The Strange World of Ghost Hunting (and its history)
The Strange World of Ghost Hunting (and its history)
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People have always believed in ghosts in one way or another, but when did we start HUNTING for them, and why? Come learn with me about the world of paranormal investigation media and its complicated history!
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Sources:
Confessions Of A Ghost-hunter by Harry Price
“Give us a Sign of Your Presence”: Paranormal Investigation as a Spiritual Practice by Marc A. Eaton
QUEER SPECTRALITIES AND UNTIMELY SUBJECTS by KEVIN CHABOT
Ghost Hunting in the 19th Century– Distillations Podcast Episode 277, Science History Institute
https://www.sciencehistory.org/distil…
The Broken Technology of Ghost Hunting By Colin Dickey
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/a…
“Ghost Hunting in the Twenty-First Century” by John Potts in “From Shaman to Scientist: Essays on Humanity’s Search for Spirits”
‘Make Me Believe!’: Ghost-hunting technology and the postmodern fantastic by Sarah Juliet Lauro and Catherine Paul
Phantasmic Science: Medieval Theology, Victorian Spiritualism, and the Specific Rationality of Twenty-First Century Ghost Hunting by Brenda Gardenour Walter
Ghost-Hunters and Psychical Research in Interwar England by Joanna Timms
Wandering the Web — Subcultures: Ghost Hunting: A Passion for the Paranormal by Jack and Lesley Montgomery
Paranormal Technology: Understanding the Science of Ghost Hunting By David M. Rountree
Haunting rhetoric: Ghost Adventures and the evolution of the ghost hunting genre by Shannon Dale
A Haunted Genre: A Study of Ghost Hunting Reality Television by Abigail L. Carlin
Re-imagining the National Past: Negotiating the Roles of Science, Religion, and History in Contemporary British Ghost Tourism by Michele M. Hanks
Ghosts: A Natural History: 500 Years of Searching for Proof By Roger Clarke
“14 Spectral Men: Femininity, Race, and Traumatic Manhood in the RTV Ghost-Hunter Genre” by David Greven, from the book “Reality Gendervision”
Ghostland: AN AMERICAN HISTORY IN HAUNTED PLACES By Colin Dickey
Ghost Hunters: WILLIAM JAMES AND THE SEARCH FOR SCIENTIFIC PROOF OF LIFE AFTER DEATH By Deborah Blum
Speaking into the Air: A History of the Idea of Communication by John Durham Peters
Video:
Ghost Adventures
Buzzfeed Unsolved Supernatural
Bleach
Ghost Whisperer
Legend of a Ghost (1908)
Content
0.08 -> thanks to cairo for sponsoring this
1.599 -> video let's take a trip back in time to
3.679 -> the year 2011.
5.6 -> i'm in the ghost adventures fandom
8 -> just over a decade ago i was in the
10.08 -> ghost adventures fandom i mean what can
12.32 -> i say the show has an allure and most of
15.92 -> it is the dozens of questions that i
17.44 -> have surrounding zachary bagels as a
19.119 -> person post captures a small unexplained
21.84 -> stick figure standing on top of me and
24.4 -> very soon after this something seems to
27.519 -> overtake me
30.08 -> what i'll talk more about the show later
32 -> on in this video i promise it's relevant
34.079 -> but i've been interested in ghosts my
36 -> whole life in fact i've even had a few
37.84 -> paranormal experiences of my own in high
40.16 -> school a friend and i honestly caught a
42.16 -> really good evp while lurking in a
44.32 -> supposedly haunted lot near our school
47.12 -> we went all the way down
50.879 -> there was literally no one else there
52.879 -> and neither of us said go back so
56.16 -> who said it of course evidence like the
58.16 -> evp that we caught or things like ghost
60.48 -> photos or electromagnetic energy
62.399 -> readings are hard proof of spirits to
64.4 -> sum and hokey nonsense to others if
67.439 -> you're a fan of ryan bergara and shane
69.28 -> midday's antics on buzzfeed unsolved
71.04 -> supernatural you're familiar with both
72.96 -> camps on the argos real issue i'm gonna
75.6 -> take everything said by a ghost hunter
77.439 -> with a grain of salt well technically
79.36 -> now you're a ghost hunter so think about
80.96 -> that oh but ghost hunting itself is
84.159 -> not a new phenomenon at all and people
86.159 -> have obviously believed in ghosts or
87.92 -> spirits since well the dawn of humanity
91.68 -> but why and why are we so desperate to
94.32 -> find proof so much so that ghost hunting
96.96 -> itself has now become a multi-million
99.04 -> dollar industry come learn with me quick
101.439 -> disclaimer first firstly this video will
104.32 -> mainly focus on the us other parts of
106.399 -> the world have super rich and amazing
108.399 -> ghost hunting histories that i just
110.399 -> don't have time to get into here also if
113.04 -> discussions that really dissect the
114.72 -> ghost hunting genre are really likely to
117.04 -> piss you off or if you really just don't
119.2 -> want to hear the research and discussion
120.719 -> of anyone skeptical of paranormal
122.88 -> investigation and ghostly evidence then
124.399 -> this is absolutely not the video for you
126.88 -> i'm saving your precious time just click
128.56 -> away now because yeah i'm gonna be
130.879 -> ripping into some things
133.12 -> did you leave yet no
135.2 -> okay awesome so before we get into it
137.12 -> let's hear a word from today's sponsor
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206.72 -> my code kaz50 for 50 off your first
208.959 -> order thank you so much to cara for
210.48 -> sponsoring this video and now let's get
212.4 -> back to learning the history of ghost
214.08 -> hunting by the way tutter is here he's
216.48 -> hiding behind me
218.4 -> that's better ghosts as a concept and
220.72 -> ghost stories for that matter date back
222.64 -> as far as any oral or written stories
225.12 -> that we have and the idea of what a
227.04 -> ghost even is isn't standard throughout
229.2 -> time and location in the epic of
231.44 -> gilgamesh ghosts are something in
233.12 -> between human and creature in the middle
235.68 -> ages oftentimes ghosts came in the form
