July 10, 2008
GHI: Larnach Castle
GHI kicked off their 2nd season with something of a surprise: They've traveled halfway across the world from their previous stomping grounds in Europe to investigate locations in New Zealand. Right off the bat, I like it. To me it represents a nice, clean cut with the 1st season — which many of you may recall I was not the biggest fan of.
Joining the team is Dustin Parry, a TAPS member who investigated alongside Jason & Grant in a number of Ghost Hunters episodes. Robb took a moment to re-introduce the rest of the team — I was a little surprised that he introduced Barry as an extremely scientifically-minded guy but I might just be jaded by memories of him and Brian running from shadows every time they were paired up. Barry did have a new technological gadget: a digital still camera that records IR & UV light in additional to the visible spectrum. Kind of cool, and it does come into play later.
The Ghost Hunters International team wasted no time in finding the only castle in all of New Zealand, Larnach Castle. Of course New Zealand was settled long after castle warfare went out of vogue so this wasn't a castle in the most traditional sense but rather a mansion built by an Australian called William Larnach back in the 1870's. Castle Larnach has over 40 rooms and the staff there seem to have had nearly as many experiences.
Their tour guide, Deborah, told of being pushed down the front staircase and getting bloodied up in the gravel of the driveway below. Other experiences ranged from smelling port wine and cigars in the study to seeing a full-bodied apparition momentarily standing a room away before vanishing. In the latter episode the figure seemed to have resembled the former owner, and namesake of the building, who took his own life on the premises.
One story that I found particularly interesting was of a door opening. Normally doors opening don't get me very excited but in this case the young man who had this experience was auditing the house. He was being very meticulous, turning off the lights and closing the doors to the rooms he had audited, and was about to descend the main staircase when he got the sense something was behind him, possibly trying to push him down the stairs (I wasn't entirely clear on this part). Turning, he saw the door to the second-to-last rook he had been in suddenly open on its own.
Normally one might easily suggest a door wasn't closed properly and its natural tendency when unlatched might be to swing open but in this situation you have someone who is taking care to shut each door when a room is completed — an oversight of that sort certainly isn't impossible but one could reasonably expect it to be far less likely. More interesting, I thought, was the fact that it had been the second-to-last room he'd been in. This wasn't a door he had closed just a few seconds before, some period of time had passed and that seems to make an accidentally unlatched door seem even less likely.
Andy & Robb started the night at the top of the stairs where this incident had occurred and began doing normal EVP questions while also encouraging any nearby spirit that it would be perfectly okay with them to push Robb down the stairs. Robb wasn't assaulted but both investigators suddenly heard what they thought sounded like shouting, then Andy heard what he thought was Donna saying, "Hello?" near the bottom of the staircase but as it turned out Donna was on the other side of the building.
There also seemed to be a thermal fluctuation. Andy had been viewing Robb through the thermal camera when suddenly the background behind Robb seemed to grow colder. Robb whipped out his thermometer and observed the temperature dropping about 1.6 degrees within a few minutes. I didn't like this much because the Manson Murders episode should have taught anyone associated with TAPS that thermal cameras dont't measure ambient temperature, they measure heat from objects or heat reflecting off things.
Dustin later "debunked" this by saying Robb's presence caused the nearby area to change temperature. It's certainly possible that Robb's movement caused the camera to change its temperature scale slightly, which in turn made it look like the temperature behind Robb had changed even when it really hadn't, but that didn't seem to be what Dustin was saying. Overall, I agree there is a likely "normal" explanation but the discussion of the footage seemed to reveal a continued misunderstanding of how thermal cameras work amongst the people who are using and interpreting footage from them.
In the ballroom Dustin and Donna were doing their own EVP thing when they both said they saw activity: a shadow in one corner and a flash of light in another. They asked if anyone was there with them and seemingly in response they heard some plates rattle momentarily. This is the first really interesting piece of evidence the group actually got a record of and we (the audience) can clearly hear what seems to be plates rattling.
