Paranormal

Destination Truth – Pompeii – Nandi Beast S04E01

Pompeii

The first episode of Season 4! I have to say I’m very excited.

It’s good to see that some things haven’t changed, Josh still gets crap cars from the rental agencies. I thought it was a VW Thing for a minute, but it’s actually something quite a bit uglier than that.

But the little orange Skittle does get them pretty close to Pompeii where the locals claim they hear screaming and cries. The POS car doesn’t take them all the way and they need to switch to two-wheeled transportation. Did anyone else expect Josh to start hollering while riding the motor scooter?

And wouldn’t you know, in order to appease the spirits you need to make an offering which means you need to climb down into an active volcano to find the "bomba". And who else would go after it but Josh? Did he even hesitate to climb down? Yes josh, that was a pretty crazy thing to do, but we’re all still envious.

Pompeii is just scary. If there is a place where souls would be trapped, Pompeii would be the place. Hundreds if not thousands of people were simply frozen in time. They really are walking over people and remains are clearly visible.

Did they capture any evidence? It’s hard to say. I have simply come to ignore the EVPs. Perhaps they sound different in person, but I still hear nothing but garbled sounds. And quite frankly, like seeing pictures in a random sequence of dots, I think people hear voices in the static. I’m not disputing them, I’m just saying as the armchair investigator I don’t pay attention to those. I really think that’s the kind of evidence you just need to throw out.

The thermal imager? I don’t think there is enough to get too excited about. It’s merely a flash on the screen. I admit, it looks like a human form, but that’s not saying much. Perhaps it’s something ducking behind the trees, but who knows. Maybe if there was more movement. Maybe if it were more clearly defined. I really can’t agree that it’s a Class A piece of evidence.

Pompeii is a pretty wild place to start things off. I don’t think the evidence proves much, but I’m not going to be the one that says nothing is going on out there.

There are however two things that bother me with this episode. First, I really hope Josh doesn’t make a habit of using the K2 meter. Personally, I think that thing is a worthless piece of junk.

Second, please stop going to the Ghost Hunters for the evidence review. I know this is a cross promotion deal with Syfy but I cringe every time it happens. Destination Truth doesn’t need the Ghost Hunters for ratings.

Nandi Beast

In deep dark Africa we have the hunt for the Nandi Bear, which ironically sounds like it should be the name of a kid’s toy. And apparently the DT team thinks so too, since they create the Talkie Bear. I think there might be a market for that thing. Need to do something about the rather obvious antenna though.

And let’s not forget that even though you are handing wild creatures, you should take some time to enjoy golf whenever you get the chance. I don’t think Josh missed his calling as a pro golfer, but compared to the rest of the clan, I think he did quite well.

After gather their background information, they are told the Nandi Bear is real to the natives and they claim its been around for generations and that their town elders and ancestors have killed one or two in the past. Josh and team head out into the woods to see what they can find.

Of course they come across plenty of wild animals. And what do they do when they come across a mysterious cave in the woods in the middle of the night? Damn right! Climb right in and see who’s home!

While they don’t find anything in the caves something does breach the perimeter and set off the alarms. Quite a bit of drama ensues as the team races back to check on Vanessa. She isn’t mauled, so the team heads out in the woods to search around for whatever caused the alarms to go off.

They don’t really come away with anything but their trap camera does record a hyena wandering around the place. And is looks remarkably similar to the Nandi Bear. I will have to agree with Josh that the story is the stuff of legend and that the original Nandi Bear was probably an oversized or perhaps even now extinct hyena. A great brute of a creature was probably killed at some point so they assumed there was a pack of them just waiting to devour the villagers. From the there, the story simply grew. There is plenty to worry about in that forest, but the Nandi Bear probably isn’t one of them.

Destination Truth is back on the air with some new faces and the same old cars. And here we have two new episodes where Josh goes up in a helicopter and manages to come back safely without a single incident. Maybe he only has issues with cars and planes. Motorcycles and helicopters don’t seem to cause him problems.

This was a fun episode and two really neat locations. Pompeii is like Pavalia, just thinking of those tragic events is depressing. And Africa holds so many mysteries and so many wonders. Just remember to bring you wicker basket and keep it on your head. Maybe the Nandi Bear isn’t really out there trying to eat out your brains, but who knows what is…

Other Articles of Interest:

Well isn’t this strange

"It was the anniversary of a train wreck. They say on the anniversary that it replays in front of you or you hear the accident or you hear the train wrecking."

The original incident, in 1891, involved a passenger train traveling from Salisbury to Asheville. Although there is some disagreement over the time of the wreck, most accounts say it happened about 2 a.m. For some reason, the train went off the bridge, dropping 60 feet below into a creek.