237.76 -> of reanimated corpses or apparitions of
240.64 -> holy figures in the jacobian era ghosts
243.2 -> were demons in disguise chinese folklore
246.08 -> has a huge variety of types of ghosts
247.92 -> from hungry ghosts to trickster ghosts
250.08 -> to ghosts simply looking for offerings
252.48 -> in ye olde ancient roman times pliny the
254.72 -> younger wrote in one of his letters the
256.4 -> story of a house that was haunted by a
258.56 -> disheveled starving man bound in chains
261.68 -> after years of vacancy a philosopher
264.08 -> named athena dorouse rented the home and
266.639 -> waited one night to see the ghost while
268.56 -> he did some work when the ghost finally
270.32 -> appeared athena doris was like
275.68 -> dude if i was that ghost i'd be so
277.28 -> pissed well eventually he finished his
279.44 -> work and the ghost led him outside where
281.68 -> in the morning athenodorus dug up a
283.759 -> chained skeleton he gave the ghost to
286.08 -> proper burial and the ghost moved on to
289.12 -> wherever ghosts go
291.04 -> well that's the big question isn't it at
293.04 -> the core of our obsession with ghosts
294.8 -> there lies the real problem what happens
297.52 -> to us after we die
299.36 -> so many of us want to believe that we
300.88 -> don't simply stop you know cease to
303.68 -> exist it's a comforting thought for many
305.759 -> and terrifying for others a lot of folks
308.16 -> who fervently believe in ghosts are the
309.919 -> latter but regardless this is the
311.68 -> question that humans have struggled with
313.44 -> for millennia because we don't have an
316 -> answer and ghost stories seem to give us
318.4 -> one and ghost sightings are supposedly
321.28 -> the backbone of these stories they also
323.84 -> give us a sort of tangible connection to
326 -> the humans of the past something that
328.16 -> most people crave consciously or not
330.639 -> colin dickey writes in ghostland in a
333.039 -> world where nearly every moment of our
334.96 -> lives is photographed recorded and
337.28 -> documented the gaps in the past still
339.6 -> beckon us searching for ghosts can be an
342.16 -> attempt to reconstruct what is lost by
344.8 -> sifting through time for stories that
346.8 -> have been misplaced or forgotten we
348.88 -> listen to the voices that call out to be
350.8 -> remembered are ghost stories centered on
352.88 -> unfinished endings broken relationships
355.52 -> things left unexplained they offer an
358.16 -> alternative kind of history
359.919 -> foregrounding what might otherwise be
361.84 -> ignored we all want to be remembered to
364.479 -> have our wishes and duties completed
366.639 -> before we pass on to die the good death
370 -> ghosts act as two different opposing
371.68 -> concepts they remind us both that the
373.84 -> bad death exists that we may pass on
376.08 -> with unfinished business doomed to never
378.4 -> find peace and they also give us the
380.88 -> hope that these issues can be solved
382.8 -> after death too that some kind person
385.6 -> can come along and put our spirits to
387.52 -> rest there is of course no shortage of
390.16 -> media surrounding this idea of the
392.319 -> haunted hero with the curse of
394.16 -> mediumship one tv show that was
396.639 -> extremely formative to me as a kid was
399.28 -> the ghost whisperer starring jennifer
401.12 -> love hewitt the show ran from 2005 to
403.68 -> 2010 and follows a character named
405.68 -> melinda gordon who was born with the
407.68 -> ability to see ghosts she lives in a
410.16 -> cute picturesque town that definitely
412.08 -> isn't the set from back to the future
413.44 -> and runs an antique store with her best
415.039 -> friend which honestly gave me
417.039 -> highly unrealistic expectations for my
419.36 -> adult life
420.72 -> so each episode basically has melinda
422.88 -> being confronted by a new ghost gasping
425.28 -> a lot and wearing shirts with
427.12 -> dangerously plunging necklines and doing
429.84 -> some sleuthing and pestering grieving
431.919 -> strangers so she can figure out why this
433.84 -> ghost is trapped on earth and trying to
436 -> solve whatever their issue is so the
437.68 -> ghost can go into the light and if the
439.68 -> ghost doesn't want to go into the light
441.12 -> they become an evil ghost the lore got
443.599 -> even more and more convoluted over time
445.68 -> and in my opinion the show jumped the
447.599 -> shark when her creepy son was born but
449.52 -> you get the idea this type of plotline
451.68 -> where some living person is cursed with
453.759 -> the duty to help the dead find peace is
455.759 -> extremely common you see it in other
458.16 -> types of media too like bleach or the
460.4 -> novel cemetery boys which is extremely
462.639 -> good if you're looking for a book to
464 -> read they all focus on a person haunted
466 -> by spirits often fighting time to save
468.4 -> the dead before they turn into a
470.08 -> malevolent spirit it makes complete
472.08 -> sense why this concept is so popular it
474.56 -> gives us this dreamy idea that there's
476.639 -> people out there who can help us even
478.96 -> after death when we are helpless and it
481.52 -> also explains why there are good and bad
483.599 -> ghosts or why good ghosts may do bad
486.24 -> things it's also a really attractive
488.319 -> concept for writers because well it's
491.039 -> really fun and inherently interesting to
493.199 -> have a sort of tortured protagonist
495.12 -> doomed to help the wayward spirits
497.28 -> because no one else can i get it
499.759 -> my own webcomic cunning fire has this
501.84 -> exact type of protagonist too and one of
504.16 -> the characters is the literal spirit of
506.16 -> death plus the antagonist is literally
508.16 -> just a glorified and really stupid
510.24 -> poltergeist looks like all that ghost
512.24 -> media i grew up with was more formative
514.32 -> than i realized but this specific
516.24 -> storyline as a trope is only new in a
