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Posted: 26 Feb 2017 21:01
by DoctorOfSpace
I visited the Ohio State Reformatory for another ghost hunt, took a lot of thermal but won't be posting that here as I haven't gone over it yet and I lost quite a bit of the footage from a very strange event.  You may also notice this was a major shooting location for Shawshank Redemption, which was pretty cool.

I seemed to annoy a few people there as I was using infrared and other tools to debunk paranormal claims, there were some of course I didn't have the means to explain away so those go under the ghosts category.  I was able to show that the flashlight gimmick was little more than thermal expansion and contraction of the lights as they heated up and cooled down, but of course nobody would believe that over the "ghosts using the little energy they have to push on the light".  My infrared video of the entire area, people, and cells shows the only temperature changes are within the flashlights.

I have IR footage of the guy doing this asking the ghosts to turn lights on and off, and occasionally he would say it at the perfect time and everyone would be convinced.  The first time seeing it was impressive, until I started running a timer on the lights and monitoring the temperature of the lights.  People tended to ignore all the times he called it wrong and all the times the lights would just flicker on their own.

Here is a picture of the "setup" with a friends flashlight which I used to show what was happening.
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Sadly even with evidence put in front of people, pretty much everyone walked away believing ghosts were turning flashlights on and off instead of the more reasonable explanation.

I was sleep deprived a bit so any sightings I had could be chocked up to potential paranoia and sleep deprived hallucinations.  There were a few shared sounds and smells, but given the atmosphere and workers of the place I suspect a bit of trickery was going on.  Wouldn't be too difficult to hide automated perfume bottles in vents, rig up a speaker, or do some other trick.

There was a fluorescent light which people claimed had been on since 1994, myself and an electrician took a look as best we could at the light but we of course couldn't explain it so ghosts.  The workers claimed the lights increase and decrease in brightness and that when the wiring was checked out there is no power going to the light.  The light grate is also the only one that glows a bright pink of UV and they claim it is blood from a murder, however if you check the other cells the only difference is less corrosion which leads me to thinking this is simply oxide and perhaps faked.

Here is a picture of the cell in question, you cannot see the light on as I used a flash but if you look at the bulbs you can see some yellowing on the edges.  Clearly the bulb is old, but this doesn't confirm the 23 year old ghost story
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The only strange thing that happened was in the solitary confinement area, same area as above light and cell, I lost all power in my electronics at the same time.  I was walking in front of a group towards the back cell with the yellow light when my battery brick, FLIR, camera, headlamp, and flashlight all started flickering and went dead.  The headlamp and flashlight flickered back on but my FLIR was dead and my battery brick refused to turn back on.  We moved to a room called the Chapel a little while after this and while sitting there my battery brick came back on by itself and my FLIR came back on.

I am highly suspicious there is something fishy going on at this place, still it was cool to explore an old building over night and I look forward to going to Waverly Hills next.

I took a few hundred images but here is a dump
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If you have questions about the location of these photos or whatever feel free to ask.

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Posted: 27 Feb 2017 03:35
by Watsisname
I'm not into ghost hunting and the like, but that looks like a pretty cool place to explore.  Great photos and write up, and applying a scientific method to it, as well.  Scientific method is generally unkind to claims of the paranormal.  

Weird with the loss of power, though.  I can't think of any simple explanation for it (might seem easy to blame on a strong EM field or pulse, but I don't think that's really so practical as a hoax).  I dunno!

Perhaps we should reinstate the paranormal thread. :)

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Posted: 27 Feb 2017 12:13
by Xoran
The only strange thing that happened was in the solitary confinement area, same area as above light and cell, I lost all power in my electronics at the same time.
Weird, since flashlights, headlights, and the other stuff are battery-using.
Weird with the loss of power, though.  I can't think of any simple explanation for it (might seem easy to blame on a strong EM field or pulse, but I don't think that's really so practical as a hoax).
A hoax being non-practical could potentially be a advantage, since people will not be as likely to think it is a hoax, as if the hoax looks practical. There is only proof that it is not a hoax, if the hoax would be not only impractical, but impossible.
I have IR footage of the guy doing this asking the ghosts to turn lights on and off, and occasionally he would say it at the perfect time and everyone would be convinced.  The first time seeing it was impressive, until I started running a timer on the lights and monitoring the temperature of the lights.  People tended to ignore all the times he called it wrong and all the times the lights would just flicker on their own.
Sadly even with evidence put in front of people, pretty much everyone walked away believing ghosts were turning flashlights on and off instead of the more reasonable explanation.
Confirmation bias. If you believe something, you are less likely to see disproving evidence. I challenge you to find proof against confirmation bias being in action there, and don't forget to remember disproving evidence about your point ;)
Perhaps we should reinstate the paranormal thread.
Nice idea, since more threads equals more conversations :)

