Paranormal Investigators and Pseudoscience

Paranormal ghost hunting can be done by any enthusiast that has an interest and does not need any scientific tools.  Ghost hunters always investigate with the lights off, as if the ghosts only appear when it is harder to see.  This is a planned trick into making a good television show and making the scene appear scary.  A ghost show would not be as thrilling if the lights were on.  Most ghosts are reported as being shadows or dark figures, which makes ghost hunting in the dark seem irrelevant.  A lot of the ghost hunters perform overnight stakeouts on places to try and catch paranormal activity

occurring.  A door that closes or opens on its own could be because of the wind and environment, and normal activity for that place.  A sound heard that may appear to be a voice, could be a nearby radio of a neighbor or ordinary sounds for that place.  Ghost hunters only spend a night at a particular place and do not study or understand the normal acting or sounding activity for that location.

Many tools that are used on ghost hunting shows such as EMF detectors or infrared cameras might pick up electromagnetic fields or images on the thermal.  Nobody has proven whether changes in electromagnetic fields mean that their is a ghost, or a mass of heat must be a ghost.  Paranormal researchers assume everything these tools measure or pick up on are ghosts and really could be something else.  Using recording devices allows for mistakes because the location of the sound cannot be traced.  By standing in the middle of the room with only one recording device, it would be impossible to locate a sound that came from across the

room and which direction it came from.  Multiple microphones would need to be used in order to accurately find the origin of the sound and not just assume it is a ghost trying to communicate.  This relates back to not knowing the environment and its regular and natural noises.

Investigators of paranormal activity jump to quick conclusions and do not allow for others to form their own opinion of what the activity may be.  On the television shows, the investigator may say he heard a voice of a little girl, although it may be a noise of a man or another source, but jumps to a quick conclusion because little girls seem to sound scarier.  A lot of what ghost hunters base their research off of is the unproven history of other investigators assuming that electromagnetic field changes means a ghost, or that certain strange activities like a door opening or closing means a ghost is present.  Past investigators have
performed investigations in the dark, which has seemed to become the norm for all investigators although being in the dark makes no sense at all.  No real science is used in these investigations, and television shows use unproven facts and myths that they present as real science.

Opening and Closing Door - Must Be A Ghost
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GWEthqsm9Q
   
http://www.csicop.org/si/show/ghost-hunting_mistakes_science_and_pseudoscience_in_ghost_investigations/