518.32 -> few ways the basis of it that being a
520.959 -> person acting as a bridge between the
522.719 -> realms of the living and the dead is an
524.8 -> extremely old concept and not just in
527.279 -> fiction centuries ago in the middle ages
529.68 -> this might have come in the forms of
531.6 -> saints and holy men and women making
534.24 -> spiritual contact with biblical figures
537.12 -> more acting as prophets than anything
539.12 -> else later centuries saw people taking a
541.839 -> more proactive approach in the 1600s a
544.48 -> vicar named joseph glanville began
546.56 -> pursuing his supernatural beliefs that
548.24 -> ghosts could be used to prove the
549.76 -> existence of god this was an era where
552.399 -> atheism was rising among the population
554.64 -> and there was a lot of worry that the
556.32 -> common open mockery of religion would
558.959 -> result in a greater spiritual
560.72 -> catastrophe glanville believed that
562.72 -> proving the existence of ghosts
564.48 -> therefore in his eyes proving god's
566.64 -> existence would solve the problem of
569.279 -> course we still have atheists and ghost
571.12 -> hunters desperately searching for proof
572.72 -> today so i think it goes without saying
575.279 -> that glanville was unsuccessful we don't
577.839 -> see anyone who could be truly dubbed a
579.92 -> ghost hunter again until well into the
582.16 -> victorian era and that's when things
584.48 -> start to get really spicy on the
586.399 -> spiritual front
592.56 -> the victorian era was a hotbed for
594.64 -> interest in spirits in the paranormal
596.48 -> for a number of reasons for one thing it
598.56 -> was a period of unbelievable
600.24 -> technological advancements though today
602.48 -> we don't tend to realize it it was the
604.24 -> era with the invention of the radio the
606.16 -> telegraph steamboats cars trains
608.56 -> photography modern bicycles electric
611.279 -> lighting the telephone x-rays medical
614.079 -> antiseptics the sewing machine paved
616.56 -> roads typewriters recorded sound and
619.279 -> film and much much more and many of
621.76 -> these inventions photography electricity
624.079 -> and recorded sound in particular
626 -> completely altered the spiritual
627.92 -> landscape for many people for one thing
630.48 -> new electricity in homes often made
632.64 -> strange sounds smells or flashes that
635.44 -> people weren't used to and may have
637.04 -> chalked up to the paranormal but
639.04 -> photography and sound recording saw
641.04 -> something far more cataclysmic it made
643.76 -> the dead in a way
645.519 -> undead in the past the dead were gone
647.92 -> and lived only in memory perhaps you had
650.48 -> their writings or a painting or drawing
652.56 -> of them but never before could the exact
655.279 -> image and voice of a deceased person
657.6 -> exist beyond the grave john peters told
660.24 -> the distillations podcast in a sense all
662.72 -> recording media are cemeteries the idea
665.44 -> that you could record the dead their
666.88 -> minds their thoughts their words their
668.72 -> deeds to live on is a very ancient one
671.6 -> so if you read homer he's singing the
673.36 -> praises of great deeds on the
674.88 -> battlefield of achilles for example but
677.36 -> writing does not preserve the voice of
679.12 -> the dead it preserves the words of the
681.279 -> dead and there's a profound difference
683.279 -> and the idea that we could suddenly know
685.12 -> what someone sounds like and keep
686.8 -> hearing their voice after they were dead
688.88 -> seemed particularly haunting previously
691.6 -> to hear the voice of a dead person was
693.279 -> the domain of magic or sorcery or
696.16 -> something weird and haunted so you can
698.24 -> see how the phonograph has this patina
700.32 -> of the uncanny when thomas edison
702.56 -> invented his phonograph in 1878 it was
705.2 -> described in the scientific american as
707.76 -> making speech immortal and it's true but
711.279 -> it didn't just make speech immortal in a
713.6 -> huge way it made people immortal the
716.88 -> phonograph and commercialization of
718.72 -> photography came on the heels of the
720.639 -> civil war which took the lives of over
723.279 -> 700 000 people so many people died out
726.88 -> in the open and laid in plain sight
728.959 -> unburied for weeks or longer
731.68 -> death was always visible for victorians
734.72 -> disease killed so many more people then
736.8 -> than it does now but the brutality of
738.959 -> the war was something that tore through
740.8 -> the lives of every american to so much
743.519 -> higher a degree so much so that
745.68 -> traditional ways of mourning and
747.2 -> rationalizing death were failing people
750.48 -> struggled to come to terms with the loss
752.32 -> and the trauma and craved something
754.8 -> anything that could connect them to
756.8 -> their dead loved ones and people like
758.88 -> mediums and spirit photographers gave
761.2 -> people exactly what they wanted spirit
763.36 -> photography happened completely by
765.76 -> accident the first time william mummler
768 -> was working in his studio taking
769.839 -> self-portraits when upon developing one
772.399 -> of them the image came to life showing
774.24 -> the spirit of his long-deceased cousin
776.48 -> behind him a girl made of light he was
778.959 -> startled until he realized his mistake
781.12 -> he had accidentally reused an old plate
783.12 -> that already had a photo on it so what
785.76 -> resulted was a double image he showed
788.399 -> the photo to a friend who was a
789.92 -> spiritualist who took it very seriously
792.8 -> and said that it was absolutely the real
795.2 -> image of a ghost the photo began to
797.519 -> circulate usually embellished in the
799.6 -> papers with grim details such as that
802 -> mummler's arm felt numb while sitting
803.92 -> for the photo or he could only take a
806.16 -> few photos at a time before becoming
808.16 -> exhausted from the strain of connecting
