I really like this show & guess that lots of the negative reviews are probably from folks who don't believe in paranormal activity, so why they're watching it to begin with Idk. Lots of the footage is incredible! I've personally had things fly across the room, spirits appear & watched lights in the sky moving in ways that defy physics, so seeing evidence that others have as well is validating.
The videos are introduced by people who caught it on camera- some are normal people who weren't trying to, or even knew that they caught proof until reviewing their security cams. Their reactions seem genuine - they are obviously bewildered by what they've experienced, and many of them earn some credibility via their job titles - like being the superintendent of a haunted school, airplane pilot or supervisor of a factory.
These ordinary folks don't look or sound like actors & they are conducting interviews via computer from home. It seems to me that they risk a lot of ridicule & even their jobs/reputation by acknowledging that they recorded it, & they don't have much motive to fake it, such as money or fame.
Of course it's possible w/ some of the videos that the people who filmed it weren't trying to trick anyone but were just mistaken. Occasionally I see security footage & wonder if it's showing a spectre due to a glitch, superimposing old images over new recordings, especially when the people present didn't see anything. There's been some footage where I was able to say that's obviously a bear/person/lemur/balloons/sky lanterns. That last one gave me the biggest laugh when a couple filming what they believe are UFOs (but are actually floating lanterns) start going nuts as the flames go out, saying, "They are turning off their lights above our house!" LoL!
It IS annoying when the commentators completely bypass ordinary explanations & skip straight to something supernatural. With a few of the examples I wonder why they were even included in the show because they are so blatantly bunk. Like that Bigfoot is wearing snowshoes! There are a few of the "professionals" who make comments that I don't like at all, but a few others are great - intelligent, thoughtful & genuinely interested. A couple of the ladies have beautiful eyes that are mesmerizing!
A lot of the videos taken by self-proclaiming paranormal researchers I have to take with a grain of salt. They are overly dramatic & have something to gain by catching activity, or FAKING activity. Their sightings occur in abandoned & decrepit buildings, spooky by nature & w/o owners to dispute the findings. So many of them are disrespectful towards the spirits that they are interacting w/- provocative bullies. Their attitudes & behaviors suggest to me that they aren't the most trustworthy witnesses.
They'll show us equipment readings that seem easily explained, like the temp dropping as they walk into a basement (duh) or a motion sensor going off as their whole crew mills around. Their filming skills are subpar considering that they should know how to operate a camera. The folks spontaneously catching something w/ cell phones do a better job of holding still than these guys who claim to do it all the time.
The amount of crazy stuff they manage to catch at each place they visit isn't believable, especially with the way that they're acting... literally ACTING. Sometimes what they claim to see during just one night is far more than what witnesses who are there all the time have ever experienced all together. Real paranormal investigations take lots of time & patience, w/ much less dramatic results, so I have a hard time believing some of these people. Of course w/ this show we are only seeing short clips of the dramatic moments, but if these places had such strong phenomenon we'd hear about them from other sources.
The people I'm complaining about demand a sign that they aren't alone, then when they get one (no matter how benign) they freak out & flee. I totally get that if something assaults you- I've been physically attacked by unseen forces & it's legitimately terrifying - but acting like that because of a knock is way over the top. True paranormal professionals wouldn't behave this way when making contact w/ the supernatural, especially since that's the goal. You'd think they'd be better prepared for anything, but they pee their pants when they get a glimpse of something. They come in hot & that makes it easy to overreact or make assumptions. I imagine that most of them aren't actually skilled in investigating anything, just immature groups out looking for a jump scare, so allowing them to claim the title of Paranormal Researcher does harm to real teams of people who are legit. I feel bad for the ghosts who have to put up w/ idiots coming into their space requesting parlor tricks then bailing out. It's actually making me consider going into the field so I can try to help them cross over or figure out what their unfinished business is.
I don't actually like ANY of the mainstream ghost hunter/cryptid tracker shows for all these reasons - as far as I'm concerned they are fakes doing it for fame & fortune. They certainly don't seem to be trying to help the living or the dead. Most of the time there's NOTHING alarming there - it's just a bunch of dudes stumbling around in the dark acting spooked by every little sound. It's stuoid that they get TV shows & I wish there was a show debunking THEM. I'm not interested in watching fake drama - I'd watch a horror movie if that was my desire. I tend to prefer educational shows exploring the unknown through science & history, w/ actual experts chiming in. I make an exception for this show solely because of the believability of the footage captured by ordinary people & because it allows me a jumpoff point for researching the topics deeper on my own.
Ugh, don't even get me started on the guys who have dedicated their lives to catching Bigfoot & see every broken twig as a sign. Obviously if your entire existence revolves around finding proof that your beliefs are valid than you're going to turn all your findings into evidence, or even fake it. I'm not saying that I don't believe that Bigfoot or Nessie could be real, just that I'm critical of footage from people who are obsessed with creatures like this- they've obviously got a motive. Often they didn't even begin going down the rabbit hole due to a personal encounter, they just read about it on the internet & started tromping around the woods. I'm also not impressed by audio recordings of loud screeching sounds outside at night w/o a visual more than reflective eyes. Yes they sound inhumane, because they are. So many animals make noises that are really spooky, sounding like a woman screaming or a demon grunting. You can listen to audio of cougars, raccoons or baboons that are identical.
I have to say, some of the footage the show claims was captured in the past few years CAN'T be true because I saw it online BEFORE then. It's been a long time since I was actively seeking out stuff like this, like 2005-2009, so telling me that video I saw on the internet back than is from 2020 doesn't make sense. Their motive for this is unclear & doesn't help to provide validation; it seems easy to say when it actually happened, especially when the quality is obviously from decades old technology. However, there are plenty of videos that I've never seen before that have crystal clear images that had to be caught on newer cameras.
I don't like that the exact same clips are shown over & over- even the words from those talking about the videos are repeated. Some videos are cut off quickly when you know that whoever was filming it kept rolling, leaving you wondering what happened next & why won't they show us? Some people say they recorded for 20 minutes or 2 hrs & if you go online you can find them in their entirely, so it's lost on me why they show us the same 5 seconds repeatedly instead of other clips from the same video. Occasionally I catch something unusual that isn't even mentioned, making me wonder why they didn't say anything about it. It's especially frustrating when that happens right at the moment they cut away, because just a few more seconds would make all the difference.
Anyway, all in all I like this show. There's some footage that doesn't seem to have any earthly explanation & I lean towards believing it because I have witnessed stuff like it myself. I've been pretty critical in this review for somebody who claims to like it... I suppose to show that I'm not easily fooled or just a fanatic. Lots of deniers can say that it's ALL fake, that it must be strings or altered footage, but w/o solid proof they are just as discountable. Any skeptics who have a firsthand encounter of their own are likely to become true believers!
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