Last Night's Ghost Hunters and Destination Truth

Well... what's to say?

Last night's Ghost Hunters and Destination Truth were both good episodes and nice openers, but nothing to really report; pretty much the same-ol' same. Not that that's bad or anything, I just mean nothing particularly blog-worthy occurred on either.

History Channel's UFO Hunters was a bit better: they had some early Flir shots of a UFO that slightly resembled a helicopter, but not exactly. They made the rounds of the experts and almost all of them agreed that it was not a helicopter, though one pilot said that while he thought it probably was a helicopter, he would not testify to that in court. While that's not exactly a rousing declaration, the team took it as his having said, "That is not a helicopter."

In general, I would call "shenanigans" on this, but they included the entire interview and everything the pilot said, so how can I? The truth is that he thinks it probably is a helicopter, but he cannot - and would not - say that it certainly is. And that's a very good position to take on the matter.

I personally thought it resembled a helicopter, but the interesting thing is that this was infrared footage; the cops who filmed it never saw it with their naked eye and never heard anything! In other words, when you put it all together, it's a UFO. And, again, it's worth nothing that UFO stands for Unidentified Flying Object, not Alien Spacecraft.

That there UFO Hunters is a damn good show! But I think History Channel should let the Sci-Fi Channel have their "Hunters" name and franchise. After all, they started it and History is just trying to cash-in on it when they don't need to; their show is fantastic and they don't need the hype from the Hunters shows' success to push it. Promote it better and get the word out on your own, History Channel! You've got a really good show here.

Good night o' TV, though.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

New Ghost Hunters, Destination Truth Tonight!

Just a quick reminder that season 4 of Ghost Hunters and season 2 of Destination Truth both kick-off tonight on the Sci-Fi Channel!

Ghost Hunters starts at 8:00 (CST), though they are showing old episodes right now and likely have been all day (I slept-in) and Destination Truth is on following (9:00, CST). Of course, I will review both afterward, as usual. I'm pretty sure tonight's episode features the footprint the crew found that made international headlines a few months back.

The History Channel is pulling no punches, with a new episode of UFO Hunters on against Destination Truth. I'm going to go on record as predicting that Truth will prevail in the ratings, but UFO Hunters is a great show, so set your reminders for 1:00 AM (CST) to catch the repeat.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Destination Truth Discovers Yeti Prints

The Sci-Fi Channel's Destination Truth uncovered what may be Yeti footprints while filming in the Nepalese mountains, near Mt. Everest.

Reports of "abominable snowmen," Yeti, or "wild men" have surfaced since the 1920s and even further back. Local sherpas tell stories of the beast, which is sometimes seen as a protector, more often a destructive force. Many years ago, videotaped evidence of an unidentified creature following an anonymous couple up a mountain surfaced, but was immediately called into question because the source of the tape could not be verified.

Footprints have been found throughout the years, but few have claimed to actually spotted the beast. Aside from this, little scientific evidence exists to verify the creatures' existence.

The episode will air next season on Destination Truth.

Destination Truth Season Finale

I must admit, after several false starts, Sci-Fi Channel finally got it right; Destination Truth is a really good reality show concerning the paranormal and cryptozoology, in specific. I have kept up with the series this season and finally got a chance to see the season finale tonight, after my cable unceremoniously failed last Wednesday, while we were preparing to watch the finales of both it and Ghost Hunters.

Tonight, Josh chased after the Argentinian Lobizone, a lycanthrope which has been spotted throughout the country, in both rural and highly-populated urban areas. It is said that the seventh son of a seventh son will become a lobizone, unless he is baptized. The Argentinian president has seventh sons baptized.

Josh and team did spot some kind of wolflike dog on camera and Josh himself caught some animal on thermal imaging. A zoologist could not identify either accurately, but said the shape was larger than a native Argentinian dog, insofar as he knew. Further, the blood on a rope with which a farmer said he had caught a lobizone tested positive for human blood! Of course, even though this evidence is intriguing, it proves nothing; it is too disparate to prove a seventh son actually turns into a wolflike creature.

