With shows such as Paranormal State, Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures, Most Haunted, and others out there that currently exist, or are in process of being created, it has always been brought up as to whether these shows help the field of paranormal investigation, or hinder it.

From my point of view it has done both, but has done more damage to the field than good. While Ghost Hunters help stir a lot of interest in the realm of paranormal investigation, they have also done it a great disservice by presenting none scientific methods of investigation and using pseudo logic to claim that what they do is scientific. Paranormal State does much the same, but also brings Demonology into their show, which is totally unscientific and faith based; not to mention they use an untested psychic’s interpretation as part of their data collection. Ghost Adventures does much of what Ghost Hunters does, but does in a style which is less structured. Most Haunted on the other hand relies upon many things that were employed in the old days of ‘spirit photography’, such as table tipping and ouija boards. None of these methods are scientific to say the least, with Ghost Hunters using technology to impress the viewers and make it appear scientific to them when all they are doing is the same old schtick the mediums of the early twentieth century did, but with the technological twist.

This is where the damage begins. Whenever a group or individual begins to pass off junk evidence such as these shows, and claims it to be good evidence, the field of paranormal investigation takes a slap in the face and a hit to its reputation. This is further complicated when these shows begin to pass off evidence which is clearly not what they claim it to be, or appears to be staged and those on the show use ad hominem attacks against those who question it.

The people who are on these shows also seem to get caught up in petty squables on blogs such as MySpace, mainly trying to defend their ‘reputation’, by using bully tactics and insults to make their arguments instead of debating the facts at hand. This does nothing to help with the conception that many have that the field of paranormal investigation is composed of whackos and nut jobs, and lends a lot of credence to the skeptics who question anything these people do. Of course the faithful who surround these people will always remain faithful and defend these people, but that just makes matters even worse because they employ the same tactics as the people they are defending.

Along with all of this there is now another problem that I am seeing begin to emerge, and that is what has taken place since the Ghost Hunters Halloween Special, and the investigation that followed the live recap. In the Ghost Hunters Live show, many witnessed the collar tug on Grant’s jacket and deemed it to be staged with a line, with good reason. On the show that followed the live recap, many witnessed the flying hanger and deemed that as staged as well.

Neither of those incidents went unnoticed, and some of those who did notice, are people who are in control of some investigation sites. Because of the apparent fraud perpetuated by those events, some sites are now closed to investigation all together, or have become very hard to gain access to.  This has been a negative side effect from just one of these shows, and this is a critical one. If investigators are barred from investigation sites, how will anyone be able to attempt to gather data in the search to answer questions about paranormal activity?

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