Man killed while waiting for ‘ghost train’

Other Articles of Interest:

So That Leaves …

After scraping away all the barnacles, I’m left with two paranormal shows. (At least for now).

Not only is Destination Truth my favorite paranormal show, but it’s one of my favorite TV shows period. The locations Josh goes to are simply fascinating (the main reason I liked GHI as well) and the people he encounters are quite "unique". With places like Egypt, Chernobyl, and Transylvania and the constant warnings that he’ll be eaten and never come back alive it’s all pretty exciting stuff. Not to mention the slew of unreliable vehicles he seems to get saddled with. And ill-tempered camels. The question of "did you hear that?" has been replaced with, "Is Josh’s boat going to sink?", "Is Josh going to run out of gas in the middle of that lake?", "Is the roof of that airplane going to come off… again?" and "Do you think Josh will jump on that parade float?"

Half the fun is seeing if Josh and team actually make it to the location, and by what mode of travel.

And when it comes to the paranormal, it really doesn’t matter since we already know that most of the stories are urban legends anyway. Are we really expecting "Skunk Ape" to make an appearance? Do you think "El Chupacabra" is going to come out and play? However, these myths have taken on a life of their own and are just as much a part of the culture as anything else. But why do people believe these stories? What keeps them alive in their minds?

In most cases Josh comes away with unexplained noises, plenty of wild animals and lots of treacherous terrain. It’s very exciting and he’s a fantastic host. He rarely gets rattled, keeps his sense of humor and when faced with less than ideal circumstances he simply soldiers on. Plus, his enthusiasm for people and their culture just pulls you right in. He really has no problem going up in that rickety plane or drinking until he sees leprechauns. And if you recall, he was actually told to drink that much…

This show could be about the quest for the perfect ball of yarn and I’d still be tuning in!

And finally, there’s Ghost Adventures. Admittedly, everything in their world is paranormal and dark energy. And yes, they have a tendency to curse like sailors and scare themselves senseless, until they crash into walls. But they’re so damned entertaining to watch. Zak has a contagious enthusiasm and his narrative style is very compelling. Plus, they deal with old and mysterious buildings, sort of like the Ghost Hunters did in the beginning. They normally don’t show up at someone’s home (and even when they did it was still basically a castle) so the location is steeped in history, tragedy and violence. Even the Execution Rock Lighthouse gave you the chills when you heard about what happened there. And Poveglia Island? If the stories are true, that place makes you cringe.

Ghost Adventures is still like watching and listening to someone tell you a good ghost story. The idea of being locked up in an abandoned jail or asylum is still really compelling. Most of the noises you hear are just the building creaking, cars driving down the road, animals in the distance and other perfectly normal sounds for an old building. And those shadows are probably coming from the car headlights or a streetlight. But you combine that with the somewhat sinister tales of the past and you have something pretty interesting. Something worth watching. And maybe that noise isn’t the building settling. And that shows isn’t from a car headlight. And maybe that whisper will make sense…

But if everything is haunted in the Ghost Adventures world and haunted in the Ghost Hunters world, why did I turn my back to the GH team? It does seem like a contradiction so let me explain. First off, the GA team has already declared the place haunted before they ever step foot in there, that’s why they’re there in the first place. They’re not trying to prove or disprove anything. They’re being locked down for the experience.

Second, it’s about the experience. Just like with Josh, Zak, Nick and Aaron are more fun to watch. They aren’t sitting on a couch all the time. They’re constantly talking and doing something. And we don’t see them playing stupid games in the middle of the show or daring each other to do something moronic for a couple of bucks.

To me it’s a completely different show with a vastly different style. Now, before we go too far, I don’t really think Zak and team have come up with compelling paranormal evidence either. Far too much is based on personal experiences and I don’t put any stock in those EVP recordings. But I like the places they go and the backstory that goes with it.

It’s not a perfect show but it’s infinitely better than Ghost Hunters. Ghost Adventures doesn’t seem to be as concerned with getting the right "look" for people sitting on the couch.

Other Articles of Interest:

Is the paranormal promoting Witchcraft?

I’m not really sure how to bring this up. People have the right to their opinion and their beliefs. But I just came across this and I’m not sure if I should laugh or not. In one sense it seems like quite a publicity stunt to show absurdity by being absurd. But then I began to think, what if this isn’t a joke? Currently, I’m left scratching my head. I’m a little startled and a little confused.

Has anyone else come across this rather unusual discussion?

Ghost Hunters: Paranormal Investigators Promote Witchcraft 

I’ll have to gather my thoughts about this one …

Other Articles of Interest:

Recent Comments

Advertising