Dustin determined that the plates could not be caused to rattle by opening or closing doors leading into the ballroom, and even jumping heavily on the floor nearby did not cause them to rattle as clearly as they had earlier. He set up the DVR and left it there to see if there was any plate activity later when no one was in the room.
As it turned out, he caught the sound of what sounded like glass bottles clinking some time later when the ballroom was empty. In both cases the sound only occurred once and did not repeat, causing the team to rule out many possibilities (such as machinery turning on or off in the basement) and settling on the idea that if something caused only the dishes to vibrate, and then later caused only the bottles, then the source must have been very localized — like someone bumping into the corner of the table the items were resting on. Personally I don't think that is the only possibility but their case isn't without merit and I don't really have a good debunking explanation.
In the study Andy decided he wanted to try and debunk the smells of port and cigars, so he plugged in his hair dryer and got to work. His reasoning was sound: Smells can become trapped in surfaces and then later released by heat or friction, like a scratch-n-sniff.
His results seemed to be very impressive: he was able to generate a sweet port-like smell from the table and a clear tobacco smell from the fabric of the chairs. Still, I didn't really feel all that impressed; probably because by the end I was still wondering why on earth he had brought a hair dryer to an investigation. Did he always keep one on hand for this type of debunking? Did they know about the smells ahead of time? It was one of those moments where the show seemed a little less honest it its spontaneity.
Dustin & Brian went outside to the front steps to try and debunk Deborah's experience being pushed down the stairs. They determined that the sixth step had a lip and a different shape from the other steps and could have caused her to trip. As usual, Brian seemed extremely cocksure of his conclusion — and as usual I was shaking my head. I mean, the lady had been going up and down those steps for years, I'm sure she's tripped a few times so when she says she was pushed I think it's jumping the gun a little to claim she tripped, I solved it, end of story. During the reveal Andy did suggest the possibility to Deborah and she repeated it as if it allowing for the possibility but the look on her face didn't seem like she was honestly convinced.
One random freaky (I thought) occurance that really got my attention was when Robb & Donna were walking near the entrance to the basement stairwell suddenly a light went on by itself. They went down to investigate and as Dustin joined them he noticed another light went on in a room ahead of him which he knew to be empty. As it turned out, there were standard-issue motion sensors that turned the basement lights on — so good debunk, but definitely one of those events that initially seems incredible.
Walking towards the ballroom, Brian says he sees a figure illuminated as Barry's flashlight passes over the wall near the coat room, but when he shines his own flashlight there he sees nothing. A moment later Barry reported seeing a figure down one of the side-hallways, but it was also gone in a blink.
In the ballroom proper, Barry wanted to try out something called the "Singapore Theory". The idea is that if you recreate the spirit's native environment then you may see an increase in activity. In this case, they played some 19th century music. Barry and Donna both reported hearing things — Donna said something about it turning into carnival music (evil carnival music!) towards the end and Barry voiced a similar opinion but unfortunately the audience didn't get to hear whatever it was they were hearing.
Barry switched the music to some 1940's Big Band music and reported that there didn't seem to be any activity at all, but after switching back to the original music they got activity again. It was a little frustrating not to be able to hear whatever it was they were experiencing but the team seemed determined to focus all of their efforts on the ballroom after this and I must say it was pretty impressive.
They set up three cameras all in the same room to try and catch any activity (the plates did not rattle again during this time, which I think is worth noting considering the room was filled with people and equipment moving around). They did catch some EM spikes but Andy found some wiring nearby which he felt could explain the electromagnetic fields. While Andy was checking out the wiring, Brian called out to ask if the spirit of the former owner was in the room with them, except I could have sworn he called the guy "Mr. Lucknuk" ?? Whatever.
Using his new gadgety camera, Barry took a series of photos which included one that caused a bit of a stir. It appeared to show someone sitting in one of the chairs, turned backwards (as if looking over their shoulder) and looking straight at the camera. They checked the DVR for reference and were able to cross-reference the exact moment Barry took the photo (we actually see him taking it) with the positions of everyone in the room and there is no one near these chairs. Barry also had taken a photo just a moment before which also confirms there was no one there.
