Abbreviation | T.A.P.S. |
---|---|
Formation | 1990 |
Founders | Jason Hawes [1] Grant Wilson |
Legal status | Volunteer organization |
Focus | Paranormal investigating |
Headquarters | Warwick, Rhode Island |
Region | Worldwide |
Lead Investigator | Steve Gonsalves [1] |
Tech Manager | Dave Tango [1] |
TAPS Investigators | Jason Hawes Steve Gonsalves Dave Tango Satori Hawes Cody Ray DesBiens Samantha Hawes Traci Boiselle Tom Carroll Wellington Chin Rob Moccio [1] |
Subsidiaries | TAPS Paramagazine |
Staff (2019) | 28 |
Website | www |
Formerly called | Rhode Island Paranormal Society |
Part of a series on the |
Paranormal |
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The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) is an organization that investigates reported paranormal activity. Based in Warwick, Rhode Island, TAPS was founded in 1995 by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson. In 2004, the organization itself became the subject of Ghost Hunters , a popular weekly American paranormal reality television series on the Syfy channel. The show ran for eleven seasons on Syfy in the US. The show aired in the UK nine months after the US premier on Living It.
In 1990, Hawes began the "Rhode Island Paranormal Society", after having a personal experience with spirits. After RIPS began investigating cases throughout the New England area, Jason met up with Grant Wilson in 1995 and they formed "The Atlantic Paranormal Society" together. Wilson had also had a personal experience. Neither man talks about it in public. [2] [3] The group was originally run out of Jason's basement, and at that time consisted only of Jason and Grant. [4] They pioneered investigative techniques that many other paranormal investigators use. In 2003 they were approached by Pilgrim Films and taped ten episodes of "Ghost Hunters" for the Sci Fi (now SyFy) channel.
Starting in 2007, Jason and Grant began releasing a series of books related to their work and experiences in the paranormal as well as several fiction books.
Title | Author(s) | Publisher | Released | Length | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ghost Hunting: True Stories of Unexplained Phenomena from The Atlantic Paranormal Society | Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson | Gallery Books | 2007 | 288 pp. | 9781416541134 |
Seeking Spirits: The Lost Cases of The Atlantic Paranormal Society | Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson | Pocket Books | 2009 | 288 pp. | 9781439101155 |
Ghost Hunt: Chilling Tales of the Unknown | Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson | Little, Brown and Company | 2010 | 277 pp. | |
Ghost Hunt 2: More Chilling Tales of the Unknown | Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson | Little, Brown and Company | 2011 | 383 pp. | |
Ghost Trackers | Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson | Gallery Books | 2011 | 384 pp. | 9781451651171 |
Ghost Files: The Collected Cases from Ghost Hunting and Seeking Spirits | Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson | Gallery Books | 2011 | 560 pp. | 9781451633108 |
Ghost Town | Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson | Gallery Books | 2012 | 288 pp. | 9781451613827 |
Frequency | Every other month |
---|---|
Publisher | James Johnson |
Founder | Jason Hawes Grant Wilson Steve Gonsalves |
First issue | June 2006 [5] |
Country | United States |
Based in | Fall River, Massachusetts |
Language | English |
TAPS publishes a bi-monthly publication called TAPS Paramagazine (also known as TAPS Para Mag), which features articles written by group members and information pertaining to the paranormal. Hawes stated in an interview on the skeptical podcast 'Audiomartini' that the magazine is marketed primarily in an attempt to "fund the TAPS operation." [6] The magazine itself states that "TAPS Para Magazine is a financial sponsor of The Atlantic Paranormal Society." The average issue is approximately 39 pages in length and in 2006 was marketed by offering a behind-the-scenes DVD of the show to new subscribers.
In April 2007, Beyond Reality Radio, a radio talk show that featured TAPS co-founders and Ghost Hunters stars Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, began broadcasting on select radio stations in the New England area. [7] Airing Saturdays from 7 to 10 pm, Jason and Grant interviewed guests about the Paranormal and allowed listeners to call in to contribute to the discussion. The show was produced by Amy Bruni, with help from Dave Gardiner. During the show, listeners could visit the official TAPS website and chat about the show or any other subjects in a moderated chat room. In 2012, Grant Wilson left Ghost Hunters and Beyond Reality Radio. Later on, the publisher/editor of TAPS Para-magazine, JV Johnson took on the role of co-host. Beyond Reality Radio is currently on the air Monday through Thursday, midnight – 2 am ET.
In July 2006, TAPS began releasing podcasts, TAPS Para-Radio, featuring Hawes and Wilson, on a sporadic basis.
