Prior to mid March there was an overabundance of supposedly true or real ghost hunting shows, which encouraged amateurs, (not the ones on TV; regular people), to go around imitating the ridiculous antics of the supposed ‘experts’ which populated each show. The fact that prior to their being on tv most were plumbers, cooks, truck drivers, etc., none of whom were/are in any way trained as proper investigators as demonstrated in their antics in the overpopulated locations they are supposedly investigating. Dozens of people are often crammed into tight spaces, usually damp basements or crumbling buildings which serve as proper background visuals for the show. This is a perfect way to spread the disease.
Social Distancing is not possible in the way these shows are designed. The host has to be in tight places in order to interact with the crew, other investigators or the ‘ghosts’, usually by yelling at them to speak to him. The ghosts, not the humans, though in outtakes not shown there is a fair number incidents where the more exciting ‘happenings’ occur accompanied by prima donna shouting, shoving and the usual negative and over emotional reactions to technical matters that may be interfering in the smooth running of the show.
The only way the shows could proceed is by remote viewing and recording any incidents in the house, asylum, jail, etc. from a remote location. The house or institution would be wired for sound and visuals. This is actually closer to the proper scientific method that should be applied, but it is also the most boring and tedious method for the medium of TV. Also, the location where the various feed comes in from the location will have to be specially designed and sanitized so the hosts can be safely filmed being bored out of their mind while trying to enlarge some natural occurrence like a creak or static sounds into voices and the movements of the spirits. It would be a thorough boring show that accidentally shows how tedious the real job of parapsychologists is. This however, is death to ratings and hopefully many of the ghost shows will not survive the pandemic and those who are specially trained to actually do the investigations will be left in peace and perhaps regain some of the respect they once had before Reality TV came calling.
We should perhaps take this with a grain of salt since the ‘paranormal investigator’ is associated with a show called ‘Ghost Stalkers‘, and reality shows are anything but real and designed to be artificial, planned and as a form of entertainment not a source of real information about ghosts, hauntings, parapsychology, true investigations, etc. This article from the CBC News site is covered under the “Fair Use” principle since the subject matter and statements therein are being critiqued and analyzed for their social/cultural importance. Should CBC disagree or requires a different disclaimer please contact us at ghostprojectcanada@gmail.com.
Haunted house reports on the rise during pandemic, says paranormal researcher
John E.L. Tenney says more people are at home and taking notice of their environment
CBC Radio ·
Reports of haunted houses are on the rise while more people are stuck at home during the pandemic, says a paranormal researcher. (Julie/stock.adobe.com)
The new normal is bringing out the paranormal, says John E.L. Tenney.
Tenney, a paranormal researcher and former host of TV’s Ghost Stalkers, says he used to receive two to five calls a month from people convinced their homes are haunted.
But since the COVID-19 restrictions started, he says he gets five to 10 calls a week.
“There is no scientific evidence for the existence of ghosts,” the newspaper helpfully notes.
Tenney spoke toAs It Happenshost Carol Off about what’s got people so spooked. Here is part of their conversation.
What kind of stories are you getting?
Everything from typical knocks and footsteps in the hallway, to some very new, strange occurrences, like people hearing whispered voices through their television sets or getting text messages from long deceased friends and relatives. (Highly unlikely that these phenomena, if real, are suddenly exploding into our consciousness)
And what do you make of this?
If we’re going to allow or believe that ghosts exist, then people are seeing an uptick of ghosts.
They’re in a heightened emotional state. They’ve been sequestered. They’re spending time in their house, which they normally don’t do at certain hours.
Most people are gone at work and so they’re not used to hearing the pops and creaks in their house normally. But if there are ghosts, perhaps they’ve had a ghost in their house all along and they’ve just never noticed that.
Perhaps the ghosts are getting bored too.
Is it possible that the ghosts themselves are getting more active, given that these people are at home all day long?
If ghosts are the way that we traditionally think about them, which is, you know, were once people, then perhaps the ghosts are getting bored too, and they’re making themselves a little more known to the people that they’re not commonly used to seeing at all hours of the day and night. (Bored ghosts? It is a stretch and very unscientific to assign emotions to an ethereal entity, should it even exist, sine they possibly occupy a location in time and space we know little about. I’m sure if they were bored they could easily move on to somewhere else on their plane of existence or leave us altogether.)
Maybe they don’t want that company. I mean, some of the reports that I was seeing in this New York Times article, this sounds quite annoying — like little petty things of doors slamming and towels on the floor and rattling the shades and things. I mean, maybe it’s a message that they just want to be left alone in these houses.
