July 9, 2009
GHI: Wicklow Gaol
I must be really confused because I thought this was GHI Season 3 — I guess they just had a really long mid-season break last year — but in fact it's the premiere episode of their 2nd season. That's right folks, so it's official that in a single season GHI went through… how many members?
Well, let's see now… the show premiered with Donna La Croix, Andy Andrews, Brian Harnois, Shannon Sylvia, Barry Fitzgerald and Robb Demarest, so 4 of the original 6 are gone but even beyond that one of the replacements didn't take and Angela Alderman is also no longer with the show — so somehow in 26 episodes they've lost 5 of 7 "permanent" cast members.
Anyway, welcome Ashley Godwin! Ashley introduced herself to us as someone who considers themselves very much science-oriented, and I was pretty excited about that considering science has been quite lacking in both Ghost Hunters series. Of course, I did think it was a bit odd that she kept going on about "Physics" and how things can be explained by it — after all, the only people I know who think Physics is an all-encompassing word completely synonymous with the word "Science" are physicists, and I suspected she hadn't left a position at Los Alamos or JPL to come work for Robb investigating old buildings.
In fact, it turns out that she is an alumnus of Robb's Florida ghost hunting group, which explains in part how she came to be on the show but it does seem a bit incongruous with the whole "Science" thing, unless Robb used to be much more scientific and only recently went all "read every desired remote possibility into any random event that doesn't have an immediate and simple explanation". Then again, maybe not because within fifteen seconds of saying how scientific she is (and using the word "Physics" as a synonym for "Science" like eight times) she finished up by asserting there are things "Physics" can't explain.
Now, I'm just a simple country boy (or not, it really doesn't matter) but I'm pretty sure most sciencey people who run into something they can't explain with science attempt to discover a way to explain it with science rather than just jumping to completely unscientific explanations. Apparently this is not so with Ashley. Everything becomes much more clear later in the show when she explains how she became involved in researching the paranormal: when she was three years old her Grandmother bought a haunted house — which was definitely haunted because there were sounds no one could explain that sounded like dishes clattering.
In short, welcome Ashley Godwin, additional pretend-science-oriented person. I suspect you will get on very well with your new co-workers.
Getting to the Gaol (pronounced "Jail" for exactly the reason you might suspect… because it is one) the tour was fairly interesting because not only were there many varied reports of unexplained phenomena but most of them were the sorts of things one might hope to record on video or audio, as opposed to some other locations where some of the reports included mundane stuff like temperature variations or "feeling" someone else in the room. Not so here, we have reports of a flowing mist, at least two full-bodied apparitions, blood on the floor in one of the cells and a number of other GHI might hope to capture evidence of.
One problem I noticed right off the bat — because despite myself I still take these investigations seriously and view them from a "Physics" perspective (I also read a lot of Phy-Fi) — was that few of the reports seemed to repeat. Science is very big into repeatable results and out of the multitude of stories only two seemed to repeat: one was people (including a visiting child) seeing a small boy in the school area of the prison (which existed for children born in prison — messed up system, eh?) and a man in the attic/chapel area who was seen by two different visitors (who both seemed to think he was a hired actor in period garb, although their host insists no such man was up there), although the latter sightings both took place on the same day and then not again. This lack of consistency would definitely lower the team's chances of getting good evidence, but since they've never really gotten "good" evidence ever I suppose there's no reason not to try, right?
One thing I really like about GHI is the testing and use of equipment. Last season Barry brought in a full-spectrum digital (still) camera, which I thought was a fantastic way to explore the hypothesis paranormal activity might be visible outside of the normal human visible spectrum. Essentially it's a camera that can see "visible" light as well as some infrared and ultraviolet. This season the team got all new DVR cameras including at least one full-spectrum camera, so now they can record full-motion video that can capture infrared or ultraviolet activity. Very cool.
