Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files (2010) s02e14 Episode Script
Bay Area Hysteria & Jersey Shore Haunting
Tonight on Fact or Faked Whoa! paranormal files.
" Let's go check it out.
Awesome.
Austin to team, we're going airborne.
I have a visual on the laser.
Jael: There it is.
There it is.
Devin: I've never seen a heat signature that is near freezing but a humanoid shape.
That doesn't make sense to me.
In three, two, one [ Cheering .]
Demonic entity that stalks people in their sleep.
[ Laughs .]
Man: One! Is anybody here with me? Devin: I have got some anomalous movement on the lasers, and there's nothing showing up in the theater.
Oh, my goodness! There's a flying saucer.
I'm getting a series of lights right there.
So you're seeing what I am seeing? What the heck is happening? Hey, hey.
Lanisha: Hey.
All right.
Here we go.
So, why don't we start out with Austin? All right, guys.
I have a really interesting video for you.
It's this giant, bright, illuminated white sphere.
It's just hovering over the night skies of bodega bay, California.
It was actually shot pretty recent.
It was August 25, 2011, and Joel Varain is just sitting at his computer, he looks out the window, and he sees this light.
Well, he immediately starts shooting, and check out what he captured.
Bill: Wow.
Lanisha: What is that? It's almost like it's at a certain elevation and then it comes down and almost touches the water.
But why couldn't the UFO in this video simply be the moon? I actually checked the lunar phase, and the date that this was recorded, the moon was in a Crescent phase, only showing 17% of the moon.
So that's not the moon.
Bill: This area certainly has had its share of UFO sightings, and the belief is that UFOs are somehow attracted to these places, which are often near water, to somehow recharge or draw in energy from the environment.
Exactly.
It's for this reason that a lot of paranormal researchers actually believe bodega bay to be an energy vortex.
This is an absolutely unique piece of footage, Austin.
This is a good clip.
Well, let's keep this in the running-- Definitely at the top.
Who's up? Well, I've got some video that was shot in 2010 by some fishermen in rural Virginia that supposedly depicts the infamous dark-hooded figure, which is the legendary demonic entity that stalks people in their sleep.
There's really never been a lot of visual evidence to support its existence, so I'm anxious to show you guys.
So, Ben, why don't you play this clip, and everybody watch on the far side of the shore.
Ben: Look at that.
Lanisha: That's weird.
Is it floating, or is it running? Austin: It's almost like it has a cloak on.
Bill: So it kind of started with him emerging from either that dock or even coming out of the water-- I can't tell.
Devin: My problem with this video is that it doesn't seem to be anything otherworldly happening here.
It's not floating across the ground.
This would be very easy to re-create.
This could be just a person in a cloak.
Right, Devin.
I agree with you.
This the spot that gives it away for me.
Right here, it looks like a flesh-tone foot.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
It's like almost as if it, you know, the person's foot is peeking out from under the robe as they're running.
Bill: Okay.
Well, when you guys go to sleep and this guy comes to visit, don't say I didn't warn you.
Hey! All right, I believe.
I believe.
Bill, I don't think we dismiss the legend, the phenomena.
Let's just get more back story, see if other people there have actually witnessed this and if there's other evidence.
Okay.
I'll do some digging.
Lanisha, you're up.
Okay, guys, I'm really excited to share this footage with you.
It comes from the Jersey shore.
[ Groans .]
Jael: All righty.
Lanisha: So, this video was shot in January of 2009 by members of the garden state ghost hunters society while investigating the historic and allegedly haunted Paramount theater.
Now, this footage was shot in the backstage corridor right outside the dressing rooms on the second floor.
Now, when they looked down the hallway, they didn't see anything with the naked eye.
It was only when they looked at their FLIR thermal camera that they saw the entity.
So, here it is.
Ben: Wow! It is definitely in the middle of the hallway.
That's crazy.
'Cause it looks like the shape of a person, but it's not warm enough to be anything living.
So whatever it is down there is freezing.
Austin: Absolutely.
I mean, the theater is definitely historic.
What's the paranormal lore there? In September of 1934, the theater served as a makeshift morgue and infirmary for the victims of the SS Morro castle, which caught on fire and burned, killing 137 passengers and crew.
It was pretty tragic.
And later that same decade, there was a tragic fire in the backstage area and that trapped cabaret dancers that were in one of the dressing rooms, and they couldn't escape and they burned to death.
Where this clip was shot is actually right outside those very dressing rooms.
Ben: I really like this.
It's got everything that I'd look for in a case.
What do you guys think about it? I've never seen a heat signature that is near freezing, but a humanoid shape-- That doesn't make sense to me.
Well, not counting that time you were in the ice tank, Austin.
[ Laughs .]
I would love to go test that.
Bill: Yeah, I agree.
This is the case I'd like to investigate.
What do you say we make this one a main-course meal? Well, let's see what else we have.
I have a series of photographs that were captured at Hibbing high school in Hibbing, Minnesota.
In 2009, this series of photographs captured what appears to be an apparition manifesting itself in seat j-47 of the school's auditorium.
Check it out.
These pictures were actually taken by the school's stage manager-- His name is Chuck Perry-- With his old Polaroid camera.
Look at that.
Dude, I can see a full person.
It's creepy, right? I see the actual outline of the clothing.
I see the head.
You can see the face looking down.
Lanisha: But, you know what, guys? This could simply just be a case of double exposure.
Do we even know these are polaroids, or do we just have images that appear to be polaroids? Well, see, that's what I was thinking.
Because it is possible to take a regular photograph and apply a polaroid effect to it.
So it sounds like we're already doubting the testimony of our witness, and we haven't even taken on this case.
But I would have an open mind if we can get the actual photos themselves.
If they are done on polaroid, we'll go from there.
I'll keep digging and see if I can.
Okay.
Let's think about the other videos.
What's your favorite one? Bill: I'm gonna have to go with the FLIR phantom in Jersey shore.
I really want to go to that location.
Without a doubt, Paramount theater.
I like my series of photographs from Hibbing high school, but since we still need to do a little more research behind that, my other choice would be the bodega bay mystery light.
Austin: Yes.
Thank you.
I'm with Jael.
I brought the case.
I want to find out what's in the sky.
I think an icy phantom on a thermal imager is a very compelling piece of footage for us to run tests on, so I'm for Paramount theater.
Devin, Bill, Lanisha-- Paramount theater.
And I would love to do bodega bay with Jael and Austin.
Perfect.
Done.
[ Door closes .]
Guys, just look at this coastline.
It is absolutely stunning.
We're, what, 90 miles north of San Francisco.
Bodega bay, California-- This place has such a mysterious vibe.
A lot of suspense/horror movies were filmed here.
"The Fog," Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds," and "The Puppetmaster.
" I can see why.
I mean, look at this location.
And I think the video that we're investigating is one of the better ones that we've seen.
It's a gigantic, luminescent, sphere-like UFO that's hovering over the foggy bay at night.
Jael: Well, I'm definitely excited to talk to Joel Varain and get his firsthand account on what happened the night that he captured this footage.
Varain: Hey, guys.
Thanks for coming.
I'll meet you inside.
Ben: Thank you.
It's great.
Jael: Joel, hi.
Hey.
How's it going? Nice to meet you.
I'm Jael.
This is Austin and Ben.
Thank you so much for having us here.
So, tell us about that night and where you were and what happened and what did you see.
Yeah, I was actually sitting right here on the couch about 10:30 at night, and we have the nice view of the ocean right here, and I saw this big, bright ball of light.
It obviously caught my attention.
I went in the other room, grabbed my camera, walked out, and started filming right from out here.
So this is it? Is is it, yeah.
I was filming right from the spot, just with amazement.
So, can you describe this object in detail? What was it about it that caught your eye? Just the sheer brightness of the light.
I've seen boats come in to the bay.
The lights are probably an eighth or tenth of that size.
It was just a really big light.
What happened to the object after the video ended? It was a really foggy night, and basically it just faded out into the fog.
So, let me just get this right.
This object looked like it was hovering above the water.
It didn't look like it was on the water.
Yeah, definitely above it.
I mean, to me, from my vantage point, I'm guessing, I don't know, 300 feet maybe above the water.
What was going through your head when you're seeing this? I've never believed really in UFOs, or you always say, you know, "I'll believe it when I see it.
" And I saw it.
I saw something that just blew my mind, and I was just in amazement that there really was something happening there.
What do you think it is? I can't explain it.
There was no sound.
I think it's a UFO-- Unidentified Flying Object.
Would you happen to still have the same camera that you used to film the footage that night? Yeah, definitely.
