Haunted by an ever-increasing number of “ghost” videos, the Internet frenzy known as YouTube might consider changing its name to BooTube this Halloween.
So many of these spirited films are too silly for words.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt_51KF4×88
Some ghost videos might be very clever hoaxes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzZI16Z13dw
Other afterlife leftovers are not nearly so ingenious.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3C4CbUT5_k
Can any of this user-generated content be evidence of anything?
Let us look up the word “evidence” in our dictionary:
ev·i·dence [évvid'nss]
n
1. Sign or proof:
something that gives a sign or proof of the existence or truth of something, or that helps somebody to come to a particular conclusion
2. Proof of guilt:
the objects or information used to prove or suggest the guilt of somebody accused of a crime
3. Statements of witnesses:
the oral or written statements of witnesses and other people involved in a trial or official inquiry
Major players in the television business have catchy terms for user-submitted content. CNN uses iReport. Fox News offers uReport. The Weather Channel has iWitness. Most local TV stations now seek viewer-submitted digital photos and videos of breaking news.
Photographs and videos are not incontrovertible evidence. They are corroborating evidence that tends to support a proposition that is already supported by other proof, such as the testimonial (or anecdotal) evidence offered by an eyewitness. The use of digital evidence has increased as courts have allowed the use of e-mails, digital photographs and digital video files.
That brings us to the reason for this article.
Apparition Caught By Doreen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qcLzVsy50Q
Investigator Doreen captures an apparition. She was up on the second floor of a home, she was in a room by herself when this was caught.
Barb King is the founder of the PA. Dept of Paranormal Investigations or PDPI, a non-profit investigative team based in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania vicinity. She describes Doreen Hill as “a strong investigator with good skills,” then adds, “I trust her totally.”
For more information on the PA. Dept of Paranormal Investigations
http://www.padeptofparanormalinvestigations.com
One evening in March, 2009, Doreen Hill and a handful of researchers from another paranormal group accepted an invitation to investigate a rental property in East McKeesport, Pennsylvania.
The mother and her two sons living there felt threatened. The family witnessed shadow phenomenon in the stairway leading to the second floor. Vile odors wafted through the residence. They began sleeping on the living room floor before finally retreating to a relative’s house since they did not have anywhere else to go.
When investigators arrived, there was a “TERRIBLE” smell in the home. They asked the tenant to check her refrigerator to see if maybe something had gone bad… nothing.
Two investigators decided to check things outside.
Doreen escorted the mother upstairs to escape the stench, shoot video, and maybe run an EVP. Being somewhat “sensitive,” she was drawn to a bedroom currently being used for storage. The mother returned downstairs to be with her children and to check on what everyone else was doing.
Doreen shot some video without incident.
Routinely checking what her Sony Handycam Hybrid DCR-SR45 had captured, her eyes more than likely popped out of her head reminiscent of some 1940’s animated cartoon.
“I never saw that apparition in my view finder,” Doreen explained. “After an hour or so, I wanted to check my video and that is when I saw her! I could not believe it and ran downstairs to show the tenant and the founder of the paranormal group what I caught. When I got downstairs, I found everyone in the basement because one of the investigators got pushed against a wall and they were making sure that she was okay.”
The apparition can be clearly seen at 0:06 seconds as the camera pans slowly left and is really blurred at 0:16 seconds as the camera pans very quickly to the right.
Doreen Hill’s integrity and her lack of technical savvy negate any hint of hoax. This is no reflection or accidental capture of any living person present in that dwelling. The family is African American. No one in attendance dressed in the manner of this apparition.
This is no orb or pareidolia.
Can this possibly be the real deal?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Robert A. Goerman is a native of New Kensington, Pennsylvania. As an investigative scholar of the unknown and unexplained, he has been fortunate enough to have his research and writings featured in various venues, including FATE, and serve as source material for many books and television shows. Look for valuable investigation tips and techniques at http://robertgoerman.tripod.com
