Beardo Live Fake Vs Real: The Reaction
On the 14th of August 2024 Beardo, from the youtube channel 'Beardo Gets Scared', conducted a livestream. This livestream ran for roughly three hours and was titled 'Is the FAKE paranormal damaging the legit investigators? With guests'. The guests involved were Stee and Dolly from 'Paranormal By The Sea', Justin from the 'Paranormal Monkey Podcast', Paul from 'Ghosts On Trent', Joe Vitale from 'Entity Seven Paranormal', Kev Kerr from 'Kev Kerr Paranormal', and Kenny Biddle. Personally, I think the livestream was fantastic as it provided lots of valuable discussion from a number of different perspectives; these being believers, skeptics, debunkers, and investigators. I have covered the livestream in detail across five different articles which can be found on this website, and if you want to watch the livestream for yourself then it will be linked at the end of this article.
Following Beardo's livestream, I saw three seperate posts emerge which all seemed to relate in some way to Beardo's livestream; whether they be direct responses, or heavily hit on points which were raised in the livestream. The two direct responses were from Mr. Grey, who's YouTube channel is called 'World of MrGrey', and Mark, who's YouTube channel is called 'Dead Cold'. The one post which I believe is a response, however simply hits a number of points raised, is from the Cornish Ghost Whispers. All three posts will be discussed in chronological order.
Dead Cold's Statement: 14/08/24
"Watching Beardo's livestream panel debate show with all guests worth listening to and taking on board their comments is yet again making me think I need to change what I do and how I approach an investigation.
I'm being honest here unfortunately folks... what I do on my channel is entertainment, it maybe honest entertainment, some might say interesting and informative but it's still just that. I've been struggling with all things YouTube paranormal for all of this year as it's not what I want for the foreseeable future.
When the chance arises I'd prefer to take nothing... no equipment no cameras... nothing. If I'm going to continue my journey within this so called paranormal world, I'd like a personal experience without me constantly thinking... ooh I need that camera shot... let me get more b-roll, let me get setup here because it looks good, I must go to this location because loads of people say it's haunted, I might as well be a short film maker.
So I've decided for the time being (and that might be a long time) I'm not making anymore paranormal investigation videos... I'll still make other videos regarding history and folklore that may have ghosts mentioned in it. I feel I need to step away from YouTube style paranormal videos, as if I don't it'll put me off for good.
Watch this space folks as things will change on my channel, I totally understand if you leave but I need to go away for a while and think about what I'd like to do. I may do a livestream soon once I've had time to think.
Lots of love folks and enjoy your summer.
Btw... click this link below for a good slice of honesty within the paranormal world."
Mark released his statement on both YouTube and Facebook, and as you can see he released it on the 14th of August 2024; the same day as Beardo's livestream. I think it's incredibly honest of him to give this response which admits what he does is honest entertainment. To be clear, this isn't him admitting to faking anything, but is him admitting he has been more concerned about how entertaining his footage is to the viewer over how productive it is to the paranormal community as far as research and evidence goes. There is nothing wrong with this, and as discussed in Beardo's livestream; you need to make videos entertaining if they are to perform on YouTube.
It's a shame to hear that Mark has been struggling with all things YouTube paranormal, but it's completely understandable that he wants to go out and get a personal experience for himself without the eye of youtube watching his every action. I do think he can still go out and film his experience without worrying about certain camera shots, but I know the pressure of trying to put out nothing but the best; and so he's right with his comment about being a short film maker. Regardless of if teams are fake or real, their videos do seem like they're becoming more and more like short films. I think this is fine for the fake channels, but the real ones need to stay grounded; something which youtube will not reward.
It's a shame that Mark has decided to step away from paranormal investigation videos, but it's great that instead of giving it up entirely he is instead adjusting what he does. I think more people should cover history and folklore, especially as there is so much out there which is incorrect and needs pointing out as being so. I always say there are three or four steps to paranormal investigation: Research, investigation, analysis, and debunking. Analysis and debunking do have overlap, which is why I say three or four. I feel the research side, so looking into the history and folklore, is something people don't do often enough in a public manner.
It's good to see that Beardo's livestream has had this kind of an effect on Mark's channel 'Dead Cold' as it implies that many other who saw the livestream could have reacted in the same way. It's why I decided to not only cover the livestream in great detail, but also to cover the responses I have seen that I feel relate to the livestream. I will include a screenshot of Mark's original Facebook post at the end of the article, just to show that he has word for word said what I've quoted.
