June 18, 2008
GH: Fort Delaware
This investigation clears up (somewhat) a question Ghost Hunters fans have been asking all season: What ever happened to the "Hunt for the Hunter" guy they picked to be a new team member? Apparently, he's been in the general vicinity of Delaware this whole time and he joins TAPS on this investigation.
Fort Delaware is on Pea Patch Island, accessible only by boat, and is pretty impressively gigantic, even compared with some of the other places TAPS has investigated. I'm not sure if it's actually bigger than all of them, but the look and layout definitely make it feel that way.
The fort was constructed beginning in 1848 and took 20 years to complete. It was used extensively during the civil war, largely as an enormous POW camp. It is estimated that over 33,000 prisoners were housed there at one time, and as many as 2,500 people are believed to have died within its walls.
There have been stories of activity for some time, but our favorite Ghost Hunters are privileged to be the first team permitted to investigate on the premises. I have to admit, I got a little excited too. It's a pretty impressive place to have all to yourself, not to mention being the first team in there.
Many of the phenomena reported seem to correspond with what Grant (who has recently been very good about not repeating it unnecessarily) would call a "Residual" style haunting. One man slipped and fell down a concrete staircase, broke his neck and crushed his skull — since then people occasionally hear what sounds like someone thumping and thudding down that staircase. Another recurrent tale is that of a maid walks into the mess hall, dusts a fireplace mantle that no longer exists and exits through a door that no longer goes anywhere; etc.
There were also a couple of reports that fit better into the so-called "Intelligent" haunting category. Some of them aren't very friendly either: one woman reported having a door slam and a woman's voice scold her while another had a lamp thrown at her, shattering glass everywhere. All-in-all, there is a solid history of strange goings-on and the team can't wait to get started on their investigation.
Grant started the night off by attempting to debunk the lamp-throwing incident, he speculates the woman may have caught her foot on the cord and not realized it. They can't really test his idea though, so they settle for some K2 meter work. As per their recent SOP the team places an activated K2 meter on a table and sits a short distance away — and the meter lights up shortly thereafter. I was impressed that Jay & Grant quickly dismissed the (weak) responses they seemed to be getting as not paranormal.
Tango started the night off partnered with someone other than Steve for once, as Joe continues to reprise his role of "unexciting new team member". Joe, if you're reading this I know it's tough man, but you've got Tango to live up to and he debunked some serious (and seriously faked) video evidence pretty much his first day on the job. It's unfair, I know but we expect big things.
Tango also gets my vote for best spirit conversation of the evening with, "If you're really trying to communicate, you really need to try harder."
Still, the only activity the pair bore witness to seemed to be a response to Joe's request for a rock to be thrown. What happened just a few seconds later sounded like exactly that. Dave tried to debunk it when he theorized it might have been one of the many stalactites hanging from the basement ceiling, cracking and hitting the ground — but the sound of that material was much softer, so the mystery remains.
Kristyn is back too, and for some unknown reason she's been paired with Mark Fusetti, the guy who was selected to be the next Ghost Hunter in the Hunt for the Hunter contest. I guess Jay & Grant don't like him well enough to actually have a more senior investigator work with and train him — or else they just didn't think of it. After all, it took this long to pair Joe with Tango.
This is neither here not there regarding the specifics of this investigation, but in general it seems like TAPS is too cliquey and that's hindering their effectiveness. Jay always pairs off with Grant, Steve and Tango are often paired, Kris is usually paired with Joe or Kristyn, etc. I think they'd be more effectiveness if they mixed that up a bit, but that's one man's opinion.
Jay and Grant decided to head off the beaten path and take their FLIR camera with them. Shortly after entering some tunnels they heard the clear sounds of footsteps, movement and possibly voices — Grant wasn't entirely clear in his description and unfortunately it wasn't audible in the production audio. Strange sounds continued to occur around them, including one Jay thought sounded like a growl of some sort but Grant believed to be someone chuckling. All of this culminated in a marvelous moment with the FLIR camera which seems to show the clear outline of a human figure at the end of a corridor step out from a perpendicular corridor, turn around and step back into it.
