Somehow I missed the premiere of "Ghost Lab" on Discovery, but from what I've heard from my ghost hunting partner, it was nothing worth seeing. But, alas, I like the idea of people having a lot of equipment and taking a decked out van from site to site, so I'll be checking it out next Tuesday night at 10 pm on Discovery Channel. The next episode they go to Tombstone--in my neck of the woods.
I must admit that "Destination Truth" is so excellent this year that my son and I plan our Wednesday nights around it and now watching "GH" is just a preliminary to get to the good stuff. (I remember when GH was the highlight of the night). I got super shivers last night because I had written a post last month about if the Earth has nightmares and how there's certain places that report strange creatures and high activity of UFOs, but always in mining areas. I also noted in the post that Chile has the largest copper mines in the world. Guess what? Josh and the gang went down there on "Destination Truth" and went into the mines where the lights are seen and there's strange creatures sighted. Well, they found a ... buried body. They don't know what the heck it was. It seemed to have feet but look a bit like a chicken skeleton. It was wrapped in burlap too. Of course, the skeptic in me thinks, "okay you have a rotting skeleton wrapped in cloth, buried, and in a main pathway in the mine..." It's missing it's head too (did I mention that?) My guess is with scared locals, this was some kind of way of warding off bad things from coming out of the mine. At first, I thought it might be someone's lunch. After all, if you were mining, where would you put your trash so you don't trip over it? But my debunking logic asked "why would someone eat it whole-the bones were still attached?" Then, the team saw some small dark thing moving around in the caves and then a very distinct light in the cave. In fact, it was so bright and clear, I thought they were looking at an opening and seeing a car go by (what car? They were a long off road from anything? And they weren't at an entrance) Once outside, they saw the craziest huge glowing light and then it finally fizzled out. Their parabolic dish used to pick up sounds from far away was transmitting (yes, I said transmitting--this thing is only a receiver) sounds that sounded mechanical and it wasn't even plugged in! They had a mammologist and a zoo curator check out photos of the skeleton (they had to leave it in Chile). Neither expert could figure out what the heck it was. The only sad thing is that they didn't sneak out a bit of bone for DNA analysis. I have a feeling that Chile will not be quick (or good) at analyzing this thing and we may never hear any true results. Hopefully, Josh will be on their case about it. The second half of the show involved a lake monster in Turkey (yawn). I really don't get into the lake monsters at all.
I also wish they could have smuggled out a tiny bit of that carcass. Additionally, I would have appreciated some tech expert's opinion on what might cause the parabolic to react in that way.
ReplyDeleteGood episode overall. The light in the cave was definitely interesting.
I didn't pay attention to the lake monster half as I know it is particularly difficult to get any evidence that will translate well to us as TV viewers. Given the technical and logistical difficulties involved, it would take a miracle to find anything given a short search period and financial restraints.
I haven't had a chance to watch DT yet so I stopped reading the rest of this after I got to the part where you said how GH is now the appetizer for DT. I feel the same way! Last year I thought Josh was a pompous A-- like Anthony Bourdain. But I watched because he made it interesting.
ReplyDeleteThis year I'm over my hostility towards both AB and JG's demeanors and like both shows.
But DT is, like you said, one I look forward to! A LOT! I will hopefully get a chance to see the newest episode over the weekend. (Thank heavens for that dang DVR!)
However, I did watch Ghost Lab. I was so looking forward to hearing your take. At first I thought, "GH Wanna Be Knock Off!" Then they introduced their "Era Cues" theory and I thought, "Okay, interesting." (And I thought of you. Some kind of thing you'd come up with.)
But then the one wanted to take the stage and sing and let out his inner Elvis and I was like, "They just want to be on TV. He's got Star Syndrome."
After that, I just saw them as a joke. They go to these places with preconceived notions that they're haunted and seek to justify that. Which wouldn't be so bad, but talk about corrupting evidence! They certainly don't bring any kind of new method to the table on that front.
But I will give them credit that their investigations last longer than just one night. It is about time someone did this.
But you're friend was right. You really didn't miss much!
I wasn't too impressed my last night's DT episode. So, they find a dead chicken that they (conveniently) can't bring back to the US. (are there no biologists, zoologists, or veterenarians in Chile?)So they take some bad pictures of it to take back to the States. Then they scared off some weekend adventurer or homeless person from the mine, then they are mesmerized by the spotlight of somebody four-wheeling on the next ridge.(there's actually a precedent for this: I saw a show years ago about some some strange lights that had a whole town curious. People would go out to the ridge and watch across the canyon as the lights would appear, move all around on the ridge, and then disappear. An investigation revealed...Jeeps.)
ReplyDeleteBTW, did you catch Jason talking about limestone on GH? Made me think of your posts!
Pangs;
ReplyDeleteI don't know what Josh is doing now as a producer, but he really seems to have put together a team that can dive and climb and not whimper (too much), and he's picked amazing locations. I was thrilled to see them in Chile after the correlations I've found with places like Mexico and Chile with lots of mining and UFOs and alien creatures associated with the mining areas. I'm not certain how it all correlates, but I believe it does. The only thing I can explain about the parabolic (especially since it's a receiver and was unplugged) is that perhaps either they mistook the sound as coming from it when it was truly coming from their sound equipment or the simple structure of the dish's shape (like shell of our ears) picked up sound waves from across the canyon and they were able to hear them. Exciting stuff! I just adore that show. I have to admit I usually am not thrilled by their water episodes for the simple fact that it's so hard to get any filming underwater and hard to get nightvision on the water. I really really hope that Chile manages to gives them answers about the carcass. Out of curiosity, I read up on Chilean mummies and apparently they did mummify a huge amount of babies and put them in caves with clothing and preserved their insides and everything. They believe it was related to the mercury in the water--in high levels there, that caused many babies to die. The way this was found sounded like it, but it certainly looked like no baby I've seen. Shivers....
