On the preview here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK4555Rnk4Y

I saw the name "LBAILE" flashing on the screen.

"LBAILE" appears to be an anagram of "Belial" and it looks like someone is just being clever and has read Christopher Marlowe or has seen "Rosemary's Baby" once to often.

Wiki on Belial - A companion Prince in Hell
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belial

For the rest of it, looking at the previews, it's a rip-off of Ghost Hunters' mission idea but more dramatic appearing - monkey see, monkey do, monkey try to get better ratings with more sensationalism.

Don't forget to tune in for the next exciting episode,
Same Dead Time! — Same Dead Channel!

– Dave

Sorry, here's the YouTube "LBAILE" word, preview link. (The previous one is with the kid.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cqWiRipAOc

Here’s the “Timmy” episode parts 1, 2, and 3 on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Paranormal+State&search=Search

“Imagination is strong in a growing boy.” – Twilight Zone (Perchance To Dream)

It looks like the kid must have known about Timmy’s death – he could have picked that information up from anywhere.

The part with the furnace, where the kid says that Timmy is there, is pretty typical. I remember, as a kid, that area of the house scared me too. Whether it’s because it’s just dark there, or looks like a good place to hide, is a good question as to why.

The most interesting bit is the kid identifying Timmy from the photograph of several people (looked like it was from a wedding reception). Is the kid psychic? Is it a form of synchronicity (meaningful coincidence)? – maybe, but no reasons for ghosts.

The EVPs are a joke (breathing/scuffling?) and there’s even background music playing while trying to listen to them.

– Dave

Yeah, there was some heavy breathing that was real obvious but considering the presentation I got the feeling it was part of the dramatization, then they played the tape for like five second and you could barely make anything out, meanwhile they kept playing stingers and talking over it.

To me the bathroom door opening and closing (in the second investigation) should have been the most impressive piece, but while the quality was clearly there this time they made no effort to prove authenticity.

And so the most impressive part of both investigations was the kid not just knowing Timmy's name, but knowing that he went everywhere with his headphones on and knowing what he looked like. Unfortunately, as much as everyone claims there's no possible way he could know these things, we can't actually be certain of that.

As for him being psychic, I don't see how that's any better an explanation than ghosts. In fact, a lot of paranormal folks tie the two together, saying that psychic people see ghosts and ghosts are attracted to psychic people. This conveniently explains why no one's caught a ghost on film (cameras aren't psychic enough).

Personally I don't care whether the kid is supposedly psychic, or being haunted, or both, we need some better evidence than this show provided and it seems clear from the tone of both investigations that the show assumes that their viewers assume that these phenomena exist, which is why they don't bother trying to prove anything.

On the IMDB message board for Paranormal State, somebody claimed that the family on the "Timmy" episode appeared earlier on several other paranormal shows including Ghost Hunters. He claimed the kid was shown the same photograph on these earlier shows. I haven't seen all of the episodes of Ghost Hunters, so I don't know if this is true. Anybody here know?

The show seemed to begin well. The team was investigating the death of Timmy, where he died, etc. A psychologist talked to the boy, trying to determine his mental state and I guess to see if he's capable of imagining all this stuff. Then the show started going into a totally different direction, approaching the paranormal not from a scientific point of view but from a religious one. Evil spirits, demons, the team walking around the house reading scripture from the bible, sprinkling holy water. At the end of the "Timmy" segment Ryan gave the boy a bottle of holy water and told to use it if he ever saw Timmy again. In my opinion, total bull.

Ryan being followed by the demon, Belial (don't say its name out loud). Oh please. This is "Ghost Hunters Go Medieval".

L.,

Timmy Episode: Psychic or Ghosts

I doubt a ghost would manifest itself wearing headphones, so we have to figure that, what ever is going on, it’s going on in the kid’s mind. (As you say, cameras aren’t psychic enough.)

