Ghost Hunters 2.15: "29 Mar 2006"

Case #1: Waverly Hill Sanatorium

It’s been quite a while since “Ghost Hunters” had a new episode, so I was looking forward to this since the date was announced. And it didn’t disappoint! I usually prefer it when they investigate houses or buildings currently in use, since there’s less chance of unusual light and shadow effects or acoustic tricks, but there’s also a certain allure to the big, abandoned buildings like this one.

I also liked the fact that this was an episode devoted to one particular case. Granted, a lot of time was spent rehashing the ground rules for TAPS and the personal histories of the main players, since this was something of a premiere in the middle of a season, but there was a lot of investigation footage, which is always welcome.

A few of the moments were cringe-worthy. I’ve never been particularly happy with Brian; he just rubs me the wrong way sometimes, at least in terms of how his footage is cut for the episodes. On top of that, it felt like the moment when he and Tango were running was staged for effect, as if to play on Brian’s past history, and I find the staged conversations to be a bit annoying.

One other interesting topic: “shadow people”. Believe it or not, I don’t question that. And I don’t question it because I’ve come across this phenomenon myself. In my case, I was with a group of three other people and every single one of us saw the exact same thing. We must have spent hours investigating that space to figure out what it might have been, but that experience was something that fed my early interests in “paranormal” activity and the concept of non-corporeal intelligence. The explanation given in the episode is actually quite logical, even if it is a bit short and general.

Anyway, on to the case:

The best evidence, in my mind, was the thermal footage. I agree that it looks unusual, but I’m not so convinced that it wasn’t an animal. That’s one big building, and large dogs could run around without being heard or even seen in the dark. They never showed the thermal image of Grant standing in the spot where the image was recorded, so it was impossible to make a good comparison.

I’m also not sure about the strange object that went wafting across the hallway in the camera footage. To me, it looks like a patch of old paint whipping off the wall and out of camera focus. The condition of the walls alone should make that a primary possibility. I understand why it looks unusual, but my first reaction wasn’t “paranormal” by any means.

Most of the other evidence was personal experience. Now, some will inevitably claim that the personal experiences are evidence of fakery or “manufactured drama” or some such nonsense. I’ve been following TAPS outside of “Ghost Hunters” long enough to know that Steve, Jason, and Grant wouldn’t play that game.

I honestly believe that they were communicating what they thought they saw and what they thought the probable source was. Even the most seasoned individuals are going to react to the conditions of the environment. Running around a building like that in the dark, especially with little ambient noise to serve as distraction, will mess with your head. So it’s very possible that Steve thought he saw something, even if it wasn’t there, and it slipped past his defenses. I doubt anyone would be immune to such assumptions in a place like that!

Chill Factor: 8/10