World of MrGrey's Response
A few days after Beardo's livestream, on the 19th of August 2024; Mr. Grey, from the youtube channel 'World of MrGrey', released a video which addressed both Dead Cold's statement and Beardo's livestream. This video was titled 'Time for a CHANGE // Are You Investigating the Paranormal For Entertainment Purposes or SCIENCE?' As you can see from the above image, the video also lasted for roughly seventeen minutes. He started off his video by explaining a bit about himself and his own outlook on the paranormal; mainly that he has been an open skeptic for a long time, that he's been doing it for five and a half years. He also believes in the laws of physics, along with the scientific method of testing and observation. Plus, he explained that he is open to the possibility of anything, whether right or wrong, and that he isn't debunking the paranormal; only 'stupid fake videos on youtube which people think are real'.
Regarding Beardo's livestream, Mr. Grey said it was 'very good' and that he 'very much enjoyed it'. He also said he had a couple of observations he wanted to share. One of these is that as an outsider who isn't involved in the paranormal community, you could see two paranormal videos side by side, one from a legitimate channel, and one from a fake channel, and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two videos. Even if you knew for a fact one was truthful, and the other was a lie, both videos would appear the same. This is because regardless of their validity, all of the same methods are used to investigate, the same things are said and called out, plus the same equipment is used.
Mr. Grey said he believes you shouldn't use equipment, and he does elaborate on that later in his video. He went on to say that he thinks the fake paranormal is damaging the real paranormal because you cannot tell the difference between the two. He then elaborated that he is specifically talking about on platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and tiktok. He also further explained that if you didn't know any better and took videos from different channels, they could look same for more reasons such as all having night vision, all having ovulus equipment, all having emf meters, all having sls cameras, and all using the estes method. He then emphasised that regardless of if the channels are fake or real, they all do the same things; and this is why he believes the fake is damaging the real.
He continued by saying the other problem is that YouTube thrives on sensationalism and negativity; explaining that negative videos get the most views and the most traction and that this is why drama sells, because people get excited over it and as a result it's why people look at newspapers. He used this point to explain the fake channels get more viewers, traction, and audience that the honest legitimate ones because the fake ones are shouting and screaming; and so it's more exciting to watch because for an outsider the shouting, screaming, and running away is more exciting than 'calling into the wind for eight hours a day'.
Mr. Grey also said it doesn't help that real channels are using the same methods as the fake channels, but he also acknowledged that they're doing it because it's what they've been told works. He then explained that the scientific method is to test something over and over, and if it doesn't work then you try something else. Therefore, if you use the same methods over and over and get no results, then it's time to try something else. He explained that this is how you get out of looking like the fake channels as emf, ovulus, and sls have all been used over the years with pretty much no results coming back. He then said that he doesn't class a knock as evidence as that can be caused by many different things. He also said that emf lights are not evidence as they're detecting electromagnetic frequencies and no one has said that's how you find ghosts; it's just a case of someone once decided to try it, and now it's been taken as fact.
Mr. Grey continued by saying you need to try different things, and that the estes method is something different even though it is just someone repeating what a spirit box is saying. He then said the majority of techniques were brought up by a man called Bill Chapel, and that this man was a technician for the TV programme 'Ghost Adventures' when it was in it's early days. He explained that that group would go to Bill, and he gave them gadgets to test. Mr. Grey also points out that in the beginning of earlier episodes they said they were testing new equipment, yet people are still using this equipment twenty years later with no evident results coming back; and so this is why he believes it's time for a change.
He also explained that the only reason people use night vision is because it makes things seem creepy, and that it was popularised by Most Haunted. He then said that emf had been around since the 1950s, and that Ghost Adventures popularised the ovulus, the sls, and the spirit box. He then emphasised that the various techniques and equipment commonly used were all popularised by programmes we know have faked things.
Mr. Grey then asks the question 'should paranormal investigations be filmed for youtube?' He said you have to make it entertaining for YouTube, and then questioned if you're doing it for a cool cinematic shot or to show people your findings. He also asked if it's about making YouTube videos, or if it's about parnaormal investigation. He then acknowledged that the argument people would respond with is that even though nothing was found in their video, they still want to show what they did. His response to that logic was that if you continue to show nothing happening, then should it be uploaded to YouTube or the Internet?
He continued by explaining that in scientific discovery, when a scientist discovers something then they will make some videos of the testing period but they don't make videos of every single testing period and then upload it to YouTube or share it with the scientific community. He further explained that they will put up a few tests to say what they're doing and then a year or so down the line they will release something saying what they found. In contrast to this, he said that as far as he can tell, only the paranormal field puts out content where nothing happens because they're being honest, but they will do it time and time again with no results or evidence.