The other case was a total bust, though they did hear a strange, gutteral growl from some animal the zoologist could not identify.

Either way, it appears Destination Truth will be returning for a second season - I’m assuming next summer. Ghost Hunters will return in the fall and is being replaced momentarily by a new show called Ghost Adventures, about another ghost hunting group.

Sorry...

So sorry for jumping ship. Wednesday night, as we were sitting down to watch the season finales of both Ghost Hunters and Destination Truth, the cable went out and didn’t come back on until about 2:00 yesterday afternoon! It wasn't just my cable; it went out throughout the entire town.

We were watching the Ghost Hunters reruns before the finale when it went out, and we called and went through all the "troubleshooting" tips those lying motherfuckers gave us -- but we knew it was bullshit because everyone else's was out, too. I was so upset that I missed them! I’m going to have to surf the net today to find out what happened.

Oh, and yesterday, I found out my car battery is dead. We tried and tried to get it to hold a charge, but it just won't. It was having troubles starting, and now it won't start at all without a jump. I'll have to find someone to jump me off today because I have to pay my utility bill (I completely forgot to do it with everything else going on, and today’s the last day, so I have to go to the bank to pay it).

Still, I have some things to discuss, so it isn’'t going to be an empty day or anything. It may actually wind-up being fairly busy, in fact. Just depends on how much I get done and how soon.

Destination Truth - 07-11-2007

Now, I know Destination Truth has had a few early critics, who noted that few of the episodes have turned up any real... Truth, but I tend to disagree (the ghostly evidence collected in the mausoleum or whatever it was was particularly strong). As something of an armchair authority on all things Odd, you have to understand that this is very largely the case in nearly all cryptozoological outings - hell, Supernatural hunts, as well. The simple fact of the matter is that cryptozoology is not a well-funded field; the vast majority of those envoys foot their own expeditions, which results in extremely short amounts of time for doing research. Once you track down eyewitnesses you can depend on (or at least give them the benefit of the doubt), you have to listen to their accounts, talk them into taking you to where they saw the phenomena (or get them to lead you to someone who will), so on and so forth. Most of the time, no matter what kind of guide you find, they’re usually full of shit and you lose your money, time, and a lot of the cryptozoologists lose their patience - still, even if they persevere, they rarely have enough ample equipment and time to undertake any major operation. A night, or maybe a week, at best to actually do their hunting.

Most pictures, eyewitness accounts (not good “evidence”) and encounters have occurred spontaneously, on the spur of the moment. This accounts for the bad camerawork and blurry photos, as well as those which show only quick glimpses of vague shapes making (admittedly, in many case, large or unusual) ripples and waves. Entire undertakings - very systematic, scientifically-based undertakings - have occurred on Loch Ness with little to no evidence being collected.

So Josh and company went in search of the African lake monster, the Mamlambo. The interesting thing about this creature is that it is said to be a maneater - perhaps only the Mokele Mbembe of the Congo possesses this same trait. It is undeniable that as many as five victims have washed ashore, mutilated and half-eaten. Fear of the creature so seized the villagers that at least one hunter was hired to seek it out and destroy it - without luck. The other interesting thing is that it follows one of the classic, and most oft-reported descriptions of many lake and river monsters: it has the head of a horse and the body of a fish.

Unfortunately, the team found no conclusive evidence of anything, other than a possible crocodile. Crocodiles also eat and mutilate people in rivers in South Africa. While an exciting hunt, still basically a bust.

The second case was far more intriguing, though I have one trick I can tell you about that questions some of the “evidence” they collected:

The Tokeloshe is some sort of creature said to be “like the wind.” Even though some renderings of the supposed creature exist, which portray it as being akin to a small monkey and reminds you of many of the pictures and renditions you have seen of the Chupacabra. While thought to be flesh and blood, it is said to be able to assume incorporeal form and prefer sour milk.

