Since the launch of television programs such as Most Haunted, Ghost Adventures and Ghost Hunters, paranormal investigations have become increasingly popular. Due to this growth in popularity, many companies have been created to give the general public the chance to be a ghost hunter for the night.
As agreed within the paranormal community, these shows are done for entertainment purposes only. This brings up the question of "Are investigations done for TV real or fake?" and "How does it affect the field for companies who are all about finding the evidence?"
It is not for us to say whether or not investigations made for entertainment purposes are done as real investigations or are faked to draw viewers. This conclusion is entirely up to the reader.
Investigations done for television
We have all seen the television shows based around a paranormal investigation. Whether it be the UK's Most Haunted or America's Ghost Adventures. These shows as we know have been put on TV for a reason. 1) They are popular with the audience, 2) They have certain characters that make the tv show and 3) They continue to draw in the viewers. With some of these television shows though have come controversy. From outing a medium to past team members sharing stories of their times on the shows and although we believe that at the start each of these TV shows has had the same goal (looking for evidence of the paranormal).
As their shows have continued to gain a fan base and grab the viewers attention, this means that the quality of the show and the content needs to step up. Which means that on each investigation done for TV there needs to be something to draw the audience in.
So is this done by off camera tricks, throwing of objects, triggering things to fall, dramatising feelings and emotions? Or are these teams that good that they are able to get activity in just about every location they visit?
Companies looking for the evidence
These companies are dedicated to introducing the public to the world of a paranormal investigations as well as searching for concrete evidence that there is something else after life.
From our experience while working on investigations, we know that doing an investigation can be boring at times and can turn into long nights especially in freezing cold temperatures with little or no activity happening. This can be disheartening for some people who have watched said television shows and come onto an event to experience what they've seen on TV. The hype that is built up on the TV shows compared to the actual experience you may have on a night with a company can vastly differ. With this, the expectation for activity has been greatly increased and the disappointment of those people coming to these events when nothing happens as well.
From our experience, the companies that we have worked with and participated in group events with have all been genuine companies. (We are not saying that there are any companies who are not genuine, but we are not saying that every company is genuine, this is where your judgement on a company comes in).
Unfortunately due to the availability of CGI and photo editing software so much can be faked. This is making it much more difficult for genuine photo and video evidence to be classed as true paranormal activity.
Conclusion
The only way to be 100% certain that the evidence is genuine is to be a witness of the activity. The best way that you are going to see a piece of genuine evidence is to attend a group event with a reputable paranormal team or by doing your own investigation.
Even though there are some people who are not happy with some paranormal TV shows, their popularity and fan base has brought paranormal investigations into mainstream media and this for all of us can only be a good thing.
Do you agree? Is our field of business on the up from TV shows or are they hurting the research that they once helped popularise?
Comment below and let us know what your thoughts are!