810.079 -> to the spirit world people were eating
812.079 -> it up and mumler was more than willing
814.24 -> to cash in on the craze this began in
816.8 -> 1861 just at the very beginning of the
819.68 -> civil war over the course of his career
822.079 -> as a spirit photographer more and more
824.079 -> people were losing their loved ones to
825.92 -> the violence and they craved seeing
828.079 -> their lost person so much so desperate
831.279 -> for a connection with someone they'll
832.88 -> never see again people were more than
835.36 -> willing to pay the extraordinarily high
837.839 -> price of over ten dollars per photo that
840.079 -> mumler charged in today's money that's
842.399 -> over three hundred dollars per photo his
844.56 -> career didn't last long though in 1863 a
848.079 -> man sat for mummler and when the photo
850.399 -> was developed he recognized the ghost as
852.88 -> a very much alive man that he knew
855.36 -> mummler was sued sparking a media circus
858.399 -> and was eventually acquitted but it was
860.72 -> too late his reputation now was truly in
864.88 -> the grave but mumler's success spawned a
867.279 -> ton of imitators spirit photography was
869.76 -> extraordinarily easy to do and the
871.6 -> demand was very high and grieving people
874.16 -> weren't just in the market to see their
875.76 -> dead loved ones in photos they wanted to
878 -> hear and speak to them too the victorian
880.24 -> era saw a ton of women who became famous
882.639 -> mediums or people who could speak to the
885.199 -> dead or otherwise had some connection to
887.839 -> the spirit world the most famous of this
890.16 -> time was the case of the fox sisters in
892.88 -> 1847 the fox family moved to a home in
895.6 -> hydesville new york it wasn't long
897.44 -> before the daughters marguerita kate and
899.279 -> maggie started hearing strange knocking
901.6 -> sounds in the house at night they
903.519 -> finally called out asking who it was
905.44 -> making the sounds and apparently they
907.68 -> got answers back from a ghost they
909.519 -> called mr splitfoot they communicated
911.76 -> with mr splitfoot in something very
913.76 -> similar to the newly invented morse code
916.56 -> one knock for yes two knocks for no mr
919.44 -> splitfoot was giving very specific
921.36 -> answers so people started to really
923.199 -> believe that this was real after the
925.36 -> papers later reported that the fox
927.36 -> family had dug up mr splitfoot's body on
929.519 -> their property pt barnum the circus
931.92 -> villain decided to give the girls a job
934.079 -> at his new american museum where they
936.16 -> would hold seances for pay and the fox
939.12 -> sisters became massive celebrities which
941.92 -> of course earned them a lot of hate
943.759 -> their career didn't last after a
945.36 -> commission of skeptics investigated them
947.6 -> and published the declaration that their
949.839 -> whole shtick was a hoax maggie fox who
952.48 -> was an alcoholic went on to publish a
954.639 -> tell-all in the paper about how they
956.8 -> made the noises happen by cracking their
959.519 -> toe joints and the sisters died in
962.079 -> poverty but they weren't alone in this
964.48 -> the skeptic scientists in this era had
966.56 -> it out for the spiritualists not all
969.12 -> scientists were skeptics looking to ruin
971.279 -> careers or lives though in fact many
973.759 -> victorian scientists saw a lot of value
976.16 -> in honestly investigating the paranormal
978.56 -> this is in part because the massive
980.399 -> shift in victorian people's idea of how
983.04 -> the natural world works as new
984.88 -> inventions revolutionize daily life
987.199 -> radio itself actually brought an
988.959 -> entirely new realm of thought to the
990.8 -> world of science the concept of the
993.199 -> ether people talked about radio waves as
995.68 -> tangibly traveling through space through
997.839 -> a sort of parallel quite literally
1000.48 -> ethereal plane both our physical space
1002.959 -> and not it was the idea that the ether
1005.44 -> is what carries electricity light and
1007.519 -> radio waves and heat etc and the ether
1010.72 -> is also what carries spirit energy or
1013.44 -> where spirits live this gave many
1015.759 -> researchers a huge interest in studying
1017.92 -> the ether and ghosts in general as a
1020.079 -> real scientific possibility and marked
1022.56 -> the beginning of combining technology
1024.959 -> with the idea of hunting for ghosts
1027.6 -> there was a new faction of science
1029.199 -> emerging called psychical research which
1031.76 -> sought to explore the properties of the
1033.76 -> ether they really believed there may
1035.76 -> actually be a scientific way to make
1037.6 -> contact between the living and the dead
1039.52 -> in the u.s the key figure in psychical
1041.679 -> research was a man named william james
1044.24 -> often dubbed the father of american
1046 -> psychology in 1884 james founded the
1048.88 -> society for psychical research which
1051.039 -> sought to investigate scientifically
1053.2 -> anything paranormal their special
1054.96 -> interest was proving the existence of
1056.799 -> telepathy james became sort of obsessed
1059.2 -> with a famous boston woman named leonora
1061.76 -> piper who claimed that she heard the
1063.6 -> voices of the dead and could communicate
1065.6 -> with them through automatic writing
1067.2 -> which is where the sitter goes into a
1068.88 -> trance and the spirit moves their hand
1071.52 -> to write a message james paid for a
1073.52 -> sitting with piper and she was able to
1075.28 -> tell him highly specific information
1077.84 -> about his family that no stranger would
1080.16 -> know and from that moment on he was
1082.32 -> convinced that she did have some
1084.16 -> unexplained gift he began to study her
1086.48 -> and put her through tests like having
1088.32 -> her identify random people after only
1090.4 -> touching like a lock of their hair that