It's a Kodak ZI8.
I would love to borrow it if that's okay.
Yeah, definitely.
Ben: Thank you for having us here.
Thanks for coming out.
I'm excited to see what happens.
If you need anything, I'll be inside.
Take care, guys.
Fantastic.
All right, guys.
I'm really excited to start some experiments and see if there's actually a natural explanation for this light.
Ben: Well, the first thing, I think, is we got some great landmarks here.
This power line plus the trees, which are further back, kind of frames the area, and the object and the reflection take place beyond it.
Okay, well, if that's the case, we're gonna need a very large, powerful light source that can be seen from the house and that we can actually position over the water.
I think we're all on the same page here.
I have something that just might do the trick, and on top of that, it would naturally be in the area above the bay.
We just have to take a ride.
Okay.
Let's ride.
All right.
Looks like your ride's here, buddy.
Let's go check it out.
What do you guys think? It's a good-looking vehicle.
You guys, I think this Robinson r44 raven ii helicopter should do just the trick for our experiment.
I mean, since helicopters are seen over the bay quite often, whether it's for just tourists sightseeing or even for the occasional search-and-rescue mission, I think this is what we could be looking at.
If we have a helicopter that was equipped with a search light, it really could be what we're looking at, and one thing we should definitely do is see if we can actually hear this helicopter.
Because Joel did mention that there was no sound.
Well, guys, the first part is gonna be getting this bird up in the air, right? Then, to make the whole experiment come together, we can use this.
Now, this should be more than sufficient to do the trick.
Average search light is about This thing's 40 million.
So, this will work.
All right.
Jael and I will head up to the house right now, and as soon as it gets dark, off you go.
All right.
That works.
See you guys in a bit.
Make it happen, buddy.
Austin to team, we're going airborne.
Copy that.
We're in position and ready to record.
So, we're gonna start right here.
See the transformer? Yep.
It creates this little triangle between those two power lines.
Do you have a visual of us? There they are.
There they are.
Okay.
Affirmative.
Austin, I'm gonna paint a target for you with a laser on the water.
That's the point where your light should hit for the reflection.
I copy that.
I have a visual on the laser for our start point.
Okay.
Killing the laser.
Starting mock search-and-rescue experiment.
Three Two One.
There it is.
There it is.
Okay.
So, we're up in the air, trying to do a mock search-and-rescue attempt.
Hopefully that'll recreate the same light that we're seeing from the object in the video.
I have a visual on the laser for our start point.
Okay.
Killing the laser.
Starting mock search-and-rescue experiment.
Three Two One.
There it is.
There it is.
Okay.
We have visual on the light, Austin.
All right.
That's pretty good.
He's silhouetting the trees, the power lines, everything right where we need it.
I did not expect for the helicopter to be this loud.
I can hear it loud and clear.
Yeah, I didn't think it would be this noticeable.
You know what, Ben? I think we've got the best we're gonna get.
Let's do a side-by-side and see what it looks like.
All right.
We'll bring him down.
Okay, Austin.
Go ahead and come down.
Meet us at the house.
Copy that.
Oh, God.
That was a rush.
How'd that look? It was good.
Let's take a look at this.
So, Austin, as you can tell, the spotlight looks really good.
It's nice, it's bright.
We've even got a reflection down on the water.
But Ben and I could hear you.
I mean, it was so loud.
And Joel did mention that this thing was silent, right? So that's one thing.
Another is that, you know, this light in the original footage seems to almost meet the surface, where we don't have that here.
There's a wide gap between you and the surface of the water.
We were as low as we could safely go.
Any lower than that, we'd basically be on the water.
Well, this was good.
We know that we need something closer to the ground.
Yes, and something that's not audible.
Well, here in the bay, we do have a piece of land that juts out.
Maybe we can go to plan "B" and use something that will actually give the illusion that it's happening in front of that piece of land and over the water.
Shall we? Plan "B" it is.
Let's go.
Jael: Pretty cool.
Austin: Yeah.
All right, guys.
Let's take a look at our map first.
Now, as I was scouting the area, I found this piece of land, which is right there.
That's where ⣠we're at right no.
Now, Joel's house and the POV is at the top of the bay on this side, way up there on the hill.
So, theoretically, if we put our light kind of in this general area, we'll be able to see it from his house.
One way to get a lot of light into a dark environment is to use big, illuminated balloons that movie and TV crews use all the time.
They're used for parties.
Even construction sites that need to work throughout the night, they use them.
We would just have to get that balloon up high enough and that light powerful enough to be able to be seen from Joel's POV.
Well, that shouldn't be a problem.
I mean, these things are built to be powerful.
They're actually bright enough to do damage to the eye-- I mean, permanent damage if you look directly at it.
So don't do that.
We can safely put one of these things All right.
Let's get it set up.
Let's go.
This is a hydragyrum medium-arc iodide lamp, or simply an HMI.
It's a large, heavy-duty lamp that can simulate daylight over a very large area.
Austin: This balloon is going to inflate into a 14-foot sphere in which our two HMI bulbs are going to be housed.
Now, the surface of the balloon actually defuses the light of it, and since it inflates into a sphere, it's gonna give us of whatever is surrounding it.
Hopefully it's bright enough to match the luminosity of the UFO in the original footage.
All right, guys.
Once this finishes blowing up, we have to throw these lines over the balloon, attach it at the bottom, and then we'll attach those to the rest of the tag lines.
Once the balloon is full, I'll turn the ballast on, we'll let our light warm up, and then hopefully it'll light up the sky.
Okay, guys.
I think it's sufficiently full.
We don't want to get it all the way full yet, because once those lights come on, it's gonna heat up the air and then it's gonna expand even more.
Jael: All right.
I'm gonna turn the ballast on, and we'll light this baby up.
I'm gonna step away.
Get it? Sounds good.
Austin: [ Laughing .]
Yeah! [ Laughs .]
[ Laughs .]
What do you say you head up to the vantage point and we'll get it up in the air? Copy that.
I'll stay in touch.
Austin: Start releasing this thing slowly.
Okay.
Here it goes.
Once we get it up there, Jael should be in her place.
Cool.
Team for Jael.
How's our elevation? There's a big gap between the light and the reflection, so can you lower the balloon about 10 feet? Copy that, Jael.
Hey, guys.
Hold it right there.
The balloon is at perfect height.
The only thing I will say is that while I'm filming, I notice that the balloon is so bright, it's lighting up the jetty.
We are gonna go ahead and dim both bulbs down 50% and see how the illumination looks after that.
Copy that.
That's perfect, guys.
It's actually gone.
It's totally gone.
I think I've got what we need from over here at the vantage point, so I'm gonna come on down and do a side-by-side with you.
Hey, guys.
All right.
Why don't you take a look at this.
Ben: That's awesome.
We have a definite reflection.
That's a plus.
Definitely the circle of light here actually looks pretty good.
Austin: Yeah.
It does look good.
But the reflection and the actual balloon in the video.
Plus, our UFO, our balloon, is not in the same place as the original one.
Joel's camera was handheld, so I'm sure there was some movement as he was filming.
I tried to compensate a bit by moving the camera, but the problem was that in the frame, I could see the lights from the town.
I was hoping the jetty would be far enough out into the water, but it's not.
Unless a light like this went rogue, went flying off by itself, it wasn't this type of light.
With the helicopter, it was a little bit too high, and the reflection wasn't as close as we needed.
Think about how far we had to pull this down.
We started at almost 80 feet, but to get the gap to close from the object in the sky to the reflection on the water, we had to pull this down to, what-- A few feet? That's true.
So, what do you say we bring this thing down? Let's do it.
Jael: This clip was shot in 2008 in northern California during a high-school football pre-game show.
When the videographer went to review the tape, he noticed a ghostly image on the field that he couldn't explain.
So, is this ghostly entity fact or faked? The answer coming up.
Jael: This clip from a football game in 2008 depicts a ghostly entity hovering over the field.
But is it fact or faked? Faked.
Notice the tell-tale haze around the edges? That's caused by something moving very close to the camera.
The movement and shape suggests this ghost is nothing more than a classic case of a bug on a lens.
With our illuminated balloon experiment, we ran into some pros and cons.
The good news is the illumination was almost spot-on.
Size was great.
However, we noticed from the framing that it was simply at the wrong angle.
Whatever was in the sky in the original video couldn't have been on land.
We realized that it has to be on the water.
Well, guys, our previous tests all involved getting a light over the harbor.
