Steve Mera, Dave Sadler on ghosts and paranormal activity

[AdamI]

Pretty good episode, but I have one big scientific nitpick:

The water on the ceiling had much higher electrical conductivity because it had been on the ceiling.

Pure deionized H2O is not conductive. Water's conductivity is due to dissolved ions. Tap water has a bit more ions, so it's more conductive. If you have very hard water, it'd be quite conductive.

Ceiling water has been on the ceiling and possibly in the walls in contact with drywall and other nasty stuff. It's going to have a lot more dissolved solids in it, so it's going to be far more conductive than average tap water.

I cringed at the conductive water thing.

 

[Hoffmeister]

So how do you explain the water running across the ceiling?

Anyway I thought it was a great show. Paul Kimball was excellent as a host which I suppose is to be expected given his media background, but I can't remember the last time I enjoyed an episode as much as this one. Its always good to hear some jolly old brits on these shows, and its always funny to hear Americans or Canadians doing terrible impressions of them.
I'm still very skeptical about these poltergeist stories but nontheless it really made me think...

 

[Paul Kimball]

I'm still very skeptical about these poltergeist stories but nontheless it really made me think...

I'm skeptical as well, but I respect Steve and Dave as researchers, so I take what they have to say seriously, particularly when it's based on their own experiences.

Making people think, and discuss these things, is what it's all about!

Paul

 

[Tom From Hong Kong]

I am likewise skeptical, but there are so many stories from legitimate researchers that you have to think there is definitely something to it. While I can't vouch for it, one of the most disturbing is the Enfield poltergeist (video 1 of 7):

 

[Gareth]

Gene and the terrible/corny jokes!

Someone hold him back!!!

 

[AdamI]

So how do you explain the water running across the ceiling?

Anyway I thought it was a great show. Paul Kimball was excellent as a host which I suppose is to be expected given his media background, but I can't remember the last time I enjoyed an episode as much as this one. Its always good to hear some jolly old brits on these shows, and its always funny to hear Americans or Canadians doing terrible impressions of them.
I'm still very skeptical about these poltergeist stories but nontheless it really made me think...

It doesn't explain the water along the ceiling, just the conductivity.

 

[owlman]

Thanks for co-hosting Paul. It was an interesting show !

 

[sk4p]

I'm skeptical as well, but I respect Steve and Dave as researchers, so I take what they have to say seriously, particularly when it's based on their own experiences.

Making people think, and discuss these things, is what it's all about!

Paul

Amen to that. And well done, Paul. The Paracast "family" is benefitting greatly from having members like you and Frank helping Gene out. And I'm looking forward to Christopher's contribution up next.

I miss Dave a lot, but the guest hosts are stepping up well.

--Shawn

 

[owlman]

Paul is pretty slick ain't he.

 

[xLordSummerislex]

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode, is there anywhere we can see the relevant episodes of Ghost Cases online?
With regards to the idea of some the alien big cats being non-physical or paranormal in nature, this notion stems from the relatively few bodies or captured animals relative to the large number of sightings, and there's also some high strangeness cases. Also, some of the sightings don't seem to correspond to known species- most of the sightings refer to jet black panher like cats, but as black panthers are melanistic leopards, when they breed, you could reasonably expect them to produce spotted offspring, and the number of spotted cats seen is much smaller. This has lead some to speculate something weirder is occurring (see the books Mystery Big Cats by Merrily Harpur and Alien Animals by Janet & Colin Bord if you're interested in this idea).
Interestingly, there have been some odd cat corpses turn up in Scotland:
The Dufftown cat and its rabbit-headed kin : Tetrapod Zoology

 

[kipspritely]

Pretty good episode, but I have one big scientific nitpick:

The water on the ceiling had much higher electrical conductivity because it had been on the ceiling.

Pure deionized H2O is not conductive. Water's conductivity is due to dissolved ions. Tap water has a bit more ions, so it's more conductive. If you have very hard water, it'd be quite conductive.

Ceiling water has been on the ceiling and possibly in the walls in contact with drywall and other nasty stuff. It's going to have a lot more dissolved solids in it, so it's going to be far more conductive than average tap water.

I cringed at the conductive water thing.

I agree. Water on the cieling could come from....I don't know, a leak in the roof elsewhere? Water has a natural surface tension and could flow on a ceiling. Sometimes a spade is a spade.

 

[Hoffmeister]

It could indeed. However the investigators said they checked for things like this, and they checked the attic above the roof and it was bone dry.
There could of course be another reason that non of us have thought of

 

[Kandinsky]

I often skip the ghosty shows and much prefer the UFO topics. Today I listened to it. This show was an exception and very enjoyable...to the point several parts were 'rewound' and listened to again. Gene and Paul were interested and it came through in the questions. The guest accounts were fascinating and they came across as honest guys. Like I said, paranormal stuff doesn't usually interest me.

The last 'ghost' Paracast I tried was the guy who did the seances and had a talking trumpet and cited late-19th Century ectoplasm cases as historical facts. The guy wasn't credible IMO

Despite enough personal experiences to fill a thread...my default position is usually disbelief. The sincerity of Mera and Sadler really caught my imagination and added to their credibility. I won't be watching 'Most Haunted,' or 'Ghosthunters' any time soon, but the show has certainly altered my perspective...albeit slightly.

Thanks