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Ghost Hunters 4.6 "Wright-Patterson Air Force Base" |
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Thursday, 10 April 2008 |
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By John Keegan
Visit Critical Myth for an archive of John's TV Review archives, with more than 1100 entries.
| While it’s clear that the investigations are assembled out of chronological order to manipulate the expectations of the audience, it does create an odd disconnect when taken in context with the Sci-Fi Channel’s promotional choices. Logically speaking, episodes tend to be grouped together to provide a strong hook of evidence in the first episode, a smattering of minor occurrences in the middle, and the best evidence at the end of the order. Somehow, the SFC promotional department manages to convince viewers that it will somehow be different.
This is not the final episode of the current batch, so I wasn’t expecting anything startling. Even though the episode covered one location, it was effectively no different than an episode where two locations are covered, because thee buildings were investigated. This is hardly surprising, because anyone who gets to investigate a location like Wright-Patterson would want to cover as much ground as possible.
The first half of the episode is devoted to the Arnold House, which actually provides most of the entertainment. As usual, the bulk of the “evidence” is personal experience, with people hearing knocking and movement. This ultimately shifts into the tedious “one knock no, two knocks yes” methodology. This is not particularly different from the infamous K-II Meter nonsense from the “Manson Murders” episode in the third season, and it flies in the face of the claim that they are using “scientific” methods. After all, such methods are used repeatedly on “Most Haunted”, and they are rightfully dismissed in that context. (It doesn’t help when the post-production music drowns out the supposed noises.)
Dave and Steve’s decision to film the changes on the EMF meter made me happy, because real-time documentation of results is far better than random walkthroughs/notations. It’s not a datalogger, but it works. I accept that they checked the area for ambient EMF sources, so it would be a situation to consider in more detail. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that they managed to convince a ghost to affect the meter on cue; however, it is interesting to note that this is not particularly different from what Chris Fleming claimed he could do with the K-II Meter. One must wonder if there is a common mechanism at work.
I can’t say the same when it comes to the flashlight. This was apparently the big “evidence” of the episode, and in my opinion, it was not particularly impressive. I have tons of flashlights and many of them have done that without any paranormal intervention. For example, if the switch was touchy, they could have asked the “ghost” to turn the light repeatedly, and it would have appeared to be “acting on cue” when it finally happened. Given what we see on screen, it’s a possible explanation, even if Jason dismisses it out of hand. The activity of the EMF meter was more impressive in comparison.
The other two locations had more of the same. It was interesting that there seemed to be a shadow person in the warehouse, but there were so many object between Grant and the light that he could have shifted slightly in his position and it would have appeared that something moved in front of the light. On the other hand, several viewers have already mentioned catching unusual shadows in the footage provided in the episode. While I distrust the “knocking” method, perhaps it would be worth taking a closer look to rule out the more subtle explanations.
While “trigger objects” can be useful, especially when they seem to be manipulated under surveillance, I must confess to some small disappointment over the rest of the methods shown. Someone recently commented that the main complaint with “Ghost Hunters” and TAPS is the seemingly stagnant state of their technology. Their methods haven’t changed appreciably since the first season, and if anything, the more technical members are no longer active. The recent emphasis on “old school” methods, like communication through knocks and taps, does little to counter that impression. |