Now, I think we should follow that hypothesis, but this time get a light that we can put in the middle of the bay and safely bring it down to a level above the water that is gonna match the video.
Think about it-- We're in the harbor, and this place is surrounded by commercial fishing boats.
These guys leave early in the morning before the sun comes up, and they usually come back after the sun goes down, when it's dark.
Maybe what Joel caught on camera that night was one of these boats navigating its way home through the harbor.
It does make sense.
It's possible that what Joel was looking at that night was some kind of specialized, high-powered boat light that he didn't recognize.
Yeah.
Okay.
Well, there's only one way to find out.
I've arranged for a local fishing boat to help us out, and I think they're coming, right there.
There it is.
Check out those lights.
Oh, that's perfect.
Austin and I can stick around.
We'll get on the boat, and you can head over to the vantage point and tell us what those lights look like and see if we match Joel's video.
Okay.
Sounds good.
So, what we've got here is a 40-foot commercial crab-fishing boat.
And it's also got a bank with sodium lights.
They're really bright.
Ben's gonna head over to the vantage point, and Austin and I are gonna go for a spin on the boat around the harbor, and hopefully the lights will match whatever Joel was seeing the night that he shot the original video.
Team for Ben, how's our position? You're looking good in the channel.
All right, copy that, Ben.
I'm gonna go down to the galley and turn the light on.
In three Two One.
Awesome! That looks great! So, about those lights again.
Still haven't figured it out.
Tell us, how did your investigation into the bodega bay mystery light go? Well, as you remember, we went up to bodega bay in northern California to look at this mysterious light that was hovering over bodega bay.
For our first experiment, we decided to test a misidentified explanation-- This was simply a rescue helicopter with a search light flying low over the water.
So I grabbed a high-powered search light, jumped in the copter, flew out over the bay to where Joel said he saw the UFO.
Check out what happened.
Ben: There's a helicopter.
Bill: Oh, wow.
Look at that.
Well, that's not too bad.
Lanisha: The luminosity looks good.
Jael: Yeah, there's definitely some similarities, but as you can see, it's a bit too far up in the sky.
Bill: Oh, yeah.
Clearly a big difference.
Ben: Trying to match the size of it, we had to bring it pretty close, and then obviously we could hear it at that point.
Austin: And that was a big issue, which meant it wasn't a helicopter.
So, we decided to test the next most logical explanation.
Now, illuminated balloons are used on movie sets all the time to illuminate a large space at night.
And in this bay, there was a jetty of land that was sticking out into the water, so we decided to launch our tethered, illuminated balloon from there.
So these are the results we got.
Devin: Wow! This is a pretty good match.
Lanisha: Yeah.
Nice.
Austin: You know, we definitely got closer, as far as the gap closing, but when you look at the original, I mean, there are points where the reflection and the light source merge together to become almost one light.
We're still lacking that with our experiment.
So, we moved on and tested another logical explanation.
Bodega bay is actually a commercial fishing town.
These are large boats coming in and out of the harbor continuously, all of which are equipped with large towers and giant spotlights.
So we started thinking maybe that's what we were seeing in the original video.
That makes sense.
Ben: So we chartered a crab boat, powered up these large sodium lights, and this is what happened.
Lanisha: Whoa! [ Devin laughs .]
That looks great.
That's it.
And to top it off, where I was filming from, I thought for sure you're gonna be able to hear boats, right? But at the speed they're going and trolling, you can't hear anything from there.
It appears our UFO was just a misidentified fishing boat light through a layer of fog.
You guys nailed it.
So, guys, how did it go for you in the Paramount theater? We traveled to the Asbury park boardwalk on the Jersey shore to investigate that strange apparition caught on a thermal camera.
Here's what happened.
Lanisha: Guys, here we are on the Jersey shore.
Devin: I'm really excited to be here in Asbury park, investigating the famous Paramount theater.
Bill: Now, the Paramount theater was considered to be the jewel of the boardwalk.
Tony Bennett, Bruce Springsteen, and even Bon Jovi have all played there.
Well, according to multiple eyewitness reports, it's not just the living that make appearances at the theater.
Apparently, this theater is host to multiple paranormal residents resulting from tragedies dating all the way back to the 1930s.
Now, the evidence that we're here to investigate was captured by a team of paranormal investigators using a thermal camera and shows what they believe to be a full-bodied apparition in one of the theater hallways.
Well, the team investigating the theater was the garden state ghost hunters society, led by Bonnie Bates.
Now, Bonnie and David Goldstein, who was the videographer that night, are waiting at the theater to talk to us about the night they captured the thermal apparition.
Look.
There's the theater.
Let's go see what Bonnie and Dave have to say.
Narrator: Coming up on "fact or faked: Paranormal files" We had no idea really what it was.
Devin: Make it cold! Lanisha: There's definitely something up here with me.
Devin: We just arrived at the Paramount theater.
And we're about to meet Dave Goldstein and Bonnie Bates to find out exactly what happened the night they filmed the mysterious thermal apparition.
Bill: Hey, folks.
Dave? Bonnie? How you doing? I'm Bill.
Hi, Bill.
How you doing? What are some of the paranormal hotspots here at the Paramount theater? Well, you have your projection room up there, all the way at the top of the stairs.
And of course you've got the dressing-room areas.
Shadow people on the stage is one of the main things that you can actually take a seat and see for yourself.
Dave: One of our investigators was going up to the stage, and her earring basically was pulled right out of her ear, and it landed on the floor, about four feet away.
Oh, my God.
Cleaning people wouldn't go to a back room in the hallway where there was the fire.
They said there's a lot of noise and things being tossed around, as they told me.
Let's talk about that video.
Can you take us to where you guys filmed that apparition? Okay.
You lead the way.
We'll follow you.
[ Laughing .]
Okay.
So, is this where the camera was? Here? Well, Bonnie and another team member were holding the FLIR.
I was shooting over the shoulder with my Sony TRV camera.
The recorder that was connected to the FLIR camera wasn't functioning, making my over-the-shoulder shot the only surviving record.
So you were just filming the FLIR lcd.
Is that correct? Yes.
When you recorded this thermal apparition, could you see anything with the naked eye? There was nothing you could see with the naked eye.
We had no idea really what it was.
Eventually, we started to move forward and get a little bit closer to it, and that's when it disappeared.
So, how long did the apparition last? It was just a couple of minutes.
Was the heating in the building on? Well, they had turned the heat off early on when we started our investigation, and it was a comfortable Can you guys say without a doubt that you weren't involved in any kind of hoax or creation of this footage? Oh, absolutely not.
Who has time for that? Is it all right if we borrow some of your equipment so we can match the setup? Absolutely.
Dave, Bonnie, thanks for your time.
Lanisha: Thank you guys so much.
You gave us a lot to work with.
Bonnie: Good luck.
Bill: Now we'll use Dave and Bonnie's eyewitness testimony to recreate the same conditions that were in the night they recorded the ghostly manifestation in the thermal imager.
So, we know that the manifestation in the original video is cold.
So is not just a random person at the end of the hallway.
Maybe this is just a case of misidentification, and it really is just a cold pocket of air at the end of that hallway.
Well, it is another popular theory that there's cold air leaking from one of the many pipes that you guys see here or even an AC vent above.
Look at this, guys.
See? Bill: Oh, yeah, there's a hole in that pipe right there.
Exactly, so maybe cold air is the culprit.
We're also seeing the temperature gauge on the lcd on the FLIR camera, and we're seeing that that thermal entity appears to be about 40 degrees and so are areas of the walls.
So maybe the gauge is corroborating the fact that it could be just a leak.
Well, did you guys notice that in the original video, there's kind of like almost a shadow, a blue shadow along the wall? I mean, what if that's the source of the cold air? Maybe we need focused and compressed air like co2.
That could work.
If we're using something that would have, like, a cold nozzle, then that would create that umbilical-cord type of hinge that we see coming off the left side in the original clip.
Lanisha: Good call.
Let's get set up for some co2.
All right.
Devin: We're operating under the theory that there's a leak in a pipe somewhere and cold air is escaping, so we're gonna place a co2 tank at the end of the hallway, and Bill right now is connecting the hose.
He's gonna be in charge of releasing cold air out of the valve, so that way we can give it that shadow look that leads off to the left.
All right, guys.
I'm set down here.
All right, Bill! We're recording! Make it cold! All right, so he's on the exit sign.
Then he pans down to you.
Oh, wow.
Look at that.
Do you see that? I do.
It's faint, but I can definitely see something.
We got to get Bill back here to see this.
Hey, Bill! Why don't you come back over for a side-by-side?! Bill: You know what? We were successful in creating that appendage like you see in the original clip right here.