Now, the face is fuzzy and I think it's entirely possible this is a case of "matrixing" — where the camera picked up some interference and the human brain interprets it as a face, because that's ust what our brains tend to do. This phenomena is well-known to TAPS investigators and I'm a little surprised it wasn't brought up here but again, I'm not entirely dissatisfied with the investigation here either. After all, Barry was taking photos on a tripod and he had a photo from just a moment earlier showing no such anomalies.
That doesn't mean it couldn't be something caused by a flashlight sweeping over the area just at the very moment of the next picture or some other kind of "normal" explanation, but with the DVR footage from the same time and the picture (of the same spot, taken with the same camera) from a moment before the "normal" explanations don't seem particularly strong either. Of course, that always must be the default position (because we at least know such explanations have been proven in other cases, whereas ghosts have not) but I'm intrigued enough to want more investigating and more evidence. Alas, it was not to be.
The team had investigated for over eight hours and they decided to wrap it up. Still, there was more intrigue to come: Robb began the Reveal by talking about their debunking but just as he was finishing up with that and starting a big lead-in (right here… in this very ballroom…) for their un-debunked evidence suddenly a siren sounded. Deborah said it was the fire alarm and they had to leave immediately. The fire brigade showed up but was unable to determine why the alarm had triggered.
Deborah said this was actually not the first time this had happened, that the fire alarm had actually gone off spontaneously for no apparent reason a number of times in the past including one time that turned out to be the anniversary of when William Larnach had committed suicide — to the minute, by her estimation.
I hope I haven't unwittingly lowered my standards out of desperation for quality programming, but I must say I'm impressed. Sure, there was evidence that isn't as solid as the investigators seem to think, but there wasn't really anything that jumped out at me and bothered me to the extent I couldn't take the investigation seriously. Andy, as usual, comes across as extremely credible not just in his demeanor but in his actions and investigatory technique.
Like many, I wasn't expecting too much out of GHI: Season Two and maybe that has a bit to do with it also but I give this a thumbs-up. It reminds me of old-school Ghost Hunters in a way I don't think GHI managed to replicate in their 1st season and after some of the Ghost Hunters episode we just saw this past season this Ghost Hunters International episode seemed a breath of fresh air. I'm sure I'll be rolling my eyes again next week, but for now I give props to the GHI team and I'll definitely be watching this season.
Filed under Ghost Hunters International, Posts by Logisti
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Comments on GHI: Larnach Castle »
Jef @ 7:21 am
It was an interesting episode - But for me it was a continuation of my GHI watching experience as being mentally exhausting and infuriating. I think I'm done with this show, and will just stick to the regular GH. I say that now so please remember to hold it against me next week when I'm raving about how mad this show makes me!
My beefs…
- Is it me or does Dustin fill the niche of Funny Hat Guy on this version of ghost hunters?
-I agree that the "debunk" of the front steps was total BS. Brian needs to not talk. When he said that I shouted at the TV "are you serious?!" and then my wife had to take the remote away cause I was going to throw it.
-Andy has always, always rubbed me the wrong way so when he showed up in this episode with his flashlight strapped to his forearm (has he worn that before?) I could only shake my head. I'm sure it's convenient but for whatever reason it bugged the hell out of me. If anyone else sported it I might not even notice. But if Andy does I hate Andy. Whats with that?
-Robb pacing around getting all excited about a temperature drop of less than 2 degrees and Andy saying something to the effect of did we just witness the creation of a cold spot? If a drop of 1.6 degress is a cold spot then kiss my grits.
-I was almost a little disappointed that Barry didn't chase after anything and that nothing chased after him. Sure I never bought that as anything more than running after shadows and an overactive imagination but it was fun. He was very restrained in this episode. I guess I will have to learn to respect that.
I DID like that they used Barry's new camera and can only wonder what sort of shenanigans that will bring us in the future. I also liked that they were trying different methods which made the show feel a little more fresh than I expected.