1092.32 -> they donated and she passed every single
1094.88 -> test one of james's skeptic colleagues a
1098.24 -> man named g stanley hall was not buying
1101.12 -> it though he put piper through tests of
1103.2 -> his own doing anything he could to try
1106 -> and break her trance it was honestly
1108.4 -> more like torture though the tests had
1110.799 -> her burned pinched had bitter things
1113.2 -> forced in her mouth had her tied up
1115.84 -> things that left scars behind and yet
1118.48 -> despite all this they weren't able to
1120.4 -> break her trance even once to this day
1123.52 -> no one really knows what was really
1125.44 -> happening with leonora piper and her
1127.679 -> gift
1128.72 -> unlike most other mediums which did turn
1131.039 -> out to be frauds no one was able to
1133.039 -> debunk her and mediums weren't the only
1135.84 -> ways people were making alleged tangible
1138.16 -> contact with the dead this era marks the
1140.32 -> beginning of modern day ghost hunting
1142.4 -> too the first modern celebrity ghost
1144.48 -> hunter as we think of them now was an
1146.559 -> englishman named harry price now price
1149.36 -> was a generally extremely unlikable
1151.679 -> person by most people who knew him but
1153.679 -> the public loved him because harry
1156.08 -> became famous for viciously trying to
1157.919 -> debunk mediums and being a skeptic
1159.919 -> against any hocus pocus a thing that
1162.48 -> over time became more and more of a
1164.32 -> character act he once said people don't
1166.88 -> want the debunk they want the bunk and i
1169.2 -> mean yeah people love an unhinged
1171.76 -> skeptic especially if it doesn't spoil
1174.08 -> the fun of the magic of it all skeptics
1176.24 -> themselves add a kind of excitement to
1178.64 -> the paranormal it gives the whole
1180.32 -> question bigger stakes doesn't it price
1182.4 -> spent his career not necessarily looking
1184.88 -> to prove or disprove ghosts themselves
1187.2 -> but was sort of in the middle he
1189.2 -> debunked a lot of so-called mediums and
1191.2 -> spirit photographers but at the end of
1192.72 -> the day there were some hauntings and
1194.4 -> mediums he couldn't explain away
1196.88 -> one of them was the case of borley
1198.559 -> rectory often dubbed the most haunted
1200.64 -> house in england especially after price
1202.799 -> wrote a book on it titled the most
1204.4 -> haunted house in england while
1205.919 -> investigating borley rectory which is
1208 -> reportedly haunted by a malevolent nun
1210.72 -> price and a number of witnesses that he
1212.4 -> hired would experience strange sounds
1214.88 -> cold spots objects that moved on their
1217.52 -> own or appeared and disappeared wall
1219.76 -> writings strange lights and even
1221.76 -> full-blown apparitions given that the
1223.84 -> group of witnesses was made up of a mix
1225.76 -> of believers skeptics and avid debunkers
1228.72 -> and many of these phenomena were
1230.559 -> experienced by numerous people at once
1232.72 -> it's definitely strange
1234.48 -> in the end no one could come to a
1236.159 -> conclusion as to what was going on at
1237.919 -> barley rectory and the case remains
1241 -> unsolved but what became more and more
1243.44 -> prominent over the years following
1245.12 -> price's career is the way that theology
1247.679 -> the paranormal and science have collided
1250.159 -> in a way that could only have existed in
1252.159 -> the post-industrial era ghost hunting as
1254.72 -> it exists today lies somewhere in the
1256.48 -> crossroads in between faith and secular
1258.72 -> science in a way as paranormal
1260.96 -> investigation becomes more and more
1262.799 -> intertwined with technology and research
1264.96 -> the more it circles right back around to
1266.88 -> the ideas that glanville had in the 17th
1269.28 -> century using proof of ghosts to
1271.679 -> indirectly prove the existence of god
1274 -> but much of the technology used to find
1275.76 -> this proof is inherently inconclusive
1278.159 -> one of the most common tools that ghost
1280.08 -> hunters use today is an emf reader or
1282.72 -> electromagnetic field reader and one of
1285.039 -> the most common ones that people use is
1286.799 -> the k2 which can be bought on amazon was
1289.919 -> popularized by the show ghost hunters a
1292.32 -> show well known for its reliable
1294.559 -> evidence but the k2 is an extremely
1296.4 -> inaccurate tool if you're looking for
1297.919 -> something specific it only operates on
1300.48 -> one axis and is unshielded which means
1302.88 -> you have to wave it around and it can be
1304.88 -> set off by almost anything from a cell
1306.96 -> phone to a computer mouse there's also
1309.2 -> the ever popular spirit box which loudly
1311.52 -> scans through am and fm frequencies in
1313.76 -> the hopes that you're able to pick out
1315.2 -> some sort of coherent voice personally i
1317.679 -> still think that spaghetti and apple
1319.28 -> tater from buzzfeed unsolved are the
1320.96 -> most solid ghost evidence we'll ever get
1323.039 -> but
1329.84 -> tell us your name
1334.24 -> investigators also use the old tried and
1336.32 -> true tools like a simple camera or voice
1338.799 -> recorder the evidence that comes out of
1340.799 -> this technology is almost entirely
1342.72 -> interpretive though and oftentimes
1344.64 -> people's paranormal experiences are
1346.48 -> interpretations from the failure or
1349.2 -> ambiguity of something going on with a
1351.2 -> piece of technology camera batteries
1353.12 -> randomly die ghost audio breaks up ghost
1355.84 -> blur on a photo ghost white noise ghost
1358.799 -> you can't exactly prove it is really a
1360.4 -> ghost but you can't always prove that it
1362.159 -> isn't either some cases became famous
1364.4 -> like the incident in the 1950s when
1366.88 -> three children on long island were
1368.559 -> watching tv when suddenly a frightening
1371.12 -> face of a ghostly woman appeared on the