Now, my first impression is that this was likely a living, breathing person, not only because that's the most likely explanation for that heat signature in the camera but also because the behavior seems a bit odd. If it had walked across the corridor I might have understood, but to step into view, turn around and step out of view in the direction you just came from just seems a bit artificial to me. Imagine my surprise when Grant immediately seconded my opinion and decided to give chase.
The dynamic duo don't like it when people try to play hoaxes on them — or as we saw in another recent investigation, they get a bit peeved if they even suspect someone might not be on the level — so when Jay & Grant decided to find out who was messing with them I was curious how they'd go about it and how effective they would be in achieving that goal.
I guess I had my answer fairly early on, as they called out-loud to each other regarding where they believed the person may have gone (thus giving any actual person ample warning to move) and Grant told Jason how he had gotten "mad K2 readings about 50 feet back". Since K2 meters aren't normally used to detect living humans I am left to assume Grant is either soft in the head or else he wasn't actually treating this like someone might be hoaxing them.
So, after Grant proclaimed that he had moved "as fast as he could" and "saw no signs of anybody" they decided to set up the thermal imaging camera on a tripod in the spot where they first recorded the anomaly to see if it recurred.
Fatefully, the next cut was to Joe Chin, who was now investigating the mess hall with Kris. Sorry Joe, no more training for you. The two decided to try for some EVPs after a brief EMF spike; I must say I did like couple of the questions they asked (such as, how many people are in this room besides me and my friend?) but mostly is was the same dynamic we've come to expect.
Steve, who had been noticeably missing from the episode until now, finally makes his post lights-out debut. He and Dave are investigating the tunnels, and quickly come across some strange writing on the walls, as Steve reads out, "For a good time call Mrs. Tango." Actually, it turns out there wasn't any actual writing. What was I saying earlier about dynamics we've come to expect? This time Steve ups the ante though, by carrying around a giant aerosol canister of spider spray. No joke. It didn't stop him from embarrassing himself by screaming at the first spider he ran into though.
Yes, once again a Steve/Tango scene begins with joking around and ends two minutes later with them commiserating over their shared fear and disgust for spiders. Hey guys, you know what would be even more interesting? Looking for ghosts!
…and to be fair it's not their fault. Pilgrim cuts the episodes together and whoever is in charge of doing that job seems to have a very different idea than I about what should remain on the cutting room floor, but then again he's the professional and maybe that's what most viewers like, although somehow I doubt it.
In the kitchen Jay & Grant have been trying and failing to get something, anything to happen with their normal approach. One of them remembers some of the stories and decides that the spirit might be more open if they started to talk about how great cooking is, and within moments there was an enormous BANG from somewhere behind Jason. That may be the most startled he's ever been on camera (they had to bleep him too) and the pair wasted no time trying to find out what had caused the noise. Unfortunately, they came up empty handed.
In an upstairs hallway Dave & Steve are still investigating together, but things haven't gotten any less pet-peevier for me, as the first thing we hear is Steve explaining to Tango how people see full-bodied, non-vaporous apparitions walking down this very hallway. To hear him tell it you'd think they were reported in droves, but what he is referring to is the tour guide's reference to a single marine who reported seeing what he thought was a civil war reenactor dressed as a confederate soldier pass him in the hall, and then when he turned to greet the man he wasn't there anymore. As has been pointed out, Steve's habit of giving his investigative partners tours of their own is not only tiresome and unnecessary, but he often gives incorrect or exaggerated details.
…and I have to apologize that this post seems to have become something of a diatribe on issues we've been discussing with the show this season. I had high hopes when this investigation started, but alas they were dashed — somewhat.
It was a bit of a big moment when Jay & Grant pulled Kris Williams aside and told her they were taking the "in training" off her job title and making her a full-fledged investigator. Follow that up with Jay & Grant investigating the tunnels again, but this time with their contest-winner Mark Fusetti, and things are looking up again.
