• NEW! LOWEST RATES EVER -- SUPPORT THE SHOW AND ENJOY THE VERY BEST PREMIUM PARACAST EXPERIENCE! Welcome to The Paracast+, eight years young! For a low subscription fee, you can download the ad-free version of The Paracast and the exclusive, member-only, After The Paracast bonus podcast, featuring color commentary, exclusive interviews, the continuation of interviews that began on the main episode of The Paracast. We also offer lifetime memberships! Flash! Take advantage of our lowest rates ever! Act now! It's easier than ever to susbcribe! You can sign up right here!

    Subscribe to The Paracast Newsletter!

"Provoking"ghosts as a ghost hunting method

Forums New posts

Free episodes:

"Provoking"ghosts as a ghost hunting method

I just watched Shutter.

Let me say this. What it lacked in story, and originality, it had in atmosphere, and I'll go one step further to say, that dating Japanese women who are needy, is out of the question.

For as cute as they are, there is no way in hell I'd want one to fall in love with me so madly, as to kill themselves and fricking haunt me.

In other news, the Spiricom build is going a little slow.
 
"Provoking"ghosts as a ghost hunting method

Tommy Allison said:
I just watched Shutter.

Let me say this. What it lacked in story, and originality, it had in atmosphere, and I'll go one step further to say, that dating Japanese women who are needy, is out of the question.

For as cute as they are, there is no way in hell I'd want one to fall in love with me so madly, as to kill themselves and fricking haunt me.

In other news, the Spiricom build is going a little slow.
Click to expand...

The movie is originally from Thailand. Check out the original, it's so much better.
 
"Provoking"ghosts as a ghost hunting method

I've been discussing this lately on another forum since the show Ghost Adventures has been airing and the main guy Zak Bagans takes a real aggressive approach. I should say that I've never been out ghost hunting personally, and I can't say that I'd do this myself but-I remember what David Biedny was saying about aliens. We really don't know what they are or where they come from. How do we know that they are nice? I think the same idea can be applied to ghosts. How do I know that its really someone's relative? I say if provoking gets some kind of results (as opposed to the usual "what's your name" type questions) than its better than what we are getting now and could open up some type of understanding of what's really going on.
 
"Provoking"ghosts as a ghost hunting method

Jose Collado said:
I'm sure the empty buildings don't mind being abused and teased :D
Click to expand...


Ha ha! I know I'm late to this thread, but I agree with you. I really and truly hope ghosts do exist, but after well over 100 years of people trying to prove they are real and there is still, imho, no good credible evidence that they do, then provoking an empty space is just fine. All it does it make for good tv. Or sometimes it just makes the "ghost hunter" look silly.

When on Ghost Hunters International the head guy (whose name I forget for the moment) said, "Brian won't pander to a ghost" the first thing I thought was, "well, that's easy. There are no ghosts to pander to. Brian is in absolutely no danger and is just acting macho. To nothing but his tv audience, that is.
 
"Provoking"ghosts as a ghost hunting method

bothers me too,,,but they are getting results, assuming it's not some post editing shanannigans to get ratings.

I personally would not provoke, just don't need any more weird shit in our home. However watching ghost adventures is sort of like a train wreck, your just glad it's not you in that situation but you watch anyway.

~A
 
"Provoking"ghosts as a ghost hunting method

When I did some Ouija board experiments one of my friends were insulting to the "spirit". The board was quiet around him, but blazed for us before taking it to his house. After leaving his house we asked the "spirit" why it wouldn't work around him, and the response was something like, "He's an asshole".

Provoking works sometimes. Not all "ghosts" are a like. I recommend just being yourself.

In one of the best cases known as "The Entity" I recall some provoking that worked. The entity/entities deserved it though.
 
"Provoking"ghosts as a ghost hunting method

Glad you started a Thread on this!

Everytime they do this on GH, even my hubby says, that is sooooo STUPID of them to do that! (assuming ghosts exists and they could materialize,etc.) THAT is playing with Fire!

Would you go up to a Human and talk to them like that? They'll punch your lights out!

I think they could find themselves somehow 'hurt' by the spirits (if they could even do such a thing?). They'll have a shard of glass thrown at them or something one day!

I do not think you *have* to 'go that low' just to get ghosts to indicate their presence...if they *can* or *wanted to*, they'd let ya know! *shrug*

Very risky of a method, imho.

Raevenskye said:
What do you guys think about ghost hunters provoking ghosts to try to get them angry enough to move something or lay down an EVP? Silliness, or valid method?
If particualr ghosts/spirits are sentient, and generally nice, is it ethical?
Click to expand...
 
"Provoking"ghosts as a ghost hunting method

Subjecting an animal to cruel experimentation because it is a valid stimulus ?!
That kind of logic would sit well with the likes of Dr. Josef Mengele, the Angel of Death in Auschwitz concentration camp.
 
"Provoking"ghosts as a ghost hunting method

I think provoking a reaction be it from the living or the supposed dead, as in this context through verbal abuse is not ethical, a common denominator which obviously has continuity across both dimensions.
That form of shock jock approach is aimed at a certain TV target audience and is far removed from the "Spiricom" methodolgy in gathering useful data.
Ghost "hunting" tv now seems to promote such behavior but achieves nothing of note except attracting a certain form of retribution for the agitator which I do not recommended. Lets learn from the mistakes made in this world, there's no need to extend it into the next !
 