It must have been very creepy to be in a abandoned building, sad the people didn't believe in the scientific explanation. People generally don't think very much about what causes stuff like that other than the paranormal explanation, which is almost always, if not always, wrong.

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Posted: 27 Feb 2017 12:17
by DoctorOfSpace
Scientific method is generally unkind to claims of the paranormal.
This is the bit that I can see people getting offended by, it is easier to fool a man than convince a man he has been fooled.  The problem I often noticed was people immediately saying I was a skeptic whose entire purpose there was to disprove.  This was not my intention however, I have had my own strange experiences and would love to see more and document them.  The problem seems to be people who confuse skeptic with debunker.  Some people just seem intent on believing

(might seem easy to blame on a strong EM field or pulse, but I don't think that's really so practical as a hoax).
That was my first thought, though the people directly behind me were not affected, only myself and the person to my right. That would be oddly direct, so engineering something like that would be incredibly difficult. Considering the people who work there, I don't think it is likely.

A hoax being non-practical could potentially be a advantage, since people will not be as likely to think it is a hoax, as if the hoax looks practical. There is only proof that it is not a hoax, if the hoax would be not only impractical, but impossible.
I thought there may be something going on in that area, but we were not given access to the maintenance halls so I had no way to check there.

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Posted: 27 Feb 2017 12:28
by Xoran
I thought there may be something going on in that area, but we were not given access to the maintenance halls so I had no way to check there.
In case of missing information in cases like this, always assume the worst ;)

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Posted: 27 Feb 2017 12:31
by DoctorOfSpace
In case of missing information in cases like this, always assume the worst ;)
That is always the safest assumption, which is why I said I am suspicious.
[hr] Bonus pic, gives you a good idea how cramped these things would be with bed padding
Image

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Posted: 17 Mar 2017 02:24
by Gnargenox
"But I was going over to Tosche Station to pick up some power converters!"
Luke Looks 00.jpg

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Posted: 18 Mar 2017 02:33
by Watsisname
Ahh, circumbinary planets. :)

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Posted: 18 Mar 2017 04:15
by tehsauce
Here's an n-body gravity simulator I wrote that has generated some pretty cool results!

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Source code, images, and video available https://github.com/PWhiddy/Nbody-Gravity
I know SE is windows only for now, but if you have access to linux/OSX feel free to try it out. Takes about a minute to set up

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Posted: 18 Mar 2017 05:22
by Watsisname
That's really impressive work!  The animation reminds very much of a galactic cluster once it gets going. :)

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Posted: 21 Mar 2017 22:19
by tehsauce
Thanks! At the scale of galaxy clusters, gravity is the dominant force, so it's a pretty faithful simulation of that

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Posted: 07 Apr 2017 01:38
by PlutonianEmpire
Several years ago, I made a few music videos with Celestia. This is my favorite, tbh. :)

[youtube]qQ6GIj5ldbI[/youtube]

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Posted: 17 Apr 2017 03:11
by Watsisname
I finally got the chance to go snowshoeing in the mountain backcountry, and brought back some photos.  I've never seen snow quite like this before, with over 20 meters having fallen this season with huge drifts and cornices everywhere.
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Posted: 17 Apr 2017 03:17
by DoctorOfSpace
That is some nice landscape 

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Posted: 17 Apr 2017 05:25
by Spacer
Watsisname, looks awesome!! and yeah i saw that the last winter in washington state was very snowy and rainy, much above average! looks beautiful!!
i wish i could be with you! last time i saw snow and felt it was on 20/2/15.