So, has anybody been watching this fairly new show, Paranormal Witness?

Same set-up as other shows, like The Haunted, in that a family retells a horrific paranormal encounter. Some of them include "photo and video evidence" supposedly taken by the family at the time of the haunting.  Hmm..

I admit, I watched the episides, and at a few points I got major chills.  But that's because the stories are not really believable, and make for good entertainment.  Some of the stories seem way too urban legend for my liking (one story is about a mother and daughter driving down a dark road and they come across a strange girl sitting on the side of the road. the girl turns around and gasp, she has no face! the family finds out that a horrible car crash involving a teenage girl happened on that road. stuff like that.) Also includes UFO and cryptozoology stories.

Has anybody else watched this show? 

Well, my google searching at the office must be better than my searching on my iPad at home while drinking beer, because I found this snippet:

"About 3 days after the enclosed article appeared, a local couple contacted the paper and informed them that, somewhat to their embarrassment, they were responsible for the incident. It seems that this young couple had a fairly long and well established history of constructing small hot air balloons from balsa wood and plastic dry cleaner bags. They would assemble these items, place several small birthday cake candles inside, and launch a homemade hot air balloon. A rather odd hobby perhaps, but nevertheless a hobby that was confirmed by neighbours. They reside in the immediate vicinity of the incident. They reported that on the evening of the 'dogfight' they had launched one of these balloons and then watched in amazement as a police 'copter flew into the area and appeared to 'investigate' the balloon. They saw the copter direct a high-intensity searchlight onto the balloon, circle around and then fly off into the night. They did not think the incident particularly newsworthy until they learned of the UFO report some time later. The police officers have refused to back down from their story that they saw something other than a small hot air balloon. The entire affair totally disappeared from the papers with the publication of the 2nd story. The impression was left that the police department and particularly the officers involved were extremely embarrassed and wanted to distance themselves from it ASAP."

http://www.overflite.com/news11.html

Yep, shows up on TV some what, 15 years later when everyone has forgotten about it….

Patrick said:

Nosfer said:

IF all is as they say, though, one must then also question the oft-clamored statement when UFOs are reported by pilots that pilots make such great witnesses because they know what's in the air.

---

 
I sometimes think that people with more knowledge than the average person are more easily fooled by things like this.  They are so sure it must be an aircraft because it is in the air, that they can't fathom that it is something other than an aircraft.

I can see that, but I think we should also assume that their expertise usually works as a 'debunker' in most cases. Especially when they get up in the air, circle the unknown craft, and shine a light on it… I think they'd eventually realize its a balloon or man-made craft. Standing on the ground looking up at it is a different story. Perhaps it was another publicity stunt? Who knows.

Buffy said:

I have watched this show a few times and it really is seemily farfetched, especially in the first episode where the little girl is ripped from the chair and dragged into the basement by an unseen force.  What they show does not seem like how she described it. Cue dramatics for that one! The amateur video seems reinacted sometimes as well so it makes it less believable.

---

 Was anybody else reminded of Paranormal Activity 1 and 2 in this one?! That was my first thought. Amateur video… people being dragged… in fact that exact same scene happened in PA2 when the ma gets dragged down the basement steps!