Ghost hunters

Television series
German title	Ghost hunters
Original title	Ghost hunters
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Year (s)	since 2004
Production company	Pilgrim Films & Television
length	60 minutes
Episodes	217 and 13 specials in 10 seasons
genre	Documentary soap
production	Craig Piligian, Tom Thayer, Alan David, Rob Katz
First broadcast	October 6, 2004 (USA) on Syfy
German-language first broadcast	September 20, 2009 on The Fourth
occupation

Ghost Hunters is an American documentary soap by the station Syfy , which has aired it since October 6, 2004. The German premiere was on September 20, 2009 on Das Vierte . The series is about TAPS ( The Atlantic Paranormal Society ), a group of self-proclaimed ghost hunters , and their operations.

This group was led by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson until the latter left the group in 2012 and only appeared again as an investigator in the 200th episode or the last episode of the 9th season. While the two used to work as plumbers for a pipe cleaning company, only Jason Hawes now does so after Wilson left there in 2015.

The investigation

Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson , along with other TAPS team members, are investigating locations suspected of being paranormal. They use different pieces of equipment, such as infrared thermometers , various cameras, night vision devices and magnetometers .

At the beginning of an investigation, the leading team members visit the site together with the owner or client. This explains where which anomalies have occurred so far. The next step is then to set up various electronic devices at the so-called hot spots , i.e. at the places with the aforementioned abnormalities. The team then takes various measurements over several hours, for example the electrical field strength and temperature. Digital video cameras are supposed to record any phenomena that may occur and attempts are also made to record tape voices . The team attaches great importance to always finding a natural explanation for the occurrences described first. Then you start to analyze the data obtained in this way.

A few days later, after the data collected has been viewed and evaluated, Hawes and Wilson have been discussing their results with the owner of the affected location since Wilson's departure. Hawes and Steve Gonsalves If a paranormal or even seeming activity is detected, they make suggestions for dealing with it.

Despite several thousand hours of video and audio material, TAPS only succeeds in 20 out of 100 cases in demonstrating supposedly paranormal phenomena, which can be explained by the most objective and critical approach possible to the cases and which makes a difference to other groups, which are almost everywhere and always Postulate paranormal backgrounds. In contrast to these, TAPS 'objective is above all to refute paranormal incidents, only cases that can hardly be explained in any other way meet the strict criteria of the group and are evaluated with the clients, including the US Navy, US Airforce and others US National Guard counted.

equipment

TAPS equipment includes digital thermometers, electric field meters , thermal and night vision cameras , laptops, digital audio recorders and camcorders. In rare cases Geiger counters and self-developed “full spectrum cameras” that also record ultraviolet and infrared light. The audio recorders and thermal imaging cameras regularly prove to be the most effective.

development

In the early episodes, TAPS had its headquarters in a trailer behind Jason Hawes' house. A white van was used to transport their equipment. They moved to a store in Warwick , Rhode Island during the first season . They have also bought some new vehicles equipped with various technical devices.

In the meantime, the members of TAPS are so in demand in the USA that they have commissioned two artist agencies to schedule their performances.

Charisma

Season	Episodes	Aired (United States) on Syfy	Broadcast (Germany) on Das Vierte
season 1	10	October 6, 2004 to December 15, 2004	September 20, 2009 to November 29, 2009
season 2	22nd	July 27, 2005 to May 31, 2006	since December 6, 2009
season 3	18th	October 11, 2006 to November 7, 2007
Season 4	27	March 5, 2008 to December 10, 2008
Season 5	25th	March 11, 2009 to December 16, 2009
Season 6	25th	March 3, 2010 to December 8, 2010
Season 7	25th	February 23, 2011 to December 7, 2011
Season 8	26th	January 11, 2012 to December 5, 2012
Season 9	26th	January 16, 2013 to October 29, 2014
Season 10	13	August 26, 2015 to November 18, 2015

Episode list

criticism

In the USA, Ghost Hunters is criticized by various skeptics, for example by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry . The association Skeptical Analysis of the Paranormal Society (SAPS) was founded especially to explain parts of the program rationally and thus take away the supernatural.

Ghost Hunters International

In addition to the Ghost Hunters series, there has also been an offshoot called Ghost Hunters International since 2008 . This group investigates alleged haunted places outside the USA, mainly in Great Britain, but also in Germany, including Reichenstein Castle . Some investigators are already known from previous seasons of the Ghost Hunters, e.g. B. Brian Harnois or Andy Andrews.

Investigator

• Jason Hawes - Senior Investigator and Founder of TAPS
• Steve Gonsalves - Investigator / Technical Manager / Evidence Evaluation
• Donna LaCroix - Client Care
• Dave Tango - investigator
• Kris Williams - Investigator / Historical Researcher
• Bill Lonero - EPP specialist
• Andy Coppock - Consultant / Research and Development
• Brian Harnois - investigator
• Dustin Pari - technical / equipment manager

DVD release

Season	USA (initial release)	German-speaking area
1.	October 18, 2005	February 11, 2011
2.	September 19, 2006 (Part 1 & 2)
3.	October 9, 2007 (part 1) February 26, 2008 (part 2)
4th	October 7, 2008 (part 1) March 17, 2009 (part 2)
5.	February 23, 2010 (part 1) April 27, 2010 (part 2)
6th	September 13, 2011 (part 1) October 11, 2011 (part 2)
7th	August 7, 2012 (part 1) October 2, 2012 (part 2)
8th.	March 19, 2013 (part 1) June 11, 2013 (part 2)
9.	August 14, 2014 (part 1) October 21, 2014 (part 2)

Web links

• Ghost Hunters in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• TAPS website
• Ghost Hunters at Pilgrim Films

Individual evidence