I am new to the board. Tonight's two investigations keep leading me down the path of "I wish there was just MORE evidence". Every once in a long while there is a pretty good EVP or something hard to explain…but more and more J&G and team are relying on personal experiences for the show. Not saying the experiences are not real….just not verifiable to us at home. And getting too much like GHI…LOOKING for stuff. I'd rather them come out like they used to, with little or NO verifiable evidence, NO EVP's etc…and tell the person they found nothing. It would be more believable to me.

I will say this…I know J&G personally and feel strongly that they believe in what they are doing, have good intentions, and were personally interested in and involved in this long ago. I think some of the evidence that has been shown to be mistakenly called evidence when in fact there was an explanation…like the "soldier" apparition at the Crescent…were truly believed to be "real" at the time by J&G. They got carried away with the excitement and didn't bother to have it analzyed professionally before presenting it as potential evidence. And now they just don't want to comment…even if they might agree it was just Grant's reflection, etc…they know that would call into doubt everything they've ever found. That is all speculation…I have never asked and they probably wouldn't answer that.

And I believe some of what they come across is real paranormal. I look at it as their attempt to protect the field itself, and to an understandable extent…their own reputations. I just wish, again, that the "feelings" and "shadows" and "cold touches" would stop. Give me some EVP's…some video…something else!

And, gimme a break on the KII meter. I have been on investigations with them and with Chris Fleming and am convinced that it is bogus. Those things go off all over the place…for no reason. Too easy to manipulate. I'd rather go for DVR. People get so dang excited about the stupid meter flashing that multiple questions are being fired off in rapid succession to get a "flash" response. I'd much rather hear short, measured EVP work where you wait quietly for something to respond. Impossible with the KII it seems.

J&G are the real deal. Genuine people who, like many of us out there..are just prone to pop off at someone that makes them mad or attacks them. A natural response, I think, for those of us not famous enough to have "people" or "handlers" to intervene.

I am a big fan and never miss an episode.My husband and I both agree that they don't have time to show all 12 hours of the footage they caught.They also don't declare every place haunted. As for trying new techniques I see them doing that with that K 11 meter. We also don't see every investigation do we? Plus I am pretty sure Sci-Fi pays pretty good money allowing them to continue their work.

I guess what I am saying is that I believe what they have caught. I am fairly skeptical. I have also had my own experience that even my own husband refuses to believe, chalking it up to "spiders" brushing my face repeatedly. Apparently my home has spiders the size of a hand and will repeatedly run back and forth across my face. If people don't like the way they investigate then they need to investigate and learn how to get the ghosts to perform on cue and they need to become psychic so they will know where to always have the camera pointed.Good luck. LONG LIVE GH AND GHI!!!!!!

The Cresent soldier apparitin could not of been Grant or Jason seeing as how neither of them were wearing a hat. Steve wears a hat but not like that of a soldier.

This was a weird one, IMO. I really do believe that the whole Grant's leg getting touched thing was actually staged. It's possible it really happened (but I doubt it!) but I think they - meaning G and J - actually staged the occurrence shown for the episode.

It is driving me insane that anytime Grant sees/hears/smells something it's never caught on film. Since so much stuff happens around him, maybe he should be wearing a camcorder on his head or something. Really. I just don't believe anything he says anymore, especially when I can't see it with my own eyes.

A flick on his ear was a ghost? Really? Come on. You guys have to do better than that (you = TAPS)
I'll post a comment in the Prop. House posting because I was more impressed with this - as well as Dave Tango's dad as an investigator.

I'm chalking this one up as Grant grasping at straws.

Sarah,
Check out this site before you make any more decisions about the Crescent Hotel apparition. We believed it 100% too when the episode aired…but you've got to read this site. Especially scroll down to the bottom of the page where it shows a still of Grant from that night next to the "apparition". And it explains the soldier's "hat" too.
http://www.darkrealmlabs.com/scifi/gh213/

I thought the EVP sounded like a grown up from the Charlie Brown cartoons. More of a Wah wah than words, but it could just be me.

What is it with Steve?

First, there was Serious Steve. We all liked Serious Steve. He was the anti-Brian, calm and efficient.

Then he started to loosen up, and turned into Silly Steve, hazing Tango and generally treating him like his callow kid brother. It was goofy, and annoying at times, but we could live with it in small doses.

