Ghost Hunters

Appropriate to the theme of Halloween, the SciFi Channel last night presented a live, six hour live presentation of Ghost Hunters. In case you don't know, this is the crew from TAPS - The Atlantic Paranormal Society.

I enjoy watching this show led by Jason and Grant, founders and lead investigators; Steve, Dustin, Andy, Donna, Tango and others who are investigators, tech people, case managers and whatever else is needed. We also got to meet the three finalists for a position as investigator in training. We'll find out next week who Jason and Grant choose. This is the season finale, so be sure to watch, although I'm sure there will be repeats of the finale, if not the Halloween show.

The purpose of TAPS is not necessarily to prove the existence of ghosts or paranormal events, but to first prove the cause is not ordinary, rational, and explainable. When you remove what it isn't (creaking floors, reflected lights from cars, people walking overhead, noises from furnaces, banging pipes, and so on), you have what it could be.

All of the members of TAPS are ordinary, down to earth types who hold down regular jobs in their Rhode Island hometown. Every one of them is the type of person you would probably think of last to be interested in the paranormal, much less those who spend their free-time ghost hunting.

I've had my own personal experiences with the paranormal, so I have a vested interest in the genre. I'm not looking for proof of what happened. I know what happened and I know why. If I'm looking for something, I guess I'm looking for proof that there is something more than just what we see. But, I'm enough of a skeptic that I need proof. There are things I can put my faith in without having all the answers, but when it comes to the paranormal, I need something more than "it just is". I am happy that TAPS is not running around trying to find ghosts, but first trying to find logical answers. Their clients are usually happy with their findings, even if TAPS won't agree that their home is haunted as they may have secretly hoped for. At the least, the client understands that "ghosts" don't always perform on cue.

Last night's program was broadcast from the Waverly Sanatorium outside Louisville, Kentucky. It began as a tuberculosis hospital back in the '20's or '30's and was later a geriatric facility. At the time it was a sanatorium, there was no cure for TB. Patients pretty much either lived through it, or more likely got worse and died. Thousands died at Waverly; I believe I heard them say last night that there was an average of 60 deaths a day. And, there were at least two suicides.

Waverly fulfilled its promise. Last night, most of the crew had something happen to them; they heard something, saw something, or something touched them. I couldn't hear what they heard because of the music SciFi insisted on playing, I guess as ambiance. They may have thought it lent something of a mystical tone, but all it did for me was annoy. There were also plenty of plugs for Stephen King's new movie Mist, SciFi shows such as Destination Truth and a new international version of Ghost Hunters.

Balls rolling, shapes, reflections in glass that wasn't there, voices, sounds, everything was in place for a great Halloween show. I taped it, so I can go back and listen to various segments to see what I might have missed.

It's not Most Haunted (Travel Channel Friday at 10:00 EST), but for that I'm happy. The MH crew hasn't met a building yet that wasn't haunted and someone is swooning or screaming with fright. TAPS proves first that a building isn't haunted, then comes to the conclusion that it's haunted or at the least, that something is happening. They do it with professionalism and honesty.

Ghost Hunters can be seen on the SciFi Channel on Wednesday at 9:00 EST.