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Post by Phil on Aug 19, 2010 11:31:26 GMT -6
Hi Paulding Light fans-
There is a show on the SyFy channel titled Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files. In an episode titled “Blazing Horizon/Rollover “, they investigate the Paulding Light. As of August 2010, the episode can also be seen on the hulu website. Type “Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files Blazing Horizon/Rollover” into the search feature and you should find it easily.
There are many shows on cable these days that supposedly “scientifically investigate” paranormal claims. Most shows of this type are total hogwash and employ a variety of dubious and dishonest techniques, for example recording audio from a haunted house, compressing or messing around with the tape (sometimes playing it backwards), and claiming that the voice of a ghost can be heard somewhere in the noise. I also would not be surprised at all if some shows deliberately generate hoaxes to put on their show purely for entertainment’s sake.
However, my first impression of this one episode of Fact or Faked is that this particular show actually looks somewhat decent. As honest scientists should, the team investigates normal explanations of the Light first (swamp gas, airplane, cars, etc.) before considering anything paranormal.
I am a proponent of the car lights theory, so I was surprised that their car lights test failed. I have spoken to people at the Light who described their own car lights tests that were successful. Also, my post titled “1986 experiment confirms car light theory” has an article that describes a carefully done and successful test done 24 years ago.
So I’m left with the question - why did the Fact or Faked car lights test fail? One possibility is that it actually didn’t fail - but they wanted to leave the Paulding Light a mystery to make their show more exciting. But like I said earlier, they appear to be a pretty honest show, so I’m not putting my money on that explanation yet.
Another possibility is that they may not have started their test car far enough north on US 45 at the beginning of the test (look at the map they show at 21:47 during the episode). US 45 goes due south for a very very long time and maybe the cars that are visible from the observation point are further north than most people realize. If I were conducting a car lights test, I would probably start all the way up at Settler’s Co-Op in Bruce’s Crossing. Couldn't hurt.
Anyways, the show was really cool and I’m glad they made it. See you at the Light!!!
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