Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files Episode 2.21 Graveyard Lightning/truck Stop Terror

The now shuttered Tri-County Truck Stop in Villa Ridge, Missouri has had some crazy reports of paranormal activity, so Bill, Austin, and Lanisha team up to investigate the evidence of some local paranormal investigators.

HAIR ON THE LENS TEST

The first piece of evidence they'll test is a photo of what looks like a light-colored apparition in the men's room. Bill snips a hair from his head and places it on the lens, and the result is spot-on. However, the investigator says he snapped the photo as the apparition moved from left to right, and that the shape looked the same to the naked eye as it did on camera.

AIR FRESHENER TEST

Austin notices an air freshener dispenser and wonders if it released a puff of product that drifted across the room in a ghostly fashion. They rig their own dispenser to be able to manipulate it in a timely way, and snap the photo, yielding a totally plausible natural explanation for the first piece in question.

REFLECTED LIGHT TEST

Next is a video of what appears to be a blue apparition moving through the camera's frame. They postulate that another, unseen investigator could've shone a flashlight through a vent, but the recreation of that possibility reveals its impossibility. Bill tries using his flashlight, then a laser pointer, in the room, but neither works.

PEPPER'S GHOST ILLUSION

One of the most frequent hoax techniques is known as Pepper's Ghost Illusion, where an image will be bounced off a reflective surface and into a camera lens, so that the camera picks up the objects in front of it, as well as the reflection of the thing that is actually behind it. Using a blue light, a coffee filter in the shape of the apparition, and some Plexiglas, the team recreates the image to a pretty close match, but it's not exact. Since they can't hoax the image perfectly, they must conduct a night investigation.

RESULT

During the investigation, Austin experienced objects being thrown at him, and Bill recorded a perfect, Class A EVP session. Though the evidence is still questionable, the truck stop is haunted. Case: Closed.

Ben, Jael, and Austin investigate a similar case in a graveyard in Logtown, Mississippi, where local investigators shot several photos of strange light formations close to the ground.

LIGHT PAINTING TEST

Since the first photo looks as though it could be a flashlight moving through frame, Devin manipulates a light while Ben snaps a photo. They yield an excellent match, but decide to try another test, to be sure.

NEON TUBING TEST

Devin holds a piece of neon tubing, in roughly the shape seen in the original photo, while Ben frames his body out. It looks good, but is clearly neon tubing, so they conclude that their first instinct - light painting - was correct.

POLLEN IN THE WIND TEST

Another shot looks like a yellow dust cloud, so the team goes with the easiest explanation that some of the loose dirt nearby got kicked up without anyone noticing, and when the flash lit the photo, it appeared yellow. Once again, their instincts are on point, and they're able to offer an explanation for this photo.

TESLA COIL TEST

The hardest photo to explain involves what looks to be white lightening in the top of the frame, and a yellow waterfall of light lower down. For this, the team has to suppose a hoax scenario, since that kind of light could only be cast by something like a Tesla coil. They do, in fact, build a Tesla coil large enough to strike to a height of 6 or 7 feet. Devin stands in for the investigator in the photo, who was holding a flashlight, and moves it about while Ben moves the camera for a little bit of camera blur. Their photo lines up with the original in nearly every way.

RESULT

This may not have been a hoax, but clear natural explanations are available. Case: Closed.