"Provoking"ghosts as a ghost hunting method

Even if you're dealing with a spirit that isn't "good", I've never found escalating in any way to be effective...they only feed from the negativity (unless you're fighting back for some reason). The more I see it, the less I like it.
 
"Provoking"ghosts as a ghost hunting method

I am curious about the term "negativity". I have to admit I've never been ghost hunting in my life so I really value the point of view and experiences of people who do it. What kind of negative things have you experienced? I hear this term a lot but I can't seem to grasp what exactly negative things people are experiencing.
 
"Provoking"ghosts as a ghost hunting method

Shannon said:
I am curious about the term "negativity". I have to admit I've never been ghost hunting in my life so I really value the point of view and experiences of people who do it. What kind of negative things have you experienced? I hear this term a lot but I can't seem to grasp what exactly negative things people are experiencing.
Click to expand...

Hey Shannon,
In my experience, a negative spirit feels just like a negative person....draining...irritable...maybe even violent or aggressive. I haven't been in contact with that many of them, but I have had experiences with a few. One was in an apartment...appeared suddenly...and I had no shadow of a doubt that he would hurt me if I allowed it. He liked to "rush" me and scare me, for the adrenaline jolt, I suppose. I haven't encountered anything as intense since then, but it was quite scary.
 
"Provoking"ghosts as a ghost hunting method

Wow-thanks for sharing that-nice to know there are bullies in the afterlife as well!

I have experienced something similar a few times. I can't really put my finger on exactly what it was, but I had the feeling that I just wanted to leave the area. Two of the times it happened was in my own apartment but I can't rule out that it was just my imagination because I was going through a difficult time. The other time was actually at the Jennie Wade House in Gettysburg of all places-what a bizarre experience that was!
 
"Provoking"ghosts as a ghost hunting method

Shannon said:
Wow-thanks for sharing that-nice to know there are bullies in the afterlife as well!

I have experienced something similar a few times. I can't really put my finger on exactly what it was, but I had the feeling that I just wanted to leave the area. Two of the times it happened was in my own apartment but I can't rule out that it was just my imagination because I was going through a difficult time. The other time was actually at the Jennie Wade House in Gettysburg of all places-what a bizarre experience that was!
Click to expand...

was that in the basement? I've been there, too. I didn't really notice anything untoward down there, but the tour guide told lots of stories. I was the last to stop at the top of the stairs on the tour of the house, and I got the distinct feeling that someone was going to push me...so I moved, and said (in my head) "don't you DARE push me down the stairs!"...come to find out, in that particular room, was a little boy who liked to grab people by the pants leg and trip them up!
 
"Provoking"ghosts as a ghost hunting method

That's exactly where it was-I didn't think much of the tour or the house. Actually, I wasn't interested in anything historical or paranormal at the time (about 10 years ago). When we got there something very uncharacteristic happened to me. I found myself (and this is kind of embarrassing) yelling "she's not here its an old man!!" and I ran out. I don't have any idea what came over me-nothing like that has happened to me before or since. I'm not even sure that any old man ever lived there but that's what happened to me.
 
"Provoking"ghosts as a ghost hunting method

Where was the stairs? Was it before the basement part? I have a hazy memory of the place but for some reason I feel like we had to go outside to get to the basement but this was so long ago now.
 
"Provoking"ghosts as a ghost hunting method

yes...the stairs I'm talking about were the stairs to the 2nd floor of the house...and you did go outside to get to the basement...looked more like a storm cellar. The angry ghost in the basement is supposed to be an old man....maybe Jennie Wade's father? (can't remember now)....supposedly he disliked people sitting in a certain place in the basement (so of course, we sat there...ooh...were we provoking him??? lol!)....nothing happened tho. We ended up getting a group of shrieking teenagers on our tour, so the tourguide let us walk back through with her as she closed up the house. It was definitely spookier in there alone!
 
"Provoking"ghosts as a ghost hunting method

IMHO, most TV ghost hunters are merely playing to the cameras. However aggressive they are, I'm convinced they're unlikely to agitate anything besides dust bunnies. But where entities do seem to exist, I would say they're best left alone. Let's face it - we have no idea what ghosts are. Some show up in human form, sometimes with the familiar faces of departed loved ones. But how do we know these things are who and what they appear to be? How do we know so-called ghosts, aliens, etc, aren't the same phenomenon, adopting various forms to mess with our heads?

I often think the entities/creatures/spirits/whatnots that generate various paranormal phenomena, take great delight in tormenting and teasing us. I can imagine some amorphous blob of energy saying to itself, "hey, there's a human over there. What shall I be today? I think I'll pop out from behind a tree as Bigfoot. Or maybe a grey alien. Or a headless horseman. Oh what fun I shall have at the stupid one's expense".

So, as we really don't know what ghosts are, provoking them could be counter-productive or even dangerous. How can we engage meaningfully with something we have no true understanding of? The way I see it, if you're lucky enough never to have attracted the attention of some kind of paranormal phenomenon, leave well alone. Anything that can make its presence felt, whilst remaining ephemeral and intangible, seems inherently deceptive and underhand to me. Or maybe I just have a dose of paranormal paranoia, LOL.
 
"Provoking"ghosts as a ghost hunting method

IF entities exist. No one has proven they do exist.

I was invited to an "investigation" recently. I don't get invited much because these groups don't like skeptics. They were trying to speak with an alleged entity, so I figured I'd try provoking.

And here's a vid of the event with the provocation...

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rzq_a9RQN0g&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rzq_a9RQN0g&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
 
Back
Top