The Travel Channel has an extensive line-up of television shows based around the paranormal such as, “Ghost Adventures,” “Destination Fear,” “My Paranormal Nightmare,” “Portals to Hell,” as well as many others, including “Paranormal: Caught on Camera.” The network calls this particular show, “a catch-all for amazing, eye-opening, and downright scary paranormal videos, all captured by eyewitnesses…All told, it just might make a believer out of even the biggest of skeptics.”
This show includes a panel of knowledgable experts in the field, who break down each video, analyzing what was filmed. Some of these experts include Sapphire Sandalo, Dan Sturges, Brian J. Cano, Mark Moran, Ben Kissel, Derek Hayes, and Natalia Regan, among many others. All of them considered experts in the field of paranormal. As well, the people lucky enough to capture these strange phenomena, also offer their first-hand accounts.The blend of footage, commentary from experts, and real-life witness accounts make this show one-of-a-kind in a genre that has many competing programs.
“Paranormal: Caught on Camera,” has three seasons so far, with the first episode airing on Wed. Feb. 13, 2019. Footage from the show varies from ghost sightings, UFO experiences, Bigfoot/Sasquash encounters, unexplained disappearances to explorations of known paranormal “hotspots” and other terrifying experiences caught on camera. Some of these videos will leave a person with goosebumps all over!
Each episode is broken down into specific clips, all given a unique title. Episode 1 of Season 2, called ‘Modern Day Cyclops and More,’ was eye-catching and didn’t disappoint. The first clip—entitled ‘Gravesite Fright’—was about a group of paranormal explorers who manage to capture a ghostly, hooded, almost transparent apparition in the bushes. Rather disturbing! One of the women in the group then feels ghostly hands on her giving her a push. The graveyard they are exploring, located along the Georgia/Florida border, has long been known for apparent ‘shadow-people’ and other entity sightings. It is a cemetery with a grizzly past of grave robbings, and when the historic townspeople finally discovered that a local man had been the one desecrating the graveyard, he went missing. Many people speculate that it is this person who haunts the cemetery.
Even as the investigation team is leaving, the car they are in is given a hard shove, rattling the vehicle and the occupants inside. Although the team immediately jumps out to investigate, there are no footprints to be found. Supernatural occurrence? Most likely, the spirits are telling the team to leave and not come back! However, the team reports that they will be doing just that. “I want to see more,” says Clayton Golda, owner of the footage.
The next segment is called ‘More than Meets the Eye,’ and is about creatures known as cryptids (which are things people believe to exist without evidence, such as Bigfoot). This segment is about many animals that have been born with only one eye, commonly called “Cyclops.” The legend of Cyclops dates back to ancient Greece. Many based on the skulls of elephants that have only one eyehole. Footage of a cow born in West Bengal, India in 2018 shows the animal to only have one eye. Many of the locals in this area after its birth came to worship the animal, thinking it to be a reincarnation of a Hindu God. Many Hindus believe in a deity called Kamadhenu, “a white female cow that is the embodiment of all Hindu deities.” Hence, that culture does not eat beef. There are other animals with this condition as well, such as a one-eyed goat born in India in 2017 and a pig in China that same year. Expert Ben Kissel says, “There’s a lot of cultures who worship animals like this…It does make you question the reality we live in!” Unsettling!
‘Fright at the Museum’ is the next segment. Set in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, is “The Museum of Shadows,” and the area is known to “be home to one of the greatest concentration of artifacts and haunted objects in the world.” The owners of the museum, Nate and Kayleigh Raterman, house about 1,000 cult relics from around the world. The Ratermans have rigorous testing investigations to see if, in fact, the items sent to them actually have some sort of supernatural attachment to them and to validate the integrity of the object.
CC footage from the museum has captured balls rolling to and fro as though being played with by an unseen force, dolls walking and falling off of shelves, and even a doll that rocks in a chair all by herself and is yanked out of her spot by unseen hands. Some of the experts warn that, “Sometimes these supposedly haunted objects can be attracted to you. They might just follow you home…Why do people keep playing with dolls?” says expert Mark Moran.
The “Museum of Shadows” also warns its guests to never touch anything, lest a spirit attaches itself to you. Signs that say, “WARNING: Entering this room is at your own risk. The next realm contains artifacts that have a very strong lower realm entity attached to them. We strongly recommend cleansing yourself with holy water upon entering and exiting the room.” adorn the walls of the museum. Who would have thought that Nebraska would be considered a “hotspot” for paranormal activity?
The rest of the episode has segments called, ‘Cloud of Suspicion,’ based on video footage of possible UFOs, “Pint-sized Spirit,” which catches CC footage from a bar in Singapore during 2015 of a barstool moving and falling over. Then, a very small apparition materializes out of thin air and runs behind the 3 patrons at the bar.
In York, England, a segment called ‘The Living Room Dead,’ shows a man doing paranormal experiments in his home to see if, in fact, he is being haunted. This man catches on film a remote control go flying after asking the entity to move it. He then goes further with his investigation by sprinkling baby powder on his floor in hopes of catching footprints and thus more proof of being haunted. The experiment doesn’t show any footprints, but twice a gust of wind is caught on film making a string nearby move.
Experts say this man is inviting in more activity by interacting with the spirit and, perhaps, encouraging malevolence by giving it more attention. This ghostly encounter caught on film, “terrifies” the man who filmed all this. “To know someone is there…watching you all the time…I think that, for me, is the most terrifying thing of all,” he says.
Next up is ‘Spaceport of Call,’ footage from a man from Hong Kong in 2018, named Mandip. He’s sent in footage of an unknown object flashing lights in the sky above Hong Kong. His footage is, according to Mandip, “no way it’s man-made,” and as a world traveler, admits he’s never seen anything like this. At first, he thinks its a laser show, but as he continues to film, he believes it’s an actual UFO. Pulsating lights over and over make one wonder if this is a message being sent from otherworldly beings. Mandip concludes his video by saying, “Wow. What you are watching is definitely once in a lifetime. Not many people get to see.”
“Paranormal: Caught on Camera” has a plethora of episodes, all with amazing paranormal footage. Most are available for free On Demand from The Travel episodeChannel. Many episodes can be found on Hulu, YouTube, and Amazon as well. If the rest of the episodes are as creepy as this one, tune in, turn your lights off, grab a bowl of popcorn, and prepare to be scared silly!
Written by Mandie Stevens
