur at that moment or at all)

37:02- Same K2 clip as used twice before

37:37- Dress on bed moves. What credibility is left at this point to be anything more than a set up for entertainment purposes?

Link to SCREEN CAPTURES

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