Spooklights?

I’m watching a show called “Monsters and Mysteries in America” (S1E3) about something called “Spooklights.” Apparently outside of Joplin, MO. There are lights that dance around a particular area. Leading then trailing cars, doing all kinds of strange things. On the show they’re interviewing witnesses and one asks, “How can a light be in one place and instantly be in another?”

Well, if she just explored the topic she would find that it’s not only possible, it’s been done. It happened on a smaller scale some time ago, but a couple years ago a group of scientists transported a photon 143 km between two Canary Islands (Physicists Quantum Teleport Photons over 88 Miles). Once again science demonstrates what we see as magical is nothing more than the basic workings of the universe.

What about the show’s producers? Couldn't they have done a little research and offered this explanation at the very end?

Don’t they have a responsibility to do some verification if they’re passing something off as truly unknown, an actual mystery?

I’m not seeking more government involvement, I’m seeking their humanity. In the way a teacher, police officer, or anyone else in service to the public has an obligation to the facts; don’t they, if they are presenting them as such?

Orb Ya Glad I didn’t say Banana

Here’s the thing, if ghost hunters want to be taken seriously, if they want the legitimacy found under the umbrella of science then some things need to be done.

This evening I was watching a show about people’s ghost stories. I don’t like to mention names, but you won’t see my ghost story there. One story was concerning the Bird Cage Theater in Tombstone, AZ. Now I have seen shows where many of these stories were told to visiting hunters. After some exploration and critical thinking the cause is determined to not be paranormal. How, then, should I feel when, years later, I see the previously debunked story passed along as unexplained phenomenon?

There are too many people that still doubt science, in spite of hundreds of years of valid, verified knowledge gained and tested using the scientific method. There are people that seem to believe that if they can’t understand, then God can’t. This is not new, in fact the systematic evaluation of the world around us has only ascended in the past hundred years or so. It took brilliant people, committed to the goal of understanding the universe, to get this far. Further, for every brilliant household name there are thousands of others that helped record and systematize the information gathered. Science is, at its core, observing and recording information long enough for patterns to be seen, explanations put forward, and, most importantly, predictions to be made. If the predictions are correct over an extended period of time, a theory is put forth. Many things will remain a theory forever because they can’t be proven (how can you prove dinosaurs were killed 65 million years ago without a time machine?), but they fit what we see perfectly. Also, science is self-correcting; if the theory works a million times, bit not a million and one, it’s tossed out or modified.

So what needs to be done?

A national, or international, society needs to be created with the expressed purpose of recording and validating the phenomena AND the explanations if they meet the standard created and adopted by the society. I accept the phenomenon will not be tested in controlled lab experiments; that means the other tools of the scientific method must be even more assiduously applied, consensus and transparency must be the rule. The standards must be published and adhered to by all society members, members must be publicly admonished if standards aren't being maintained. Finally, any member using the words “orb” and “paranormal” in the same sentence should be put in the rack.