Ghost Hunters

NBC UNIVERSALModerator: Maxine Shen

08-28-12/1:00 pm CTConfirmation # 21602505

NBC UNIVERSAL

Moderator: Maxine ShenAugust 28, 2012

1:00 pm CT

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Syfy, Ghost

Hunters conference call. During the presentation, all participants will be in a

listen only mode. Afterwards, we will conduct a question and answer session.

At that time, if you have a question, press the 1 followed by the 4 on your

telephone. If at any time during the conference you need to reach an operator,

please press star 0.

As a reminder, this conference is being recorded Tuesday, August 28, 2012. I

would now like to turn the conference over to Ms. Maxine Shen. Please go

ahead ma’am.

Maxine Shen: Okay. Hi, everybody and welcome to the Ghost Hunters conference call with

Jason Hawes, Lead Investigator and founder of TAPS. He’s here today to talk

about the mid-season return of Ghost Hunters, which continues its eight

season on Wednesday, September 5. But, before he starts taking your

questions, Jason has some news to share with you. Over to you Jason.

Jason Hawes: Hey, how is everybody. I’m happy you all joined us. Yes, this - well the new

season’s really going to be kicking off with a lot of great things. You know, I



think you’re all going to realize we ended up brining in a new investigator, her

name’s (Ashley). I think you guys will really enjoy seeing how she grows on

the show and her interaction with the rest of the team and she - I think she’ll

be appearing starting September 26.

But, some of the best cases I think that we’ve had to date and some of the best

evidence that we’ve caught recently. I cant - of course, I can’t get into too

much but, it’s just going to be - I honestly believe it’s probably going to be

one of the best seasons ever.

Maxine Shen: Okay. Great, thank you Jason. (Marcel), we are ready for your questions...

Operator: Fantastic...

Maxine Shen: ...for asking.

Operator: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, once again if you’d like to register for a

question, please press the 1 followed by the 4 on your telephone. You will

hear a three tone prompt to acknowledge your request. If your question has

been answered and you would like to withdraw your registration, please press

the 1 followed by the 3. If you are using a speakerphone, please lift your

headset before entering your request. And our first question comes from the

line of Reg Seeton from TheDeadbolt.com. Please go ahead.

Reg Seeton: Hey, Jason. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

Jason Hawes: Oh, thanks for coming on.

Reg Seeton: Cool. Well, heading into the season, how tough was it to adapt to the

investigations without Grant. Can you touch on that just a little bit?



Jason Hawes: Honestly, it wasn’t that tough at all because I still deal with Grant daily on

other things and he’s still there. He had to take a leave of absence from the

show but, you know, we’re - our families are extremely tight and we’re like

brothers.

And, for many years I investigated without Grant being there, you know, for

many years of our friendship - Grant and while TAPS was still going, of

course - still is - Grant left to go to Utah. He was gone for a couple years on

that. So it’s - of course it’s a little odd not having a guy I refer to as my

brother standing beside me all the time. But, you know, I think it wasn’t an

issue for me at all. And to be honest with you, the team, there’s just a new

energy with the entire team. Everybody’s just so alive lately and yes, it’s been

interesting.

Operator: Thank you Jason. Our next question comes from the line of John Soltes from

Hollywood Soapbox. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

John Soltes: All right, thanks for the time today Jason. I’m curious, you know, it seems like

the upcoming season you’re going to be focusing in on some ghost stories

down in the South. You know, why take this focus for the new season down

there and can you kind of give a preview of some of the good things you guys

find some of the bad things.

Jason Hawes: Some of the good or the bad things? Well, we’ve had some wild

investigations. We were actually able to investigate a zoo, which has been -

you know, that’s tough enough if you think about it. You know, we were

called in by an actual town that had called us in n the past to investigate some

locations.



You know, and yes, we spent some time down in Charleston, South Carolina

because they’re such old areas and a lot of the areas we headed off to, they

have such a history, some of these - in some of the - some insane history. One

of the locations we had to do had the first so called female serial killer. But

just to be able to get out there, hear these stories and to be able to investigate

some of these locations, it’s just - it’s incredible.

Yes, it’s - you know, that one actually - the one is was just talking about the

first serial killer, some people who actually are on production ended up having

a situation. I can’t get in too many details but it led to a really interesting

investigation.

Operator: Thank you and once again ladies and gentlemen, to queue up and/or to re-

queue up for a question, please press the 1 followed by the 4 on your

telephone.

Our next question comes from the line of Christiane Elin from Sci-Fi Vision.

Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Christiane Elin: Hi Jason, thanks for talking to me this morning.