Another thing is that the show is edited down. In other words, the kid could have said he’d seen Timmy wearing a baseball cap, headphones, purple pants, and whatever, and were just presented with the “headphones” remark because it fits.

I think they said Tim died about 3 years ago (I think the kid is 7), which means the kid may have actually known about Tim and where he lived, if their both from the same area. It looked like an area out in the country (few people), so the kid may have seen Tim at church, in town, or during some special occasion.

You’re right, there was no evidence of a haunting presented.

– Dave

Kev.,

Ya – The kid could have seen Timmy on some other show, or the death account in the local news on T/V or in the paper (a photograph) – I never thought of that.

I’ve got GH episodes Season 1, 2, and the first part of 3 (you can get them off a torrent and there’s some on YouTube). I don’t recall the Timmy story.

I don’t know why they got into the conjuring and medieval religious stuff? – but I don’t think it’s going to do the kid any good by including that for the sake of sensationalism.

– Dave

I will restrain myself from providing negative commentary about the investigative team…uhh…I mean new TV stars…involved in this show. I've had some personal experience with them and was not impressed. This show only sealed my opinion of them as individuals and a "research" team. It is important to note, however, that for the 23 or so minutes of footage you saw, they probably filmed for 10+ hours. There's a lot you don't see, and I'm sure that things were manipulated by the producers of the show to achieve their desired outcome–ratings.

With that said, the stated mission of the show is not to show evidence. Good thing, because there sure wasn't anything of any quality there. It is to highlight the people involved in the cases. (And, apparently, to spurn new interest and spread more hooey about all of this demonology crap. It's a good thing that most of the American public have very little in the way of critical thinking skills. They should do quite well.)

In terms of production values….I was very distracted by their music and by the static-ridden "director's notes" that were used throughout the show. The fade to black transitions were used in excess.

This show does nothing more than perpetuate myth, sensationalize the unsensational, and try to make money. But isn't that what today's media is all about anyway? I guess it's not that different from the nightly news….

–Cindy

Cindy,

Of Course!

– Dave

i haven't been here in a while and i was hoping someone this show would be addressed in some way, so i'm glad you guys are on top of this one too.

i was very excited by the previews and i was really looking forward to the show, so it goes without saying that i was mightily disappointed by lack of evidence shown. same things everyone else has posted - heavy breathing, noises, bathroom door.

and i was annoyed with all of the background noise as well. as much as GH has been bothering me lately, at least they say they're attempting to go at it scientifically and gather evidence.

pooh!

Cindy, did you work with these guys as investigators, or were they investigating a case for you? just being nosey, i suppose…

Ryan Buell, Interview with Smallscreen

http://smallscreen.monstersandcritics.com/features/article_1378605.php/A&E_Paranormal_State_real_ghostbusters_an_interview_with_Ryan_Buell
It was a similar terrifying childhood eperience that set Ryan off into his paranormal career path. Buell reveals the catalyst that prompted his career as a paranormal investigator.
I had just laid down to go to sleep and my mother slept across the hall. I kept screaming for her because of what I had seen, and she would come over to see what was the matter. Around the second or third time, she became frustrated and told me that if I screamed one more time I would be spanked.
Unfortunately, I saw this apparition again and I couldn't help but start crying. Whatever I was seeing, it was terrifying enough to bring me to tears and cry out for my mother, whom I knew would be angry with me.
Buell was asked if perhaps it was possible his imagination in a semi REM sleep state conjured the demonic troll vision - commonly used in children's fairytale literature.
"It is absolutely possible that I was hallucinating, however, I had not yet fallen asleep when I had this experience so I think the 'waking dream' phenomenon might not apply here.
Is it possible that it was my imagination? Yes. It would be wrong for me to say it's not possible, but I firmly believe that whatever I was experiencing was not a hallucination nor a product of an interrupted sleep pattern."
Buell then rules out being in a sleep state because he had conscious interactions with his mother and also recalls being so stressed that he could not sleep.
You can read Ryans blog http://ryansblog.pennstateprs.com/ It gets more confusing. Statements such as. This show isn't about the evidence!!!
Geez, people, can we make this any more clear? We're not "Ghost Hunters. This show has a religious/spiritual element to it. Get used to it