As they did their normal EVP-evoking spirit-talk there was a clatter of noise and Jay broke off with Mark while Grant stayed behind. They didn't get far before Grant saw something down a nearby tunnel and gave chase, but it seemed to have been another false alarm — a window with a light that seemed to vanish and reappear if you moved your head slightly.
Mark gave some of his thoughts on the location and investigation to the camera and the two lead investigators. His title of "Guest Investigator" is more reminiscent of a certain pro-wrestler than Kris Williams though, and it doesn't appear likely he'll become a regular member of the team.
During the analysis there was some decent audio captured. At one point when Joe & Kris are messing around and laughing a voice in the background seems to say, "Show some respect". I wouldn't say it's one of the more convincing EVPs the Ghost Hunters have ever put forth, but I do get a kick out of the idea that Joe & Kris pairing off has the potential to annoy even the dead.
With Jay's loud kitchen BANG there were a couple of interesting developments. First off, investigators in other parts of the fort heard the bang when it happened — it was really quite loud, but also there seemed to be an EVP immediately preceding the sound. Tango thought it was a woman's voice saying, "…kitchen", to me the two-syllable sound seems closer to that of an old cuckoo clock but it's an interesting find nonetheless.
Lee, the historian who took TAPS on their initial tour of the fort listened to the footage and didn't make much of the EVP either, but after hearing the BANG caught by the production crew in the kitchen and then the same sound recorded by a different team in a different part of the fort he immediately said it sounded like cannon fire, and that there had been cannons stationed just outside of the kitchen where Jay had been sitting.
I will mention here that when they initially investigated the sound Grant noticed what appeared to be a stack of firewood near an empty metal drum and he dropped a piece of wood onto the drum to see if that could have been the source of the sound. The result was fairly loud, but not quite as loud and everyone seemed to agree it didn't really match up with the original sound — I mention it here only because although I agree with their assessment, it would seem all earthly possibilities should be considered and I don't think we can completely rule out the possibility it might have been a piece of wood falling on that metal drum.
The thermal footage is, of course, the most intriguing topic for discussion and they played the original footage Grant captured again. The figure in the image seems to be oddly nonchalant in the way it enters the hallway from the right, turns and leaves the same way. It almost looks as if the figure has its hands in its pockets. Certainly, the behavior doesn't seem normal, but it doesn't seem purposeful in any way — at least, I would expect a hoaxer to be moving around more furtively, unless he somehow knew they were using a thermal camera.
What the team captured while the thermal camera was left unattended on a tripod was a bit more in line with my expectations: a form (head and shoulders) leans out into the tunnel as if looking towards the camera and then leans back out of sight.
Now, Grant insists that they swept the entire area and that there was no one there, and it would have been too difficult for someone to sneak in there without anyone knowing, and that every team member and every production crew member was accounted for, but I'm just not convinced.
For one thing, he didn't seem to even consider the possibility that a member of the fort's staff might be trying to stage a haunting. For another, unlike some of the other thermal footage they've captured, this isn't something appearing in the middle of a room and seeming to vanish without obvious means of escape, it seems clear this entity is limiting its exposure by only entering hallway briefly and quickly retreating the way it had come.
Part of this could have been easily solved if Grant had positioned the camera down the left corridor facing the intersection in question in the direction the person seemed to come from. If the camera had been set up there we might have seen the person creep up the hallway, peek around the corner and creep back, but it was relatively clear that Grant never really intended to treat this as if trying to catch a hoaxster.
Sadly, this FLIR footage appears to be the primary basis for Jason feeling comfortable announcing he thinks the place is haunted. Lee seemed to jump on board rather quickly, praising the fact that the first piece of thermal footage wasn't enough for TAPS and that they were thorough enough to capture a second piece of corroborating physical evidence before making their decision. Maybe I'm missing a key fact, such as: is that place the person came from a dead end? Would they have to walk past the thermal camera to get down there? If not, I don't know why there seems to be no question of a possible hoaxer.