They baited it with curdled milk and - on film - one bottle did seem to tip slightly once, then tip even farther shortly afterward. Moments after the bottle’s second movement, a truly bizarre image appeared around the bottle just for a split-second. It appeared to have both, small arms and hands thrown to stage left (right on the TV) as thought it were throwing a discus or perhaps trying to throw the bottle.

Professional film analysis could not explain the misty image which appeared only momentarily, and the bottle definitely moved, but here’s a stage trick (and sometimes bar con):

You can “tip” an egg by placing salt beneath it. I won’t get into the exact details, but it’s a well-known con-game. The egg will list to one side without actually falling over. That was the very first thing I thought of when I saw the bottle list the way it did - as though someone had placed salt beneath a sheet on which the bottle set, then ever so slightly tugged at it from off-camera so that it listed on its own without ever falling.

I believe - 100% - in what these guys are doing and what this show is trying to accomplish and bring into the mainstream, but I would be remiss not to inform you of this old “magic” trick.

Ghost Hunters, Destination Truth - 06-27-07

Well, not much happened on tonight's Ghost Hunters, except that Steve got to lead the team on his own without Grant and Jason -- and he did a really good job.  Still, if I had one criticism (which really is kind of nitpicking), I prefer Jason's hard-nosed stance on things; Steve was a little too quick to conclude that there was definite paranormal activity on the case. Steve did a good job, though.

Destination Truth was much more interesting, even though nothing really happened. I'm really hoping Josh comes up with something a little more stunning than what we've seen so far this season.  But, I give him credit for being so grounded.  He really goes all-out for what he does and what he's going for, then takes a skeptical -- but open-minded -- approach to evaluating the evidence.

Isn't it too bad Sci-Fi doesn't run this day's programming year-round?  Wednesdays in the fall blow Nahuelito.

Ghost Hunters, Destination Truth

I didn't make really any entries on any blogs yesterday. I could have, but it would really have grasping at straws; just nothing much that interesting has happened the past few days. Luckily, last night brought one of our favorite shows, Ghost Hunters, as well as yet another episode of a new and fun show, Destination Truth.

I haven't heard much about Destination Truth in general, but I really like it. The host, Josh, is really funny and knows what he is doing. Plus, he takes on cases across the paranormal board: cryptozoological hunts, hauntings, UFOs, just whatever he comes across that looks promising. Last night, he caught some images of what is called the Ropen from Papua, New Guinea. I had not heard of this particular creature, but the evidence he collected is pretty powerful; there is definitely something there, though there is no way to know exactly what it is. I missed the second half of the show, unfortunately.

On Ghost Hunters, we got two good cases which provided some solid evidence. The first one was particularly interesting, since Steve and another investigator, Lisa, managed to communicate with a spirit. The homeowner had said that toys turned themselves on and off and sometimes seem to respond to her. In the basement, the pair heard a toy turn itself on, so they asked it to do it again, and it complied! Then Steve asked it to do it three times in a row "fast" and it complied again! Truly classic stuff.

All in all, an interesting night of TV, especially since I caught Creepshow and Creepshow II on IFC right after that!

Tonight's Ghost Hunters, Destination Truth

Now, I won't say I'm not a sucker, because I can't say I haven't been fooled before, won't be fooled again, or whatever; I can't really judge that for myself, but I don't think that keeping an open mind automatically makes me a fool or prone to believing things others would deem "obvious" bullshit.

That being said, I will admit that I am prone to being skeptical of "trained professionals'" opinions on matters Unexplained and I'll tell you why -- and it's so basic that I find many of the so-called "skeptics" who forward their findings as indisputable "evidence" to be the real suckers: They have a vested interest in disputing the Unexplained.

1. Do you really think a professional Marine Biologist is going to go on record and admit that he thinks YOU, a professional jackass in his estimation (most likely), have discovered a new marine biological species?
2. Don't you think it more likely that if this professional consultant really thinks there is a new species, he will take that evidence and try to drum-up funding on his own to gather more evidence, then claim to have been the one to discover it?
3. Things simply aren't done this way in the scientific field(s), in general. Basically, when a new discovery is made, that intelligence is kept very, very quiet for a long, long time so that no one else molests the area, data, specimen, etc., while more data is gathered.