On December 1, 2007, TAPS released a video game in conjunction with Star Mountain Studios called Apparitions: Red Reef Inn. Available online for PC & Mac, TAPS co-founder Grant Wilson claims that this game is just the start of larger efforts in the interactive media space from TAPS in the future. In January 2010, TAPS and Star Mountain Studios released a hidden object game entitled Apparitions: Kotsmine Hills. [8]
TAPS sends a group of 3 to 8 members to perform an 8- to 16-hour investigation, covering multiple nights, employing a number of infrared and digital video cameras, thermal camera devices, EMF (electromagnetic field) detectors, digital thermometers, and other equipment throughout the site in question. While at a site, the members of the team often find common explanations for the claims of the occupants. In conclusion, the team will report on its findings, and express their opinion that a site is "haunted" or "not haunted." They distinguish themselves from other paranormal groups by going into a case by claiming they wish to disprove a haunting. TAPS does not charge their clients for the investigations or consulting.
According to investigator Benjamin Radford most ghost hunting groups including TAPS make many methodological mistakes. "After watching episodes of Ghost Hunters and other similar programs, it quickly becomes clear to anyone with a background in science that the methods used are both illogical and unscientific". Anyone can be a ghost investigator, "failing to consider alternative explanations for anomalous ... phenomena", considering emotions and feelings as "evidence of ghostly encounters". "Improper and unscientific investigation methods" for example "using unproven tools and equipment", "sampling errors", "ineffectively using recording devices" and "focusing on the history of the location...and not the phenomena". In his article for Skeptical Inquirer Radford concludes that ghost hunters should care about doing a truly scientific investigation: "I believe that if ghosts exist, they are important and deserve to be taken seriously. Most of the efforts to investigate ghosts so far have been badly flawed and unscientific — and, not surprisingly, fruitless." [9]
In 2006, a website called "SAPS" ("Skeptical Analysis of the Paranormal Society") conducted an investigation into the status and legitimacy of the TAPS non-profit status. In several places on their website it stated that they were non-profit and did investigations free of charge, however did accept donations and held a raffle to win various branded merchandise. The site claimed that repeated attempts to clarify the subject was met with negative responses. It broadened its investigation by searching for its status both federally and at the state level and found no evidence that they were a registered non-profit organization. They also found that the raffle was in violation of the state's gambling laws as it allowed those that could be under the age of 18 to participate. [10]
In February 2007, TAPS issued a statement regarding the status. It stated that they, "...by no means meant to give the appearance that we had non-profit status. By this, we meant that we do not make any profit at all from investigating. We couldn't simply say 'TAPS makes no money whatsoever' because TAPS does gather meager funds from the occasional donation and membership dues. The money that comes in does NOT come from the client in direct relation to a case, nor does it go into anyone's pocket. So, therefore we used the term non-profit." [10] [11]
They have since changed non-profit to "free volunteer organization" to clear up any misconceptions and have been working on filing for the appropriate status but claim that it is very difficult for a paranormal group to do in Rhode Island. [11]
Members of TAPS can be found worldwide. TAPS has also made honorary members of some celebrities who have participated in investigations filmed for the Ghost Hunters TV series, several of whom, such as Tapping and The Miz, appear in programming produced by the show's parent network, Syfy. They include the following people.
Many paranormal investigation groups network and assist similar member groups across the nation and around the world. TAPS invites paranormal research organizations into its own network, and may refer cases to them. These organizations are part of a network called the TAPS Family. Member organizations put a "TAPS Family Member" banner on their websites, which link to The Atlantic Paranormal Society's web page. A list of member organizations is available at the TAPS Family Website. [12]
Within ghost hunting and parapsychology, electronic voice phenomena (EVP) are sounds found on electronic recordings that are interpreted as spirit voices. Parapsychologist Konstantīns Raudive, who popularized the idea in the 1970s, described EVP as typically brief, usually the length of a word or short phrase.
John Zaffis is a paranormal researcher born and based in Connecticut, United States. He starred in the SyFy paranormal reality TV show, Haunted Collector, and runs the Paranormal and Demonology Research Society of New England, which he founded in 1998.
Ghost Hunters is an American paranormal and reality television series. The original series aired from October 6, 2004 until October 26, 2016 on Syfy. The original program spanned eleven seasons with 230 episodes, not including 10 specials. The series was revived in early 2019 and aired its twelfth and thirteenth seasons from August 21, 2019, to May 27, 2020, on A&E, after which it was cancelled and then revived for its fourteenth season only months later on Discovery+, which started airing on October 31, 2021. Season 15 began October 1, 2022 on Travel Channel. Season 16 of Ghost Hunters is set to release on Travel Channel on April 6, 2023.