Courtney;
ReplyDeleteYeah, I definitely am going to watch that new show just so I can poke fun at it, no doubt. When I heard they've been actually ghost hunting for like one year??? I went, huh? They apparently somehow got money to throw into equipment but it means nothing when it's a bunch of douche bags managing it. There's no place for egos in ghost hunting. They should consider themselves like circumspect scientists working for a greater cause. That's probably why I roll my eyes every time someone calls in a psychic to help out--they're ridiculous dog and pony shows!
Gummer;
ReplyDeleteI admit that I'm up in the air about why anyone would wrap a chicken whole in cloth and bury it. If they ate it, it'd be in pieces and buried with their napkin. The only other logical explanation would be some sort of ritual the locals did to scare off the creatures they think are living in there. Admittedly, the "feet" looked strange, but I've seen few chickens feet after death, so I can't say. The light inside the mine was truly exciting. I know these "spooklights" happen in such places and it seemed very genuine. Especially considering they were deep in the mine and not looking to the outdoors. The light was impossible to really discern. They couldn't zoom in on it and they did not followup to see if there was something on the other hillside the next day by looking for tracks. Their policy of one night in a place drives me nuts! The parabolic dish--I'm thinking simply by virtue of its shape, it was able to pick up sounds from a distance even when it was unplugged. What that sound came from--maybe whatever made the light. I just want more follow through. And, Jesus, if I had to hide it in an orifice, I would have brought back a piece for genetic testing or even mailed it in a box to my LA address from Chile. Jeez!
I have to admit that I look forward to Destination Truth more than Ghost Hunters this season. Josh has taken over and made the show even better. DT and Modern Family are making Wednesdays much more fun. BTW, I finally have my recap up. Mike threw me off when he posted my birthday notice, lol.
ReplyDelete~Julie~
Julie;
ReplyDeleteI'll check it out--BTW Happy B-day again!
I was hoping they just smuggled some of that body out anyway. I sure would have. But I agree it was a great adventure. Any one who has ever been on a ghost hunting adventure can identify with some of the things they have done on that show. I just love it.
ReplyDeleteKimberly;
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. When weird sh@$ starts happening all at once, it really gets your senses keen and your adrenalin going. I can't imagine what I'd do in that cave. I've been spelunking before but I only worried about running into spiders. I can't imagine having aliens filling my head...
Don't get your hopes up too high for the Ghost Lab...I actually lost interest and surfed around instead.
ReplyDeleteThe darn History Channel is really giving Discovery a run for the money this season. I have seen a couple really OUTSTANDING programs already this week.
@eloh;
ReplyDeleteI agree about History Channel. I want to know what the heck happened to The Learning Channel. TLC used to be the main channel with the paranormal and documentary stuff. Now, all it is is crime scene investigations and families with 12 kids. Jeez! Even Discovery is rather lame-o, and I don't know how many more crab fisherman and people chopping down forests I can take.
I go with chicken. Josh was right when it looked ritualistic meaning, probably the locals put it there in some magick ritual. The light does go under the classification of UFO only because it couldn't be identified. In other words it could have been military, para military, gun runners, or drug runners. Which is why they probably didn't do any kind of analysis like they usually do.
ReplyDeleteOh and I noticied the comment on the higher channels showing crap. Like TLC. I agree. Well guess who owns them. The networks NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, Turner,etc. And whats with this crap of showing the same show like on all day. Like showing Ghost whisper several hours during the day or what's this crap of showing one particular show on several channels. Why did Syfy start showing ghost whisperer I know it's on at least 2 or 3 other cable channels as well as the lower network.
ReplyDeleteburkspatrick;
ReplyDeleteYou made me smile. Yeah, I agree. Cable is becoming watered down like skim milk when it used to be our getaway to find brain stimulation. The only thing I'm learning from "The Learning Channel" is the importance of birth control. Discovery? I've only discovered that Myth Busters and Dirty Jobs are all they have to support them. SyFy is a disappointment because instead of spending $ on original programming or blockbuster movies, they're making crappy bad CGI stuff. Ick! Ice Spiders??? For a channel made for us "geeks" it really doesn't get how picky we are about special effects. I thought chicken immediately when they pulled it up by the wide pelvis and bow of the legs. Since it's missing it's head, I'd have to say ritualistic. The thing that intrigues me, however, is that these people are that freaked out about what they see in those caves. I always think the core of folklore has some element of truth, especially when it's reported over time. The UFO didn't impressive me so much because we have no way of ever knowing what it was. The light inside the cave, however, was genuine and interesting. Something I'm not surprised of in a copper mine. They seem to have just weird phenomenon associated with them. The sounds outside were interesting, but like I mentioned, I think the parabolic dish simply by virtual of its shape pick up sounds from perhaps their sound equipment or some other source. I'm curious to see how Josh follows that up. I heard they're going back to the Himalayas--that's one I was really hoping they'd do.