So, when that dude said tonight that he saw nothing on that tape that could be anything other than a giant catfish, I just don't buy it. Plus, I loved the EVP Josh and team caught in the sealed room of the crematorium! I was especially impressed when he took it to the translator who said (completely without provocation, insofar as we know) -- it sounded like it said, in the native tongue, "[Everybody] Get out of here!"

The evidence on Ghost Hunters tonight, caught in the infamous Hell-Fire Caves of London, was also impressive -- although I didn't find the visual evidence particularly impressive, even with the host's personal confirmation of the phenomena; I believe it is actual evidence, but deem it inadmissible as there's just no way to tell whether or not someone was down there with a flashlight. And it definitely looked like someone was down there shining a flashlight.

But, again, the EVP captured were definitely persuasive. In particular, I want to point-out that I didn't think the one "identifiable" EVP from Ghost Hunters was saying "Hello." I'm not sure what it was saying, but it kind of sounded more like "I'm/It's cold," or maybe, "Go home" -- or something along those lines. If I didn't live in an apartment, I could hook my TV up to all these speakers and computers and actually hear it, but, alas...

Good shows, both.

Ghosts, Hunters, and a New Source

Don't forget tomorrow night's new Ghost Hunters and Destination Truth.  One reader said the latter needed to turn up something before its destination is nowhere, but I have to point out that it really isn't in these channels' best interests to lay to rest any of these mysteries.  If they did, say, catch the Loch Ness Monster, then they'd only have one episode to rerun!

At any rate, I stopped by the library today and picked up the only real source on ghosts they had: A Dictionary of Ghost Lore by Peter Haining.  The cover blurb disclaims it as an authoritative source and I'm one of those "collectors" and "cataloguers," so if I turn up any new insights or terms, we'll run them through the mill.

I don't like to read reviews before I check things out because I find it taints my opinion and often spoils the process.  So, if it's a shit book, I'll find out soon enough on my own.  But feel free to weigh-in if you've read it yourself!

Sci-Fi Channel's Ghost Hunters, Destination Truth

Well, tonight was full of premieres on the Sci-Fi Channel -- with the season premiere of Ghost Hunters as well as the debut of a new series, Destination Truth.

I don't figure I need to say much about Ghost Hunters.  It's been proven a good, fun show -- and truly educational to anyone who has never been on a ghost hunt (a real, "professional" one).   It followed its tried-and-true formula (which isn't to say it's formulaic):

They went overseas, went dark, chatted and hunted, then did The Reveal.  Brian felt things no one else did.  But, the cool thing was that they found some evidence at both locations -- of course, this being the season premiere, that may be why this episode was shown first.  Hopefully the rest of the season will be as eventful, but like I said in an earlier post, one of the best things about this show is that they don't always find stuff.

Destination Truth was a welcome and very interesting surprise.  The host, Josh someone, really makes the show what it is: He's very passionate about what he does and he's very funny, too.  His narration is filled with pop-culture references and outright silliness, but never at the expense of the subject matter or the people with whom he is dealing.

Tonight, they traveled to New Guinea to seek proof of two uncatalogued creatures locals claim to have seen: A mermaid-like beast and what is possibly a living Iguanodon.   The most interesting thing is that they actually did uncover some evidence in the latter case!   One of the local tribes showed them bones from what is most definitely a huge animal, though it was not clear exactly what kind of animal it was.

At the end of the program, a zoologist who has been studying the local fauna and flora for decades suggested the bones might possibly belong to a saltwater crocodile, but that couldn't explain some of the other evidence they found in conjunction with the case. It also reminded me of another, possible modern-day dinosaur, which I'll get to here soon enough.

Destination Truth was a really interesting, good show, and I can't wait to see more of it!