# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/21 "2013-02-18T03:25:17Z")
> [@Tollhouse](#): > > I don’t think I said they are “wise in all things”…and of course, they are human.. …and comprise hundreds of cultures. Saying “they all believe in an afterlife” is like saying “all Europeans believe in an afterlife” because every culture ever in history has had religion. ---
**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, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/22 "2013-02-18T06:07:45Z")
What I read said the majority or most of them do …I think in my post I wrote almost all and I don’t think its a very good comparison (native Americans to all Europeans and every religion that existed) native Americans are not nearly as large a group as all of Europe and every religion… Of course there are different tribes but they share most of the same primary or basic beliefs. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/23 "2013-02-18T06:24:41Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > r big foot(s) (big feet?). squatch … Great Ghu i hate that commercial. He sounds like a total moron. ---
**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, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/24 "2013-02-18T07:12:06Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > 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. The miners are a joke too. There’s no way, the whole thing is not scripted. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/25 "2013-02-18T11:58:28Z")
> [@Tollhouse](#): > > 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. So? We have a guy here who believes that every event on this planet is planned and manipulated by a secret society of ill-defined super-powerful people. Just because someone believes something don’t make it true. ---
**Author:** ![SuperNelson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@SuperNelson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNelson)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/26 "2013-02-18T12:51:08Z")
I’ve only seen a few episodes, but my sister in law is a big fan. A couple of years ago, my wife and I joined her sisters and their husbands at one of the Ghost Adventurer’s weekend events at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. The six of us treated it with varying degrees of skepticism, ranging from complete belief to outright disbelief, agreeing to disagree but not argue about it. Zac and Aaron were there, along with that couple who does EVP recordings, a guy who specialized in EMF recordings, Dave Schrader from Darkness Radio, and my personal favorite, Jeff Ballanger. The speakers tended to skew towards the absolute believers, but the general tone seemed to follow the EVP guy who said, “do ghosts exist? I don’t know, but people are seeing something, and in some places, different people tend to see the same things over and over again. And if we can learn why, I’d like to know.” All in all, it was an interesting weekend, and a lot of fun. I’d never been to the Stanley before, which is a really neat old hotel, made richer by it’s reputation and association with Steven King. The tours took us down into the bowels of the hotel, in hand dug foundations, and some of the guest rooms with a history, including the infamous room 217. It would be easy to say that we each saw what we expected to see. My sister in law is certain that something touched her down in the foundations, and she has a recording of what she is certain are voices. Another sister in law demonstrated her deep seated born again Christian beliefs, at one point actually saying “get behind me, Satan.” As for me, I expected to see a mix of true believers and outright hucksters, but I was surprised to find a couple of self-professed skeptics in the mix. At the end, I’d say it was a lot of fun. And the hallway of the Stanley, at two in the morning, with most of the lights off, when the wind outside is gusting and the building is groaning back at it, is an amazingly eerie place. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/27 "2013-02-18T13:48:31Z")
> [@colander](#): > > 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) [Bender] It was ghosts…Big ones! I once met a member of the TAPS ghost hunter squad thing at a local bar. He seemed to enjoy talking to us because we had no idea who he was. He told us some local group brought him in to visit a cemetery or something that was haunted, but I swear he was almost rolling his eyes as he said it. Seemed like he rather be doing anything else than ghost hunting with these people. Poor career choice I guess. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/28 "2013-02-18T14:11:11Z")
How come all of these “events” take place in the dark? Whats so special about darkness-do the spirits like this? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/29 "2013-02-18T15:57:56Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > How come all of these “events” take place in the dark? Whats so special about darkness-do the spirits like this? Because IR filming (in shadowy black-and-white, with everyone’s eyes glowing eerily) is **spooooooky**. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/30 "2013-02-18T18:07:33Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > [Bender] It was ghosts…Big ones! > > I once met a member of the TAPS ghost hunter squad thing at a local bar. He seemed to enjoy talking to us because we had no idea who he was. He told us some local group brought him in to visit a cemetery or something that was haunted, but I swear he was almost rolling his eyes as he said it. Seemed like he rather be doing anything else than ghost hunting with these people. Poor career choice I guess. No, probably because "just because it is a cemetery/old house/whatever the fuck does NOT mean it is automatically haunted. Look, think of it this way - just because a house is old [say pre WW1 in age] it will most likely have had someone die in it. Yet you do not hear from everybody who lives in one that they are all haunted. Heck, I lived in a WW1 era ex-Navy housing area in a house that was built in 1919 and I can pretty much guarantee that someone died it it [the little old lady’s kids were the ones that put the house on the market] and I will state categorically while it did have creaks and groans of old housing construction, it was NOT haunted. Just because there were indians in an area, and there is a gravesite or full on graveyard does not mean that there will be indians haunting the area. The guy was probably tired of all these little local groups figuring that some place was haunted just because it was a graveyard, or an old creaky house with a local reputation. How would you like to spend half your time traveling and away from your girlfriend/wife/boyfriend because you are the low person on the Ghostbusting totempole and have to go out and check to see if it is worth turning into a full on GhostHunters episode? There has _got_ to be some familial ‘agro’ from being away all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/31 "2013-02-18T18:14:05Z")