Jason Hawes: Oh, thank you.

Christiane Elin: Well, my question for you is it - I’m sure, like, amazing Season 8 or an 8.5

now. And what do you think about the evolution of Ghost Hunters throughout

the years?

Jason Hawes: Oh my gosh, I didn’t think we were going to make it out of first season, so the

fact that we’re at 8.5 is incredible. To see that this field has come so far that -

a field that used to be laughed about and people felt that they had to whisper



experiences that they were having, now they feel that they can openly discuss

it, that’s just incredible.

It’s such a great feeling to know that we were a part of that movement to try to

really get this field ahead. And also the amount of new people - new

investigators - who have been stepping into the field just really shows that it’s

advancing, and it’s becoming a respected area. So that does mean everything

to us.

Operator: Thank you. And our next question comes from the line of Kat Hobza from

Sheknows.com. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Kat Hobza: Hey Jason, pleasure to visit with you today.

Jason Hawes: Thank you.

Kat Hobza: So, when you needed a new investigator, what criteria did you use? What are

you looking for in a new team member?

Jason Hawes: Well, of course, when we’re looking for somebody new we want somebody

who is not going to automatically believe that everything is a ghost or

paranormal. We want somebody who’s willing to try to go that extra mile to

figure out what might be truly creating the activity, whether it’s electrical

issues, plumbing, anything, over medicated, under medicated individuals.

But also beyond that, I need somebody who can mesh with the rest of the

TAPS team because the main thing is we’re a big family. Steve’s been with

me for 20 plus years. Dave’s been with us for years. Amy has been a friend

for, you know, almost 10 years now, same with Britt. So - and K. J. was my

nextdoor neighbor as a kid growing up.



So, we all get together. We all spend so much time, you know, doing this

show but also hanging out outside the show that I just needed somebody who

was going to fit in and be able to work well with the group. And that the group

was going to be able to accept as a whole because bottom line, they’re the

ones who make the decision if somebody stays or if somebody goes.

Kat Hobza: Sure. And so, just real quick, I need your expertise. I’m getting ready to buy a

house, so how can I tell if it’s haunted without actually spending the night

there?

Jason Hawes: Well, thing is, you could buy a house and not know that there’s something

going on there for years. So there’s really no way to know. Over 80% of all

claims can be disproved, so chances are you’re buying a house that doesn’t

have anything going on.

Operator: Thank you. And once again, ladies and gentlemen as a reminder, to register

for a question, please press the 1 followed by the 4.

Our next question comes from the line of Chris Boyd from Hollywood Junket.

Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Chris Boyd: Hello Jason, thanks for taking some time to talk to us. I noticed that in this

season you guys are looking into some different types of hauntings, for

example, in the “Cape Fear” episode. Is there any difference between looking

for more like the typical ghost (unintelligible) looking for something like an

elemental spirit?

Jason Hawes: Absolutely (unintelligible). When you’re looking for a typical ghost you’re

able to a lot of times, if there is something actually there, and intelligent type



haunt you’re able to make contact with it, you’re able to get these things to

communicate back and for with you. When you’re dealing with what some

believe to be an elemental type of activity you’re dealing with something that

is purposely trying to avoid you but create fear in order to make you leave an

area, to sort of push you out of these highly wooded areas that we’ve now

encroached into.

So, yes, now you’re trying to actually document something that you’re

spending all this time trying to hide out in. Yes, it’s a total different style of

investigation. Also being outside and investigating cabins and stuff into all

these areas, you’re dealing with animals, you’re dealing with insects and a lot

of other contamination issues that come into play.

Operator: Thank you Jason. Our next question comes for the line of Erin Wolf from

Paranormal Pop Culture. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Erin Wolf: Hi, Jason. How are you?

Jason Hawes: Hey, good. How are you?

Erin Wolf: Good. Good. So, now that Grant has left, do you see an end in sight for your

involvement with the show and when do you think that would be? And do you

think Ghost Hunters could continue without you?

Jason Hawes: You know, I don’t - I’m never looking that far ahead to wonder when I’m

leaving or if I’m leaving or anything of that nature. To be honest with you,

every time I go to do a season, every time I’m requested to do another season,

I sit down with my wife and children and it’s a choice that we make as a

family and I spend a lot of time at home. Even though it looks like I’m always

on the road, I’m not. But, if my children come and say, you know what, dad



we prefer you not to, well then I would walk away knowing that I’d been able

to bring it this far. But as of right now, my children love the fact that I’ve been

doing this since even before they were born and, you know, to see how this

has advanced.

