January 22, 2009
GHI: Trekroner Fort
Trekroner Fort in Copenhagen Harbor is one of the coolest locations I've ever seen. The fort was built on a man-made island positioned to protect the harbor from incoming hostile vessels. It saw two battles in the early 1800's and I suppose that means there were at least a few deaths on the premises, although we didn't get much in the way of specifics of why people believe the place to be haunted — other than folks seeing shadows and hearing noises. No very dramatic reports of activity, however what this location provides that others haven't is some thorough documentation by another paranormal research group.
The Danish Paranormal society had a whole team stay overnight in the fort and although they didn't record any evidence of note, by the end of the night GHI had actually caught what we would normally consider very minor evidencd (such as a recording of footseps) except that it corresponded precisely with the reports of the Danish team, which made them slightly more intriguing to me. But more on that later.
Starting off the night, the team experienced a familiar combination of random noises, shuffling, footsteps, and in the case of Angela possibly someone breathing in her ear (are we sure it wasn't Barry? He's a real devil, that one! j/k). Somewhat impressive, and in a completely different way, was the examination of reports people had seen a dark figure in the 2nd floor window of one of the buildings. In front of the window in question there were a number of storage units with shelves and apparently some tablecloths had fallen back in between the shelves and the window, which could easily have been what people were seeing.
In the opposite direction, we have an EMF conversation, sans K-II meter. It was your standard "make the little box light up if you agree with me" conversation except in this case the box made noise instead of lighting up, but what made it stand out in my mind was that even though they'd tried this before, this time it seemed like they were achieving a near Jay & Grant level of success; by that I mean this is the first time GHI really began to convince me that maybe the "answers" they were getting were not random and really were in response to their questions.
That being said, of course my first question is "who is answering?". It looked to me that Robb's hands were in plain sight the whole time, and Angela had both her hands full. That leaves us with three major possibilities: (1) it was still just random noise, even though it really seemed like it was not, (2) they really were conversing with an unseen entity, (3) their camera man is not on the level. I can't prove any of these of course, but from what I saw I am definitely leaning towards #3. Having said that, apparently The Danish Paranormal Society had a similar experience, being able to "converse" through an EMF detector. Without footage of their experiment to get some idea of how non-random the answers they received were, I'm going to have to just footnote their finding and leave it at that; especially in light of what happened just a short while later.
Brandy & Dustin were using an EMF meter in a slightly different way, they placed it standing upright, left it in front of a camera and walked off to investigate another room (with the intention of reviewing the tape after the investigation was done to see if they caught anything). What they caught was the EMF detector being knocked forward towards the camera and emitting a shrill noise like R2-D2 during a power feedback overload. They heard the device go off and went back to see if anything was going on, when they found it knocked over Dustin postulated it could have been the wind and said that it was fairly windy where they were investigating. I commend him for the thought, but the two problems with that hypothesis are (1) wind doesn't explain the EMF detector going off like crazy and (2) we didn't hear any wind on the handheld camera's microphone.
Now, if the microphone had a windshield and if the EMF was simply being activated by the electronics in the camera, I suppose it could have been the wind. It also might have been a supernatural entity, but something about this makes me suspect deliberate hoax on someone's part (not Dustin or Brandy's). I prefer not to go in that direction when I don't have to — and I was just commenting how one of the reasons I like GHI is because I don't get the feeling we're being played, but the combination of both EMF events in this episode make me begin to suspect I may have been premature in that assessment. We shall see as time goes on.
As far as other evidence goes, one of the things Robb & Co. experienced that they managed to capture on audio was three sounds that could be interpreted as footsteps in gravel. This is mildly significant because the team heard the sounds at the time they were recorded and were unable to explain them — and perhaps slightly more significant because the floors in that area are currently wood and no one could make that gravel-walking sound if they wanted too, but to me the most interesting thing about this piece of evidence is that The Danish Paranormal Society heard the same exact thing in the same location, right down to the number of footsteps. Still, as with any evidence of this type there's really no way for us to completely rule out things like pipes banging from the heat coming on, and so in the end it's not terribly impressive to me.
More interesting was an EVP caught while Barry was trying to communicate with a spirit. He asks if the spirit wants him to leave it alone and in response on the recording there seems to be a sound similar to that of a dog whimpering. Barry asserts that he didn't hear anything at the time, and certainly not that sound. There did seem to be some digital distortion occurring on the recording even as Barry spoke, so it's also possible that this is just EM noise affecting the recorder in some way — but EVPs in a nutshell are supposed to be some sort of "guided" EM noise affecting a recording, so we can't just jump to "it's just noise and therefore not paranormal". Others could argue that EM noise is exactly how paranormal communication would manifest. I have to leave this up in the air and just say it's kind of weird and interesting.