What did you guys think?
Filed under Ghost Hunters, Posts by Logisti
 |
| ^ Please Support our Sponsor |
Comments on GH: Fort Delaware »
J. @ 12:20 am
I agree with your impression of the thermal footage Logisti; it probably is a person.
If it looks like a human, walks like a human, and acts like a human.. then it probably is a human.
And that leaves us with the sad and disappointing conclusions that either one of the crew perpetrated a hoax or one of the people from the fort pulled a prank on TAPS. Hopefully that's not the case, but what else is there?
It's like a FLIR version of the Eastern State Penitentiary and Moon River Brewery "apparition." But instead of running, now it's walking slow. It also lost the sheet it had draped over it.
The bang was interesting since it was so loud, and it'd truly be nice evidence if they couldn't find a natural source that caused it. But it makes you wonder how thorough they were in their attempt to find the source.
Like you said, L, it's sad that they came to the conclusion that the fort is haunted based on the thermal footage.
On the flip side, it was nice to see Kris "graduate" to become a full investigator and it was nice to see Mark finally get to join the team on an investigation.
June @ 12:51 am
Usually when the FLIR shows something, our ghost hunters head forward to see whether there is another way out from their own way in. Why didn't they do that this time? As Logisti wonders, is there a dead end? Given the lack of on-camera investigation of that possible dead-end (or not), I can't give any credence whatsoever to the FLIR image. And hey, it looks absolutely human.
My other "complaint," if you will, has to do with the EVPs. I could not hear anything clearly. Okay, maybe that's me–I've been next to way-too many amps at way-too many concerts, and yes, I have resulting hearing loss. I might not be the only one–the fellow who introduced TAPS to the building, and who was present at the reveal (I'm sorry, I don't remember his name), looked rather at a loss when it came to figuring out what was being said in these EVPs.
Even so, I enjoyed the episode and I appreciated the investigation. What a great building this is, esp. for people (like me) who are interested in Civil War history.
Lar @ 5:22 am
I researched this fort. The FLIR captured a ghost called Peek a BOO! I was waiting for someone from TAPS to use that line, or maybe, it's a friendly haunt just playing Peek a BOO!
Someone was somewhere they didn't belong, sneaking around, maybe trying to pull a prank, & thought they could sneak out without being caught, thus the Peek a BOO!
Does GH compare footage or evp's with sci fi cameras? You can't tell me a $125.00 digital voice recorder captures evp's when in the same room a digital broadcast camera with sensitive external mic.'s worth 10's of 1000's more doesn't.
I wonder what the differences are in what GH obtains & Sci Fi does or does NOT.
Jef @ 7:18 am
I was thoroughly unimpressed with just about everything in this episode. The "kitchen" EVP was a stretch and the FLIR footage just made me roll my eyes. Especially after seeing the head peek into the frame. That's when I got up and left (in retrospect I guess that didn't save me much time since it was so close to the end of the episode, but still).
Another place with seemingly great potential and they come away with bupkis for convincing evidence.
CrowTRobot @ 7:28 am
The sound in the kitchen: I actually thought the piece of wood on the drum sounded quite similar to what they heard. However, it would not have been loud enough to be heard, apparently, outside as well.
The FLIR footage: I just don't know how that could be anything but a person. And didn't J&G say this area was NOT one of the hotspots? If so, there may have been staff in that area assuming TAPS wasn't going to investigate there. The head peaking around the corner may have been someone seeing if J&G was still there. Perhaps a bit far-fetched, but no more than the alternative.
Kris' promotion: Seems all that badass provoking last week paid off. I guess I'm going to have to do what I should have done from the beginning – get over it and move on.
And I agree about the cliquey part. I've always wondered why J&G didn't split up and team with the others from time to time.