Grant Steven Wilson is an art director and developer for Rather Dashing Games, a game company he founded with Michael Richie, and is the co-founder of The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS), which is based in Warwick, Rhode Island. He is also the star and co-producer of the cable television reality series Ghost Hunters. He left the show in 2014 and returned for the 2019 revival.
Jason Conrad Hawes is an American plumber and the co-founder of The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS), which is based in Warwick, Rhode Island. He is also one of the stars and co-producers of Syfy's Ghost Hunters, which ended its initial run after its eleventh season on October 26, 2016. Several years later, the show was renewed and revived for a 12th season at A&E, with new episodes premiering in August 2019 without Hawes's participation. TAPS co-founder and former lead investigator Grant Wilson returned to lead a brand new team, while Hawes moved on to lead his own show with Ghost Hunters alumni Dave Tango and Steve Gonsalves in Ghost Nation, which is no longer airing on the Travel Channel since October 2019. The series ended in 2021 when the trio returned to Ghost Hunters after it moved to Travel Channel.
Paranormal television is a genre of reality television that purports to document factual investigations of the paranormal rather than fictional representations seen in traditional narrative films and TV. Over the years, the genre has grown to be a staple of television and even changed the programming focus of networks like the History Channel and the Travel Channel. By highlighting beliefs in topics ranging from Bigfoot to aliens, paranormal television continues to elevate popular interest in the paranormal.
Loyd Auerback is a parapsychologist, paranormal investigator, and mentalist. He has appeared on numerous television shows that profile ghost hunting and other paranormal topics. He develops and teaches online courses on parapsychology.
Ghost hunting is the process of investigating locations that are purportedly haunted by ghosts. Typically, a ghost-hunting team will attempt to collect evidence supporting the existence of paranormal activity.
The New England Skeptical Society (NESS) is an American organization dedicated to promoting science and reason. It was founded in January 1996 as the Connecticut Skeptical Society, by Steven Novella, Perry DeAngelis and Bob Novella. The group later joined with the Skeptical Inquirers of New England (SINE) and the New Hampshire Skeptical Resource to form the New England Skeptical Society.
Brennan's is a Creole restaurant in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana.
Josh Gates is an American television presenter and television producer who hosts and co-executive produces The Discovery Channel series Expedition: Unknown and also Legendary Locations. He is also the host of live specials for, and a guest investigator on, the television series Ghost Hunters and its spin-off Ghost Hunters International. He produces the related Ghost Nation series along with other paranormal television shows through his production company Ping Pong Productions. He was the host and co-executive producer of Destination Truth and Stranded on Syfy.
Ghost Hunters International is a spin-off series of Ghost Hunters that aired on Syfy. The series premiered on January 9, 2008, and ended on April 4, 2012. Like its parent series, GHI was a reality series that followed a team of paranormal investigators; whereas the original series primarily covers only locations within the United States, the GHI team traveled around the world and documented some of the world's most legendary haunted locations.
The Mordecai House, built in 1785, is a registered historical landmark and museum in Raleigh, North Carolina that is the centerpiece of Mordecai Historic Park, adjacent to the Historic Oakwood neighborhood. It is the oldest residence in Raleigh on its original foundation. In addition to the house, the Park includes the birthplace and childhood home of President Andrew Johnson, the Ellen Mordecai Garden, the Badger-Iredell Law Office, Allen Kitchen and St. Mark's Chapel, a popular site for weddings. It is located in the Mordecai Place Historic District.
Ghost Hunters Academy is a paranormal reality television series that premiered on November 11, 2009, on the Syfy channel. The program was the third spin-off series based on Ghost Hunters. The show featured TAPS members Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango as they led a group of prospective investigators on various ghost hunting cases at locations that are allegedly haunted, and which had been previously investigated by TAPS.
The Crescent Hotel is a historic hotel at 75 Prospect Avenue in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It is billed as "America's most haunted hotel" and offers a ghost tour for a fee. The 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa is a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Gaurav Tiwari was a paranormal investigator, UFO field investigator and ParaNexus representative in India who appeared on television shows such as MTV Girl's Night Out with Rannvijay Singh, Haunted Weekends with Sunny Leone, Aaj Tak, Live India, News 24, Star TV, Zee TV, Fear Files: Darr Ki Sacchi Tasvirein, Syfy's 'Haunting: Australia', and Sony TV's Bhoot Aaya. Tiwari was also a guest on paranormal radio shows and CEO and Founder of the Indian Paranormal Society.
Myrtles Plantation is a historic home and former antebellum plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana, United States, built in 1796. It is often reported that 10 murders occurred in the house, but historical records only indicate the murder of William Winter. In 2001, Unsolved Mysteries filmed a segment about the alleged hauntings at the plantation. The Myrtles was also featured on a 2005 episode of Ghost Hunters.
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