Paranormal Hoaxes part II...A Strong Dose of Reality

By Edwina Caito

Cases such as William H Mumler’s ghost photography, mysterious crop circles and the Amityville Horror may be considered some of the most infamous paranormal hoaxes of all time, but paranormal scams are still taking place today and many times, right on television for everyone to see.

TAPS was called to investigate Moss Beach Distillery in Moss Beach California. The legend behind the Moss Beach Distillery tells the story of the Lady in Blue. In the 1920’s a young woman was reportedly murdered after she was found cheating with another man at the site of the distillery. The ghost of the murdered woman is reported to lurk around the cliffs surrounding the distillery and has even warned children not to play too close to the edge. Other reports within the distillery building include boxes of wine being stacked behind a door which leads to a windowless, locked storage room, incessant phone ringing, items being thrown about and doors slamming shut. Voices are heard by patrons as well as a ghostly face appearing in the ladies room mirror.

During the televised investigation, the TAPS team discovered many alarming hoaxes throughout the Moss Beach Distillery. A speaker was discovered hidden in a vent in the ladies room ceiling…a room where voices were reported to be heard. A mask was also found behind the ladies room mirror, explaining the claims of patrons seeing a face peering back at them from the mirror.

While investigating the wiring of the speaker in the ladies room, the TAPS team discovered an elaborate hydraulics system above the bar. The system was wired to a timer which, when activated, would cause the lights above the bar to randomly sway back and forth.

When confronted with the evidence of a hoax, the chef who worked at the distillery claimed he knew of the elaborate mechanics and that they used them to “enhance their patrons’ experiences” since they expected the place to be haunted. He had no explanation as to why TAPS was not informed of the hoax beforehand.

During the investigation, the TAPS team did attempt to communicate with the Lady in Blue or find some evidence of her presence through video or audio EVPs, to no avail. TAPS found the Moss Beach Distillery not to be haunted. However, the owners of the distillery as well as many patrons still claim that the site is haunted and that the first claims came far before their electronic devices were installed.

Cases such as these are what spurred Patrick H.T. Doyle to create his own web series called “Haunted Hoax”. In a series of YouTube videos, Mr. Doyle, who is an author and paranormal investigator, shows how easily paranormal activity can be fabricated and just how easily one can pull off an elaborate paranormal hoax. He creates ghostly mists, orbs and shadows as well as other things that, to the eyes of the viewer, can be seen as paranormal.

Mr. Doyle claims to believe in the paranormal, though he believes only a small portion of things that are reported and even shown on television are actually paranormal in nature. He claims the rest are either something the viewer wants to see or something that can be scientifically explained. Doyle takes on paranormal videos posted on the web by simply recreating the video using video editing or simple tricks using lights, shadows and yes, even fishing line.

On one of his videos, Mr. Doyle shows both sides of the Ghost Hunters Live show from Fort Delaware and the “jacket pulling incident”. During this episode of Ghost Hunters, Grant is walking down a darkened hallway when suddenly; the collar of his jacket is pulled back and upward. This happens not once, but twice and caught live. Answering countless letters and emails, Mr. Doyle shows how easily he could replicate the collar of his jacket being pulled by running fishing line through the collar of the jacket and looping the other end around his finger. He was able to debunk the entire incident.

During this particular webisode, Mr. Doyle explains that he has called and spoken to Grant and Jason about the episode and while they still maintain that the jacket pulling incident actually happened and was paranormal in nature, he simply wants to show his viewers every side of the story. And his fishing line trick worked…and worked well. Mr. Doyle maintains that television shows such as Ghost Hunters are at the mercy of the production staff that can clip scenes and build an episode so that it is exciting and compelling for the viewers. He also maintains that he has a deep respect for the TAPS team and their scientific methods of investigation.

Watching the “Haunted Hoax” series will definitely put doubt in the mind of believers in the paranormal and make skeptics even more cynical. However, with grand hoaxes such as Bigfoot, Loch Ness and Amityville, Mr. Doyle provides a much needed dose of reality to keep us all grounded in our beliefs. Without doubt and skepticism, there would be no need for paranormal investigators at all! We would all be running around pointing out dust as orbs, every shadow as a demonic entity and every jacket pull as a paranormal event. An open mind is one of the best tools in paranormal investigations.

You can visit Patrick H. T. Doyle at http://www.hauntedhoax.net and view is webisodes at http://www.youtube.com/hauntedhoax