Wes @ 8:04 am
I second Crow's scenario of the FLIR footage – I took it as someone – Fort Staff, a security guard, A TAPS member looking for the bathroom, the guy driving the boat – looking around and then upon seeing J&G and knowing they were supposed to stay out of their way, leaving, only to come back later and take a peek to see if they were still there. For that matter, we don't know if the "peaking head" was the same person/ghost as the earlier body.
The explanation that "everyone was accounted for" at those exact moments is – at best – weak. And if that's "evidence" of a true, real-life haunting, I'd hope for some analysis of the figure to see how tall it was, if the general dimensions fit with anyone on the island at the time, if the heat signature was consistent with a person, etc., etc.
The EVPs to me were the usual garble of noise that only remotely sounded like what TAPS decided they were saying …
At least it was a neat location … and Kris Williams can now update her resume to take the "in-training" off – the ghost hunting profession is very hard to advance in if you don't have at least a year of full-fledged investigator experience
jack @ 9:12 am
The flir footage had me thinking 'person' too. But there were some things that gave me pause. I didn't see any footprints. Usually the thing seems to pick up the residual heat from footprints. And the peeking head–what was it peeking at in near toal darkness? Checking to see if they were still there, okay, but upon not seeing them(providing, of course, that they had some way to see in the dark)–had it been a hoaxer, wouldn't they have come out?
In the end what it boils down to is that we have to take J&Gs word that there was no one who could have been there.
The EVPs. I thought the 'show some respect around here' EVP was pretty clear–any non-clrity stems from the fact that it's under other talking. The kitchen one sounded more like '–something– in the kitchen'. And that first one, near the stairs that the guy fell down was debunked
Again I'm left to wonder why they don't suggest CCTV setups in hot spots. Something maintaining a 24/7 observation.
Logisti @ 10:12 am
Lar, actually it's true. EVP believers and skeptics alike agree on one thing: Better recorders result in fewer EVPs.
The skeptics will point out that the better recorders eliminate a lot of the EM interference and filter out other external phenomena usually associated with EVPs. The EVP enthusiasts will say that spirits need that interference and irregularity in order to manipulate the recording device and convey their messages. Either way, for EVP cheaper recording devices = more EVPs.
wwayneross @ 10:59 am
With a full hour ( actually 40 mins) devoted to this episode, I would have hoped that they would have tried to re-create the FLIR figure. There was no mention of doors or exits in the tunnels when they chased the figure down the hall, however it looked like there were several doors leading to more tunnels.
One questions is, were all the lights off in the tunnel? If so, I would imagine that even staff who are very familiar with the tunnels would need a flashlight and there was no evidence of one being used by the figure, and a person in the dark would not be walking so comfortably, so that gives me a little pause.
CrowTRobot @ 3:35 pm
Thanks Jack. I forgot about the "Show some respect around here" EVP. I had to laugh, then smirk, at that one. Kris and Joe fumbling around laughing at who knows what…Yea. If you really believe in what you're doing, you SHOULD show some respect.
Man. When you can't outthink a corpse…
blinddog50 @ 4:50 pm
C'mon guys, for a ghostie to generate that much heat on the FLIR it would have to be toting a DieHard battery to draw from.
They needed a hook for the…wait for it…wait for it…MID-SEASON GRAND FINALE!
I mean if you could actually have the proof that they claim they have with this FLIR picture.
You would be on national news programs hyping your show.
Remember recently the "Blue Ghost" sighting that was all over the news that turned out to be a bug on the camera lens.
Well this certainly tops that!
Another thing that puzzles me.
Take the sightings and EVPS in the kitchen.
Why is it that a ghost that you can't see can speak and leave a message on a recorder.
But a ghost that you can see(the lady that lifted the lid on a pot)never says anything.
Please enlighten me.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a believer.
Just with Joe and Kris, Steve and Tango and the guest spook chaser of the week this show has become a ship of fools led by the Skipper and Gilligan.
And they are begining to insult our intelligence.
numyer @ 5:25 pm
Interesting location. I just think the FLIR looks and acts too human. coming into the hallway and then quickly going back, then peeking around the corner as mentioned to "see if they are still there". I know they ran down there and said they checked everything, but they are new to the place (just like everyplace they first visit) and can't possibly know all the ins and outs of it.
