by Annie H. Liko

Created on: May 09, 2009

It may not be current in the US but for us in this region, the Ghost Hunters series of The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) is well into its new season on our TVs. Spearheaded by Jason Hawes and humble plumber Grant Wilson as lead investigators, TAPS is worth watching as it is so much better than most ghost series in a sense that what we watched are not a remake or enactment but real encounters; TAPS members are doing the hunting and experiencing them first hands.

TAPS is the closest one could get to really see or experience, albeit only on TV, encounters with the ghosts or spirits. They do not take personal experiences or words of mouth into determining whether the place is haunted or not but rather based on evidence caught on their high-tech gizmos like EMF detectors, infrared cameras, digital thermometers and other high tech equipments.

Incidentally, there are a lot of cases whereby people claimed to have some form of encounters with the spirits or ghosts. Some even showed photos of something blurry in the background but in these modern times, all those cannot back up their claims because experts would argue that the photos were being tampered with or photo shopped. Many also claimed that they had personally experienced hearing or sighting ghosts around them but then again psychologists could always argue on the mental condition of those who claimed to have such sightings. It could be due to the extreme fear or most probably from reading or watching too much of that kind of scary movies until the image is stuck in their mind.

With TAPS, it is a totally different experience. They are there in the first place to try to debunk the stories but in some instances, they could not deny the existence of such paranormal activities. The investigation at St. Augustine Light House from Season 2 is exceptionally interesting. What was being reported by tourists and workers in the lighthouse was being experienced personally by TAPS investigating teams and they were able to hear through their own ears and see the apparition through their own naked eyes. Their experiences and findings were further strengthened through the recordings that they captured on their digital video camcorders as well as EVP (electronic voice phenomena) which is disembodied voices and sounds picked up by recording devices. It was just amazingly creepy.

Maybe it is about time for TAPS to expand their investigations to outside of the US and experience some different kinds of spirit. If we based it on movies or on the different types of ghouls or spirits of different countries, most would agree that Thailand and Indonesia have the spookiest and meanest kind of spirits and some are deem as dangerous because they are revengeful. It would be interesting to watch how TAPS will deal with these kind of spirits should they be doing investigative assignments to these parts of the world. Local communities believe a lot of rituals had to be done before one should go and tread into the spirit's world or else the spirits will be agitated and this will not bring good omen to those who go there to do their investigations as they are considered as interfering.

There have been many reports of freak accidents or cases of those confined to mental institutions after they are believed to have been violently possessed or even deaths to some of those who had breached the border because they had angered the spirits. Will TAPS team members be running towards this kind of spirits to try to communicate with them or will they be running away as fast as their legs could carry them to save themselves from any devilish wrath? That could be a real challenge for TAPS and it could prove to be an even more exciting series.

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