Now we have Satyr Steve, ogling underage chicks and making lewd comments. Kris seemed genuinely disgusted at his behavior. (Then he ran like a little girl when he saw a spider — that's the way to impress the ladies. And this guy used to be a COP?)

Oh, yeah, the investigation. It was good to see J&G resist the temptation to call a place haunted, but I agree, they really do need to stop waffling — if a place has "some paranormal activity," doesn't that mean ghosts, i.e., haunts (or "haints," as we say down South)? What I think they're trying to say is there's some activity that they can't explain at present, which may or may not be supernatural. Maybe J&G need to define what they mean by "paranormal"; a lot of people (me included) tend to view "paranormal" as a synonym for "supernatural."

For that matter, it might be useful if GH would broadcast one episode devoted exclusively to explaining the techniques and terminlology the TAPS crew uses, and some of the theory behind supernatural phenomena — sort of like a Ghost Hunting 101 episode. That would be a good way to level-set audience expectations.

Tango's dad was a nice touch for Father's Day this Sunday, too. GH handled that very well.

I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again: It doesn't seem to matter WHAT Jay and Grant say - if they say it's not haunted, the people almost always come on afterwards and say something to the effect of "I don't care what they say, *I* say the place is haunted".

I thought tonight was one of their better investigations this season.

I have a BIG problem with Steve. I used to be one of his fans, and thought he might have been able to take over if and when Jay and Grant ever left TAPS. Now I realize how foolish that would be.

When you are in a field that takes you into a lot of old buildings full of spiders, cobwebs and assorted insects of all kinds, then it is absolutely counter-productive to have someone on the team who has a phobia about such things. It is akin to a surgeon who faints at the sight of blood. Being spooked and jumping around at the sight of a spider seriously impedes an investigation. I'm not knocking people's phobias, but in this field it is a serious detraction from the work at hand.

He also has admitted that he doesn't like to read. Fair enough, but again, if you want to learn about this field, including its history, experiences of others, the latest developments etc. then reading is a must. Also, a few books on psychology would not hurt, either. A well educated investigator is a real asset. Unfortunately, reading only one book on ghost hunting does not qualify one to be a valuable asset in this field.

Lately, Steve is influencing Tango to a tremendous extent, and not always for the good. Now he has him afraid of spiders as well. Tango IMO is a smart guy but impressionable and somewhat shy. His new found phobia is not a good sign.

I don't mean to offend anyone who likes Steve. As I stated, I used to like him a lot myself. But over time it has become apparent to me that he lacks much of what is needed during an active investigation. He is a good analyser of evidence, and perhaps that is what he should be doing most of the time. Also he can set up equipment very well. But his investigative skills are overshadowed by his phobias (remember his famous "something touched by legs" at the Stanley Hotel Halloween special when there was a bunch of twigs and such that he could have easily brushed up against?).

Anyone else feel this way? Maybe I'm being way too harsh and I do apologize to Steve's fans but I have to write what is on my mind.

P.S. I could be wrong but I think Steve was a security officer, not a cop. I'll have to check up on that.

Not sure if Steve is the whole problem. Off camera, he's probably a nice guy. Seems to be getting a bit full of himself, lately, but we only see him on camera.

The larger issue is that Pilgrim is trying to get "up close and personal" with the TAPS crew. We don't need to be hit over the head with a lot of cutesy banter. Just stick to the investigating — we'll get to know the team quite well enough, that way.

Way back when, Steve made an issue of not being included on the walkthroughs because he said he needed (as tech manager) to come on the tour in addition to J&G in order to know where best to place the recording equipment.

I used to think he was using the information he got from going on the walkthrough to kind of give his own tour to Tango (or whomever he happened to be paired with), and I thought it was really cheesy and lame, especially the way he went about it.

That may still be the case, but more recently another possible explanation occurred to me: Exposition. Steve & Tango's interactions (when Steve is telling the history of a place) just don't seem natural. Steve seems far to authoritative for someone that just learned this information an hour before, and Tango always seems waaaay too interested in Steve's newfound tales.

So, maybe it's intended to be exposition: in other words, Steve is talking to Tango, but what he's really doing is explaining what's going on to the audience he knows is listening. If that's the case, it makes him seem less full of himself, but I think it should be obvious the audience needs no further explanations (especially since we just saw the tour) and it still doesn't reflect favorably on him

I do recall them specifically mentioning at one point that Steve used to be a cop. Since it's come back up I got thinking about it and now what I'm most curious about is how long he was a police officer for and why he no longer is one.