The other thing, too, is that this is all one cold temperature.
That's not what we have here.
We have different gradations of cold.
Devin: So if a pocket of air is not the culprit here, then how do we get that humanoid shape? What if this is just some kind of hoax? Somebody could have draped themselves in a cooling blanket, giving us that shape that we see here in the original video.
Well, cooling blankets are really easy to get ahold of.
We actually have one in our safety medical kit, so we can use that.
Okay.
Let's do this.
Well, we've proven that the phantom is not a cold pocket of air, so now we're gonna continue with our investigation and test a theory that maybe it was just a person draped in a cooling blanket at the end of the hallway.
This would be a possible hoax scenario.
Now, this scenario suggests that the investigators present that night were in on manufacturing this thermal apparition, but it's worth testing.
Well, we have got to get these blankets chilled, so let's get them on ice.
And we'll leave them there for a little while.
Hopefully they'll go down to about 40â°.
And once again, I'll be operating the FLIR camera.
And I'm gonna be operating the TRV 37.
So, Devin, you're gonna be our cold apparition.
I don't mind being the cool one.
All right.
See you guys in a minute.
All right.
Sounds good.
Bill: All right, we are rolling.
Devin, are you ready? Okay, I'm ready! Okay, on three Two One.
Step in the hall! Yes! Devin: So, we're testing the theory that someone was dressed in one of these cooling blankets and was hidden in this corridor and then popped out into frame at the perfect moment.
I'm gonna be standing by, draped, and when Bill gives me the cue, I'm gonna be the apparition.
Devin, are you ready? Okay, I'm ready! Okay, on three Two One.
Step in the hall! There you go.
There he is.
Ooh, I see it.
Okay.
This is actually really good.
Hey, guys.
How's it looking? Why don't you come back over for a side-by-side? You got it.
There it is.
Wow, that looks pretty good.
Yeah, it does.
So, right off the bat, the first thing I notice is that we've got a silhouette at the end of the hallway and it's cool compared to everything else.
And, you know, it's humanoid.
You can definitely see that it's an upright figure.
But we don't have that appendage in our footage that we see in the original video here.
For me, you guys, the fact that we got an apparition to stand there is where the similarities stop.
We couldn't get the appendage, and we couldn't get that look of a head and almost two legs at the bottom.
It's just not quite matching for me.
I think we've been focusing too much on the physical environment and not enough on the internal settings of this thermal imager.
And this particular model of FLIR is best used for very short-range applications because of its short focal length of 6 to 15 feet, maybe 20 Max.
Let's just see how long this hallway is.
So, we're looking at 130 feet on this hallway.
And if this FLIR camera is meant to go 15 to 20 feet, it's clearly not the right camera or lens for the length of this corridor.
So, being that we're using a camera with a very short focal length in this very long hall, we're possibly getting lens artifacts that's making it look like there's a solid object when actually there's nothing really there.
Let's test this.
All right.
Let's do it.
You guys are set? You're recording? All right, guys.
Here we go.
Three Two One.
Just adjust this focus.
There we go.
Yes! That's it! We got a match! That's spot on! I mean, I even see the outline.
Look.
This is the apparition, and right here, you've got-- Looks like a person-- Even with legs-- Standing at the end of this hallway.
So this is distorting even the cold spot on the floor from the stairwell.
You guys, this makes complete sense.
Look.
The camera can only focus at 15 to 20 feet, but our apparition is at 130.
So what it's doing is it's blending that 130 feet and trying to come up with whatever temperature is at the end, and we're getting an inaccurate reading, and that's what's causing this blue apparition at the end.
And I think because the thermal imager that we're using has such low quality, if we use a lens with a longer focal length, we wouldn't be seeing this artifact that we're seeing here.
Well, let's put the nail in the coffin and pull out our FLIR 600 series.
Nice.
Yeah.
So, look at this, you guys.
The end of the wall is completely in focus.
We have a blue square at the end.
That is the end of the hallway, okay? Here we have an apparition that looks like a man standing at the end of the hall because it can't focus down there.
It certainly does.
You're totally right.
I mean, Dave and Bonnie never were hoaxing anything.
They were just misinterpreting the data.
But with that said, I really want to stay and do a nighttime investigation here at the Paramount theater.
I mean, there are reports almost daily of paranormal activity here at the theater.
And there's so many decades of history here.
I think that we wouldn't be doing our jobs if we didn't stay and investigate the theater.
Well, let's get ready for a night investigation.
Nice work, guys.
Yes, excellent.
Bill: Although we were able to replicate the video and found that it does have a natural explanation, with all the paranormal history and eyewitness accounts here at the Paramount theater, we want to do our own nighttime investigation to see what we can find.
Devin: All right.
This is our camera setup, okay? We've got five monitors, each corresponding to a different camera set up throughout the theater.
One infrared camera is set up in the projection booth behind us.
One is set up downstairs in the audience seating.
This infrared camera is set up in the room where the cabaret dancers died from that fire.
And these two are set up at the vantage point matching the original footage.
One is an IR camera, and the other one is a FLIR camera.
And we also have a high-powered laser grid that's set up to monitor the entire length of the hallway.
If anything with substance passes through the laser grid, then the grid points will move and that'll alert us to any presence that could be there.
I'll stay here at base camp, and I'm gonna be monitoring this entire theater.
All right, guys.
You ready to go green? Let's do this.
All right.
Bill: Devin, I'm backstage right now.
I'm heading upstairs to the dressing rooms.
Copy that, Bill.
Devin, I'm in the dressing room where the cabaret dancers died in a fire.
I'm gonna have an evp session here.
Devin: Copy that.
Hey, Devin.
I just got to the projection booth.
I'm gonna do a sweep up here with the thermal imager.
Copy that.
Be safe out there.
Oh, what was that? This is Bill.
I'm in the Paramount theater, Asbury park, new Jersey.
Can you leave me a message? Hey, Devin.
I'm picking up a heat signature up here in the projection booth.
There's definitely something up here with me.
Oh.
It's just a mouse.
Bill: I'm in the shower stalls now-- Where the cabaret dancers died.
Is anybody here with me? [ Clunk .]
Hello? Was that you? [ Clunk .]
Lanisha: Hey, Devin, I'm picking up all these sounds, and I'm not sure what they are.
[ Thump .]
I'm creeped out right now.
I don't know what it is.
Hello? Was that you? [ Clunk .]
[ Thump .]
Devin: I just heard something in the roof, like something fell.
Is there anybody up here? [ Scraping .]
Hey, Devin, I'm not sure what it is, but it's definitely getting more violent.
Why don't you head back to base camp, see what you got.
Look at that.
What is that? Devin for Bill, do you copy? Bill: Go for Bill.
Bill, I have got some anomalous movement on the lasers.
There seems to be something interrupting the beams in the center of the hallway, and there's nothing show up on the FLIR right now.
On the way.
Bill, I just got another pass in front of the lasers.
You in the hallway right now? Wait.
Devin, stand by.
Devin, can you tell me what you're seeing here? This is when it started to get good, 'cause at that exact moment, some of the laser dots were flickering on and off in sporadic places.
Take a look at this.
This happened at the exact moment that the knocking was going on.
Something is interrupting the laser signal.
Bill: I didn't see anything at all that could be blocking the laser.
There's nobody there.
There's nothing there.
It's one laser, and it's got a beam splitter, so you think it'd be all or nothing or something physically passing in front of it.
Well, if somebody was also passing in front of it, all that it would do is the laser would project closer to you on that thing.
This is absorbing light.
This is the last thing we expected.
It was a really wild night.
So, I went into the dressing room where the dancers retreated when there was the fire in the backstage of the theater.
From what I understand, they went all the way into the shower stalls as their, like, their last hope for surviving.
And it was in the shower stalls that I asked for a communication.
Why don't you go ahead and play this audio file? Is anybody here with me? [ Clunk .]
Ben: Oh, my gosh! That is clear.
Was that you? [ Clunk .]
Again? Wow.
There was really no source for it.
It was a completely enclosed area.
I heard it with my ears, and I captured it digitally.
That's pretty cool.
Well, you guys, there's no denying those results.
I mean, you asked for interaction-- You got it.
Does your experience here in the night investigation change what your verdict was with your experiment? I think we, to our satisfaction, were able to explain the cause for that original anomaly, but we ended up taking away our own evidence that there is likely paranormal activity occurring at the Paramount theater.
There's just been so many reports over the years.
There's definitely a heavy sensation there at the theater.
