Even though (according to my theory) geomagnetic activity has been almost completely flat-lined since the latter half of 2008 and therefore ghost hunting is not a profitable venture of late, the TAPS team will always be known for changing America's view of ghost hunting.
Prior to Ghost Hunters or BGH ("before Ghost Hunters"), ghost hunting was something people giggled about as frivolous and born of the spiritualists movement involving hoaxes such as ectoplasm, Ouija boards, and (dare we say) s'eances. People who believed in ghosts were in with the ranks of UFO witnesses and Bigfoot peepers; all of them taken as overzealous nerd fantasies.
But, after Ghost Hunters (AGH), Americans who had believed in ghosts and would not readily admit such a predisposition, were now turning to their friends and admitting their "affliction." I had been hunting a few years before the show came to be, but when I heard a show about ghost hunters was going to be on national TV, I thought "times are changing! I might finally come out of the closet."
AGH, a large amount of Americans not only admitted to believing, but having experienced the paranormal, and a huge mass of them were rushing out to hunt on their own. Search of the paranormal became accessible to every Joe and Jane. You didn't need a psychic (thank you Ghost Hunters for proving that. Even thought I'm psychic, I would never use my readings as proof). You didn't need fancy equipment even, just a digital camera, maybe a thermometer, and if you're lucky an audio recording device. AGH, it was quite a different world for paranormal believers.
Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm a very logic-minded and a fairly orderly person (Virgo), but I'm also very giggly, silly, and child-like.
BGH: When I told people I ghost hunt, they thought it was some kind of joke or need to be eccentric and goofy, but they never asked and never knew that I packed "heat" (EMF meters, thermometers, cameras, voice recorders, etc). I was serious about it. I had enough of experiencing the paranormal and not being able to prove it. I feared sharing my hobby because people who took me seriously would now look at me as if I'd just become a Scientologist and had a belief system set in the stars. Others who were devoutly religious would say I'm calling in the Devil.
AGH: When I told people proudly that I hunt ghosts, they were intrigued. They wanted to know all the details, try the equipment, ask questions, share paranormal experiences that they never would have told anyone about BGH. I was able to bring people in and help them learn about the business and advise them. Birthing newly inquisitive people is a great honor. Sending them out into the world to find their own paranormal puzzles is very gratifying. I'm not protective of ghost hunting like some hunters. I want more of us out there; more eyes watching things, more minds wondering how to make it better, to improve the industry.
This brings us to the final aspect of this PGH (post Ghost Hunters). That is, when the show is off and gone and all its little clones have deceased... Where will the ghost hunting world be? No doubt, at a standstill. BGH, they were still using psychics and Ouija boards, but PGH, we'll unfortunately still be cornering the market in electrician's devices with the hopes they can detect ghosts (which is kind of like saying I hope my rectal thermometer can measure the exhaust coming out of my car's tail pipe).
We still have a long way to go in the paranormal research world. As much as GH was unbelievably important in teaching us debunking and being skeptical, they also carried with them old-world views of what ghosts and hauntings are. They had their "belief" system already in place. They became inbred and unable to grow in their research because they knew what ghosts were and how they present themselves and that they suck energy from your batteries and they make the EMF meter spike and yada yada yada. As open-minded as they were about a haunting possibly being explainable events and debunking a great deal of evidence, they also weren't open-minded enough about just what a haunting is. So long as they defined what a ghost was and the different varieties, i.e. residual, intelligent, noncorporeal, etc, they never went to the next level. All their explanations were tailor fit for their belief system.
What is the next level for ghost hunting PGH? It's going to take scientists and electrical engineers, geologists and psychologists and other professionals who hid during the BGH days to come forward and start some research with open minds. Sort of reverse engineering hauntings by looking at the evidence and backtracking for how it could have been set into motion. It will take very broad-minds in the field. There can be no more "religion of ghost hunting" allowed. So long as people think they know what is causing phenomenon and have already graded, tiered, and labeled it without any way of verifying these notions, they've just entered into the murky waters of a belief system(i.e. "Paranormal State").
BGH, when people asked me what a ghost was, I'd shrug and say "heck if I know.
AGH, when people asked me what a ghost was, I'd shrug and say "Heck if I know."
I'm hoping some day PGH, I'll be able to give a more definitive answer, but that will only come with much testing of every aspect from the psychological and psychic to the spiritual to quantum physics and forward-thinking options.