I never investigated with them, but I attended a conference they hold each year. I was not impressed with their organization of the event; there were a lot of problems. One of the "researchers" who appears on the show has been very dishonest with me and with some other individuals involved with the conference. None of that has anything to do with the show or their "research," but I find that if you are unethical in your dealings with people, you are not beyond being unethical and dishonest in your research. I don't trust them.

I don't know, the more I watch this show, the more it bothers me. I just don't see how they're researching anything paranormal, as their society name implies. Dead time almost seems to be a joke. They're sitting around by candle light for an hour, and that's it? At least on Ghost Hunters you get what at least seems to be actual investigation. Trying to figure out if it is something like pipes banging that's causing the noises.

Another thing that bothers me with Paranormal State is that everything seems to be demonic. And there's always a haunting. There can't be that many haunted places out there. At least on GH, not every place has a problem.

I may be cancelling my Tivo Season Pass for this soon, and if I catch the show, I catch the show.

This show is highly suspicious. I'm also concerned with just how many of the so-called hauntings this team investigates are "demonic". The religious aspects bother me to no end. The only "evidence" I've seen involves a bunch of objects moving around while noone's in the room. The thing is, anytime a television producer is involved with anything, there's the possibility of a show like this being tweaked to increase ratings and public interest. In other words, if it's on TV, IT CAN BE FAKED. It's both surprising and sad to see how people willingly buy into something being real because they saw it on TV. I believe in ghosts and the paranormal, but my intuition screams that the people involved with this program are lying charlatans.

the name was Lbaile. I used Tivo to pause when the name came up. No clue what it means. Good luck.

Ok so on the show paranormal state i do believe that guy is very dramatic. There is a line between having feelings about something and then scaring people into believing they were about to be attacked by a demon. If you ask me the show is a joke I would rather watch that derrick guy on the travel channel tell people he was getting possessed by a ghost right there and start screaming at people I'm sorry for the negativity but if you are going to have a show about paranormal make it believable not dramatic.

Deziree, ….. What did you think of the episode with the decapitated, stinking dog they dug up. I found it in very bad taste. For some reason, they find a pile of stones and dig it up for the heck of it, then find the dead dog. All looks rigged to me — and that poor dog?

– Dave

I haven't watched this show since the second week but I couldn't sleep last night (darn Starbucks) and wound up watching four PS episodes early this morning……Questions:

So is Larraine Warren now taking adult classes at Penn St? She was in every episode…..Has Chip Coffey become a regular, as well? (Although, the real deal or not, I do find him entertaining.)…..Have they dropped the lame, "I'm so important that I'm being hunted by the demon, Belial.", storyline?…..Do they bury those lucky charms in every episode?…..And has anyone figured out why they have any of the other 'investigators'? I guess that one girl's job is to stand around and think, "Hey look at me. I'm so cool. I'm a pagan.". I don't think I've seen the others do anything but sit around and take notes (Wait, I'm wrong. They do interviews {insert rolly eyes here})…..And I swear, they STILL look like they're all about to bust out laughing at any moment.

OTOH they sounds in the woods were pretty cool. I just wish Andy from GHI had been there. He'd have run in there had that noise debunked before commercial break.

I would love to have more information on the name "LBAILE". I am trying to find out what it means, what kind of demonic name it is and how powerful it is for them on paranormal state will not say it out loud. Thanks for your time. I appreciate it

It's an anagram of Belial. It's the first post.

I seen that episode and I AM NOT GOING TO LIE IT FREAK ME OUT. THAT WAS ONE OF THE MOST SCARY THINGS I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE.