Wednesday 29 June 2011

Derek Acorah Most Haunted - Fake

When there's nothing on the TV, but I need to wind down, I have been known to watch Most Haunted. I have always known a few aspects of the show were fake, even more so, when Derek Acorah left, they needed to keep the ratings up, so all of a sudden tables were vibrating, knocks in replies to questions were heard, and so on.


So,  I googled why he'd left Most Haunted, and found a site that had set him up with fake info, to prove to his fans that 1- he is not as he seems, and 2- that he and his team DO do research on the places they visit, even though they assure us they don't, Derek even gets to choose what places they visit.

He screwed up, when someone on the team, made up a name Kreed Kafer (an anagram of Faker Derek) and passed it onto someone in his team, who in turn passed it to Derek, who, on live TV, told viewers, Sam, his Angel, had informed him about this Kreed Kafer, and went on to tell his (totally fabricated) story. The mole couldn't believe it had been broadcast, so did another one, this time an anagram for Derek Lies, the name was Rik Eedles, and again, he took the bait.

As far as I'm aware, this all led to his departure from the TV series.

I don't particuarly care, but I do enjoy justice, and seeing a  fake  mans world come crashing down around him. Unfortunately, a lot of his fans, are in complete denial, despite the evidence.

Series six of Most Haunted began with an episode filmed at Bodmin gaol,  a grim-looking place on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall.  The episode is most memorable as the day Derek Acorah was set up by Dr Ciarán O'Keeffe, the team's parapsychologist.

To test his theory that Acorah was not receiving genuine messages from the dead, Ciarán took the  words 'Derek' and  'faker' and created a South African  named Kreed Kafer from them.   His nationality was chosen because of the name's spelling.
 
Ciarán passed the piece of paper bearing the name Kreed Kafer to another team member who walked Acorah around the property.  During this, Acorah was told of a story about the South African, but it was impressed upon him that the information would not be used during the programme as there was nothing in the prison's records to verify it.

Ciarán hoped that Acorah would mention the name either during a séance or at the Ouija board., but could not believe his luck when Acorah was fully 'possessed' by the anagram!
 
Ciarán was not certain that the 'possession' would survive the editing suite, but when the episode was aired, the only thing that had been lost was his spelling of the name, with the caption writer guessing at 'Creed Kaifer' in the absence of any written guidance from historical records.

Since the programme's airing, arguments have raged across the internet, with those of us who had prior warning of the set up watching in amazement as Acorah's fans produce one wild theory after another to explain it all away.
 
Ranging from "the records of him were lost", through "it was spelt wrong" and "you can make an anagram out of anything" in the beginning, to "Ciarán made it up after it was filmed", to "Acorah probably picked it up psychically from Ciarán", when Ciarán came forward and revealed he was responsible for the anagram.  In fact, the fans would grasp at anything rather than accept the more mundane truth that Acorah was given the name by a team member prior to filming.
 
No records from Bodmin Gaol have been lost - all remain in the archives at the Shire House and the Bodmin Library, both of which received numerous phone calls after the programme.   No South African was ever in the prison in any capacity - in fact, the Union of South Africa did not come into existence until 1910.
 
Spurred on  by his success with the anagram, Ciarán went on to provide another one for Acorah to embrace, in the following episode, at Prideaux Place.  This time it was highwayman Rik Eedles - an anagram of 'Derek' and 'lies'. 
 
Add to those The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at Craigievar Castle, and the final nails in the coffin were knocked home by Ciarán, all of which he revealed when he was asked to give an interview to Matt Roper of the Mirror newspaper , published 28th September 2005.
 
 
Footnote:  The Bodmin Gaol episode is conspicuous by its absence in the Series 6 list on Acorah's Official website.  How interesting that one should have been 'forgotten'.  Let's make sure it's never forgotten!

Here you will find a nice list of muck-ups by the fraud Derek. http://homepage.ntlworld.com/isil.telemnar/Doublexposure/derek_acorah_menu.htm

Paranormal State - Fake

I enjoy watching paranormal T.V shows, but as a viewer we have to remember, these shows are only for entertainment purposes, and are in no shape or form, real.