The night began (sort of) before the equipment was even all set up when Ashley reported something tugging her pants leg. Luckily there was no video evidence for FormerGHFan to motion-stabilize and prove that Grant was pulling a fishing line from the nearby jail cell. Not too long after the investigation got underway for real Dustin & Barry heard (as did we) a series of noises that sounded like someone walking around on one of the catwalks above them (the main prison section was three levels in height with a standard "open" design, floors two and three have only catwalks that go along the cell entrances) but no one could be seen. As discussed in things that don't impress Stephen (or me either for that matter), for all we know the wind blew outside causing the catwalks to vibrate and sound like someone was walking on them.
Robb & Joe had a similar experience in the same spot later in the night. Unfortunately in this case we have a repeated "result" but still no way to definitively rule out "normal" explanations for the result. Assorted creaking and/or thumping just doesn't cut it for paranormal evidence these days.
I was impressed a short while later when Ashley complained that her chest hurt and ears felt clogged and Barry immediately brought out his digital barometer to measure if the air pressure was fluctuating. It wasn't, but if it had been that could have been an interesting (and documented!) result that bore further investigating. Barry sometimes forgoes the science, but of all the team members he is also the most likely to employ it in a creative (and even somewhat correct) manner and for that I salute him. Of course I should also mention that for complaints of chest pain, other than a barometer the judges also would have accepted administering two aspirin and phoning an ambulance. Either way.
Upstairs in the chapel Brandy reported seeing a fluorescing light coalescing into a form near the ceiling. Unfortunately her video equipment didn't capture anything. Later on she reported seeing the same thing in the main jail area when she was with Ashley, who also didn't see the lights in addition to them not being caught on camera. I'm just going to throw this out there for Brandy: seeing unexplained flashes of light can be an early warning sign of retinal detachment. It can't hurt to schedule an appointment with your Opthalmologist.
Brandy also reported feeling like someone "tugged" at her camera as she was standing right around the same spot Ashley had been much earlier when the pants-tug incident occurred. Again, a repeated "result" — and that's a good thing — but in this case it's useless because there is no recorded evidence of the tugs other than the personal experience of the people directly involved; and as mentioned earlier, if there was recorded evidence of the tugs I'd be less excited than apprehensive considering our recent bad experience with such evidence.
In the school area there was actually a third "tug" of sorts when Dustin reported feeling as if someone had reached into his pocket and tried to grab some sweets he had stuffed in there. Again, no evidence other than Dustin's explanation of what he experienced. I believe he claimed to have captured the crinkling of the candy wrappers on audio, but without corresponding video showing his pocket and it's surroundings there are simply far too many "normal" explanations for wrappers crinkling in a pocket to start considering paranormal ones.
Dustin also left me with a bad taste in my mouth as he decried to the open air in the jail's school area, "What of the child who remains here?" Who talks like that? Maybe I'm over-sensitive (with good reason) but the faintest whiff of manufactured drama on this show annoys me to no end.
The team captured an impressive collection of evidence from this investigation including two pieces of video evidence, which has been a rare commodity these past few years. The first EVP reportedly sounds like a child (according to GHI's host) but I didn't even hear a blip. The second spurred an argument about whether it was saying "Rice" or "Rights" but to me an electronic blip was precisely what it sounded like, and not a voice at all. The third EVP was recorded while Dustin was alone in solitary confinement (apparently even when you're not a prisoner there you have to sit in solitary all by your lonesome) and is quite audible: it sounds like a growl. If Dustin didn't make the noise himself without realizing it (maybe clearing his throat?) then I'm at a loss as to how that particular sound could have found it's way onto the audio, especially without him hearing it.
For video evidence the first piece was a light spot that seemed to appear out of nowhere on the second floor catwalk in the main prison area. The actual form of the spot seemed to be a sort-of-circular spot in the middle with a bunch of tiny dots arranged in a ring around it. When they showed the second piece of evidence I was surprised they didn't mention the similarities because the second piece of video evidence was captured by the same camera — this time the light spot was brighter, organge in coloration, and appeared on the first level, across the room from the spot on the second level. The geometric shape of the spot seemed identical though: a circular-ish spot surrounded by a bunch of tiny dots arranged in a circle around the larger spot.