Cool location though, but I often wonder if its really possible to know what all the noises, shadows, etc. really are in these huge places. But still it seems like a place they should return someday and have another go at it.
The producers should really stop using Steve jumping at spiders as clips in commercials for upcoming episodes, everytime I see him doing that, in the show it turns out to be a spider. Also seemed to be big hype in the promotional about them "being hunted by the ghosts" – uh did I miss something? When did all that happen? Well thats TV for you.
meme @ 9:14 pm
First of all you do realize that most likely they are not always paired up like they are shown…I watched an interview with Jason and Grant and they told when asked why didn't they ever investigate with anyone aside from each other that they did and that scifi never shows it.
Second about the thermal hit…the heat signature appeared to me to be coming out of the floor in a way…it didn't look like it just walked up.
Next, I like the fact that they show the clips of Steve and Tango freaking out over spiders, it keeps them as being normal people. In my eyes they are awesome people and great investigators.
Just so you know Mark is not gonna be a regular cast member. That was not the deal he was just gonna get to go on a case with them and that is what he did.
Lastly, the evp that said something and then kitchen sounded to me like "This is my kitchen".
Derek @ 10:30 pm
New to posting but have been reading these posts all along. I wish they told you how long they investigate these places. this is such a big place did they really do it in a night? There is a lot of fluff in episodes where they could show more hunting. Most of the time they tell us in the "findings" what they tell us in the "reveal". How do you get to be an investigator-in-training? I can understand Kris's appeal but Joe? How does he get involved? He appears to be a clown. The thermal image was pretty amazing if it's accurate. They may have done some testing or spent more time trying to debunk it but it may not have been shown. I wanted to see more around this, it should have been the centerpiece of the show. I want to believe, prove it to me.
Did anyone find it funny that Grant seemed to be an expert on pulling cords on lamps?
Brandon @ 3:44 am
Here are my thoughts on this episode.
1. My favorite quote of the night was from Steve: “One thing I am really excited about is thousands of people died here.”
2. I won’t even go into FLIR image they caught wondering around, other than to say that it was obviously a real person.
3. The lamp-throwing incident really bothered me. Chris Polo, the eyewitness, stated that she was sitting for 5 minutes when “..all of a sudden there was a crash right next to me.” She doesn’t mention anything about seeing it being thrown at her or about it “flying at her” (as Grant states). But he quickly determines that she kicked the cord and that’s the end of it.
4. I hate the K2 meter. I mean come on, how can you really trust any device like that. If it is inaccurate one time, why would you ever use it again? How can you ever be sure that the “answers” you are getting are paranormal?
5. Something I’ve been wondering about finally came up during this investigation. Why does TAPS only investigate at night? Every example that was given in the walkthrough took place during the day. The soldier walking down the hall, the cleaning woman, the woman in the kitchen cooking, and the woman holding the door closed were all during the day. If you honestly believe that these haunting are residual, wouldn’t they take place during the day when these real people were actually awake?
6. Finally, the most interesting part of the show for me was the loud noise that apparently rang through the entire complex. The idea that it was the sound from a cannon firing is just silly, unless, as Jay states, it is a residual cannon sound. And here I didn’t even know cannons could be haunted. Now, to me, it definitely sounded like a drum was hit, which was justified by the metal bin outside the room. Grant tries to drop a small piece of wood on it, but it isn’t quite loud enough. The interesting thing is that there is one much bigger piece of wood lying on the floor when Grant and Jay enter the room. Watch 8:10 into the 3rd part of the episode
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1FG8gLZGAU&feature=related
and you will see Jay kicking a piece of wood that they never addressed. Could this wood have fallen onto the bin? What is Jay trying to do with the wood on the ground? What would that piece of wood sound like dropped a bit higher in the air? Could someone have hit the bin loud enough to make that sound? With the simple act of dropping a small piece of wood a few inches above the bin, Jay just dismisses it as the source of the sound and Grant claims that “we couldn’t figure out what could have done that.” Only the best from the TAPS crew once again.
Logisti @ 11:01 am
Brandon, good eye! Yes, there was a piece of wood on the ground to the left of the metal drum, so if you think Grant's whack on the metal drum had the audio characteristics of the BANG heard in the kitchen then there is corroborating circumstantial evidence that a piece of wood may indeed have fallen onto the drum at some point before Jason & Grant arrived on-scene.
Dixie @ 2:05 pm
This show is getting sillier and sillier….is sillier even a word?
J. @ 3:41 pm
meme: I just reviewed the recording and the figure that showed up on thermal does look like it just walked up. It doesn't look like it came out of the floor like you said.
As for the bang, it doesn't sound like a piece of wood being hit against the drum where Grant and Jay were in the kitchen. That may be due to some acoustical effect.
Also, part of the banging sound is covered up by the bleeping of Jay's naughty word that he uttered when the sound surprised him.
But if you listen to the recording that was made while Joe and Mark were in the courtyard, it does sound like a big/thick piece of wood being hit hard against the drum.
And the piece of wood that Brandon mentioned, the one Jay is nudging with his foot, is off the pile where the rest of the wood is and is on the other side (left side) of the drum laying on the ground by itself.
I don't know if merely dropping said piece of wood onto the drum would be loud enough to produce the sound caught, or if it'd require someone picking up the log and banging it against the drum to make the sound as loud as it was.
Maybe the same prankster that showed up on the thermal cam whacked that piece of wood against the drum and then ran off.
Logisti @ 4:21 pm
J, maybe. Also, good point about the difference in perspective on that BANG. The audio by Jason didn't sound like the metal drum to me, but he was also inside. When they played the other audio from Joe's outside perspective later it actually *did* sound similar to that drum, though.
I'm just shaking my head right now thinking about the evidence of this case:
1) TAPS recorded a couple of EVPs but they aren't terribly impressive and in the past TAPS wouldn't call a place haunted even if they got a few really impressive EVPs unless there was additional evidence.
2) A loud sound was heard, but there is a significant chance it was the piece of wood we saw on the floor next to the drum caused that sound. Even if that isn't the case, it isn't necessarily paranormal.
3) If that FLIR footage was captured anywhere else by anyone else there would be no question that it was a living, breathing person — even if we didn't know who.
The only reasons we're given to doubt the obvious (non-paranormal) conclusion are that:
— 3a) They couldn't find anyone (even though they walked slowly, announced their positions and called out loudly to each other where they were going next)
— 3b) Everyone was accounted for (but no explanation for how he could possibly know for certain where everyone was at any given time, and clearly he is excluding For Staff from that accounting)
— 3c) It would be too difficult for someone to sneak into that area (that sounds remarkably like "it was not impossible for someone to sneak in there")
…and yet, with this handful of instantly discredited evidence they proclaimed the place haunted, a title formerly reserved for cases that defied all attempts to debunk them (as opposed to cases that are extraordinarily easy to debunk).
As I said earlier, there was a precise moment when I knew all was not well, and it was right after the brief moment I really thought they were handling things exactly right: First Grant sees the footage and tells Jason there must be someone down there with them, messing around, and then moments later — as he's supposed to be tracking down a hoaxster — he's checking his K2 meter for EM spikes and vocalizing all the information a would-be hoaxer could possibly need to avoid being caught.
Frankly, the only explanations I have are either they were in collusion with the hoaxer or else they have an overriding belief in the supernatural so strong that they subconsciously sabotaged their own efforts because they didn't really want to find out the truth, they just wanted to believe.
Either way, it does not bode well for those of us who watch the show hoping to see something resembling objective science.
kevin @ 5:46 pm
I want to ask about something Jack brought up. Wouldn't heat left by footprints show up on the FLIR and did Grant or Jay even attempt to check? If it was a person they could have followed the footprints to wherever he or she was hiding.