It’s possible. (But unlikely. Doors slamming and towels on the floor are common everyday occurrences and not directly correlated to hauntings/ghosts.)
As human beings, we have difficulty communicating and discerning the motives of other living human beings that are right in front of us. So for us to try and divine what the intention is of an ethereal, invisible being that we can’t really see? (Psychological studies have show we are very good at ‘determining’ the motives of other humans and we bitch about them everyday in our coffee houses or at the pub over a cold beer. He is right in that determining motives, if there are any , which is highly unlikely, is an impossible task in this modern age. In the history of ghostly lore over thousands of years ghosts had a purpose and were not shy in expressing it. Since today we have trouble determining any motivation, this could mean that: (a) ghosts are less communicative for reasons we do not understand, (b) reality TV shows are incompetent in locating true hauntings, (c), ghosts are a social construct which has changed over time, and (d), we are not looking for them in the right way.)
They might just be trying to get attention, and they’re doing it the only way they know how, which is slamming a door or pulling a window shade or slamming a window.
Is it possible … that people, being confined and seeing no one, are just going a little nuts? (GPC Ed: We would not use the word nuts to explain this, but the question is certainly valid and boredom and imagination combined with stress, which is the main ingredient in any haunting, is the probably reason for the alleged uptick in reports. We are trying to validate his claims.)
I tell people to kind of take copious notes, journal about it, keep track of when it happens, because the majority of cases that I investigated over the past 30 years have had a natural solution to them. (Almost all.)
There might be something happening in your house, whether it be your furnace turning on or a truck driving down the street every day at the same time, that you never noticed before. But once you start to take notes, you’ll notice that it’s a repeating pattern or something that’s very familiar.
How often do you actually … find something that’s there?
I’ve investigated thousands of cases and there are probably maybe less than a hundred where something really unique and strange is happening.
What was the strangest?
I’ve been in a situation where I was in a room with 13 people and we had the lights off and this room was allegedly haunted. And so we were sitting in the dark and everybody was saying their name, kind of introducing themselves to the ghost, for lack of a better word. ( A very unscientific way to investigate ghosts)
And one woman in the corner refused to say her name. And that’s fine, but when I asked if she could say where she was from, she didn’t respond.
So I turned the light on, and that’s when everybody in the room realized that that woman that we had all thought was with us had never been there. There was an empty spot where we thought she had been sitting. (Since true ghosts appear as solid, three-dimensional entities indistinguishable from real people, this could be a true case of a ghost since human sight is the only way to locate them, ie, all the equipment int the world is useless in locating them. Assuming this is true as related to the reporter of course.)
I have had, you know, situations where I’ve seen strange coloured mist floating around a room or through a cemetery.
But sometimes it’s almost so typical that it’s hard to believe you’re looking at something that’s cloaked with a skeleton-like face. Your mind just says, “Oh, that’s gotta be something from a movie. It’s got to be something I’m imagining. (Ah, no. Didn’t happen)
When you have an experience where someone says, “Oh, I’m seeing a very spooky movie-like ghost” … you have to wonder how much their mind is playing into how they perceive their reality.
I saw a spike like this before, right at the Y2K in 1999. There was another minor spike around 9/11.
Times of stress really do something to human psychology, and so you see people having deeper, stranger dreams. You have people reporting a higher amount of ghosts in their house or haunted houses. (Very true!)
I have even had an increase in UFO reports since the quarantine. And that might just be because people, you know, go outside and look up at the sky and have time to reflect. (Also very true)
It doesn’t mean so much that they’re going crazy, but perhaps they’re just becoming a little more introverted and perhaps getting to know themselves a little better.
Would you tell people to be receptive to these experiences?
I would. I think that our world is so strange, you should have as many weird experiences as possible. I also think that once you open yourself up to a weird experience, you start to have more of them. (That is something we call the Kitchen Sink Phenomena. When a paranormal even occurs, normal events, as well as unusual but innocent events are suddenly being classified as supernatural and often falsely related to the original event when they are not. Or the person begins to believe that the supernatural follows them around and becomes paranoid or accepts the false believe and treats it as almost a religious revelation and ‘honours’ this ability accordingly. It is not acceptable parapsychological practice to encourage this. )
The majority of cases that I’ve ever investigated, people don’t get hurt. It’s not scary. It’s startling, but it’s not scary. If someone does get hurt, it’s because they are startled and fall off of a ladder or run down the steps and trip on their own feet. (Correct)
But I think that if ghosts are here, they’re a part of our environment and we should get to know them. (And thus the reason for the scientific work of Ghost Project Canada)
Ghost Project Canada 