Unfortunately I can't do the same with their most impressive (according to their opinions) piece of evidence from the evening. Angela was alone with a handheld camera when she rounded a corner and the autofocus freaked out for a second or two before properly adjusting. The Ghost Hunters International team all seemed to agree that there was a very clear figure that presented just at the moment she turned the corner, and the problem with the camera was that it tried to adjust from a long focus (down a hallway) to a short focus (figure right in front of the camera when she turned the corner) and then the figure vanished into thin air and the camera was able to focus down the hallway again. Well I'm sorry but I just don't see it. I'd really like to see what they're all talking about but to me it just looks like camera blur combined with some non-paranormal shadows and maybe some video artifacts. Labeling that video as impressive and definitive is sad and reaching, in my opinion.
…and of course it was the crowning piece they presented to cap off their conclusion that the fort is definitely haunted.
Filed under Ghost Hunters International, Posts by Logisti
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Comments on GHI: Trekroner Fort »
Nosfer @ 4:38 pm
First!!
Apparently the EMF falling over was by natural causes since it wasn't mentioned in the analysis or reveal. Not sure how "cropped in" the broadcast video was, but I think it would behoove the teams that, whenever they set a camera looking at a piece of equipment, that they make sure they are filming the entire piece of equipment AND an adequate buffer of space around it.
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Wes @ 4:46 pm
In another forum, I said I wasn't ready to stop watching GHI, but after this episode ….
The obvious: the digital recorder distorts Rob's voice and follows shortly with a whoop with the same tonal quality .. . a bobbing, weaving, dipping, totally out of focus camera shot in a dark hallway briefly shows something you can't make out … the conclusion: the spirits of the undead are CLEARLY roaming the fort and making cartoonish whooping sounds and showing up as blurry blobs on out of focus camera shots of dark hallways.
The kick in the groin: Rob talking about how GHI approaches everything from a "skeptical" viewpoint — I guess that's why he also kept talking about how he hoped they would get some evidence and the rigorous, logic-based scrutiny they give to that "evidence".
Check, please …
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Bobarino @ 4:52 pm
Nosfer - Thanks for mentioning the EMF falling over. I thought I missed them explaining that it was natural causes. I was surprised when they didn't show that footage at the reveal as well.
If it was explainable, I wish they explained it to the us, the viewer. They showed us the clip of it falling over but no explanation paranormal or otherwise. Plus I think it would lend some credibility that they are not taking it as evidence of paranormal. But to just leave it out and not mention it at all? Wierd…
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Nosfer @ 5:03 pm
Bobarino - Especially since by the time they were putting it together for the program they KNEW it was not paranormal. They should either have resolved it in the analysis or (preferably) just left it out altogether.
These "conversations" using the EMF are amazing, too. Clear almost-two-way conversation? Try some test cases. Ask the same question later a slightly different way. Vary the amount of time between questions so as to eliminate a recurring event setting it off. After getting a "yes", rephrase the question the opposite way and see if you get a "no" Ask questions with definite answers, not "did you work here" How about "is 1+3 equal to 4?" (in the native language of course)
I was amazed when Brandy said people were actually KILLED in the BATTLE…I had NO idea wars were so messy.
Listen to Barry's voice in the squeaky "EVP" He's flaring out, too, squelch (or it's digital equivalent) too high? Some other setting was distorting things and has to be considered before high-fiving over the sound.
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Wes @ 5:46 pm
… to correct my previous post.. make that Barry's voice that was being distorted by the obviously malfunctioning recorder.
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Nosfer @ 5:52 pm
There was probably a goofy Robb EVP as well so you don't have to make TOO big of correction
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dr_peter_venkman @ 8:56 pm
Yep. This one was weak. The EVP sounded like the feedback that was obvious on the voice portion. The blurry video was probably because the autofocus was trying to lock on the camera strap or other explainable object that was in the right foreground. As soon as it was removed the focus returned. Not very paranormal in my opinion.
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Lar @ 7:16 am
Cue up the video to 3:50. Beyond the weekly evp's which can now been classified as external volume pollution, this has to be the worst video evidence presented. Others have been faked & forged but the series is so desperate it needs to rely on a camera blur as proof of the paranormal.
What about the 11,000 blurs we've seen before this? Or every home movie from 1940's 8mm to today's high def, or the millions of photos where the camera is OUT OF FOCUS.
Alas my DeBunkers, we need not hunt any longer. Spirits have been & continue to walk among us. It all makes sense to me now. Of course entitys would be a blur. They're spirits so we cannot see them, we can only see the blur or movement as they walk between us!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKJ4k2kDiig
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CrowTRobot @ 9:14 am
I'm late to this funeral, but yea, the evidence was a bit disappointing.
The EVP: Wes and Dr.PV have already cleared it up. I turned to my wife when I heard it and said the same thing, "That just sounds like feedback. You begin to hear it when Barry's talking."
EMF conversation: When they ask it to make the EMF 'spike' I heard a sound, but the needle didn't move. Isn't it suppose to? To me, it still sounds like it just responds arbitrarily.
The footsteps in the bunkers: I hear noise, but I don't hear footsteps. It just sounds like something falling.
Angela's blur: KInda cool. But I just thought it was her shadow.
The most interesting part of the show was the EMF falling over; and we get nothing.
Best part of each episode is when someone says, "We're glad to have GHI here with their scientific approach…" My wife and I just look at each other.