Met Steve a couple of times. Don't know him well…but probably wouldn't want to. He seems nice enough…but very dry and sarcastic. Mr. No Personality. He almost seems like one of those kids whose parents never gave him the time of day..very shy and backwards, not outgoing at all. Doesn't look in the eye much…kind of hangs his head a little. But, to each their own. He seems comfortable with himself that way…so who are we to judge. Not everyone is cut out to be in the public eye. I know I'm not.

You folks sure can infer a LOT about a person's personality and make judgements from snippets of a SciFi TV show. [rolls eyes] Most of us would be lucky not to come out looking like the redneck that had just thought a UFO landed in the back yard!

Back on topic… I just had the feeling the J&G thing was staged also. I hope not, i'll give them the benefit of the doubt. I was thinking the whole time… oh boy, they're going to get blasted for this one if something happens…. sure enough !! hehe

My understanding is the reason Steve is brought along on the walkthroughs is so that has some background for positioning the cameras instead of getting the info second hand from Jay or Grant. It would be redundant and a waste of time. I don't see anything dubious about that.

wwayneross, I didn't say there was anything dubious about it — I was just talking about how Steve's personality rubs some people the wrong way, and I actually stated exactly what you just said as the reason for him coming along on the tours.

What I said was that ever since he started going on those tours, he started giving his own tours to whomever he was paired with for the evening, e.g. telling Tango all about the history of the place.

Even then it's really about how he says it. He never says, "The guy who showed up around told us that X happens sometimes in this room, late at night". Instead he says, "Sometimes, late at night, X happens in this room" as if he was the expert, and not at all like he was just repeating something he heard someone say an hour ago.

The distinction is quite minor in most respects, but in two respects it is worth noting:

1) Factually, it can sometimes be a problem since he strips the overheard opinions of their source he sometimes seems to believe things as fact (or as his own opinion) even though it was clearly just the opinion of the person giving the tour.

2) Interpersonally, it seems to rub a lot of people (including, by not limited to myself) the wrong way because he comes off as a little too self-important.

…and that's just an opinion, I'm not asking anyone to share it.

The walkthrough and personality issues all sort of support the notion that Pilgrim is "staging" things for dramatic effect. I'd much rather see TAPS walk into a place "cold" and see what they come up with, and then have the history and folklore introduced to the team and the audience during the Reveal.

SZ, this isn't a sitcom and it's not even Survivor. We're watching a bunch of folks go to work, do their job and interact with clients & coworkers, and we've been watching it for four years.

Sure, people put on a "public face" when they're on camera, and of course the show is edited, but after some hundred hours or more of watching these folks I think the astute observer can reach some highly accurate conclusions about their general personalities.

1st, since they were in Arkansas and got the footage of the soldier on the locker, Steve asked to go on the walkthroughs.

2. if you watch old episodes, others have done the same thing Steve does. i remember Dustin describing to someone what happens in a specific place. Andy, Donna several have done it. i'm sure we dont see it but after the tour, Jay, Grant & Steve meet with the other crew and tell them what to expect in different rooms.

GH has a tendancy to repeat things - the # of phobias Steve has, what an EVP is, we see the tour then someone tells another investigator what to expect in a room…..etc etc etc

The reason you see the various TAPS folks often repeating what claims are associated with various areas is that they are told to by the producers — it's standard procedure for reality shows. Because they don't know as they are investigating what scenes will make the final cut, they want each segment to have the ability to stand alone without as many (continuity-busting) cut-ins of someone explaining what room they are in, and what supposedly happens there.

Well that certainly makes a lot of sense: It is exposition, but it's not something he just decided to do on his own.

Logisti, I too have noticed Steve repeating to another member what a tour guide, manager or home owner has said without giving his source. On occasion, he has actually made errors in doing so, as happened on their first visit to Waverly regarding the nurse. Not a big deal, as you say, but I think he should tell where he is getting the information from. And your exposition theory makes sense as well.

I still stand by my opinion regarding his phobias and how they impact on investigations. Visions of cobwebby old haunted houses crawling with spiders immediately comes to mind as the stereotypical haunted house! Kinda like the Addams Family mansion…