I remember my oldest who’s 21, she used to come downstairs as a little kid

and see Steve and me and Grant and everybody sitting around trying to figure

out cases, so she sees how this whole thing has grown and how it’s become

this international thing now. So, yes, I will stay as long as my family wants

me to stay. And if the show can survive without me, I think it could. I don’t

know, I guess that would have to be from the viewer’s standpoint.

You know, I know that if I was to step back Steve, who is 100% adequate and

able to could easily run what is going on. I don’t know how we would feel

about doing that on his own though. So, I don’t know, time will tell. I guess

you’ll have to tune into the show and find out.

Operator: Thank you. Once again, ladies and gentlemen, it is the 1 followed by the 4 on

your telephone to register for a question. Our next question comes from the

line of Karen Lambert from Ghost TV Blogs. Your line is open. Please go

ahead.

Karen Lambert: Hi Jason, welcome back. I have two questions. Will there be a Halloween

special and will we be seeing Maddie again this season?

Jason Hawes: Okay, to start off with the Hallow special, I am not going to do a Halloween

live show this year. It’s just - my twin sons are eight now, I spent a lot of these

Halloweens away from them and I just - I want to spend time with the family

on that day. We’ve always loved that holiday and I just - one thing I can’t



stand is getting picture texts to feel like I’m there, so I’m staying home with

them this year. I’m going to celebrate it with them and go from there.

As for Maddie, yes, I actually just had Maddie on some cases we just did. I try

to keep her somewhat to more local type cases just because the amount of

travel. I don’t want her sitting in the back seat of a car for two - three days

while we’re driving out to these locations; it just takes a toll on her. So, but

you will definitely see her on these cases.

Operator: Once again, thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Marc

Eastman from areyouscreaming.com. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Marc Eastman: Hi Jason, it’s good to talk to you.

Jason Hawes: Hey, thank you very much.

Marc Eastman: I’m actually supposed to tell you that my wife is your biggest fan. So, I have

to get that out.

Jason Hawes: Oh, well, I think she’d have a - she’d have to go up against my 12-year-old

daughter on that one then.

Marc Eastman: I wouldn’t be surprised. The question I had actually is after so many doing the

show and doing all these investigations and obviously having, I’m sure, way

too many options to pick from, how do places make the cut? What does it take

for some - for a place that’s trying to get you, you know, what tips it over the

edge that you’d go to one place over another?

Jason Hawes: Okay. Well, the TAPS website last year alone received 96 million hits. We

receive about a thousand to 1,500 emails a day with possible case requests.



Honestly, out of those it’s going to fall under are the people terrified. If they

are, what type of activity’s going on? Are there children involved because if

there’s a child involved that jumps to the front of the list because that’s - I’m a

father and the least thing I would want is for my children to be fearful, in their

own home to feel threatened.

So, you know, of course, these things all - those are the main factors that will

bring us to an area. It’s going to jump right to the front. But, also with

residential cases, a lot of those cases either we do not - with absolutely no

cameras there because the people don’t want to be on camera or we just - we

need to be cautious with a lot of those because sometimes those don’t air.

There’s a lot of cases we do that never make air. So - but yes, anytime there’s

a family and children and activity that is active at that point, we - we’ll get

there ASAP.

Operator: Thank you. And we have a follow up question from the line of John Soltes

from Hollywood Soapbox. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

John Soltes: Ah, yes, thanks again. I’m curious, you know, looking back now at the TV

series and, you know, it’s been out for so many years, I mean, how has it

changed your life? I mean, is it kind of night and day looking back seven

years ago of, you know, are you - for example, are you still doing the daily

plumbing and stuff, I mean, or do you get spotted a lot in public?

Jason Hawes: I definitely get spotted a lot in public. It’s, you know, the baldhead and goatee

thing definitely puts - people are easy to recognize me. As for plumbing, yes -

when I’m not full swing production, I go back to the norm. You know, I’ll go

and I’ll price out jobs for Roto, still employed by them. They’ve been a great

company but also the understand that they’re getting advertising while I’m on

the road, so, you know, we scratch each other’s backs on that end. They’ve



always been a great company. I for them years before the show, so - and yes,

to see - to honestly see how just incredible or how large this whole thing has

become is just - it’s wild. We’ve just been having a great time. It’s definitely -

it’s changed a lot.

You know, it’s - but the nice thing is we’re going in with a camera crew, I’m

going in with - when I go into a location, where a lot of other shows they’re

going in with a producer, a cameraman, a sound man, all these things, I don’t.