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Nosfer @ 6:25 pm
Okay…so what criteria do they use to determine when we need the subtitles? They were subtitling the "host" for most of his tour and I could understand him perfectly. Then Barry starts in with his Irish brogue and I was sitting there saying "Huh? What did say? Cheesemakers? Where's the flipping subtitles when you need them!!"
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The Doctor @ 7:49 pm
According to the EMF manufacturers website, for a few bucks more they could get a version that has 10 times the sensitivity of what they are using, so they could get some real reading rather then the little flutter.
According to the instructions, in proper operation
"The meter is sensitive to changes of as little as 0.5% of the strength of the Earth's magnetic field, and the tone will sound whether the field increases or decreases. If the magnetic field then becomes stable for more than about five seconds, the tone will stop and the needle will return to zero. The meter will remain at rest until the field changes again."
We don't see/hear this. The tome is heard for the 5 seconds when Rob turns it on and places it on the ground. All we hear is geiger counter type clicks during the "communication".
Whatever the meter is doing it appears that it is NOT being operated properly.
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hammer1 @ 8:26 pm
re: the EMF meter. Rob says something to the effect of if you understand us, or want to show you are here — *SPIKE* the meter please, Mr. ghost. Then the thing goes off, but the needle hardly moves. Rob, of course takes this as a sign of 'communication'.
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The Doctor @ 9:33 pm
Noticed that Barry was off on his own when he got his whoop recording, and Angela was off on her own when she got the blurry video.
Yes I realize the cameraman was there, BUT are those cameramen available during the analysis to break in with … "Anglea, that was when your hair fell in front of the camera, I caught it in my viewfinder " ?
I hope these solo investigations are not a new trend -
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Liz M @ 9:08 pm
I watched this part of the episode today (cable problems made sure the DVR couldn't record the rest). I heard something interesting - Robb mentions "this is the first time we have had to take a boat to an investigation" or something very close to that. Wasn't he at the GH live episode? Didn't they do a whole 15-minute thing where they showed barges bringing the crews and equipment to the fort? Or did I miss something?
I agree the EVP was weak. You can definitely hear Barry's voice getting funny right before the EVP. And what did they think it was? A ghost dog whimpering? The fuzzy camera "ghost"? Please. They haven't done any blatant faking (yet) but their m.o. seems to be promote evidence that is extremely questionable and accept it without appearing to debunk it. Very disappointing behavior for "scientists".
Another thing bothered me - they are in the business of debunking and not claiming something is haunted until all other explanations have been exhausted (well, that's obviously not happening, but I'll continue). So why does Robb explain provoking as enticing a spirit to make something happen. A true debunker (or maybe skeptic is really the right term) would preface with "if there are spirits, provoking attempts to solicit a reaction". But he acts as if the spirits are already there and provoking just makes them do something.
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bullerspoke @ 2:54 pm
It was hilarious hearing Brandy and Robb pronounce Tre Kroner Fort (which means Three Crowns Fort) as Trekrunner Fort.
Other than that it was a rather dull episode. The EMF-conversations does raise some questions, especially the falling EMF-meter going crazy. The other conversation "sounds" good with the creaking but the meter reads miniscule fields, as the needle hardly moves at all.
Barry's "singing" EVP is clearly reverb creating feedback into the microphone of the recorder, that explains why it wasn't heard at the time. If you listen to Barry's voice that precede the EVP you hear that the reverb (and overdrive) is there.
Angelas videothingie is clearly an effect from the auto-focus and the light hitting the wall.
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The Doctor @ 10:40 pm
Just a thought regarding the EMF meter conversations -
Since a non-answer is accepted as a NO answer just how do they decide that the conversation is over ?
Do you want us to leave now ?
Are you finished talking with us ?
Will you let us leave here alive ?
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SJ @ 6:30 pm
Regarding the camera auto-focus:
She just turned a corner, so it's obviously not focused to the depth of the hallway yet. It looks to me like it's searching for a subject, and the "shadow" on the wall wasn't a shadow at all, but the middle (dark) part of a flashlight beam.
I, too, am upset that they didn't mention what REALLY happened with the EMF spiking and falling over. Perhaps they don't want to tell us so they can use this technique as valid "evidence" on an upcoming case?
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Nosfer @ 6:48 pm
Another thing that irks me about that EMF meter flopping over…
Why didn't they stop right there and review the footage to see what caused it. Not do a "Let's hope we see what caused it when we do the evidence review" cop-out. Why, you may ask, would it have been a good idea to review it then? Well, it would have been good for them to determine right then and there whether this was wind or natural vs something paranormal. If it WAS paranormal, then maybe they shoulda stuck around and ramped up the investigation in that area. If they was serious about this stuff, anyway.
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kim @ 3:02 am
I think that there is a totally natural explanation to everyting, it is really revealed in that strange noise. You were picking up sonar readings perhaps a sub in the area it would also explan the shaddow on the camera as sonar can work like an ultra sound. And if it was sending out signals it could also account for the 3 shuffles you heard in the room if you were not receiving signals through rock and dirt it might have been more profound!m It also could cause a camera or emf to tip over. We don't hear or feel it but there would be vibrations. Maybe ghost hunters should become spy hunters
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