Robb insisted it couldn't be a flashlight, but I don't see how he can make that determination with any confidence. Granted, both spots seemed to appear and disappear without changing location at all or any of the irregular movement one would expect with a flashlight, but then again the shapes were odd, geometic (not human-shaped in the slightest) and the complete lack of movement doesn't match up with the reports of mist or apparitions seen there. I'm highly intrigued by the mystery of what caused those lights to appear and disappear but at the same time I see no reason to jump to the "paranormal" explanation, not just because of the geometric nature of the shapes but also because I know I've seen that precise geometric combination before: the DVR cameras themselves.
The DVR cameras used by Ghost Hunters (TAPS) and I believe even the new ones purchased by GHI have a circular lens surrounded by a ring of miniature infrared LED lights. I can't say for sure that's what we're seeing and I don't even have a hypothesis as to how a camera could reflect (or whatever) to create those spots, but the shape to me seems too much of a coincidence to ignore.
Filed under Ghost Hunters International, Posts by Logisti
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Comments on GHI: Wicklow Gaol »
Oubliette @ 7:01 pm
I'll go on record as saying that I actually enjoyed the opener. It's OK if you guys want to throw stuff at me….Especially great was no sign of Dustin's famous duckbill hat. Let's hope it stays that way.
blinddog50 @ 7:03 pm
On sad note it was noticed last night on this episode that one of the members of the GHI team had succumbed to the dreaded Gonsalves Syndrome.
Apparently said member of GHI was exposed during the Crossing Over episode of GH.
If necessary re-watch the Wicklow Gaol episode. Look for symptoms.
Let's stop this horrible affliction before it can gain a foothold.
CrowTRobot @ 8:22 pm
I'm with you, Oubliette, I enjoyed it – to my surprise, actually. I'm going to hold out on my opinion of the new girl for a few episodes – I wouldn't want to be judged on my first day at the job.
What really stood out for me, and I covered this a bit in my 'GHI marathon' thread, was their sincerity. I believe they really believe in what they are doing. A nice change from what we've been getting from GH.
I'll wait for Logisti's review to comment further.
alicat @ 8:22 pm
Sorry Oubliette, I was disappointed. You know I would never throw anything at you but I felt you could just cut out the players and paste them in any other GHI location. Nothing was different except I was happy to see Dustin without that hat! The most interesting parts of GHI for me has become the scenery, historical locations and getting to see areas inaccessible to the general public.
And, I hate to break this to everyone, but GHI opened the season by investigating a location that was on the brink of closure. Although the Council spent over 2 million pounds restoring the place, it’s only been open to the public for 10 years and had become the biggest tourist attraction in the area. Prior to opening to the public, there was never any report of paranormal activity. However, Marie Comerford, who has worked there now for over 8 years and Christine Murley have reported these claims of activity. No one who made these “claims” to Marie or Christine have ever made these claims to anyone else or come forward to be interviewed. We only have the word of Marie and Christine that they were told these experiences happened. Interesting, isn’t it?
Earlier this year, this place was scheduled to close which would have absolutely devastated the economy of the area. So what happened? Surprise! They brought in GHI who validated the claims of Marie Comerford and Christine Murley and now the Wicklow Gaol, which was only opened part of the year, was awarded a tender and is soon to be open all year round.