I go in with just one cameraman and whoever I’m investigating with at the

time and that cameraman’s usually (Kendal), who is my main guy who’s been

with me for years on the show so he knows to stay out of my way. But also,

I’m able to take his tape, I’m able to take his audio and analyze that as well,

so it also comes in handy that way having that crew there because I have more

possible evidence that can be documented by a different camera and other

audio.

Operator: Thank you. And once again, ladies and gentlemen, it is the 1 followed by the 4

to register for a question.

The next question, once again, is a follow up question from the line of Kat

Hobza from sheknows.com. The line is open. Please go ahead.

Kat Hobza: Hey, Jason. I’m curious, is there a particular haunting our episode that sticks

with you? And then also, how do you clear your head from this line of work

and relax?

Jason Hawes: Yes, I think every case sticks with me because I look at it - cases I’m able to

figure out are just as exciting as cases that actually have paranormal activity.

So, of course, Waverly Hills, 63,000 people passed away there. Just walking



through that building, you know, you feel - you could feel that. A lot of

(unintelligible). Stanley Hotel, you know, but also personal cases. We’ve got

two personal cases that’ll be coming up rather early in this season that are real

- they hit close to home and so, of course, that stuff sticks with me.

As for clearing my head, I don’t know, it’s just I’ve been doing this so long

I’m - it’s second nature. It’s always there, even when I go home though it’s

always there. It’s - I’ll pull into my house sometimes after getting off a plane

or driving back into town and all the lights are off in my house and all I see is

flashlights. I walk in to find my two 8-year-old twin sons walking around with

their 12-year-old sister investigating the house.

So it’s such an imbedded part of my life and my family’s house that it’s not

like I ever have to clear my head because there’s always somebody involved

in it. We also have my 17-year-old daughter Haily who’s on the show and also

investigating off of the show with me as well. So, yes, everybody in my

family seems to be involved with it.

Operator: Thank you. And our next question comes from the line of Steve Eramo from

Sci-Fi and TV Talk. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Steve Eramo: Hi Jason, a pleasure to speak with you today.

Jason Hawes: Hey, thank you, same.

Steve Eramo: Wanted to find out if maybe if could tell us, what continues to fuel your

passion for this type of investigative work after all these years?

Jason Hawes: First off, it’s still such an unknown field. You know, of course, I’m looking

for answers in it and also trying to help out as many people as I can along the



way. You know, and I don’t know - and I sat there and I thought about this,

surely, because I don’t know if I’ll ever figure out these answers that I’m

looking for that people are hoping I’m able to find for them. But if 100, 200,

you know, 300 years from now somebody does and we even played the

smallest little role in the foundation that led them to that, then that’s all that

matters to me.

It’s just trying to figure this out and trying to be a part of that - of possibly

what it is, and I think that’s really what fuels me and just trying to understand

how these things are possibly because there’s so many - there appears to be so

many different types of haunts. We’ve - over the years we’ve found that, you

know, you can have intelligent type haunts, you could have residually, you

could poltergeist type haunts. But also, you can have intelligent type haunts

that aren’t like everything that we’ve ever thought about these ghosts

communicating back and forth. Now, for whatever reason, some of these

intelligent type haunts are spirits that are still stuck in their time, they’re still

living a normal day in their life.

Well, how is that possible? How is it possible to have time that seems to be

folding on itself and if so does that now lead into maybe that’s what a psychic

or sensitive is? Somebody who’s still in their time but they are able to hear

voices as these things are able to hear us. So, it’s just - it’s so interesting and

there’s so many different layers that that’s just what keeps us going.

Operator: Thank you. And our next question, once again, is a follow up question from

the line of Erin Wolf from Paranormal Pop Culture. Your line is open. Please

go ahead.

Erin Wolf: Okay. Jason, you’ve researched a lot of great people, you always recommend

reading up on the paranormal before investigating. Is there a new technique or



a latest study or an author that you have explored or employed in this new

season coming up?

Jason Hawes: You know, no. Honestly, there isn’t. I’ve always tried to stray away from

reading books from other paranormal investigators. And the main reason

behind that is because I never wanted to follow in someone else’s footsteps, I

sort of wanted to blaze my own trail, look at it my own way, be my own

person.

And it’s - initially when TAPS - when we came out with TAPS we - so many

people used to attack us because we used to shoot down these orbs that

everybody thought were spirit activity and everything else. And we were able

to recreate all these things just by slapping pillows or, you know, taking

pictures outside when it was high moisture times and things of that nature. So,

it was just we always wanted to look at it our own way.

