Word of the Day: oppugn

I’ve been thinking, about yesterday’s story, and I’m thinking it needed something more, so, I’m going to save it for next week as a special treat. That, of course, is another sweeps tradition.

Today’s crossover is so full of “crossings-over” that, really, I should be getting a medal or a special Emmy. If you’re a ghost, chances are you might be stopping in Grandview, New York to have your final messages sent to your loved ones via “The Ghost Whisperer.” I figured that it was time the Ghost Hunters of TAPS paid Melinda Gordon a little visit. It’s a reality show crossing paths with a drama; the joining of a show about a woman who helps earthbound spirits “cross over” meeting a show where people are trying to find evidence of spirits who haven’t “crossed over.”

I just realized this has been something of a ghostly week, hasn’t it?

Today’s Word:

oppugn

As in:

TAPS has gotten anonymous reports of a house in Grandview, New York that has regular paranormal activity. Reports of full figures, voices, objects moving and breaking, all the typical phenomena associated with haunting.

The Investigation
TAPS has arrived at the residence of Melinda Gordon, an antiques dealer. Residents report strange activity at the Gordon house, usually centering on Melinda herself.  Many are skeptical, as Gordon claims to be able to speak to the spirits.

After getting permission from the home owners, Melinda and her husband Jim, TAPS has set up the equipment. One video camera is stationed near the upstairs bathroom, where flying objects have been reported.

Two teams are sitting up in rooms were particular concentrations of spectral activity. Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson have taken the master bedroom, and a team of Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango have set up in the attic.

During the investigation, neither team really had any experiences. After repeated attempts to goad the ghostly presences, nothing overt was captured during the investigation. Tango was noted to be frequently yawing. The teams fought boredom all evening, spotting not so much as a strange shadow. The team is left to analyze the footage to see if anything was caught by the equipment.

The Analysis
The data was analyzed by Gonsalves and Tango. The cameras didn’t appear to catch anything, and no strange sounds were captured.

The Reveal
Hawes and Wilson met with the homeowners to reveal their findings. Both seemed to find it curious to find so little evidence to support the house as being a hotbed of paranormal activity, as well as very little that would outright debunk the claims.

“We’re not at all confident that this house has any activity in it at all. Not to oppugn our hosts, but, there wasn’t anything that supports claims of any paranormal activity. This place looks to be pretty, well, dead. In fact, we’ve never been to a place that was reportedly so active, but, turned out to have so little evidence of what might be causing it. We didn’t even find a rattling pipe, or lose floor boards. No large EMF fields. No “hot” or “cold” spots. Not one shred of evidence. Nada. This could, in fact, be the least haunted place in the country,” noted Hawes.

Residents were confused by the findings, until they realized that the investigators had come into town on a Sunday night. Said one resident, “Really, they should’ve come to town on a Friday.  That’s when all the really creepy stuff happens.”

TAPS has no plans to return.

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Ghost Hunters is one of those “guilty pleasure” shows that I sometimes watch. It’s not a regular habit, but, once in awhile, I do enjoy it. Ghost Whisperer, well, not so much. And before you accuse me of judging a show without watching it, I have seen a couple of complete episodes. Not really my thing.

oppugn / oh – PEWN / to fight against, to call into question