So I'm gonna go with, it's haunted.
Paramount theater-- Haunted.
Nice job.
All right.
" Let's go check it out.
Awesome.
Austin to team, we're going airborne.
I have a visual on the laser.
Jael: There it is.
There it is.
Devin: I've never seen a heat signature that is near freezing but a humanoid shape.
That doesn't make sense to me.
In three, two, one [ Cheering .]
Demonic entity that stalks people in their sleep.
[ Laughs .]
Man: One! Is anybody here with me? Devin: I have got some anomalous movement on the lasers, and there's nothing showing up in the theater.
Oh, my goodness! There's a flying saucer.
I'm getting a series of lights right there.
So you're seeing what I am seeing? What the heck is happening? Hey, hey.
Lanisha: Hey.
All right.
Here we go.
So, why don't we start out with Austin? All right, guys.
I have a really interesting video for you.
It's this giant, bright, illuminated white sphere.
It's just hovering over the night skies of bodega bay, California.
It was actually shot pretty recent.
It was August 25, 2011, and Joel Varain is just sitting at his computer, he looks out the window, and he sees this light.
Well, he immediately starts shooting, and check out what he captured.
Bill: Wow.
Lanisha: What is that? It's almost like it's at a certain elevation and then it comes down and almost touches the water.
But why couldn't the UFO in this video simply be the moon? I actually checked the lunar phase, and the date that this was recorded, the moon was in a Crescent phase, only showing 17% of the moon.
So that's not the moon.
Bill: This area certainly has had its share of UFO sightings, and the belief is that UFOs are somehow attracted to these places, which are often near water, to somehow recharge or draw in energy from the environment.
Exactly.
It's for this reason that a lot of paranormal researchers actually believe bodega bay to be an energy vortex.
This is an absolutely unique piece of footage, Austin.
This is a good clip.
Well, let's keep this in the running-- Definitely at the top.
Who's up? Well, I've got some video that was shot in 2010 by some fishermen in rural Virginia that supposedly depicts the infamous dark-hooded figure, which is the legendary demonic entity that stalks people in their sleep.
There's really never been a lot of visual evidence to support its existence, so I'm anxious to show you guys.
So, Ben, why don't you play this clip, and everybody watch on the far side of the shore.
Ben: Look at that.
Lanisha: That's weird.
Is it floating, or is it running? Austin: It's almost like it has a cloak on.
Bill: So it kind of started with him emerging from either that dock or even coming out of the water-- I can't tell.
Devin: My problem with this video is that it doesn't seem to be anything otherworldly happening here.
It's not floating across the ground.
This would be very easy to re-create.
This could be just a person in a cloak.
Right, Devin.
I agree with you.
This the spot that gives it away for me.
Right here, it looks like a flesh-tone foot.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
It's like almost as if it, you know, the person's foot is peeking out from under the robe as they're running.
Bill: Okay.
Well, when you guys go to sleep and this guy comes to visit, don't say I didn't warn you.
Hey! All right, I believe.
I believe.
Bill, I don't think we dismiss the legend, the phenomena.
Let's just get more back story, see if other people there have actually witnessed this and if there's other evidence.
Okay.
I'll do some digging.
Lanisha, you're up.
Okay, guys, I'm really excited to share this footage with you.
It comes from the Jersey shore.
[ Groans .]
Jael: All righty.
Lanisha: So, this video was shot in January of 2009 by members of the garden state ghost hunters society while investigating the historic and allegedly haunted Paramount theater.
Now, this footage was shot in the backstage corridor right outside the dressing rooms on the second floor.
Now, when they looked down the hallway, they didn't see anything with the naked eye.
It was only when they looked at their FLIR thermal camera that they saw the entity.
So, here it is.
Ben: Wow! It is definitely in the middle of the hallway.
That's crazy.
'Cause it looks like the shape of a person, but it's not warm enough to be anything living.
So whatever it is down there is freezing.
Austin: Absolutely.
I mean, the theater is definitely historic.
What's the paranormal lore there? In September of 1934, the theater served as a makeshift morgue and infirmary for the victims of the SS Morro castle, which caught on fire and burned, killing 137 passengers and crew.
It was pretty tragic.
And later that same decade, there was a tragic fire in the backstage area and that trapped cabaret dancers that were in one of the dressing rooms, and they couldn't escape and they burned to death.
Where this clip was shot is actually right outside those very dressing rooms.
Ben: I really like this.
It's got everything that I'd look for in a case.
What do you guys think about it? I've never seen a heat signature that is near freezing, but a humanoid shape-- That doesn't make sense to me.
Well, not counting that time you were in the ice tank, Austin.
[ Laughs .]
I would love to go test that.
Bill: Yeah, I agree.
This is the case I'd like to investigate.
What do you say we make this one a main-course meal? Well, let's see what else we have.
I have a series of photographs that were captured at Hibbing high school in Hibbing, Minnesota.
In 2009, this series of photographs captured what appears to be an apparition manifesting itself in seat j-47 of the school's auditorium.
Check it out.
These pictures were actually taken by the school's stage manager-- His name is Chuck Perry-- With his old Polaroid camera.
Look at that.
Dude, I can see a full person.
It's creepy, right? I see the actual outline of the clothing.
I see the head.
You can see the face looking down.
Lanisha: But, you know what, guys? This could simply just be a case of double exposure.
Do we even know these are polaroids, or do we just have images that appear to be polaroids? Well, see, that's what I was thinking.
Because it is possible to take a regular photograph and apply a polaroid effect to it.
So it sounds like we're already doubting the testimony of our witness, and we haven't even taken on this case.
But I would have an open mind if we can get the actual photos themselves.
If they are done on polaroid, we'll go from there.
I'll keep digging and see if I can.
Okay.
Let's think about the other videos.
What's your favorite one? Bill: I'm gonna have to go with the FLIR phantom in Jersey shore.
I really want to go to that location.
Without a doubt, Paramount theater.
I like my series of photographs from Hibbing high school, but since we still need to do a little more research behind that, my other choice would be the bodega bay mystery light.
Austin: Yes.
Thank you.
I'm with Jael.
I brought the case.
I want to find out what's in the sky.
I think an icy phantom on a thermal imager is a very compelling piece of footage for us to run tests on, so I'm for Paramount theater.
Devin, Bill, Lanisha-- Paramount theater.
And I would love to do bodega bay with Jael and Austin.
Perfect.
Done.
[ Door closes .]
Guys, just look at this coastline.
It is absolutely stunning.
We're, what, 90 miles north of San Francisco.
Bodega bay, California-- This place has such a mysterious vibe.
A lot of suspense/horror movies were filmed here.
"The Fog," Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds," and "The Puppetmaster.
" I can see why.
I mean, look at this location.
And I think the video that we're investigating is one of the better ones that we've seen.
It's a gigantic, luminescent, sphere-like UFO that's hovering over the foggy bay at night.
Jael: Well, I'm definitely excited to talk to Joel Varain and get his firsthand account on what happened the night that he captured this footage.
Varain: Hey, guys.
Thanks for coming.
I'll meet you inside.
Ben: Thank you.
It's great.
Jael: Joel, hi.
Hey.
How's it going? Nice to meet you.
I'm Jael.
This is Austin and Ben.
Thank you so much for having us here.
So, tell us about that night and where you were and what happened and what did you see.
Yeah, I was actually sitting right here on the couch about 10:30 at night, and we have the nice view of the ocean right here, and I saw this big, bright ball of light.
It obviously caught my attention.
I went in the other room, grabbed my camera, walked out, and started filming right from out here.
So this is it? Is is it, yeah.
I was filming right from the spot, just with amazement.
So, can you describe this object in detail? What was it about it that caught your eye? Just the sheer brightness of the light.
I've seen boats come in to the bay.
The lights are probably an eighth or tenth of that size.
It was just a really big light.
What happened to the object after the video ended? It was a really foggy night, and basically it just faded out into the fog.
So, let me just get this right.
This object looked like it was hovering above the water.
It didn't look like it was on the water.
Yeah, definitely above it.
I mean, to me, from my vantage point, I'm guessing, I don't know, 300 feet maybe above the water.
What was going through your head when you're seeing this? I've never believed really in UFOs, or you always say, you know, "I'll believe it when I see it.
" And I saw it.
I saw something that just blew my mind, and I was just in amazement that there really was something happening there.
What do you think it is? I can't explain it.
There was no sound.
I think it's a UFO-- Unidentified Flying Object.
Would you happen to still have the same camera that you used to film the footage that night? Yeah, definitely.
It's a Kodak ZI8.
