# Is Ghost Adventures on the travel channel real or fake? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 17, 2013, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587 "2013-02-17T10:11:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pooty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pooty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pooty)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/1 "2013-02-17T10:11:45Z")
Ghost Adventures is on every Friday night at 8:00 central standard time on the travel channel. I love that show but I would like to know what everyone thinks about it. Do you think its real? Have you ever seen a ghost or spirit? ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/2 "2013-02-17T15:08:51Z")
I have never seen that show, so I can’t comment about it. Everything I know about ghosts & spirits is that they don’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/3 "2013-02-17T15:15:09Z")
> [@Pooty](#): > > Ghost Adventures is on every Friday night at 8:00 central standard time on the travel channel. I love that show but I would like to know what everyone thinks about it. Do you think its real? Have you ever seen a ghost or spirit? The show is real. The ghosts and spirits are fake. 😃 People will travel to locations that claim to have ghosts or big foot(s) (big feet?). If a show incourages travel, then the travel channel will air it. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/4 "2013-02-17T18:06:51Z")
Since ghosts and spirits just flat out don’t exist, what do you think? ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/5 "2013-02-17T20:53:57Z")
These types of shows are a peeve of mine, and they’re becoming ever more popular on cable channels. They’re shows that are only for the credulous and gullible to capture more ratings. Sure, it might be fun to watch if you like that sort of thing, but the world is still short on healthy skepticism to justify it on any other ground. When this bullshit becomes this sensationalized, people I know and love fall prey to its fantasy. As usual, it’s easier to make a buck off of appealing to suckers than producing intellectually honest content. Remember when TLC meant The Learning Channel? Hahaha. ---
**Author:** ![Tollhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@Tollhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tollhouse)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/6 "2013-02-17T21:38:14Z")
There are alot of people who claim they have either seen or had some contact with a spirit…in some cultures such as native Americans its considered really off to not accept spirits as a reality ---
**Author:** ![colander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@colander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colander)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/7 "2013-02-17T22:06:58Z")
> [@Tollhouse](#): > > There are alot of people who claim they have either seen or had some contact with a spirit…in some cultures such as native Americans its considered really off to not accept spirits as a reality That’s so true! I have a friend who is part Lakota and she told me a story that chilled me to the bone. Every morning before school she sits down at the breakfast table for a nice big bowl of Cracklin’ Oat Bran. But one morning before breakfast, her brother and her decided to play a Ouija game on the breakfast table! That was her critical mistake. She asked the Great Spirit to Ouija-link her to White Buffalo Spirit. And ever since then, whenever she pours milk onto her Cracklin’ Oats, within about fifteen minutes the milk disappears! Not only that, but the Oat Cracklin’s grow to 1.5 times their original size. Explain that, skeptics! (you can’t cuz it’s ghosts) ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/8 "2013-02-17T22:07:18Z")
It depends on which aspect of the show is real or fake. Are the places they go to reputed to be ‘haunted’ or is it all a set up? Does the crew believe that they’re really hunting ghosts or do they know its all fake? Any spirits they find must be fakes, but they might actually believe in what they’re doing, so in that sense it might be ‘real’. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/9 "2013-02-17T23:06:17Z")
> [@Tollhouse](#): > > There are alot of people who claim they have either seen or had some contact with a spirit…in some cultures such as native Americans its considered really off to not accept spirits as a reality I would truly like to believe that ghosts existed, but I just find the evidence underwhelming. In that vein, the show is a fake. That said, it was either this how or one just like it where they “created” ghosts fraudulently. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/10 "2013-02-17T23:16:49Z")
> [@colander](#): > > She asked the Great Spirit to Ouija-link her to White Buffalo Spirit. I was at a flea market where one booth had a mounted head of a white buffalo. Wife wouldn’t let me buy it, not wanting White Buffalo bothering us, but then again, when that white buffalo was born in Wisconsin in '92 she felt a period of peace and prosperity would eventually follow. :rolleyes: There are times she makes an even worse Lutheran than I do. ---
**Author:** ![Tollhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@Tollhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tollhouse)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/11 "2013-02-17T23:28:20Z")
To Native americans, we seem incredibly ignorant ---
**Author:** ![colander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@colander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colander)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/12 "2013-02-17T23:35:22Z")
> [@Tollhouse](#): > > To Native americans, we seem incredibly ignorant If that is true, I somehow doubt it has very much to do with our lack of belief in ghosts or their adventures. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/13 "2013-02-17T23:38:25Z")
> [@Tollhouse](#): > > There are alot of people who claim they have either seen or had some contact with a spirit…in some cultures such as native Americans its considered really off to not accept spirits as a reality Is the traditional Native American notion of a “spirit” the same as the “ghosts” presented on TV shows such as the one mentioned in the OP? My guess is no (though I really don’t know for sure, and Native Americans are, of course, a very diverse population). ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/14 "2013-02-18T00:42:15Z")
> [@Tollhouse](#): > > To Native americans, we seem incredibly ignorant How’s the quote from Malcolm In The Middle go? " Oh, I see! Because I’m an Indian I must dance with the wind and speak with the spirits? I got news for ya pal! I’m a Methodist and I’m proud of it! And I got one word for snow- snow!" To put it another way, you seem to have placed Native Americans on some pedestal as noble beings who live in harmony with the environment and are wise in all things. They’re just human beings. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/15 "2013-02-18T00:45:20Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > Is the traditional Native American notion of a “spirit” the same as the “ghosts” presented on TV shows such as the one mentioned in the OP? > > My guess is no (though I really don’t know for sure, and Native Americans are, of course, a very diverse population). Native American “spirits,” are not dead people. There may be Native Americans who believe in that type of “ghosts,” but their traditional “spirits,” are believed to be from a different realm. Also, with other Pagan beliefs, around the world. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/16 "2013-02-18T00:52:57Z")
Ghosts don’t exist but what I came here to say is that I’m tickled that the first two posters are Pooty & Foggy. ---
**Author:** ![Tollhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@Tollhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tollhouse)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/17 "2013-02-18T01:25:09Z")
According to some material I came across almost all Native Americans hold a belief in the afterlife…they engage in some very sacred and specific ceremonies after a death, which (in part) is intended to help ease the spirit of the deceased away from the earth plane, another interesting fact is they will be careful not to use the name of the deceased, but instead refer to the person as a loved one or other general description. Tey believe that if the deceased hear their name said, it draws them back to the earth plane. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/18 "2013-02-18T02:12:14Z")
Getting back to the OP, if people are dubious of _Ghost Adventures_ don’t watch _Ghost Mine_. The “investigators” of the latter show are a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/19 "2013-02-18T02:23:35Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > How’s the quote from Malcolm In The Middle go? > " Oh, I see! Because I’m an Indian I must dance with the wind and speak with the spirits? I got news for ya pal! I’m a Methodist and I’m proud of it! And I got one word for snow- snow!" > > To put it another way, you seem to have placed Native Americans on some pedestal as noble beings who live in harmony with the environment and are wise in all things. > > They’re just human beings. It’s posts like this that makes me wish this board supported a rep system. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tollhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@Tollhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tollhouse)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/20 "2013-02-18T03:08:44Z")
I don’t think I said they are “wise in all things”…and of course, they are human… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587.md?page=2)