From the wayback files: That time I hoaxed some ghost hunters

Turning the clocks waaaaay back to 2008, shooting the pilot for The Skeptologists aboard the Queen Mary

Thanks for reading my newsletter about separating reality from bullshit in pop culture. Monday editions are free to all; Tuesday and Thursdays are for paid subscribers only. Enjoy!

Our cheerful cast and crew for The Skeptologists deep in the belly of the Queen Mary (I’m in the way back, left of center)

It was 2008, just a couple years into the Skeptoid podcast, Ryan Johnson (then my producer and director, today my good friend) and I were shooting a pilot for a TV show based on the podcast called The Skeptologists. Half of it was to be shot aboard the Queen Mary ocean liner, permanently berthed in Long Beach, CA, along with a crew of local ghost hunters.

In preparation, a small group of us went incognito and took the paid ghost tour of the ship one night. There were probably 20 or 30 guests. One of the first stops was a room where they had all sorts of “ghost hunting equipment” all laid out for us to use: infrared thermometers, EMF meters, the usual fare. I grabbed one EMF meter, a standard electrician’s tool. There weren’t enough tools to go around, so I always had a small group following me to keep their eyes on my meter.

The tour progressed into one room way below decks where the tour guides advised us we might be likely to encounter the ghost of Captain John Treasure Jones. We then had 20 minutes to “investigate” the room on our own, using the equipment. A small party of self-described mediums then attempted to contact Captain Jones verbally, and that’s when things got fun.