1373.52 -> screen and wouldn't go away it only
1376.08 -> disappeared when the tv itself later
1378.159 -> broke and by this point the media was
1380.48 -> having a field day with it much in the
1382.32 -> same way that people go nuts when
1384 -> someone thinks that they see the image
1385.52 -> of jesus burn into their toast or
1387.36 -> something so even with the modern
1389.28 -> advancements in the more recent decades
1391.36 -> of ghost hunting tech and theory
1394 -> a lot of it is never able to actually
1396 -> concretely produce definitive proof and
1398.559 -> a lot of that is by design which we'll
1401.12 -> get more into here in a minute a lot of
1403.12 -> the time these new methods of a
1404.559 -> paranormal investigation ask the
1406.159 -> practitioner and the onlooker to already
1408.48 -> be believers like they already believe
1410.64 -> in ghosts so they're already inclined to
1412.48 -> believe that these methods work and have
1414.96 -> solid theory behind them but that
1416.799 -> doesn't stop many paranormal
1418.24 -> investigators from going to great
1420 -> lengths to explain the scientific theory
1422.559 -> behind their tools and practice david m
1424.96 -> roundtree wrote an entire highly
1426.72 -> detailed book on it in it he says that
1428.96 -> ghosts could be a number of things time
1431.36 -> anomalies beings from parallel
1433.2 -> dimensions wormhole phenomena etc i mean
1436.96 -> sure i guess any one of those things
1438.88 -> could be true right it would be
1440.32 -> obscenely cocky to think that we as a
1442.64 -> civilization are currently so advanced
1445.12 -> that we can definitively say yes or no
1447.12 -> to any of these things we're learning
1449.039 -> new things about the universe every day
1451.12 -> but ghost hunting shows themselves never
1453.039 -> just relegate themselves to the world of
1454.88 -> science that would after all be boring
1457.2 -> to most so most if not all of them
1459.76 -> instead prefer to lay in the realm of
1461.52 -> adventure true crime storytelling with a
1463.84 -> side order of science larping
1467.22 -> [Music]
1470.64 -> now as i said before i used to be in the
1473.279 -> ghost adventures fandom i bought and
1475.52 -> read zac bagan's first autobiography i
1477.919 -> saw every episode premiere for a number
1480 -> of years i bought merch everything i was
1483.039 -> eating it up and you know what that show
1485.279 -> is fun as hell i mean ghost adventures
1487.279 -> brought to the table what a lot of other
1489.2 -> ghost shows were lacking and wouldn't
1491.039 -> gain again until well
1492.96 -> maybe buzzfeed unsolved and that is
1495.76 -> humor what made ghost adventures so
1497.52 -> attractive to viewers wasn't just how
1499.36 -> convincing a lot of their evidence may
1501.12 -> have been it was also how goddamn funny
1504.159 -> they are do you know how silly it is
1505.919 -> watching this totally jacked dude with a
1507.919 -> haircut that he calls the zack finn
1510.08 -> running around old buildings in the dark
1511.76 -> going dude did you hear that and as soon
1514.08 -> as someone else talks he's like shh
1516.24 -> and then he makes poor anxiety ridden
1518.24 -> aaron goodwin go by himself into the
1520.799 -> worst parts of the building like a blood
1523.279 -> offering
1524.799 -> it's hysterical for a while they also
1526.96 -> uploaded a lot of little vlogs to
1528.72 -> youtube where they'd just generally goof
1531.039 -> off like zack's hair tutorial and the
1533.52 -> show's early seasons have no shortage of
1535.919 -> in my opinion iconic moments the time
1538.559 -> zack got possessed the time zack's ass
1540.799 -> got slapped by a ghost i just felt
1542.96 -> someone grab my ass
1545.2 -> like hard nick the time zack wrote a
1547.76 -> love poem to a ghost and then busted his
1549.6 -> ass on the ice the time zach joked about
1551.76 -> wanting to bang the ghost the scene on
1553.919 -> snake hill you want to suck the venom
1555.919 -> out of me i don't want to suck anything
1557.76 -> out of you of course the vibes of the
1559.36 -> show have changed quite a bit over the
1561.36 -> years it's gotten kind of more serious
1564.24 -> and one of the members left the show now
1566.72 -> zach talks to celebrities about hokey
1568.96 -> dybbuk boxes
1570.4 -> and beefs with annabelle the doll on
1572.32 -> twitter and ghost avengers itself is a
1574.88 -> really good example of how hyper
1576.72 -> masculinized the genre has become it's
1579.12 -> not enough to hunt ghosts you need a
1581.12 -> team of buff rough and tough bros
1583.919 -> imprisoning themselves in the darkness
1586.32 -> acting as aggressors towards the ghost a
1588.64 -> lot of the time in the past spiritualism
1591.279 -> was the realm of women women were the
1593.039 -> ones making contact and speaking to the
1595.12 -> ghosts often teenage girls today most
1598.08 -> ghost hunting teams on tv are made up of
1600.159 -> men who think that fear is girly engage
1602.72 -> in self-sacrifice by investigating it
1605.2 -> all describing the locations they enter
1607.52 -> as deeply dangerous not because the
1609.84 -> buildings are decrepit but because a
1611.6 -> ghost might hurt them though that never
1614.08 -> really happens beyond some scratching or
1616.72 -> zach getting spanked i could feel like
1618.88 -> this on my on my butt don't show me
1621.44 -> these investigations are raw did someone
1623.6 -> distract me extreme and so much more
1626.72 -> intense it's almost as if there's an
1628.96 -> anxiety there beneath the surface that
1630.88 -> the genre that they're engaging in which
1632.96 -> in the past was dominated by female
1634.799 -> mediums beautiful gothic heroines and
1637.44 -> supernatural romances targeted towards
1639.6 -> women is inherently feminine and now
1641.919 -> they need to overcompensate for it
1644.08 -> stereotypically men are too logical and
1647.279 -> rational to be taken up by
1649.6 -> feminine mystical and paranormal beliefs