I would love to borrow it if that's okay.
Yeah, definitely.
Ben: Thank you for having us here.
Thanks for coming out.
I'm excited to see what happens.
If you need anything, I'll be inside.
Take care, guys.
Fantastic.
All right, guys.
I'm really excited to start some experiments and see if there's actually a natural explanation for this light.
Ben: Well, the first thing, I think, is we got some great landmarks here.
This power line plus the trees, which are further back, kind of frames the area, and the object and the reflection take place beyond it.
Okay, well, if that's the case, we're gonna need a very large, powerful light source that can be seen from the house and that we can actually position over the water.
I think we're all on the same page here.
I have something that just might do the trick, and on top of that, it would naturally be in the area above the bay.
We just have to take a ride.
Okay.
Let's ride.
All right.
Looks like your ride's here, buddy.
Let's go check it out.
What do you guys think? It's a good-looking vehicle.
You guys, I think this Robinson r44 raven ii helicopter should do just the trick for our experiment.
I mean, since helicopters are seen over the bay quite often, whether it's for just tourists sightseeing or even for the occasional search-and-rescue mission, I think this is what we could be looking at.
If we have a helicopter that was equipped with a search light, it really could be what we're looking at, and one thing we should definitely do is see if we can actually hear this helicopter.
Because Joel did mention that there was no sound.
Well, guys, the first part is gonna be getting this bird up in the air, right? Then, to make the whole experiment come together, we can use this.
Now, this should be more than sufficient to do the trick.
Average search light is about This thing's 40 million.
So, this will work.
All right.
Jael and I will head up to the house right now, and as soon as it gets dark, off you go.
All right.
That works.
See you guys in a bit.
Make it happen, buddy.
Austin to team, we're going airborne.
Copy that.
We're in position and ready to record.
So, we're gonna start right here.
See the transformer? Yep.
It creates this little triangle between those two power lines.
Do you have a visual of us? There they are.
There they are.
Okay.
Affirmative.
Austin, I'm gonna paint a target for you with a laser on the water.
That's the point where your light should hit for the reflection.
I copy that.
I have a visual on the laser for our start point.
Okay.
Killing the laser.
Starting mock search-and-rescue experiment.
Three Two One.
There it is.
There it is.
Okay.
So, we're up in the air, trying to do a mock search-and-rescue attempt.
Hopefully that'll recreate the same light that we're seeing from the object in the video.
I have a visual on the laser for our start point.
Okay.
Killing the laser.
Starting mock search-and-rescue experiment.
Three Two One.
There it is.
There it is.
Okay.
We have visual on the light, Austin.
All right.
That's pretty good.
He's silhouetting the trees, the power lines, everything right where we need it.
I did not expect for the helicopter to be this loud.
I can hear it loud and clear.
Yeah, I didn't think it would be this noticeable.
You know what, Ben? I think we've got the best we're gonna get.
Let's do a side-by-side and see what it looks like.
All right.
We'll bring him down.
Okay, Austin.
Go ahead and come down.
Meet us at the house.
Copy that.
Oh, God.
That was a rush.
How'd that look? It was good.
Let's take a look at this.
So, Austin, as you can tell, the spotlight looks really good.
It's nice, it's bright.
We've even got a reflection down on the water.
But Ben and I could hear you.
I mean, it was so loud.
And Joel did mention that this thing was silent, right? So that's one thing.
Another is that, you know, this light in the original footage seems to almost meet the surface, where we don't have that here.
There's a wide gap between you and the surface of the water.
We were as low as we could safely go.
Any lower than that, we'd basically be on the water.
Well, this was good.
We know that we need something closer to the ground.
Yes, and something that's not audible.
Well, here in the bay, we do have a piece of land that juts out.
Maybe we can go to plan "B" and use something that will actually give the illusion that it's happening in front of that piece of land and over the water.
Shall we? Plan "B" it is.
Let's go.
Jael: Pretty cool.
Austin: Yeah.
All right, guys.
Let's take a look at our map first.
Now, as I was scouting the area, I found this piece of land, which is right there.
That's where ⣠we're at right no.
Now, Joel's house and the POV is at the top of the bay on this side, way up there on the hill.
So, theoretically, if we put our light kind of in this general area, we'll be able to see it from his house.
One way to get a lot of light into a dark environment is to use big, illuminated balloons that movie and TV crews use all the time.
They're used for parties.
Even construction sites that need to work throughout the night, they use them.
We would just have to get that balloon up high enough and that light powerful enough to be able to be seen from Joel's POV.
Well, that shouldn't be a problem.
I mean, these things are built to be powerful.
They're actually bright enough to do damage to the eye-- I mean, permanent damage if you look directly at it.
So don't do that.
We can safely put one of these things All right.
Let's get it set up.
Let's go.
This is a hydragyrum medium-arc iodide lamp, or simply an HMI.
It's a large, heavy-duty lamp that can simulate daylight over a very large area.
Austin: This balloon is going to inflate into a 14-foot sphere in which our two HMI bulbs are going to be housed.
Now, the surface of the balloon actually defuses the light of it, and since it inflates into a sphere, it's gonna give us of whatever is surrounding it.
Hopefully it's bright enough to match the luminosity of the UFO in the original footage.
All right, guys.
Once this finishes blowing up, we have to throw these lines over the balloon, attach it at the bottom, and then we'll attach those to the rest of the tag lines.
Once the balloon is full, I'll turn the ballast on, we'll let our light warm up, and then hopefully it'll light up the sky.
Okay, guys.
I think it's sufficiently full.
We don't want to get it all the way full yet, because once those lights come on, it's gonna heat up the air and then it's gonna expand even more.
Jael: All right.
I'm gonna turn the ballast on, and we'll light this baby up.
I'm gonna step away.
Get it? Sounds good.
Austin: [ Laughing .]
Yeah! [ Laughs .]
[ Laughs .]
What do you say you head up to the vantage point and we'll get it up in the air? Copy that.
I'll stay in touch.
Austin: Start releasing this thing slowly.
Okay.
Here it goes.
Once we get it up there, Jael should be in her place.
Cool.
Team for Jael.
How's our elevation? There's a big gap between the light and the reflection, so can you lower the balloon about 10 feet? Copy that, Jael.
Hey, guys.
Hold it right there.
The balloon is at perfect height.
The only thing I will say is that while I'm filming, I notice that the balloon is so bright, it's lighting up the jetty.
We are gonna go ahead and dim both bulbs down 50% and see how the illumination looks after that.
Copy that.
That's perfect, guys.
It's actually gone.
It's totally gone.
I think I've got what we need from over here at the vantage point, so I'm gonna come on down and do a side-by-side with you.
Hey, guys.
All right.
Why don't you take a look at this.
Ben: That's awesome.
We have a definite reflection.
That's a plus.
Definitely the circle of light here actually looks pretty good.
Austin: Yeah.
It does look good.
But the reflection and the actual balloon in the video.
Plus, our UFO, our balloon, is not in the same place as the original one.
Joel's camera was handheld, so I'm sure there was some movement as he was filming.
I tried to compensate a bit by moving the camera, but the problem was that in the frame, I could see the lights from the town.
I was hoping the jetty would be far enough out into the water, but it's not.
Unless a light like this went rogue, went flying off by itself, it wasn't this type of light.
With the helicopter, it was a little bit too high, and the reflection wasn't as close as we needed.
Think about how far we had to pull this down.
We started at almost 80 feet, but to get the gap to close from the object in the sky to the reflection on the water, we had to pull this down to, what-- A few feet? That's true.
So, what do you say we bring this thing down? Let's do it.
Jael: This clip was shot in 2008 in northern California during a high-school football pre-game show.
When the videographer went to review the tape, he noticed a ghostly image on the field that he couldn't explain.
So, is this ghostly entity fact or faked? The answer coming up.
Jael: This clip from a football game in 2008 depicts a ghostly entity hovering over the field.
But is it fact or faked? Faked.
Notice the tell-tale haze around the edges? That's caused by something moving very close to the camera.
The movement and shape suggests this ghost is nothing more than a classic case of a bug on a lens.
With our illuminated balloon experiment, we ran into some pros and cons.
The good news is the illumination was almost spot-on.
Size was great.
However, we noticed from the framing that it was simply at the wrong angle.
Whatever was in the sky in the original video couldn't have been on land.
We realized that it has to be on the water.
Well, guys, our previous tests all involved getting a light over the harbor.
Now, I think we should follow that hypothesis, but this time get a light that we can put in the middle of the bay and safely bring it down to a level above the water that is gonna match the video.