Overall, a fine breakdown of the show Logisti. I will now let the episode percolate for a while and check back to see what everyone else has to say.
-
Yeti33 @ 8:00 am
I agree Logisti, this was a good episode. I think the picture is probably the best evidence they have caught on GHI or GH. You're right Logisti, it could be matrixing, but it seems that the face is looking directly at the camera. I don't know if anyone else saw this, but at the end when they went in the basement I thought I saw a shadow run behind a door before Rob walked into it. Not sure. Any way, this by far was GHI's best episode.
Wes @ 8:35 am
Well, I wanted to give GHI another shot, but count me among those more frustrated and annoyed than impressed. As you noted, Logistsi, calling Barry "scientifically" grounded got the show off to a bad start.
That was followed by Robb being very impressed by a 1 degree temperature fluctuation in various parts of a huge, old house.
As for the rattling of the dishes/glasses - didn't someone at one point try to summon a cat, saying something like "here kitty …" or "is that you kitty" in the ballroom? If there's a cat wandering around on counters piled with dishes, couldn't that maybe explain the noise a little better than a wandering spirit?
As for the "image," I certainly didn't see a face, I saw a smudge. The reason Barry had to use a tripod is because UV photography requires verrrrrry long exposures — a slight shake of the camera, tripod or floor, a bug flying through the room or even a faint reflection of light off a chair would produce that kind of anamoly. Trying to take IR and UV images in a dark room is tricky at best for the best professional photographers using the best equipment.
As for Brian's weekly, "dude, I just saw a figure standing there" claim …
In all, I thought that a few clinking dishes and an anamoly in one photo was pretty weak "evidence" to claim, as Andy and Robb did, that this case produced astounding evidence … the only thing funnier than that determination was Dustin's Vanilla Ice headwear.
Wes @ 9:28 am
Quick update: a brief Internet search reveals the castle does indeed feature a wandering cat named Cindy.
Logisti @ 10:56 am
Jef, Dustin's always seemed to me a fairly good researcher, and certainly more credible and serious than Brian. I agree he and Andy both look a little weird — although in Andy's case it's more his face than his wardrobe — but I try to look past that to their personalities and I think both make excellent team members. Andy might seem a little know-it-all-ish but sometimes guys who are really smart can't really help that and don't even realize they're doing it.
I agree the whole temperature change thing was weak — especially with Dustin & Brian's expedition to the front steps where they acknowledged how cold it was outside. If it's really cold out then I think we can EXPECT the temperature to drop a couple of degrees somewhat quickly after dark.
As for Barry, that was probably the thing that impressed me most about the episode, he actually seemed to live up to Robb's description and gave a solid investigation. Brian, though reserved, still had me shaking my head but Barry exceeded my expectations — at least, my expectations set by how he investigated last season.
Wes, interesting find on the cat. That really shines a different light on this investigation for me. Who did you see talking to/about the cat during the episode? If the GHI team knew about the cat and didn't bring it up as an alternative explanation for the plates/bottles then that is either one hell of an accidental oversight or something far less benign.
gem @ 11:05 am
I thought the episode was one of the best - mainly because no Shannon!! Dustin is a much better investigator; he actually tries to debunk things and he brings a good energy to the show, unlike 'pouting girl' who doesn't seem to want to be there. Gosh, I'd give my right eye to travel around Europe hunting for ghosts!
I wasn't extremely impressed with some parts of the show, however. Especially Brian's debunk of the fall down the steps. Deborah actually told them she felt a 'shove in my back.' He was there with her when she said that, but I guess he forgot about it. Basically, anything Brian says or does has little credibility with me.
As for the picture with the face in it, I really thought it was matrixing or just some sort of smudge. It looked a little too odd for me.
Yeah, when Barry was described as 'scientific' I just about fell off the couch!
I thought it was funny how they put up subtitles whenever Deborah talked. Last time I checked, Australians speak the English language, too. And Dustin's hat was hilarious! Um, Dustin, you are on national TV, you might want to refrain from wearing things that make you look ridiculous!