Firstly, ANY show that uses a Medium or Psychic, is a fake. Bold statement you say? No. Factual, yes. Mediums/Psychics and all forms of them, have been scientifically damned as fake. There are two types of Medium/Psychics. The first is a cold-hearted cold reader, who plays on psychological anomolies to produce what we perceive as a reading. I will go into this in another blog, but trust me they're fake. The 1 Million Pound Prize for proof is still sat in a bank unclaimed, and not because people aren't applying. The second type of Medium/Psychic is, to be blunt, someone that cold-reads without realising they are doing it, therefor making them a little bit gullible and full of self importance. They get results in the exact same way as a cold reader, but these ones actually believe in themselves that they are really psychic.

Anyone with a true interest in readings really should read both sides of the story before believing it's all correct, and  even more so, those with a vested interest, like Ryan D Buell.

Back on topic! (Sorry for that but I really feel that preying on the vunerable like Medium/Psychics do, is very wrong) I have read a number of accounts regarding Paranormal State, so let's begin by explaining the basics.

The show begins with it's main "star" Ryan D Buell telling the viewer that due to reasons he will not disclose, he began a paranormal group at his university, Penn State, more blah blah blah, end of intro. Ryan is the driving force behind the show and really comes across extremely arrogant, controlling, and he puts himself up on a pedestal. His minions seem nice people, but his personality overshadows everything, but it's OK because they hide behind the Penn State student facade, making them seem harmless. Ryan has milked everything he can out of being on T.V, he is constantly promoting himself on Facebook and other social media, he's released a book (a pre-planned thing from the beginning, the stuff "he wouldn't reveal on the show because it was personal" was all saved for the book...) and now, he has completely taken over a movie he helped out on called American Ghost Hunter, which is about one mans journey back to his haunted childhood home, yet Ryans face is all over the adverts for it?

Aside from his obvious personality disorder the shows always take the same route. Intro - explanation of haunting - meet family of haunting - Paranormal Stae end up finding something eerie about the family/location/haunting (reminds me of Scooby Doo, those pesky kids!) - they find past home owners - they do "Dead Time" - they find something - they call in Chip Coffey or a demonologist/priest - they fix the problem - closing credits.

Lets examine one show, taken from GhostTheory.com.

A&E was very pushy about urging us to contact Jim Gardner, the driver in Bill Wells’ fatal accident. We told them we would try again, but we didn’t want to harass the man. We contacted him shortly after discovering Bill’s identity. The point of us contacting PRS was to get Bill the help he was pleading for. Bill wanted people in the town to know there was no wrongdoing on anyone’s part and, indeed, it was only an accident.

Ryan took great pride in coming up with “This shadow man that you see in your home…” He practiced saying “shadow man” in a deeper register than he usually uses and was quite pleased with himself. He requires everyone on his team to worship him and show and express their admiration of him to everyone. Behind his back they express their disdain, but they all want to keep their job.

Chip Coffey play acted at being psychic. He was given every bit of information regarding our case and the identity of the ghost of the past-previous owner of our home who died 28 years before we bought our Gold Beach, Oregon home. I am a medical hypnotherapist and respected medium and psychic with many satisfied clients. We contacted PRS after our ghost, Bill Wells, began asking us for help. The PRS team represented themselves as being part of Penn State University, which was only the beginning of their deceptions.

I was asked to pretend I didn’t know any of the information for effect so that viewers could have the sense of the story unfolding, the way it had to us. ‘There would be no harm in presenting it again as though they made the discoveries on their own as they were the ones who ordered the accident report.’

This entity frightened the PRS team and terrified Chip Coffey who refused to deal with it. Chip had me deal with it and hid in a chair in my living room. 

The PRS crew ‘faked’ cold spots in our home. They explained to us that they were using a six-pack of beer to attract Bill and draw him out so they could photograph him. ... After the episode was aired, I realized the ‘Cold Spot’ Ryan and Chip were ‘discovering’ in our guest room was one of the Budweiser cans!