Ultimately, GH should go down in history as making ghosts not a chains and moans kind of castle-dwelling figure, but something that we all encounter at one point or another in one place or another and wonder, "what the heck was that?" and then weren't afraid to seek answers, whether they were a squeaky door or something unexplainable.
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Ghost photos are invariably in dispute. Today in the UK newspapers, for example, has been the report on the Wem Ghost picture. This has now been proven to be a girl superimposed from an old 1922 postcard. For 15 years people thought the photo genuine.
This reminded me of the Brown Lady Ghost of Raynham Hall (photo below) which, as far as I know, has never been shown to be a fake. Some call it the most famous ghost photo in England. There is a history to go along with the photo.
The story is that the Brown Lady is the ghost of Lady Townsend who was imprisoned in the estate by her husband. She remained there until her death. No wonder she was a might miffed and now hangs about Raynham Hall, which is in Norfolk, scaring people.
There have been some famous sightings of her ghost. King George IV is said to have seen her while he was in bed. He looked up and there she was in a brown dress, pale faced and with her hair disheveled - which is no way to greet a king! This was way back during the nineteenth century.
In the early 1800's a Colonel Loftus was at the hall for the Christmas festivities. He saw the ghost in the hall, again wearing a brown dress. She then disappeared. The Colonel, obviously a glutton for punishment, saw her a second time and noticed that her eyes had been gouged out. I guess that is the sort of thing you would notice.
Sightings of the ghost continued. There was one by Captain Frederick Marryat who saw her gliding along the upstairs hallway. The story is that he fired a gun at her - no idea why - the bullet went right through her, which surely was to be expected, and lodged in a wall.
As for the photo itself. This was snapped in 1936 by two photographers for the very respectable Country Life magazine. The gentlemen were the exotically named Captain Povland and Indre Shira.
Indre Shira explained, at the time, as to how they came to take the photo:
"Captain Provand took one photograph while I flashed the light. He was focusing for another exposure; I was standing by his side just behind the camera with the flashlight pistol in my hand, looking directly up the staircase. All at once I detected an ethereal veiled form coming slowly down the stairs. Rather excitedly, I called out sharply: 'Quick, quick, there's something.' I pressed the trigger of the flashlight pistol. After the flash and on closing the shutter, Captain Provand removed the focusing cloth from his head and turning to me said: 'What's all the excitement about?'"
The subsequent photo was published in Country Life on December 16, 1936.
PHOTO: Raynham Hall - Geograph.org.uk
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I RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING EMAIL FROM A READER IN AUSTRALIA"
Hi,
I thought I might relate a few experiences I have had over the years.
In 1989 I spent 9 months living at Mum's place to get back on my feet after a nasty split with my fianc'ee. I was in my room lying on my bed listening to the stereo when I turned my head to the right to find this ghostly face right beside my face!
It stood up and floated backward out the door into the hallway and disappeared!
I jumped off the bed and run into the kitchen where mum was preparing dinner. Are you allright? she asked. I have just seen something I said. She said I had a strange look on my face. It scared the hell out of me.
We were all sitting out in the back yard a week later when it was brought up again. My youngest brother who was 14 at the time was listening to us.
He got all excited and told us his story.
He was brushing his teeth one morning at the bathroom sink when he looked to his left into the hallway and seen an apparition. He described what he saw and it was exactly what I saw !
It was only ever seen once by my brother and myself. Looking back now it resembled my Grandmother who died in 1985. She was smiling at us just before she disappeared.
In 1992 my father died from cancer. He lived on his own as he and mum divorced when I was 9.
We went to visit him on his birthday to find him dead. He had been dead for about a week the Coroner found. I was heartbroken. I went to bed that night and woke about 2 am to find him standing at the foot of my bed! I was living alone at the time. He was standing looking very solemn at me. It scared me a lot.
A friend of mine says I may be a bit sensitive seeing these things. I don't tell others about it because they look at me strange. I know what I have seen and believe in these things.
My Lady friend I am currently seeing has seen things at my home too. We have gone to bed for her to be awaken by something rubbing her arms and legs. I have been snoring beside her. This has happened a few times. She awoke one night to see a figure standing in the doorway. She described it to me and I showed her a photo of my dad. It was him! She has heard footsteps walking by the bathroom at night when she has been in there. I have been in bed asleep. Her jewellery goes missing quite often only to turn up a few days later. We hear noises from rapping on walls to someone knocking at the front door.
We are used to it now. It does not scare us. We keep quiet about it though because others look at you strange. As I said beore I believe in these things.
I wish to remain anonymous if you print this.
Thank you.
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