1652.559 -> in one episode zack himself makes us
1654.799 -> extremely plain when he says to a
1656.64 -> witness
1657.679 -> you look like kind of a tough guy to me
1660.64 -> it looks like it takes a lot to make you
1662.72 -> a believer in the paranormal in another
1664.72 -> episode after being terrified by
1666.48 -> something he said call me a vagina but
1668.96 -> i'd like to get out of here
1671.52 -> in earlier seasons zach would take his
1673.6 -> act of antagonizing ghosts and actively
1675.84 -> searching for the mean ones to extremes
1678.559 -> which is something that he would later
1680.08 -> apologize for and has since changed his
1682.48 -> tune considerably but at the end of the
1684.559 -> day
1685.36 -> zack is an entertainer all of these
1687.279 -> people are and the bro ification of the
1689.679 -> genre still stands to me he's great for
1692.64 -> comedic value you really can't take his
1695.2 -> whole thing too seriously not only that
1697.44 -> but ghost adventures and many other
1699.12 -> ghost-related reality tv shows offer a
1701.52 -> pretty poignant view of a unique style
1704.24 -> of people engaging with their
1705.679 -> spirituality that's what modern ghost
1707.919 -> hunting still has in common with his
1709.52 -> pat's versions where interest in the
1711.279 -> paranormal ticked up after the civil war
1713.52 -> as grief and trauma drove people to seek
1716.159 -> connection with the other side
1718.08 -> the same thing happened after 9 11. the
1721.36 -> 2000s saw a dramatic rise in interest in
1723.76 -> the paranormal
1725.12 -> not just as a genre of fiction but as a
1727.44 -> potential reality and it makes sense for
1730.799 -> all their machismo and jokes and yelling
1733.6 -> ghost reality media offers the viewer
1736 -> something like secondhand catharsis
1738.399 -> jessica o'hara writes in making their
1740.399 -> presence known tv's ghost hunter
1741.919 -> phenomenon in a post-world
1744 -> the role of the ghost hunter is to
1745.6 -> recognize acknowledge and mourn the dead
1748 -> indeed participants of the shows often
1750.159 -> speak back to the ghost by acknowledging
1752.24 -> the spirit's presence and the injustice
1754.32 -> they suffered or caused is somebody here
1756.72 -> with me can you tell me your name can
1758.88 -> you tell me who hurt you these are
1760.64 -> questions asked at nearly every
1762.72 -> paranormal investigation it's a
1764.799 -> deliberate continuation of the victorian
1767.12 -> seance but it's also a natural reaction
1769.679 -> for people to cry out and plead for a
1771.6 -> response from the invisible being that
1773.84 -> they aren't sure is really there this is
1775.76 -> in part a symptom of the genre's
1777.44 -> unbreakable connection to religion and
1779.84 -> spiritualism no matter how much
1782 -> technology and scientific theory they
1784.159 -> try to employ because religion itself as
1787.12 -> something most viewers are already
1788.72 -> familiar with gives people a framework
1791.2 -> to approach paranormal ideologies with
1793.12 -> that they might already believe shannon
1795.12 -> dale writes
1797.36 -> sorry something fell in the background
1798.799 -> and scared the out of me
1801.039 -> oh it's a ghost
1802.64 -> shannon dale writes the ghost hunters
1804.559 -> cannot rely on any form of consistent
1806.559 -> belief to support their findings but
1808.48 -> they do attempt to use one of the most
1810.399 -> widespread pools of belief that of
1812.32 -> contemporary christianity religious
1814.32 -> beliefs are often tied to family values
1816.559 -> and a sense of safety from the other
1818.72 -> which in this case is evil or for the
1820.96 -> ghost adventures crew malevolent spirits
1823.84 -> post 911 anxieties certainly encourage
1826.399 -> this othering as well as the need to
1828.08 -> align oneself with a mainstream
1829.52 -> discourse that supports current power
1831.279 -> structures these discourse alignments
1833.52 -> provide a sense of safety and stability
1836.08 -> within a concrete set of religious rules
1838.399 -> again you don't really need to prove
1840.159 -> anything to people who already believe
1842.08 -> right the methods of paranormal
1843.84 -> investigation often mimic prayer in a
1845.919 -> way or employ tools like holy water or
1849.039 -> look at strange and confusing symbols or
1851.52 -> really a lot of non-white cultural
1852.88 -> practices and see it as signs of
1855.44 -> satanism or demonic worship and many
1858.399 -> people become paranormal investigators
1860.48 -> because it's a spiritual journey the
1862.48 -> science in tech makes it feel more solid
1864.799 -> and legitimate of course but at its core
1867.44 -> these are people with existential
1869.039 -> anxieties who want answers about what
1871.2 -> happens after we die one investigator
1873.919 -> named patty said my faith is stronger
1876.159 -> that there is an afterlife i always
1878.159 -> believed that we had a soul and it
1880.08 -> continued on after but i guess before
1882.08 -> paranormal investigating i was just like
1884.48 -> everyone else in organized religion you
1886.399 -> go up to heaven you play the harp all
1888.32 -> day or whatever but over time a lot of
1890.559 -> people involved in paranormal
1891.919 -> investigation find their spiritual
1893.679 -> beliefs expanding out of the religious
1896.08 -> thresholds they previously had
1898.24 -> just like everyone else it leaves them
1900.32 -> with more questions than answers sure
1902.88 -> they capture some evidence per episode
1905.12 -> though it's never enough to prove
1906.559 -> anything no matter how many fancy new
1909.039 -> gadgets they buy or develop
1911.279 -> almost by design not one of dozens or
1914 -> hundreds of these celebrity ghost
1915.519 -> hunters over the years has ever been
1917.44 -> able to produce evidence that finally
1919.2 -> puts to rest the argos real question and
1921.919 -> before you start yelling at me listen i
