DARKNESS FALLS: PHONE CALL WITH AGH

Taking a close look at what you see and hear on a “Real Life. Drama.” TV series.

Ryan exclaims that the PRS needs to analyze “The Shadow Man” photograph by taking “it way further than anyone else has ever taken it before.” But about all that was done was to call a business partner of Chad’s, Justin Holstein, of American Ghost Hunter, to get a one-sided, limited-view about how AGH couldn’t re-create Polly’s photo if they used a light source from behind where she would have been standing. There was no mention of how to re-create the photo by trying other techniques.

And there was no mention either that Justin is the producer for “American Ghost Hunter,” the movie, with Ryan Buell (Executive Producer) and Chad Calek (Director/Editor/Writer). So how hard could it have been for Ryan to ‘track down’ another group (AGH) for a one-sided answer that supports a paranormal phenomenon- considering Ryan worked with Chad and Justin?

First published: 02 Feb 2010
Last updated: 09 Apr 2010

Written by: Ernie Marsh

“Tech Specialist” Justin, of American Ghost Hunter, provides his technical advice about re-creating a particular lighting situation of “The Shadow Man” photo. But look at Justin’s not-mentioned-in-the-episode connection with Ryan and Chad.

Screenshot 1, from Paranormal State “Darkness Falls”

One-sided phone call with Justin, of American Ghost Hunter.

Here’s where Ryan mentions he wants to explore Polly’s photo further than anyone had done before, by either crediting, or discrediting the “evidence.”

Ryan: Today, Polly Gear is gonna come by. Polly has probably one of the most famous pieces of evidence that’s ever come out of West Virginia State Penitentiary. She has a photograph of what people have dubbed “The Shadow Man.” Now, a very well-known paranormal team came here and they essentially debunked the photograph. It’s just an opinion. So we need to go, and we need to analyze this photograph. I think we need to take it way further than anyone else has ever taken it before.

Ryan: Some skeptics have dismissed the entity in Polly’s photo as her own shadow. So we tracked down another group who attempted to re-create the photo by casting shadows with various lighting sources.

Sergey’s phone call to Justin, the “Tech Specialist” with American Ghost Hunter, only covered one issue- to see if Polly Gear’s photograph could have been caused by her own shadow due to a light source emanating from behind her. Since there are other ways an image of the “Shadow Man” could have occurred, this limited-scope, one-sided investigation does nothing to further delve into how the photograph could have been made, and fails to, as Ryan put it, “...take it way further than anyone else has ever taken it before.”

This one-sided approach could be construed as biasing evidence in favor of a paranormal explanation for “The Shadow Man” photograph.

It is my opinion that by not mentioning the working relationship between Ryan Buell, Chad Calek, and Justin Holstein (who it was made to look like Ryan had to make some effort to track down), is deceptive and tries to cover up rampant nepotism within the paranormal community.

This sounds impressive, but what does he and the PRS do? Ryan tries to deflect the fact that a well-known paranormal group The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) debunked the photo, implying TAPS’ findings are “just an opinion.” I’ll have to elaborate later, but there are indications that while TAPS might have been correct about the fact that the “Shadow Man” was a real, live person, they might have not been totally correct about the lighting situation.

Anyway, Sergey calls Justin, Tech Specialist, with American Ghost Hunter (AGH) after he was tracked down. “Justin” is Justin Holstein- his last name doesn’t appear in any screen captions or in the ending credits. Chad is a member of the ghost-hunting type group, American Ghost Hunter. Justin and Chad are also two of the three principle owners of True Player Entertainment. Ryan is making a movie with them called, “American Ghost Hunter” (the movie).

I will state that it is my opinion, based on information available on the Internet regarding Justin Holstein, that after reading articles, watching videos, and referencing his movie/TV show credits, that I believe Justin is more than competent, qualified, and capable to make a professional assessment about lighting and how it relates to “The Shadow Man” photograph taken by Polly Gear. I do, however, disagree with the approach shown in the “Darkness Falls” episode, because Justin/AGH explored only one scenario; and that was that he (AGH) could not re-create the same shadows as in Polly’s photo utilizing a light source placed behind where Polly would have been standing at the time she took her photo.

What also troubles me, is that on the American Ghost Hunter Web site, I can’f find any information that describes the details of how AGH tested the back lighting situation of “The Shadow Man” photograph taken by Polly Gear. There is no mention of the camera AGH used, the type of light, the wattage of the bulb(s) or the lumens produced, did they use an on-camera flash, a built-in camera flash, what was the distance of the light source(s) to the subject, the distance of the light source to the back wall, the height of the light source from the ground, height of the light source from the camera lens, aperture, shutter speed, focal length, metering mode, ISO speed, or image resolution? Nor was it mentioned that Polly took the photo with some type of a Sony Mavica camera at about 1:30 AM. These details are important to know, but are not given. Instead, this hour-long episode spent time presenting a bunch of anecdotal claims about noises and how different PRS members felt about the temperature, their level of anxiety, or their hair being pulled.

Also not mentioned in the episode, was that Polly Gear, taker of the “Shadow Man” photograph, helped out on ghost hunting tours at the former West Virginia Penitentiary even before she took the photograph. Also, the “Darkness Falls” episode doesn’t mention Polly Gear rented out the Penitentiary on the night she took “The Shadow Man” photograph.

Polly Gear has not returned my phone call from Tuesday, 26 January 2010 when I left a voice-mail message inquiring about her “Shadow Man” photograph.

The following two boxes show the working relationships between Chad Calek, Justin Holstein, and Ryan Buell.
You can click on the Web site (in red color) that’s near the bottom of each box to go to that particular site.

AMERICAN GHOST HUNTER
Official Website

Chad Calek
Joe Ansley
Justin Holstein

I couldn’t find their titles in the non-member areas on the AGH Web site describing their ghost hunting roles. Could you find their titles?

www.aghnation.com

AMERICAN GHOST HUNTER
The Movie

Chad Calek
Ryan Buell
Justin Holstein

I’ve also seen Chad Calek listed as an Executive Producer for the movie.

www.aghthemovie.com

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Although this website provides links to third party sites, Ernie Marsh is not responsible for the content of any such site. Links are provided as a convenience to viewers, and they shall not be interpreted as an endorsement, sponsorship, or association of any kind.

“Moundsville Penitentiary Shadow Man.” Accessed 02 February 2010.

TruePlayer.net, “Company.” Accessed 02 February 2010.

American Ghost Hunter Official Website. Accessed 02 February 2010.

American Ghost Hunter, the movie. Accessed 02 February 2010.

Director / Editor / Writer
Executive Producer
Producer

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