All in all, a great episode, love the addition of Dustin, and I can't wait for next week!
Logisti @ 11:11 am
gem, KIWIs!! New Zealanders don't like being confused with Australians
I believe the original owner of the estate (William Larnach) was an Australian but everyone we met at the castle was a Kiwi.
Sully @ 11:32 am
The subtitles bothered me too, gem. I had no trouble understanding Deborah. It was a bit insulting to her (and New Zealand in general), sorta made GHI look like "ugly Americans." Then again, so did Dustin's hat.
Barry's photo in the ballroom was interesting, but far from conclusive. Nice to see them trying new tech, though.
As for the rattling plates, the first thing I thought was, "Rats in the kitchen!" Good catch about the kitty, Wes. There's the culprit, I'll bet.
Good riddance to Shannon. Headgear aside, I like Dustin. Andy's a bit pedantic, but I like him, too — enthusiastic debunker. The hair dryer was clever, even if contrived; gotta get me one of them forearm flashlight mounts. Barry kept his cool, so he's off to a good start this season. Brian is Brian; love him or hate him, it just ain't TAPS without "Dude, run!" Donna is a solid investigator, too; Kris might be cute, but Donna is plain sexy.
Robb, now there's a problem child. GHI could easily lose him. All he really does is stand around, trying to act important. Most of the time, he just appears confused. Doesn't seem comfortable in the leadership role. He's a distraction. Too bad Steve is afraid of flying; he'd make a great team leader. (Even though that New Zealand spider would have sent him running!)
Thanks for a good review, Logisti. I agree, this is a promising start to Season Two!
Wes @ 12:09 pm
For the record, I reviewed the episode and Brian is asking whether the plates were being rattled by "Kate" - not kitty, as I thought I heard. (This is right before he asks if it's "Mr. Lechner") … Still, if there's a roaming cat in the castle, how they ruled it out as the source for the noise is a question that begs an answer.
Lar @ 1:27 pm
That image is matrixing to the max. I copied it best I could from the online video. I ran it through photoshop. If you want to see it, I'll email it to you. The glasses or dishes rattling…c'mon..too many GH's in search of a haunting stretch the weakest evidence. Brian who holds the record for the most shadows seen, saw yet another, and like the 18,000 before it was NEVER captured by a camera. I'd hate to be in this guys house during a blackout. I think Steve's afraid of his OWN shadow, along with flying, jelly beans, any food starting with the letter K, spiders, his cousin Ethel, gerbils, capital letters…
Yeti33 @ 1:40 pm
Lar-
Could you email that too mee? awo712 -at- yahoo -dot- com
gem @ 1:41 pm
Oh, that's funny! I apologize to all KIWI's and to the country of New Zealand in general!!
You know, I like Robb. He can seem a bit of a stiff, but I think he balances out goofball Brian and 'everything's a ghost' Barry.
I think Andy's great - I always liked him in GH and was glad to see him back for GHI. He is a great debunker, although I wondered, too, where the hair dryer came from. I think it's Dustin's - he probably carries one around everywhere, you know how he is about his hair! That's probably why he wears that silly visor instead of a baseball cap - he would hate it if he ever had hat hair!
I don't think they found anything that rivaled the personal experiences they were told about before the investigation began (especially the door being opened by itself). The fire alarm was startling and hearing that it happens on the anniversary of Larnach's death gave me little chills. That was better than any other evidence they found that night.
Sully @ 2:17 pm
Oh yeah, the door opening! I forgot to mention that, gem. As Logisti said, something about that story gave me the creeps, too. Seriously, I actually got goosebumps as the guy told it. Very credible. Ever notice how, sometimes, the simplest experiences are the most chilling?
My personal theory on hat hair — if wearing a hat ruins your hair, it's time for a new 'doo!
