The Best Ghost Video Ever? in The Gasp Menagerie
Mr. Dark
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I’m excited to share this one because I think it’s clear evidence of something incredibly important to the world of paranormal research.
Check out the video below from Orlando station WKMG.
Wow, right? It’s very clear to me what we have here:
This is very clear video of the ghost of a small insect! Okay, yeah, I know. That’s a bug. I’m pretty sure it’s not a ghost bug either, although that’d be hilarious. Why is this so important? Why does this story have such a click-bait title?
This video was shared on CNN. Not a small outlet, to be sure, and not a British tabloid. Were they fooled by such an easily explained video? Were they approaching this with a Fortean mindset, presenting evidence for the viewer to decide?
Of course not. They were looking for views. And that, my friends, is why this is so important. You’ll find this kind of thing everywhere on the Net and elsewhere. Rather than coming from genuine researchers who are interested in the truly difficult to explain, this kind of “evidence” comes from people looking to capitalize on the natural human curiosity about things they do not understand.
This is why it’s important for everyone with an interest in this kind of thing to maintain their skepticism. It’s why I curate our Menagerie so carefully. This age where everything seems to be recorded on video all the time has brought us a buttload (pardon the technical jargon) of junk evidence. We have to be aware of the nature of this stuff and be prepared to only give extra attention to evidence that is worth it.
Cryptozoology has been plagued with this more than any other science of the unknown. “Blobsquatch” videos are simply everywhere on the Net. Interesting recordings get lost amidst the noise of blurry videos showing blurry things moving through blurry underbrush.
It’s a shame to see an outlet like CNN engaging in the spread of such obvious click-bait. It’s not a surprise to see it coming from NASA, as they tend to be one of the high temples of science worshipers. (Indeed, if they shot actual inexplicable video, would they even release it and threaten their scientific grounding? I’m not sure, and that should be a problem for everyone truly interested in the scientific method.)
I’ve said that to say this: Be wise in what you believe. Don’t give extra credit to evidence that can easily be explained away by passing it on and claiming it might be something that it clearly isn’t. The Net will absolutely be where the first real, verifiable evidence of the paranormal appears, I’m convinced of that. It might never happen, however, if we don’t get a handle on what we “share” with the world.
Categorized:News
