So I was trying to think of a very early holiday gift to give our team, possibly for our upcoming live broadcast, and I remembered a gadget I heard about on MyPara.net: a laser grid for use on paranormal investigations.
I did a quick search on ebay, looking for “2 in 1 lasers”, and I found the Disco Laser (and many others), for around $15.
Apparently, the theory behind it says you project the laser grid against a wall in the hopes of capturing a “ghost” on video crossing one or more of the many points of light. Interesting theory, indeed, but I’m not too sure what I think about it.
For one, that assumes that whatever entity you’re looking for actually has the ability to reflect or refract light. For this to be the case, it means we would be looking for a physical entity with some measurable mass. Second, it assumes that the entity would have an interest in actually crossing the very conspicuous grid of green or violet light for a little camera time. And third, it assumes that our cameras would be able to detect tiny changes in the light pattern and differentiate between a “ghost” and a stray dust particle or insect.
That’s a lot of assumptions, but hey, it sounds cool. I think clients at a private residence might think your team is super awesome when you say: “Yeah, this room is where we’ll be setting up our laser grid for capturing ghost movement on video.” Next, you might say something to your tech manager beside you, suggesting they remember to stay away from “crossing the beams”.
John’s Paranormal Blog did mention how TAPS used a laser grid on their recent Alcatraz investigation, although it wasn’t really discussed in the episode. I guess I could see using a laser grid as a debunking tool, such as using it around a trigger object, to rule out any foul play like strings or other cheats.
I’m still on the fence about the disco ghost laser. Does anyone have any personal experience using one that they’d like to share? Even if it doesn’t capture evidence of a “ghost”, at least it would create a happy disco atmosphere for those long overnight investigations.
I honestly think the best use of this would be as a debunking tool, as you said. It would be great for measuring any suspected movement of a trigger object. But for capturing ghosts, there’s just too much chance that other things would interrupt the light, like dust, bugs, etc.