Nosfer @ 2:44 pm
Wasn't a GHI fan in the first season but it was worthy of watching, as some have said, probably the best episode so far (and not just this season LOL) The photo playup and tease was way overdone and the photo itself not at all impressive to me but…
Refreshing to see some attempted recreations, though, ala Andy going into the scene to show us what a human would look like. Oh for something like that at Delaware and other places!
Jef @ 3:23 pm
Logisti, I have to agree that Dustin is a fine addition to the team even if last nights head gear seems to be a poor decision. I'd take half a Dustin over Brian as an investigator any day. Of all the debunks on last nights show, his were the most solid. Especially the thing with the motion sensors.
For they record, people can look however they want. Lord knows I do. I wasn't being all that serious about Dustin's backwards and upside down visor bugging me. Next time I'll use the 'not being serious' font anytime I'm not being serious. I am the guy who was always pointing out Tango's hat on the other show, so I felt I had to mention something here.
Apparently a great deal of my skepticism with Ghost Hunters and GHI revolves around certain hat choices. Maybe I'm in the wrong forum.
I don't care what Andy looks like - my thing with him is he comes across as a bit of a dink. I personally don't give anyone an excuse to act like that if they are smart or dumb or the President of Wyoming or whatever. People act like that because they are dinks and thats it. Nobody gets a pass because they are smart or even super smart. Maybe if he was super super smart I'd let it slide, but I don't think Andy is quite there yet. That's just me though. I apologize to any smart dinks I might have just offended.
Andy is if nothing else dedicated to what he does on the show. Like I said, he's always rubbed me the wrong way. It has nothing to do with what he looks like, just how he acts and the way he talks. He does come up with some really good ideas from time to time and I'll give credit where credit is due, but no one seems to be more impressed with his cleverness than he is.
I do think the hands free wrist rocket flashlight looks silly. Convenient yes. But my question is was Batman having a yard sale and if so did Andy also purchase the matching utility belt? That would at least give him a good place to carry his hair dryer.
Jef @ 3:29 pm
PS - I don't know if this matters but these episodes appear to be a continuation of season one and not season two. At least that is what my TiVo and Wikipedia tell me.
CrowTRobot @ 6:23 pm
Excellent review Logisti. I think I keep watching these shows just so I can come here and participate….
Whoever decided to drop Shannon for Dustin deserves a raise. Jeez..She was scared just riding in the van.
Andy…yea, he's a bit of a dink, but I didn't find him near as annoying as before (perhaps fatherhood has had its impact). And to be fair, he's good at what he does.
You know, I like Brian; but even I had to yell at him a time or two. Oh, and when we got the shot of the spider, I thought, "Dear Lord God. Please let's not do this here."
The 'photo' didn't live up to its build-up. When the fire alarm went off (insert rolly-eyes here) so we could cram in one more commercial break; I looked at my wife and said, "If they come back from this commercial, and claim the copy's been lost due to this non-sense, I will NEVER watch this crap again."
One question/observation: Maybe it's just me, but it seems like there's alot of:
"I saw something in that corner"
"Yea. I saw it too"
"Flash your light over there"
"Yea that's whe….Hey! Did you hear that?"
"Yea. It came from that corner"
"I can't quite make out if…."
And the whole time they're just standing there….Hey! Here's a thought: The next time you see or hear something in a corner, GO TO THE FLIPPIN' CORNER! Jiminy Cricket! THAT'S WHY YOU TRAVELLED HALFWAY AROUND THE WORLD!
Still, all-in-all a much better show than I had expected. Of course, I'm not sure if it's because GHI is better, or GH has just gotten so bad.
Dixie @ 7:47 pm
I love seeing Dustin on the show. I also agree with Logisti when he said_
_ " Andy might seem a little know-it-all-ish but sometimes guys who are really smart can't really help that and don't even realize they're doing it."
I dont get Robb, this team needs a clear leader, Robb just doesnt cut it IMO. I get so distracted by his eyes…but thats not his fault or anything he can help …I guess.
I dont believe anything Brian has to say…but I love him for his comic relief.
