Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files Season 1, Episode 8

Welcome to my review of Fact or Faked, Season 1, Episode 8. If your not familiar with Fact or Faked, its a show whereby a team of investigators seeks out unusual internet footage, usually viral video, and seeks to provide a basis as to whether or not the shot can be easily faked. Thus, the name of the show.

If you are interested in this show, and more reviews, you can check out my index page for the show, or you can even check out my UFO Blog.

The show always starts off with a review of possible footage that can be investigated. We start off with a very weak, and obviously fake, video of a haunted apartment. However, we quickly move into more stable ground, with supposed security camera footage of a ghost entity, and a hovering humanoid. These two become the center of the investigations for this episode.

So Bill, Larry, and Chi-Lan arrive in New York, to investigate a mysterious entity caught on camera at a rustic museum. The building has an interesting back-story which we become privy to in the episode. It apparently was originally intended to be a shopping mall or something similar, though this original plan was abandoned.

It apparently served as a private residence, and at one time, served as a dancing hall. During its time when it hosted dances, a murder took place in the building, when a man discovered his fiance dancing with another man,he shot the other man on the spot.

One of the interesting things they reveal, is that the group that got the footage, was actually there to do a 'ghost investigation' in the manner of Ghost Hunters. This gives me enough pause, and makes me think that this could have easily been faked.

They attempt to disprove the video using someone out of focus moving in the background. This attempt fails, so they even attempt a reflective test, reflecting a blurry image onto a plexi-glass screen. This attempt is far more successful, and the reproduction manages to produce a ghostly atmosphere, and the ability to pass through solid objects.

After these two attempts, they try a projection on a plexi-glass frame. Even this, however, isn't successful, but in the midst of the experiment, a mysterious piano starts playing. They even hear string playing from an instrument that no longer has strings. As a result, the team abandons its experiments, and attempts one of its 'investigations'.

In all honesty, the investigations are added to the program to add an adventure element. However, their investigations are neither scientific or complete enough to qualify in my opinion. However, it is a good break in the monotony. During the entirety of their investigation, they decide that they actually captured some evidence of a paranormal event. 

The second investigation is about a strange video, of what appears to be a person floating above a wooded mountain. The woman, the primary witness, professes to having found it, and watching it pass over the mountain at a constant rate of speed, without being affected by the wind. Some people speculate it to be some sort of propulsion system...others even suggest its a witch.

One of the first things they test, is the idea that it might be a guy using a jetpack. The team learns, very early, that there is a guy in Monterrey Mexico who is attempting to build something similar to this. While the machine looks very similar, the machine is very loud, and has a very short duration (usually under a minute). That, and their rarity, and they think it is unlikely that the flying humanoid is a person with a jetbelt.

The team tests a pulley and zip-line, but finds the posture not to match the video. On top of that, the pulley system gives off a fairly bright reflection. Their next experiment involves Austin dragging a trash-bag full of balloons to simulate 'random air debris', which seems unlikely to me. How often to we see floating debris that lasts longer than a few minutes.

The team lastly, installs a remote-control helicopter engine, into their bag of balloons, in an attempt to prove that it might have been a hoax. They come to the conclusion that it definately could be hoaxed, which lends a lot of discredit to the video.