In our interview with Katrina before they arrived Katrina asked me to list the names, relationships and birth and death dates of all my deceased family members who have died in the last 10 years. Chip was claiming the evil entity in the hallway was my dead grandfather and that he had sexually abused me as a child. This is utterly ridiculous and untrue. That was when I called Chip Coffey a fraud and Chip responded with such abusive, intimidating and belittling language and demeanor 

PRS say they are PARANORMAL RESEARCHERS and expressed no interest in many of the real phenomenon they recorded [on our property]. Ryan picked up the spirits in the forest on his IFR and didn’t bother to put that in. Does that indicate interest in the paranormal?

To read the letter in full, go here http://www.ghosttheory.com/2008/11/04/paranormal-state-caught-faking-entire-show and remember these shows are only here to gain ratings and money, and they stretch to awful levels to accomplish this.

There is also an entire book dedicated to their fraud. http://www.amazon.com/Paranormal-Reality-Investigating-State-ebook/dp/B004OEIXAM

Thursday 16 June 2011

About me.

So, who am I and what is this blog about? Do I believe, or do I not?

I’m just a regular Joe from England, I’m not religious, but recognise the human need to belong and to hope there is more to life than what we witness and experience here on Earth. Religion offers answers that life cannot. I don’t believe the answers it offers by any means, but I believe the Paranormal also offers the same thing. It tells us that when we die, we don’t just disappear, we have a chance of coming back as an entity.

This is the reason I doubt the Paranormal. Because we want to know there is more to life, we seek things that may not be there. Not knowingly of course, but if you show a believer, and a non-believer the same photograph of a mist, orb, or something similar, the two will see different things.

Do I believe? Yes, I think I do, but am I being swept away by the romantic notion that there is more to life? Possibly. This is what makes me doubt my belief. Even given the fact I have had paranormal experiences myself! I feel it’s healthy to question yourself though, I like to think I am not gullible, and I like to think that I carefully consider all factors before deciding.

My personal experiences began around the age of 10. I remember feeling as though I was being watched, and I even knew what the lady looked like, tall, pale, and long black hair. It’s very hazy because I was so young, and children do have vivid imaginations, so fast forward to my teens, in a new home, that’s when I really remember what happened. I was woken by someone whispering my name aggressively in my ear. My stereo turned itself up, then down, then up, all while I had the remote in my hand. Highly possible that another remote in a neighbours house was doing it, but after the stereo event, I was laying in bed with the lights out watching T.V, I had a dimmer switch light system, so it was a knob you’d need to turn until it clicked to switch it on, then  you’d need to continue turning it to adjust the brightness. My light switched itself on from off, to full, and I was literally scared stiff. I couldn’t move with fear. After about a minute, I threw my covers off, and ran down to my parents sobbing, I’d never been so scared in my life. We had two dogs, one of them used to share my bed sometimes, and on numerous occasions I’d wake because the dog was standing over my head, growling into the air above me.

I moved out a few years later, and Mum moved into my room. She called me one afternoon to tell me that she’d been woken by her T.V at 3am. She was sure she’d switched it off before bed, so she got up, turned it off, went to the bathroom, and came back to find it was on again. This is just a small snapshot of events. There were many small things that happened that I’d try and shrug off. My parents have since moved from that house, and I’m glad.

Where I live now, I’ve had minor experiences, my childrens’ toys would make noises when I go in their room, the jewellery box with the ballerina that you wind up was a common one. Sometimes I feel totally at ease here, and sometimes I feel very anxious and worried to look behind me.

All of this has led me to be an avid watcher of Paranormal T.V shows, and reader of books and websites, and this is what’s led me to write this blog. I am passionate about the truth, and I absolutely detest those that seek to actively mislead us to make money. Yes, Psychics, Spiritual Healers,  Mediums and Most Haunted, I’m looking at you! I hope to offer an objective view on things I come across and to debunk or agree with things I read/watch/see, and I hope you enjoy what you read, and I hope it makes you think.