1924.32 -> also want to believe in ghosts i'm on
1926.799 -> your side i even said at the beginning
1928.96 -> of this video that i've had spooky ooky
1931.039 -> ghost experiences and have caught what i
1933.2 -> think is pretty great ghost evidence but
1935.679 -> that doesn't change the fact that people
1937.84 -> who set out to make a career on ghost
1939.76 -> hunting more often than not are
1942.32 -> entertainers first they're here to tell
1944.559 -> a great story and keep you watching
1946.48 -> their show or hiring them if they
1948.48 -> actually capture the one piece of
1950.24 -> evidence to rule them all
1952.08 -> how can they possibly replicate that
1954.32 -> again in any satisfying way when no one
1956.72 -> has ever been able to do it even once
1958.24 -> before the risks are super high so it's
1960.88 -> understandable that they use tech that
1962.399 -> gives readings that might mean something
1964.64 -> is there it's more interpretive or you
1966.64 -> catch an evp that sounds like it's
1968.72 -> saying something but it's really
1970.159 -> scratchy so it's all up to
1971.6 -> interpretation or you get weird marks on
1974.08 -> your skin or you maybe saw something in
1976.559 -> the shadows but it doesn't really go
1979.84 -> further and you know what maybe we don't
1982.559 -> want it to as john peters told the
1984.88 -> distillations podcast the interpretive
1987.039 -> part of ghost hunting is exactly what
1988.88 -> makes it special it seems to me that
1990.88 -> sometimes the psychical researchers and
1992.96 -> paranormal psychologists are really
1994.64 -> hoping they can get beyond
1995.919 -> interpretation and they're really hoping
1997.679 -> that they can find transmission or
1999.76 -> contact or connection or mind to mind
2001.919 -> replication i mean that's kind of the
2004.159 -> holy grail to try and find the ability
2006.64 -> to send a signal and to me just
2009.12 -> ethically poetically aesthetically this
2011.679 -> just seems wrong-minded because it seems
2013.84 -> to underestimate the nature of the human
2015.6 -> condition which is one of interpretation
2018.399 -> and this is something to be happy about
2020.24 -> it's a handsome fact of human life that
2022.24 -> we get to interpret that isn't a fallen
2024.64 -> awful thing i mean that's what makes us
2026.96 -> human because at the end of it all the
2028.88 -> best part of ghosts and the best part of
2031.12 -> paranormal investigation is that mystery
2034.159 -> it's the fact that the question is
2035.84 -> unanswered that's what makes it exciting
2038.48 -> or scary and think about it nearly
2040.96 -> everything in the natural world was
2042.72 -> historically something really confusing
2044.72 -> or scary to people until we figured out
2047.279 -> what it was and what made it happen if
2049.28 -> ghosts do exist
2051.119 -> do you really want them to become
2052.48 -> something as explainable and benign as
2054.8 -> the weather i think ghosts serve a
2057.04 -> greater purpose than that i think that
2059.04 -> ghosts more than anything are
2060.72 -> reflections of human fear and guilt paul
2063.44 -> and dickie continues in ghostland we
2065.52 -> like to view this country as a unified
2067.839 -> cohesive whole based on progress a
2070.72 -> perpetual refinement of values and an
2073.2 -> arc of history bending towards justice
2075.28 -> but the prevalence of ghosts suggests
2076.96 -> otherwise the ghosts who haunt our woods
2079.28 -> our cemeteries our houses and our cities
2081.599 -> appear at moments of anxiety and point
2083.679 -> to instability in our national and local
2086.079 -> identities our country's ghost stories
2088.56 -> are themselves the dreams or nightmares
2091.2 -> of a nation the freudian slips of whole
2094.079 -> communities uncomfortable and unbidden
2096.8 -> expressions of things that we'd assumed
2099.04 -> were long past and no longer important
2102 -> if american history is taught to school
2104.16 -> children as a series of great striding
2106.48 -> benchmarks the history of america's
2108.72 -> ghost stories is one of crimes left
2110.72 -> unsolved or transgressions we now feel
2113.52 -> guilty about they offer explanations for
2115.92 -> the seemingly inexplicable address
2118.48 -> injustices after the fact and give
2120.8 -> expression to our unstated desires and
2123.119 -> fears this is likely part of the reason
2125.44 -> why some of the most popular and
2127.28 -> sensationalized haunted locations are
2130 -> former asylums and prisons decrepit
2132.56 -> boarding schools quarantine wards of
2134.96 -> decaying hospitals places where we as a
2137.839 -> society failed are most vulnerable these
2140.96 -> places purely by existing seem haunted
2144.079 -> by nature we can't fathom the people who
2146.48 -> lived there having died the good death
2148.88 -> because more often than not they didn't
2151.359 -> too frequently the suffering of the
2153.119 -> powerless was preventable and because
2155.68 -> the past is the past there's nothing we
2157.76 -> can do to change that except to go to
2159.839 -> these places and cry out into the ether
2162.88 -> for these spirits to speak back
2165.119 -> because maybe this time
2166.96 -> someone's listening thank you so much
2168.72 -> for joining me on this exploration of
2170.48 -> the history of the hunting of ghosts i
2172.64 -> hope you didn't come away from this
2173.839 -> feeling like i've ruined the genre for
2176 -> you because i mean i made this video
2178.48 -> because i love the paranormal and ghost
2180.4 -> hunting stuff i think that thinking
2182.079 -> harder about these things leads to a
2183.839 -> greater appreciation at least for me so
2186.48 -> until next time wash thy hands wear thy
2188.88 -> mask and let me know in the comments if
2190.88 -> you have any ghost experiences of your
2192.64 -> own i love hearing them
2197.02 -> [Music]
2218.75 -> [Applause]
2223.64 -> [Music]
2230.64 -> you
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEowXY40GSs