Think about it-- We're in the harbor, and this place is surrounded by commercial fishing boats.
These guys leave early in the morning before the sun comes up, and they usually come back after the sun goes down, when it's dark.
Maybe what Joel caught on camera that night was one of these boats navigating its way home through the harbor.
It does make sense.
It's possible that what Joel was looking at that night was some kind of specialized, high-powered boat light that he didn't recognize.
Yeah.
Okay.
Well, there's only one way to find out.
I've arranged for a local fishing boat to help us out, and I think they're coming, right there.
There it is.
Check out those lights.
Oh, that's perfect.
Austin and I can stick around.
We'll get on the boat, and you can head over to the vantage point and tell us what those lights look like and see if we match Joel's video.
Okay.
Sounds good.
So, what we've got here is a 40-foot commercial crab-fishing boat.
And it's also got a bank with sodium lights.
They're really bright.
Ben's gonna head over to the vantage point, and Austin and I are gonna go for a spin on the boat around the harbor, and hopefully the lights will match whatever Joel was seeing the night that he shot the original video.
Team for Ben, how's our position? You're looking good in the channel.
All right, copy that, Ben.
I'm gonna go down to the galley and turn the light on.
In three Two One.
Awesome! That looks great! So, about those lights again.
Still haven't figured it out.
Tell us, how did your investigation into the bodega bay mystery light go? Well, as you remember, we went up to bodega bay in northern California to look at this mysterious light that was hovering over bodega bay.
For our first experiment, we decided to test a misidentified explanation-- This was simply a rescue helicopter with a search light flying low over the water.
So I grabbed a high-powered search light, jumped in the copter, flew out over the bay to where Joel said he saw the UFO.
Check out what happened.
Ben: There's a helicopter.
Bill: Oh, wow.
Look at that.
Well, that's not too bad.
Lanisha: The luminosity looks good.
Jael: Yeah, there's definitely some similarities, but as you can see, it's a bit too far up in the sky.
Bill: Oh, yeah.
Clearly a big difference.
Ben: Trying to match the size of it, we had to bring it pretty close, and then obviously we could hear it at that point.
Austin: And that was a big issue, which meant it wasn't a helicopter.
So, we decided to test the next most logical explanation.
Now, illuminated balloons are used on movie sets all the time to illuminate a large space at night.
And in this bay, there was a jetty of land that was sticking out into the water, so we decided to launch our tethered, illuminated balloon from there.
So these are the results we got.
Devin: Wow! This is a pretty good match.
Lanisha: Yeah.
Nice.
Austin: You know, we definitely got closer, as far as the gap closing, but when you look at the original, I mean, there are points where the reflection and the light source merge together to become almost one light.
We're still lacking that with our experiment.
So, we moved on and tested another logical explanation.
Bodega bay is actually a commercial fishing town.
These are large boats coming in and out of the harbor continuously, all of which are equipped with large towers and giant spotlights.
So we started thinking maybe that's what we were seeing in the original video.
That makes sense.
Ben: So we chartered a crab boat, powered up these large sodium lights, and this is what happened.
Lanisha: Whoa! [ Devin laughs .]
That looks great.
That's it.
And to top it off, where I was filming from, I thought for sure you're gonna be able to hear boats, right? But at the speed they're going and trolling, you can't hear anything from there.
It appears our UFO was just a misidentified fishing boat light through a layer of fog.
You guys nailed it.
So, guys, how did it go for you in the Paramount theater? We traveled to the Asbury park boardwalk on the Jersey shore to investigate that strange apparition caught on a thermal camera.
Here's what happened.
Lanisha: Guys, here we are on the Jersey shore.
Devin: I'm really excited to be here in Asbury park, investigating the famous Paramount theater.
Bill: Now, the Paramount theater was considered to be the jewel of the boardwalk.
Tony Bennett, Bruce Springsteen, and even Bon Jovi have all played there.
Well, according to multiple eyewitness reports, it's not just the living that make appearances at the theater.
Apparently, this theater is host to multiple paranormal residents resulting from tragedies dating all the way back to the 1930s.
Now, the evidence that we're here to investigate was captured by a team of paranormal investigators using a thermal camera and shows what they believe to be a full-bodied apparition in one of the theater hallways.
Well, the team investigating the theater was the garden state ghost hunters society, led by Bonnie Bates.
Now, Bonnie and David Goldstein, who was the videographer that night, are waiting at the theater to talk to us about the night they captured the thermal apparition.
Look.
There's the theater.
Let's go see what Bonnie and Dave have to say.
Narrator: Coming up on "fact or faked: Paranormal files" We had no idea really what it was.
Devin: Make it cold! Lanisha: There's definitely something up here with me.
Devin: We just arrived at the Paramount theater.
And we're about to meet Dave Goldstein and Bonnie Bates to find out exactly what happened the night they filmed the mysterious thermal apparition.
Bill: Hey, folks.
Dave? Bonnie? How you doing? I'm Bill.
Hi, Bill.
How you doing? What are some of the paranormal hotspots here at the Paramount theater? Well, you have your projection room up there, all the way at the top of the stairs.
And of course you've got the dressing-room areas.
Shadow people on the stage is one of the main things that you can actually take a seat and see for yourself.
Dave: One of our investigators was going up to the stage, and her earring basically was pulled right out of her ear, and it landed on the floor, about four feet away.
Oh, my God.
Cleaning people wouldn't go to a back room in the hallway where there was the fire.
They said there's a lot of noise and things being tossed around, as they told me.
Let's talk about that video.
Can you take us to where you guys filmed that apparition? Okay.
You lead the way.
We'll follow you.
[ Laughing .]
Okay.
So, is this where the camera was? Here? Well, Bonnie and another team member were holding the FLIR.
I was shooting over the shoulder with my Sony TRV camera.
The recorder that was connected to the FLIR camera wasn't functioning, making my over-the-shoulder shot the only surviving record.
So you were just filming the FLIR lcd.
Is that correct? Yes.
When you recorded this thermal apparition, could you see anything with the naked eye? There was nothing you could see with the naked eye.
We had no idea really what it was.
Eventually, we started to move forward and get a little bit closer to it, and that's when it disappeared.
So, how long did the apparition last? It was just a couple of minutes.
Was the heating in the building on? Well, they had turned the heat off early on when we started our investigation, and it was a comfortable Can you guys say without a doubt that you weren't involved in any kind of hoax or creation of this footage? Oh, absolutely not.
Who has time for that? Is it all right if we borrow some of your equipment so we can match the setup? Absolutely.
Dave, Bonnie, thanks for your time.
Lanisha: Thank you guys so much.
You gave us a lot to work with.
Bonnie: Good luck.
Bill: Now we'll use Dave and Bonnie's eyewitness testimony to recreate the same conditions that were in the night they recorded the ghostly manifestation in the thermal imager.
So, we know that the manifestation in the original video is cold.
So is not just a random person at the end of the hallway.
Maybe this is just a case of misidentification, and it really is just a cold pocket of air at the end of that hallway.
Well, it is another popular theory that there's cold air leaking from one of the many pipes that you guys see here or even an AC vent above.
Look at this, guys.
See? Bill: Oh, yeah, there's a hole in that pipe right there.
Exactly, so maybe cold air is the culprit.
We're also seeing the temperature gauge on the lcd on the FLIR camera, and we're seeing that that thermal entity appears to be about 40 degrees and so are areas of the walls.
So maybe the gauge is corroborating the fact that it could be just a leak.
Well, did you guys notice that in the original video, there's kind of like almost a shadow, a blue shadow along the wall? I mean, what if that's the source of the cold air? Maybe we need focused and compressed air like co2.
That could work.
If we're using something that would have, like, a cold nozzle, then that would create that umbilical-cord type of hinge that we see coming off the left side in the original clip.
Lanisha: Good call.
Let's get set up for some co2.
All right.
Devin: We're operating under the theory that there's a leak in a pipe somewhere and cold air is escaping, so we're gonna place a co2 tank at the end of the hallway, and Bill right now is connecting the hose.
He's gonna be in charge of releasing cold air out of the valve, so that way we can give it that shadow look that leads off to the left.
All right, guys.
I'm set down here.
All right, Bill! We're recording! Make it cold! All right, so he's on the exit sign.
Then he pans down to you.
Oh, wow.
Look at that.
Do you see that? I do.
It's faint, but I can definitely see something.
We got to get Bill back here to see this.
Hey, Bill! Why don't you come back over for a side-by-side?! Bill: You know what? We were successful in creating that appendage like you see in the original clip right here.
