While Ben, Austin, and Chi-Lan are in Alton investigating the mist, Bill, Jael, and Larry head to Fremont, Ca to investigate footage of a Delta UFO (I thought they flew mostly Boeing craft, but okay)

Read more on FoF: Starlight Intruder…

Right off I had to laugh at the irony of them showing a daylight shot of a spider in the middle of a web as part of the intro sequence.

As usual we start out in the situation room, otherwise known as the basement of Ben’s parent’s house, and swap videos. The grins of sheer delight and actual hand clapping at some of these videos is absolutely nauseating.

Read more on FoF: Haunted Mansion Mist…

I had an unusual experience watching Ghost Hunters, since I had been one the same day. A friend of mine, knowing of my love/hatred of paranormal TV and my unstoppable hamminess, asked me to take part in a haunted house held in the bookstore where she worked. I put on some blue coveralls on which my wife had emblazoned the letters "TAPS" in yellow (Totally Awesome Paranormal Society, OK? No copyright infringement!), and showed up to lead children around to various "haunted" parts of the bookstore. My ghost hunting team consisted of small children brandishing whatever small props I could find around the house that I could pass of as paranormal detection equipment. Did America's most popular ghost hunting group do any better while investigating the Bissman Building? Read more on GH: Chopping Block…

I guess that the title is a clever pun. Light houses are signal lights, and, uh… pitchers and catchers use signals, so an episode that visits both an island with a lighthouse and a baseball hall of fame gets called "Signals from the Past". Who am I to argue?

Read more on GH: Signals from the Past…

This week, the Ghost Hunters visited the Philadelphia Zoo. Whenever TAPS hits Philly, I get mixed feelings. See, I went to college in Philadelphia and have many fond memories of the city. Yet the only place they've ever shown that I recognize is a cheesesteak place on South Street. I guess I'll have to wait until they stop visiting historical sites and start hunting in sleazy college bars.

The most dramatic "finding" was a mysteriously falling FLIR camera. While Jay and Grant were investigating the attic of Solitude House, Jay went upstairs to investigate while Grant stayed down below. As soon as I saw them separate, I wondered if something was going to happen. As we've been pointing out here for some time, things tend to move on their own around Grant when no one can see him. My anticipation was rewarded pretty quickly. Grant put the FLIR on the stairs two steps up. While Jay was upstairs, the camera (according to Grant) fell on its own and rolled down two steps. Of course, this could be accidental. This would mean that Grant is unable to tell the normal action of gravity from the work of a ghost.

Read more on GH: Philadelphia Zoo…

On Sep. 13, 2010, at 6:00 PM Pacific time, I'll be appearing on Warning: Radio. This is a live-streaming show and podcast brought to you by the Rocky Mountain Paranormal Research Society. I've been a fan of this show for a while now, and am quite excited!

Read more on Stephen on Warning: Radio…

(Note: I'm shifting style a bit and offering more commentary and less recap. Let me know if I should switch back.)

It was pretty disorienting to see a good, old-fashioned Ghost Hunters fake-plumbing opening, with Jay and Grant pretending that, A., they have a camera crew follow them around while they fix air conditioners, and that B., they fix air conditioners. I mean, does Roto Rooter even do that? Never mind, rhetorical question. Kris Williams calls them up to let them know that they have a case at the Otesaga Resort Hotel in Cooperstown, but I'm still too distracted by the mechanics of this bit of nonsense to care. Which bit do they shoot first, Jay and Grant's, or Kris in the office? Do they memorize the script, or is it written down somewhere in that cramped little room? These are all questions which are, honestly, somewhat more interesting to me than the episode itself.

Read more on GH: Otesaga Resort Hotel…