The vast majority (68%) of Dopers who answer polls do not believe in ghosts or spirits: [Poll: Have you ever had a spiritual, paranormal or religious experience?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=625053) ---
**Author:** ![Tollhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@Tollhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tollhouse)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/32 "2013-02-19T03:37:21Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > … > > Just because someone believes something don’t make it true. this statement applies both ways… ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/33 "2013-02-19T07:28:24Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > 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. Ghost Hunters was actually pretty good for, like, the first two seasons. Then they started pandering to the crowd and the show decayed. **Hard**. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/34 "2013-02-19T13:57:53Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > No, probably because "just because it is a cemetery/old house/whatever the fuck does NOT mean it is automatically haunted. > > Look, think of it this way - just because a house is old [say pre WW1 in age] it will most likely have had someone die in it. Yet you do not hear from everybody who lives in one that they are all haunted. Heck, I lived in a WW1 era ex-Navy housing area in a house that was built in 1919 and I can pretty much guarantee that someone died it it [the little old lady’s kids were the ones that put the house on the market] and I will state categorically while it did have creaks and groans of old housing construction, it was NOT haunted. Just because there were indians in an area, and there is a gravesite or full on graveyard does not mean that there will be indians haunting the area. > > The guy was probably tired of all these little local groups figuring that some place was haunted just because it was a graveyard, or an old creaky house with a local reputation. How would you like to spend half your time traveling and away from your girlfriend/wife/boyfriend because you are the low person on the Ghostbusting totempole and have to go out and check to see if it is worth turning into a full on GhostHunters episode? There has _got_ to be some familial ‘agro’ from being away all the time. That was my point with the career choice. If you don’t want to deal with goofy people seeing ghosts everywhere they look, maybe a TV ghost hunter is not the best career path 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Yumblie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/76d3ee/32.png) [@Yumblie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumblie)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/35 "2013-02-19T16:45:36Z")
> [@Tollhouse](#): > > this statement applies both ways… Both ways? What’s the other way? Just because someone DOESN’T believe in something, DOES make it true? That’s kind of an absurd statement. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/36 "2013-02-19T16:58:48Z")
Practically every historical location seems to ‘grow’ a ghost. It gets people in who otherwise might not be interested in old house architecture. I’m also sorry to say that some of the folks who work at historical places tend to be a bit more gullible than the average doper. My personal favorites were the (now defunct) General Wayne Inn ghosts who defied clothing standards of the era (as well as troop placement). As well as the folks who insisted that there were 17th century ghosts in Pennsbury Manor -not realizing that the place is a rebuild from the 30’s. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/37 "2013-02-19T17:04:05Z")
I don’t believe in ghosts; everything about the ghosts is fake. ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/38 "2013-02-19T19:09:46Z")
I always forget the name of the show, and end up referring to it as _Haunted Douchebags_, mainly because of the lead guy’s ridiculous Ed Hardy t-shirts and front-spike (whatever it’s called) hair style. I do like the Ransom Riggs-ish “abandoned shit” aspect of the show–the history behind the places they visit, what happened, what’s left behind, etc. It would be nice if someone came up with a show covering this aspect of it without all the woo. They could call the show _Abandoned Shit_. Actually, the more technical term would be [“Urban Exploration”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_exploration), but I like the name “Abandoned Shit.” > [@Tollhouse](#): > > 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. Yes, yes. We Have Much To Learn From Them. There’s someone here I’d like to introduce you to, but last I heard she’s preggers and taken. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/39 "2013-02-19T19:42:44Z")
> [@Tollhouse](#): > > this statement applies both ways… Ah, a riposte that sounds deeply profound, yet is actually completely meaningless. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587/40 "2013-02-19T20:56:01Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > My personal favorites were the (now defunct) General Wayne Inn ghosts who defied clothing standards of the era (as well as troop placement). I googled and remember seeing that place on a tv show. I guess that was before one owner murdered the other, a girl committed suicide, and, as only wikipedia can state it: > [@Pinnacle of Collective Knowledge](#): > > Her suicide was never solved :eek: 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ghost-adventures-on-the-travel-channel-real-or-fake/650587.md?page=3)