"Debunking"
Haunted Places
More
and more we are getting emails from ghost hunters telling us that they
have
debunked a location that we have listed on the Haunted Place Index. The average email states that
these
researchers have gone out, sometimes a few times, to a location and
they did
not get any kind of evidence or signs of activity so therefore the
location is
not haunted. Zero evidence and
zero
manifestations of any kind doesn't mean the location is not haunted or
doesn't
have any spirits present. All
it means
is that you were unable to find anything to substantiate the reports of
ghost
activity. You also didn't get
evidence
to disprove or "debunk" it either.
As
newer investigators hit the field ready with their equipment and five
or six
senses, some seem to miss one of the obvious catch 22's of ghost
hunting. You are not going to get
enough evidence to
prove once and for all ghosts exist and if you get no evidence, many
people will
think that they don't exist.
"Debunking"
is a spreading catch phrase for many paranormal investigators and I
really
think that most are not using the word correctly.
In order to debunk a haunting you would
have to get evidence showing that there are natural causes for the
activity
that has been reported. You
can't go
to a place that has multiple witnesses over a period of time and
conclude there
is no spirit activity because the spirits did perform on cue when you
were
there. You
need to show reasonable explanations for
all the activity that has been reported in order to really debunk the
haunting. What
is more disheartening to me is that some
of these researchers are doing this in private home after people have
called
them out for help. Not only is their
reasoning askew thinking a lack of evidence means no ghosts but calling
the
case "debunked" is also calling the people in the house experiencing
the activity liars or crazy. This
can
have severe consequences on the mental health of any residents who were
already
wondering if there were imaging the activity.
I
have an unrelated theory I wanted to share here so please bear with
me.
I have concluded that there are no fish in
the ocean along the coast of New Jersey.
I have surf fished a few times, spent many summers down the Jersey
Shore
and even worked as a police officer at the shore and I have never
caught or
seen anyone catch any fish or seen any in the water.
Since my theory is based on hours upon
hours of watching, swimming and fishing in the ocean, I think it's safe
to say
that after 40+ years I should have seen someone catch a fish or have
seen a
dead fish washed up on the beach, or something. So I feel I
can safely conclude that the
stories of fish in the ocean along the coast of New Jersey have been
debunked. Yeah, it sounds just as
silly if you do this with a haunted location too.