The other thing, too, is that this is all one cold temperature.
That's not what we have here.
We have different gradations of cold.
Devin: So if a pocket of air is not the culprit here, then how do we get that humanoid shape? What if this is just some kind of hoax? Somebody could have draped themselves in a cooling blanket, giving us that shape that we see here in the original video.
Well, cooling blankets are really easy to get ahold of.
We actually have one in our safety medical kit, so we can use that.
Okay.
Let's do this.
Well, we've proven that the phantom is not a cold pocket of air, so now we're gonna continue with our investigation and test a theory that maybe it was just a person draped in a cooling blanket at the end of the hallway.
This would be a possible hoax scenario.
Now, this scenario suggests that the investigators present that night were in on manufacturing this thermal apparition, but it's worth testing.
Well, we have got to get these blankets chilled, so let's get them on ice.
And we'll leave them there for a little while.
Hopefully they'll go down to about 40â°.
And once again, I'll be operating the FLIR camera.
And I'm gonna be operating the TRV 37.
So, Devin, you're gonna be our cold apparition.
I don't mind being the cool one.
All right.
See you guys in a minute.
All right.
Sounds good.
Bill: All right, we are rolling.
Devin, are you ready? Okay, I'm ready! Okay, on three Two One.
Step in the hall! Yes! Devin: So, we're testing the theory that someone was dressed in one of these cooling blankets and was hidden in this corridor and then popped out into frame at the perfect moment.
I'm gonna be standing by, draped, and when Bill gives me the cue, I'm gonna be the apparition.
Devin, are you ready? Okay, I'm ready! Okay, on three Two One.
Step in the hall! There you go.
There he is.
Ooh, I see it.
Okay.
This is actually really good.
Hey, guys.
How's it looking? Why don't you come back over for a side-by-side? You got it.
There it is.
Wow, that looks pretty good.
Yeah, it does.
So, right off the bat, the first thing I notice is that we've got a silhouette at the end of the hallway and it's cool compared to everything else.
And, you know, it's humanoid.
You can definitely see that it's an upright figure.
But we don't have that appendage in our footage that we see in the original video here.
For me, you guys, the fact that we got an apparition to stand there is where the similarities stop.
We couldn't get the appendage, and we couldn't get that look of a head and almost two legs at the bottom.
It's just not quite matching for me.
I think we've been focusing too much on the physical environment and not enough on the internal settings of this thermal imager.
And this particular model of FLIR is best used for very short-range applications because of its short focal length of 6 to 15 feet, maybe 20 Max.
Let's just see how long this hallway is.
So, we're looking at 130 feet on this hallway.
And if this FLIR camera is meant to go 15 to 20 feet, it's clearly not the right camera or lens for the length of this corridor.
So, being that we're using a camera with a very short focal length in this very long hall, we're possibly getting lens artifacts that's making it look like there's a solid object when actually there's nothing really there.
Let's test this.
All right.
Let's do it.
You guys are set? You're recording? All right, guys.
Here we go.
Three Two One.
Just adjust this focus.
There we go.
Yes! That's it! We got a match! That's spot on! I mean, I even see the outline.
Look.
This is the apparition, and right here, you've got-- Looks like a person-- Even with legs-- Standing at the end of this hallway.
So this is distorting even the cold spot on the floor from the stairwell.
You guys, this makes complete sense.
Look.
The camera can only focus at 15 to 20 feet, but our apparition is at 130.
So what it's doing is it's blending that 130 feet and trying to come up with whatever temperature is at the end, and we're getting an inaccurate reading, and that's what's causing this blue apparition at the end.
And I think because the thermal imager that we're using has such low quality, if we use a lens with a longer focal length, we wouldn't be seeing this artifact that we're seeing here.
Well, let's put the nail in the coffin and pull out our FLIR 600 series.
Nice.
Yeah.
So, look at this, you guys.
The end of the wall is completely in focus.
We have a blue square at the end.
That is the end of the hallway, okay? Here we have an apparition that looks like a man standing at the end of the hall because it can't focus down there.
It certainly does.
You're totally right.
I mean, Dave and Bonnie never were hoaxing anything.
They were just misinterpreting the data.
But with that said, I really want to stay and do a nighttime investigation here at the Paramount theater.
I mean, there are reports almost daily of paranormal activity here at the theater.
And there's so many decades of history here.
I think that we wouldn't be doing our jobs if we didn't stay and investigate the theater.
Well, let's get ready for a night investigation.
Nice work, guys.
Yes, excellent.
Bill: Although we were able to replicate the video and found that it does have a natural explanation, with all the paranormal history and eyewitness accounts here at the Paramount theater, we want to do our own nighttime investigation to see what we can find.
Devin: All right.
This is our camera setup, okay? We've got five monitors, each corresponding to a different camera set up throughout the theater.
One infrared camera is set up in the projection booth behind us.
One is set up downstairs in the audience seating.
This infrared camera is set up in the room where the cabaret dancers died from that fire.
And these two are set up at the vantage point matching the original footage.
One is an IR camera, and the other one is a FLIR camera.
And we also have a high-powered laser grid that's set up to monitor the entire length of the hallway.
If anything with substance passes through the laser grid, then the grid points will move and that'll alert us to any presence that could be there.
I'll stay here at base camp, and I'm gonna be monitoring this entire theater.
All right, guys.
You ready to go green? Let's do this.
All right.
Bill: Devin, I'm backstage right now.
I'm heading upstairs to the dressing rooms.
Copy that, Bill.
Devin, I'm in the dressing room where the cabaret dancers died in a fire.
I'm gonna have an evp session here.
Devin: Copy that.
Hey, Devin.
I just got to the projection booth.
I'm gonna do a sweep up here with the thermal imager.
Copy that.
Be safe out there.
Oh, what was that? This is Bill.
I'm in the Paramount theater, Asbury park, new Jersey.
Can you leave me a message? Hey, Devin.
I'm picking up a heat signature up here in the projection booth.
There's definitely something up here with me.
Oh.
It's just a mouse.
Bill: I'm in the shower stalls now-- Where the cabaret dancers died.
Is anybody here with me? [ Clunk .]
Hello? Was that you? [ Clunk .]
Lanisha: Hey, Devin, I'm picking up all these sounds, and I'm not sure what they are.
[ Thump .]
I'm creeped out right now.
I don't know what it is.
Hello? Was that you? [ Clunk .]
[ Thump .]
Devin: I just heard something in the roof, like something fell.
Is there anybody up here? [ Scraping .]
Hey, Devin, I'm not sure what it is, but it's definitely getting more violent.
Why don't you head back to base camp, see what you got.
Look at that.
What is that? Devin for Bill, do you copy? Bill: Go for Bill.
Bill, I have got some anomalous movement on the lasers.
There seems to be something interrupting the beams in the center of the hallway, and there's nothing show up on the FLIR right now.
On the way.
Bill, I just got another pass in front of the lasers.
You in the hallway right now? Wait.
Devin, stand by.
Devin, can you tell me what you're seeing here? This is when it started to get good, 'cause at that exact moment, some of the laser dots were flickering on and off in sporadic places.
Take a look at this.
This happened at the exact moment that the knocking was going on.
Something is interrupting the laser signal.
Bill: I didn't see anything at all that could be blocking the laser.
There's nobody there.
There's nothing there.
It's one laser, and it's got a beam splitter, so you think it'd be all or nothing or something physically passing in front of it.
Well, if somebody was also passing in front of it, all that it would do is the laser would project closer to you on that thing.
This is absorbing light.
This is the last thing we expected.
It was a really wild night.
So, I went into the dressing room where the dancers retreated when there was the fire in the backstage of the theater.
From what I understand, they went all the way into the shower stalls as their, like, their last hope for surviving.
And it was in the shower stalls that I asked for a communication.
Why don't you go ahead and play this audio file? Is anybody here with me? [ Clunk .]
Ben: Oh, my gosh! That is clear.
Was that you? [ Clunk .]
Again? Wow.
There was really no source for it.
It was a completely enclosed area.
I heard it with my ears, and I captured it digitally.
That's pretty cool.
Well, you guys, there's no denying those results.
I mean, you asked for interaction-- You got it.
Does your experience here in the night investigation change what your verdict was with your experiment? I think we, to our satisfaction, were able to explain the cause for that original anomaly, but we ended up taking away our own evidence that there is likely paranormal activity occurring at the Paramount theater.
There's just been so many reports over the years.
There's definitely a heavy sensation there at the theater.
So I'm gonna go with, it's haunted.
Paramount theater-- Haunted.
Nice job.
All right.