The Good Old days of Ghost Hunting

A lot of us remember the good old days of ghost hunting. Where it was actual research and not gimmicks to get website hits or to be famous. It was a different time, energy and process back then. Before all the fluff and hype came about, I will be the first to admit that we wasted a lot of time investigating but I wouldn't take it back for anything. The memories of brainstorming, making friends, trying new things that were not designed to impress TV viewers. Testing, testing and more testing. Looking back I laugh at the lack of knowledge most of us had. But then, it was new territory. We were the first. We were one of the few  pioneers of "ghost hunting." We all had our hand in setting the bar, unfortunately that bar has been beaten to death, dipped in acid and crammed up many a persons... well, you know. The field is not the same. Competition in a field that has yet to be "scientifically proven" is just silly. Oh how I yearn for the good old days of ghost hunting.

 

Do you remember?

• TAPS- Grant Wilson and Jason Hawes. Believe it or not, there are a lot of us that remember when these guys and their team popped up on the scene. In fact, they would visit a very popular message board called "Ghost Safari" and ask questions about orbs and using goofy stuff like baby powder on the floor. 
• Crappy EVP's-  The standards were set so high back then that if your peers heard the junk that is claimed to be EVP these days you would be educated. Ghost Adventures should go back in time and learn a thing or two from real pioneers of EVP research since they think they are invincible and providing "real" paranormal evidence. Back in the day we did not need subtitles to hear words or phrases. We actually recorded hours upon hours on magnetic tape. 
• Gimmicks- Nobody was thinking about gimmicks or bullcrap stunts to get noticed.
• Events- Small conferences were held for education. Not rubbing elbows with reality TV people.
• Photographs- We all started out using film cameras. We evolved with the rest of the world into digital. Guess what, those of us that once used film and evolved into digital can and will prove to anyone with half a brain that orbs are not ghosts. Oh, orbs are not ghosts or anything related to a ghost. 
• Locations!!!  Before our historical properties were respected and treated with dignity. These days they are being pimped out like a two-bit hooker on a street corner. Before all the hype historical locations were kept a secret and so was our research.
• Jacket tugging- Not a single person back in the day would have ever considered faking evidence. They would be black listed within the community as a researcher. These days, they are bashed then they build "fan pages" on Facebook because of the attention they got. 
• Peer review- Yes, we would actually send away evidence to other teams to review it. The thought of that taking place today is highly unlikely. Too much competition and arrogance!
• The "T-shirt" epidemic. Do you remember how it all started?  So I vaguely recall one team from Texas got T-Shirts to wear on an investigation. I do believe they simply stated "Paranormal Investigator" on the back. It seems that the t-shirt epidemic created some viral need for people to build co-ed softball teams just to have the privileged to wear a t-shirt. The paranormal field has been plagued with t-shirts for the past 13 years because of this.It's amazing how powerful t-shirts are!  GHOULI team members have never and never will wear matching t-shirts. We are a team but we are not "playing" any kind of sport. 
• Paranormal based TV shows- before TAPS most of us veterans actually filmed TV pilots. We were not plumbers nor did we have a gimmick. The world was not yet ready for our boring little hobby. Most of us are proud to not have been involved in the demise of paranormal research. Sure it was fun, even GHOULI participated in some pilots. But we are proud to say because our shows didn't get aired we are not responsible for a lot of nonsense taking place these days.

Be aware of those that state they have been ghost hunting for 30 years and they are maybe 35 years old. Nobody was ghost hunting at the age of 5. Growing up in a haunted house does not make you an expert. Having a family member that played with Ouija Boards in the 70's does not make you an expert either. That strange creepy uncle of yours could have possibly been standing in your doorway in the middle of the night, not a ghost. It has been scientifically proven that some people suffer from night terrors, hot flashes and random goosebumps. We witness local teams that have been around for many years and they still believe in a lot of nonsense and untruths. They exploit people that are afraid because they need a place to "investigate" on the weekends instead of being at home with their families. Teams use people and their homes to train "newbies" and they do not care about the property owners feelings, fears or well being. I have seen a lot of horrible things take place in this field. Not paranormal things, but really crappy things that these kind, compassionate and caring teams do to people, their children and properties. Oh, how I yearn for the good old days.



Tonya