Another interesting fact is that Evelyn O’Rourke, a paranormal reporter for a local television station (yes, I said paranormal reporter) did a piece on this for the news back at the end of 2008. O’Rourke was absolutely emphatic (in fact overly emphatic) in making the point that both Marie and Christine were “convinced” (wink, wink) there was paranormal activity at the Wicklow Gaol. Why shouldn’t they? It’s their “bread and butter”. They have to “sell” the place to keep in open. Check out the YouTube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91VW7roXryw
Here are a few links regarding the closure and the GHI “touch”:
http://www.wicklowpeople.ie/news/permanent-lockup-possibility-for-tourist-spot-wicklow-gaol-1629823.html
http://www.wicklowpeople.ie/news/ghosthunters-test-out-wicklow-gaol-1704419.html
http://www.wicklowpeople.ie/news/wicklow-gaol-soon-to-open-allyear-round-1753841.html
blinddog50 @ 8:46 pm
alicat, good links, you are a digger.
'GHI found a lot of paranormal activity'.
All I saw was some pixelation(that is a woman and that is a mist, umm ok) and personal experiences, which count as squat to me.
All the pics that I have seen from Barry's full spectrum gallery are worse than what you get commercial cameras.
They really should bring Andy(not a fan of) or Brian to step up the excitement level, everyone has become so bland.
alicat @ 8:56 pm
Thanks Blinddog. I had plenty more but decided it would put me in spam h*** and I didn't want Logisti to have to dig me out. If you go to one of the wicklowpeople links, you can search for "Wicklow Gaol" but be specific as it is a Wicklow link. You will find a lot of tourism links which describe the Wicklow Gaol and not one link (other than the Gaol itself) has pararnormal or ghost hunting in it's description. It was no doubt a very bad place and I'll share one more interesting tidbit but it's not a paranormal one. Here's that link:
http://books.google.com/books?id=khETAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA464&lpg=PA464&dq=Wicklow+Gaol&source=bl&ots=ESh2KODU7Q&sig=CTs9f89iSR9zq7lfqlrbP8nMiMo&hl=en&ei=YXpWSrehHIfCNevMtJ0I&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1
blinddog50 @ 9:17 pm
That was interesting alicat.
Doesn't make the prison out as such a hell hole as it was described last night.
alicat @ 9:25 pm
Blinddog,
I have to admit, when I saw that information, I was a bit taken back but who knows what it was like before or after. It certainly couldn't have been good. Here's another link that I think is interesting. Scroll down to Wicklow Gaol. It shows three pictures which you can enlarge, two of which are in the center of the first floor cell area. You will notice that two of the pictures have statues in two different settings. When GHI shot their footage, you saw nothing of this yet pictures on this site and others show the same figures in the same settings. Could what we see on the reveal footage, supposedly shot from above when no one was around, be something from one of those settings but which Marie claims was the mist? Even when you saw the interview of Christine (she was interviewed sitting in a chair on the second floor), while they filmed her, you could see full figures on the first floor (left side of the screen) at the stair area as if they were going to ascend the steps. However, you saw nothing of this when GHI shot their footage of the investigation. Interesting isn't it?
http://www.strollingguides.co.uk/books/wicklow/general/wicklow.php
By the way, per the news there, they filmed for two days.
indigodawn @ 12:53 pm
Hello all! I'm new here but have been watching paranormal shows for a while now. One of the things I think it's good to keep in mind is that it is television and there is a certain amount of scripting and pre-interviewing that goes on.
I enjoy watching GHI for the entertainment value. That's what the network pays them for. Once in a while they come up with something that really catches my attention but it usually involves the historical research they do. They seem to be very good in that area. And I enjoy the locations they go to.
I've noticed a trend with these shows. The first season they're always very sincere and less eager to call a thing a ghost. After that it's like the network gets creative control and suddenly everything is a ghost. I sincerely believe that is what happened to GH and now Jason is stuck with it. Grant seems to be the only one enjoying it anymore.
Just my humble opinions and thoughts. This seems to be a great site by the way!
phillyk48 @ 4:31 pm
Great links alicat! I found another describing the gaol http://www.wicklow.ie/Wicklow%20400/The%20last%20County/wicklow-county-gaol-70.htm And Oubliette, I enjoyed the episode too.
blinddog50 @ 5:40 pm
Why does Joe Chin always look like a stray puppy they picked up alongside of the road.
