Posts Tagged ‘Moviedan’

Last week, during Spooktalkular, we reviewed in detail, the recent video accusing "Ghost Hunters" of fraud by faking evidence.  In case you missed it, here’s the video “TAPS LIES – Ghost Hunters Live – 2008 – Fraud-O-Rama”;

As I mentioned during the show, I’m not passing judgement on the validity of the claims made in the video.  The producer of the video makes a fairly compelling case for his accusations of fraud.  I personally hope that the accusations are false because if they are, they call into question the validity of ALL evidence presented on "Ghost Hunters" and for that matter, all of the paranormal reality shows.

Wednesday’s "Ghost Hunters – All Access" episode is the first that I’ve watched since viewing the fraud accusations.  Going in, I wondered how I’d feel.  Since I’m a podcaster on the topic of "Paratainment", I try to keep an open mind when watching these shows because, not only are they entertainment, they are also prep work for discussion on Spooktalkular.  I found it incredibly hard to watch the show objectively.  Every time they would show an evidence clip, I found myself looking for the "man behind the curtain" and how it possibly could have been faked.  For almost every clip shown, I was able to determine a way it could have been faked.  Now this DOES NOT mean that it was faked or that I thought it was.

Why is this important?  In order to believe the validity of and evidence presented, one has to trust the source.  Simply put, if doubt is injected as to one piece of evidence, presented as factual, this calls into question all evidence.  When I was a child, I remember finding out that there was no Santa.  I was in third or forth grade so I was around 9 years old or so.  I found out because I noticed the shipping label on one of my Christmas gifts, a Weebles Treasure Island, was addressed to my Mom from JC Penney’s not Santa.  I asked my Mom about it and she came clean about the fact that Santa was indeed, not real.  From there, that called into question all of my beliefs about the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and so forth.  One by one, as I reexamined these, I realized that they also were not real.  All of this because of the doubt injected by Santa not being real.

That is why I feel it is very important for "Ghost Hunters" or Jason and Grant themselves to publish a rebuttal.  The video produced by Moviedan is very compelling so the response must be equally so.  Jason and Grant have both posted responses on their Myspace blogs but, they are not anywhere as stong of an argument as the one by Moviedan.  I really feel that "Ghost Hunters" should almost devote an episode to debunking this video.  Otherwise, a lot of people will start questioning the last several years of their work.

Now, for the other possibility, if it is fake, let us know.  I still watch magicians even though I know there isn’t anything mystical going on.  Wrestling still enjoys quite a following even after the acknowledgement that it is fake.  Based simply on the entertainment value alone, "Ghost Hunters" could enjoy the same.

Me, shoot, I’m still out on what I think.  I’m still trying to gather evidence and watch what happens.  I still enjoy "Ghost Hunters" even though I watch it even more skeptically than before.  I would, however, like to see a real response from GH or Jason and Grant one way or another.

What do you think?