Barry is Irish , I'm Irish …nuff said
Todd @ 9:59 pm
My understanding about Andy's hair dryer: it seemed he could have grabbed one out of one of the rooms, maybe? I didn't recall him saying that he brought one with him. But it seemed that he used one that was handy.
When they did a review of the pictures that Barry took, they did compare two pictures. And it seemed that there was a light discrepancy between the two pictures. So maybe there was flashlight swept across the camera's view.
BTW, has anyone seen the Jason and Grant commercial for Hellboy 2? Hilarious.
RalphT9 @ 10:42 pm
I think the Face on Mars is a more convincing human face than the smudges picked up by Barry's camera and most people believ that the Mars face is a clear case of pareidolia
Stephen @ 9:26 pm
Had a look at the photo.
A little searching led me to this fun bit of flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/facesinplaces/pool/
A nice compendium of facial pareidolia, or "matrixing" as our GH friends call it.
Kudos to Andy for pointing out the lens flare in the photo, but I don't think he went far enough. The face lacks definable features– it looks a little like a Stormtrooper mask, or the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Look to the right of it, and there's something that looks like the ghost of ET the Extra-Terrestrial.
If you look to the left and right and just below the face, you can see it's part of a lens flare line that extends to just below the center. There are a bunch of differences between the "before" and "after" photos in terms of lens flare, and I think that something about the sources of light may have changed between the two images. So it could be a bug or a dust speck, but my guess is that it's lens flare. This is basically an orb photo where the orb has a couple of horizontal dark bands.
I thought I could get away without putting orbs into my List of the Unimpressive, but perhaps I was wrong.
kevin @ 1:58 pm
The interesting thing I find about this episode is NO EVPs! Amazing. GHI, and now GH, have always relied on EVPs as some of their most convincing (in their opinion) paranormal evidence. Maybe ghosts in New Zealand haven't figured out yet how to manipulate a digital voice recorder. Or maybe GHI considered Barry's photo of a facelike image so awesomely convincing of the paranormal that they need not bother with any EVPs.
The fire alarm segment seemed staged to me.
gem @ 3:00 pm
Do you really think it was staged? That would make me so sad. I don't think it's OK to do that kind of stuff. But I suppose they could have heard that the fire alarms go off periodically and that it went off on the anniversary of Larnach's death and thought 'how can we present this fact in the show in a compelling way?' The only way to do this would be to have the fire alarm go off unexpectedly. So I suppose you could look at it not as staging/inventing evidence, but as simply demonstrating to the viewers what has been known to happen in an entertaining way.
kevin @ 5:16 pm
Hey, Gem, you explained my statement better than I did. I don't think the whole thing was made up. I'm not that cynical. But maybe the alarm went off, say, earlier that day and they wanted to reenact the event. Or maybe it was just the way the segment was edited that made it seem contrived.
ralpht9 @ 2:33 pm
Unless you get a picture of a ghost setting off the alarm I am not sure it matters one way or another. There are probably even more remarkable coincidences that are not considred paranormal.
Probability is another topic best left to the statisticians just as thermal image interpretation should be left to thermal imaging experts.
One of the attractions to shows like GH or GHI is that they let the auidence decide what the cause may be for a cetain event. Its akin to those old whodunit movies that sometimes hinted at a supernatural explanation for something ie it was someone's disgruntled ghost who came back and murdered the rich uncle and not the butler who did it. We think we want all loose ends tied up, but in the long run guessing what and what is not paranormal is more enttertaining as evidenced by this website. So that's why hearing there is overwhelming evidnce for a paranormal event is so deflating. If Alfred Hitchcock came out at the end of one of his thrillers and explained "yes thes was all due to the ghost of aunt ethel" I doubt he would have achieved any popularity.
If there was overwhelming evidence of paranormal evidents GH, GHI all the ripoffs and this column would be news programs and not "reality" or "fantasy" shows.
Jason achievd this in the first few years. I bet if you look back at the GH epsoodes you enjoyed the most Jason was relatively indiffent to the findings-things seemed to have changed. I am not sure Robb can carry it off at all