JOE! Stand up for yourself!
Bitch slap Robb in an episode and tell him to set the hell down and STF up and proclaim, "I'M finding the ghost this time".
That would be an episode that I would hit save on the dvr.
Chuck Neumann @ 12:07 pm
I felt the evidence they found was very weak. The EVP's were very garbled, as likely static as paranormal. I take that back, a lot more likely. The flecks of light on Barry's video was most unimpressive, but the client sure liked it. The client was very easy to impress, which I understand as she wants to promote her tourist site, but why Rob and Barry were is harder to understand. As mentioned before, the show is mainly to entertain and I think it does. But I wish Andy was back, since he was the only member who really liked to debunk. I do like the new girl. Rob's Florida group has some nice looking ladies.
The Doctor @ 1:44 pm
I must admit, I have not watched the show yet … only the reveal.
Robb starts with a personal experience, since it appears that due to technical difficulties they were not able to record a response to their saying "Hello". It appears these difficulties extend to not even being able to tell us what the "response" was.
They then present an EVP which sounds to me as a coat rustling accompanied by a sonar type ping.
Dusten then has another PE with a coat tug.
Brandy has a PE with a camera tug.
Another recording of a sonar ping, but they don't specify if it was a EVP or not.
Another recording they can't figure out sure sounds like Robb saying " I think it squeeks"
The topper is the two dots that appear on the video – obviously we don't get timestamps anymore, and only the crappy video taken of a monitor, so we can't tell if they slowed down the replay — and can anyone figure out why they don't run TWO cameras side by side to make it easy to rule out dust and bugs ?
… just how did they figure "this thing was self-illuminating" ?
Revenant @ 3:05 pm
The Doctor- "… just how did they figure "this thing was self-illuminating" ?"
The same way that GA and their guest paranormal investigator determined another "self-illuminating" object was "free-floating" at the Bird Cage Theatre. Perhaps paranormal investigators on TV have the innate ability to determine what people "should" see when viewing very bad video at a great distance.
I'm glad that they are so scientific and all that they took measurements of the distance between the "objects" and the camera. And that they also carefully examined the two areas both in the daylight and again at night to try and eliminate any normal possibilities. Oh…wait…no they didn't. I keep forgetting that ambigious evidence is the best evidence when it comes to the paranormal…
The Doctor @ 4:07 pm
Now that I've gone through the program, their investigating technique becomes even stranger.
B,D&A go into the first floor where they all hear things moving upstairs and can even "track" these movements on the upper levels floorboards.
The team swings into action !
Dustin immediately heads downstairs to solitary, D&A place an EMF meter on the floor, their super direction finding recorder in a wall opening, and since "females are more prone to what goes on here" pulls out his weather station to check the atmospheric pressure.
Not being a trained professional ghost hunter myself, I'm not sure what these actions could accomplish that would try to answer the question of the sounds coming from above.
alicat @ 5:14 pm
@ Chuck Neumann: Yes, the client was impressed and extremely overjoyed. In fact, she was in tears during the reveal. As far as I'm concerned, she was really a bit too overly impressed and overjoyed (dare I say dramatically so) but I guess it since it saved her job of 8 years, she was very grateful to GHI for their proclamation.
On another point, Brandy's claim that "it felt like someone had tugged on the right hand of the recorder" was totally unbelieveable for me. Here she was with a cameraman directly behind her shooting when she stopped, barely turned her head to the right and then immediately turned her entire head left. If, as she claimed, the recorder which was in her right hand was tugged and tilted to the right and then back again (as she demonstrated), you would also have seen at least her right arm holding the camera and the IR illuminator tilt to the right and back. That never happened. You would have also seen her arm move to the right and then to the left to compensate for the tug. Again, that never happened. If it did, why didn't we see the footage? They showed her "demonstration" footage as she explained what happened to Ashley along with footage she was shooting from the camera before and after the incident but nothing more. Definitely did not happen.