I know Steve was big on reading books by (Hahn Hosier), you know, other

investigators like to read from other people. I just try to always stay away

from that stuff.

Operator: Thank you. And as a final reminder, ladies and gentlemen it is, once again, a 1

followed by the 4 to register for a question.

And our next question is a follow up question from the line of Christiane Elin

from SciFi Vision. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Christiane Eline: Hello again Jason. I had a question about technology. I know there different

paranormal shows out there, do you have a limitations on what, like, the

TAPS recognizes the technology they use or do you try new things? Will there

be technology this season?



Jason Hawes: There will and actually I’m working with a company right now on an app that

will be able to take any Android and iPhones and iPads and all that stuff and

be able to work off of meters that are built into them. And can’t get into too

much detail on it but, I’m - I was actually just using a prototype of it the other

day.

But there’s also a lot of equipment out there that becomes rather laughable

that I’ve seen that I guess other people have brought into this field where, you

know, these boxes that are generating voices, well the voices are words that

are actually put in or programmed into these devices. So, you know, there’s a

lot of things out there that I think are holding the field back and there’s a lot of

technology out there dealing with infrasound and stuff like that that we’re

really trying to bring to the forefront. So I think you’ll be able to see a lot of

newer stuff coming out from us and to other areas.

Operator: Thank you Jason. And our final question, once again, is a follow up question

from the line of John Soltes from The Hollywood Soapbox. Your line is open.

Please go ahead.

John Soltes: Thank again. I’m just curious, you know, you had talked a little bit about, you

know, people, I guess, who believe and you kind of dispelled some of the

evidence that they presented to you. I was looking - you know, what about the

flipside of that equation, you know, people - do you ever have sort of

naysayers, just people who don’t believe in ghosts and they kind of, you

know, I don’t know, they give you a hard time or they’re critics? I mean, do

you - what do you sort of say - who - people just who don’t believe in

anything that appears on Ghost Hunters as far as, you know, the paranormal

goes?



Jason Hawes: Honestly, I have dealt with people like that and it’s pretty - because I don’t get

into an argument with them about this. Bottom line is, I’m not here to push

my beliefs on them, I would appreciate the same. I think that, first off, every

religion, every nationality, everybody out there has talked about something to

deal with the spirit realm since the human race came around. So I think it

would be naïve to say that it didn’t exist, let alone, we manipulate energy

every time we turn on a hair dryer or a vacuum cleaner. To say the world

hasn’t been manipulating it since the start of time is just silly.

But like I said, I’m not here to try to force this as paranormal and I know it

because of this reason down anybody throat. I just think that it would be best

if those people stop being so close minded and instead of becoming full

believer, hey that’s fine, meet us in the middle. Let’s try to work this out

together. Let’s try to figure out - if you don’t believe it to be paranormal fine,

let’s try to figure out what it is instead of casting stones at each other.

John Soltes: Okay.

Operator: Thank you. As a correction, now our final question comes from the line of Kat

Hobza from sheknows.com. Your line is open. Please go ahead ma’am.

Kat Hobza: Hey Jason, I was just curious, what do you love about your job, what do you

not love about your job?

Jason Hawes: I love about my job is definitely problem solving, figuring out what’s truly

going on, the people that I’m able to meet and interact with. And sometimes

that can be the stuff that you really don’t love about your job because you

never know whose house you’re walking to.



Just like, I’m a plumber for Roto Rooter and I’ve walked through people’s

homes where you just know you have to get out, that they’re not all there. It

happens in this field as well where, you know, we had a case not too - a

couple years back where we walked into a house and come to find out, this

person had loaded weapons all through their house. It becomes a safety issues,

you need to get out, you need to get away.

So, I think meeting new people, interacting, trying to figure out what their

problems are, being a problem solver is one of the most interesting things. But

also not knowing who you’re about to walk - whose home you’re about to

walk into and who you’re about to deal with can be a pretty scary part as well.

Operator: And thank you Jason. It appears we have no further questions at this time. Ms.

Shen, I’ll turn the call back over to you.

Maxine Shen: Okay. Well, thank you very much everyone who called in and Jason, thank

you for chatting with us today. And just a reminder, Ghost Hunters returns of

September 5 with the episode titled, “Serial Killer’s Revenge”. It’s the first of

14 new episodes, which takes us through to December. Great. Well, thank you

again for calling and have a nice day everyone.

Jason Hawes: Thank you everybody, I appreciate you taking the time out. It means a lot to

me.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude the conference call for today. We

thank you for your participation and ask that you please disconnect your lines.

END

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