And Ashley, she'll fit right in with GHI and GH. She stands there and says to Brandy that in "the same exact floor, right about where you are standing or maybe a little bit further down" (actually I believe it was on the opposite walkway as you can see the camera Barry set up when they pan the camera) "I felt as if someone had poked my leg or tugged at my jeans. That's exactly what I felt and I told Barry that afterwards." Well, which is it? Those are two different experiences. Yes, she did mention something to Barry as they were setting up the cameras but he was totally unimpressed by her comments. I'm guessing she could have caught her jeans on the screening along the bottom of the railing but he gave her no mind. Great explanations Ashley. You'll go far because the guys think you are a pretty face.
CrowTRobot @ 5:19 pm
@ The Doctor:
Dustin (insert rolley eyes here)…..I noticed this during the marathon Wednesday (8th): he almost NEVER goes towards the sound/noise/voice/activity. He stands there – looking scared crapless – and suddenly decides he needs to…………gosomewhereelse.
And they laughed at Brian.
The Doctor @ 7:58 pm
@Alicat – Nice catch …
A little stop motion shows the camera Barry setup was between cell #'s 30&31 ( Ash peeks into 31 )
Brandy is in front of Cell # 19
Now during her little interview in the beginning, Ash specifically says they were setting the camera on the UPPER walkway, and the video shows that. When Brandy is "tugged" they are on the middle walkway.
Just where did Ash think the camera went ?
Curious that the production crew covered this setting up of camera 4 with 2 angles, one camera straight across on the same floor and one from below, as if they expected something to happen.
Now, I could be wrong, but the camera 4 angle itself dosen't appear to be from the third floor.
My Guess ? Camera 4 was setup on the middle level during the investigation. When the producers were going over the footage, they decided after seeing Brandy that showing the new girl being tugged first would be better, so they RE-created the setup scenes with B&A. For some reason they went with the top floor instead, and if Ash never mentioned it was the upper level when they taped her interview, they might have gotten away with it.
If I'm right, Ash started her GHI acting career right from the start – at least she didn't fall backwards.
Cheryl Hutchinson @ 10:11 am
I have to address what Indigodawn said:
"I've noticed a trend with these shows. The first season they're always very sincere and less eager to call a thing a ghost. After that it's like the network gets creative control and suddenly everything is a ghost. I sincerely believe that is what happened to GH and now Jason is stuck with it. Grant seems to be the only one enjoying it anymore."
I noticed too that the first year they seem to be very sincere and it goes downhill from there. I think they have a real desire to experience the paranormal. But after a year of mediocre findings and garbled evps that may or may not be voices, they get the show biz bug and get desperate for evidence so they can keep their show. So they jump at the slightest thing (most overused phrase on the shows- "what the hell was that?") And they start interpreting every little creak or natural settling noise that any old house makes as something paranormal.
But Scifi doesn't help, cause if they really wanted to capture for the camera what the investigators were seeing, the investigators would have cameras or the cameras would come in first. Instead the cameras are focused on the investigators while they repeat that dreaded phrase "what the hell is that?" and we get to hear the investigators TALK about what they saw. Case in point: Grant and Jason both seeing the "Lady in White" at the Bird Cage while the scifi cameras focused on their asses.
I also get sick of hearing the dumb overdramatic music that drowns out any possibility that we could actually hear what they are hearing. Sometimes when they repeat that god forsaken phrase – "What the hell is that?" – I wonder if they are refering to the music!
Bottom line is never forget that Scifi is in charge. The GH's are SciFi's cash cow, and entertainment is their only goal, not evidence of the afterlife. In spite of how sincere the investigators are, (personally I think Grant is the shiftiest one of the lot)money and entertainment is the boss, otherwise there wouldn't be a show. And we must be entertained in our own way or we wouldn't be spending time here. By the way thanks so much for this forum it is great.
Cheryl Hutchinson @ 10:41 am
what does this mean? the dreaded Gonsalves syndrome?