This is the point where Mr. Grey reads out Dead Cold's statement, which I've featured earlier in this article. He comments on the statement by saying he doesn't think that Mark should stop doing what he enjoys, but that he understands the comment regardless. Mr. Grey also says the statement is the personification of what he was saying, and so questions that if you take out the content creation and entertainment value, then what are you filming a paranormal investigation for if you get no results? He then said he's not saying they shouldn't be made, and that he finds them entertaining, but if you're doing it for science then he questions if it should be uploaded. He also mentioned that he thinks it should be filmed just in case something does happen.
Finally, he questioned if you're trying to find proof, then should it be entertaining? He also repeated that you should try to change the methods used if you want to seperate yourself from the fake paranormal channels as they've been doing the same things for twenty years. Finally, he asks if it's about making entertaining videos or if it's about scientifically trying to prove that ghosts exist.
I think that Mr. Grey makes extremely good points and observations, which is a big reason why I wanted to document his video in detail like I have done with Beardo's livestream. I particularly resonated with him discussing night vision as I remember I did a live investigation, and people asked why I was doing it in the dark. At the time the question was asked, it threw me off guard as I didn't really know, but it later struck me that I was investigating in the fark with a night vision camera going because it's what I had learned to do from watching Most Haunted when I was younger. Putting more thought into it, I think the use of night vision is a little more complicated than that. However, the complications indicate that the use of night vision is as much of a con as it is legitimate investigating. As a result, I would argue the use of night vision to be the same as following a Ouija board's 'rules'.
To elaborate, a Ouija board is said to have a number of rules such as never playing alone, never removing your hand from the plachette during a session, and always saying goodbye when the session has finished. I believe these rules only exist to trigger the ideomotor effect, which is when you subconsciously move the planchette. They all create an atmosphere of the board being spooky, and if you don't follow the rules then it may play on your psychology outside of sessions to the point where you know you didn't follow the rules and so you begin to attribute ordinary occurrences to paranormal ones. Regarding never playing alone, I think this rule only exists to muddy up the idiomotor effect and make any movement of the planchette more convincing. I know from my own experiences, when using the planchette it can subtly move due to arm relaxation. If I wasn't playing alone, I wouldn't know that movement was me and I wouldn't have been able to replicate it as easily; therefore the idiomotor effect would become stronger as everyone would acknowledge that they didn't knowingly move the planchette.
Relating this to night vision, your senses are naturally increased in the dark. You will hear sounds you don't normally hear, and you may feel things you wouldn't normally feel. Sometimes these experiences will be legitimate, but other times they're your brain playing trick on you; likely as some part of a survival instinct while in the dark. You have a higher change of survival if you see a face, or hear a voice, that isn't there at all as opposed to not seeing or hearing anything when there is actually something there. Therefore, in the dark you are in a spooky atmosphere with heightened senses, and this means you are more likely to have experiences regardless of if they are real or fabricated by your own mind; just like what I believe happens if you follow a Ouija board's rules.
Regarding what Mr. Grey said about questioning if every investigation had to be filmed and uploaded, I do think they should be. They should definitely be filmed incase paranormal activity is captured, but also for the investigators safety when investigating abandoned locations. When it comes to the videos being uploaded, I think they should be because it shows how rare paranormal activity is. It could be argued we know this anyway due to our everyday experiences; after all we don't need to keep uploading videos which show gravity is still in effect. However, I believe it's good research to show how much footage it takes to be captured by an investigator before the next potentially paranormal thing occurs. Plus, to upload these periods of nothingness does well to seperate the legitimate investigators from the fake ones who claim to constantly get activity wherever they go.
The Cornish Ghost Whispers Statement: 22/08/24
"Looking forward to starting up paranormal again, I am going to be studying paranormal research on a professional level, it's not just going to be lives running around screaming or over the top stuff Hollywood stuff, to get more famous, or whatever media, I would like to find out more in to this that means debunking anything that possible that might not been paranormal! Instead of jumping to conclusions that it is?? I want to give you guys the whole truth of the paranormal, I think people need to know what is real and what isn't true phenomena? My museum isn't going to be like the others that have that over the top hype? But a research project, so I can give you all the best quality of paranormal, after losing my dad this is what I want to dedicate myself to, finding the truth that everyone on social media deserves! With this museum of ours, I hope you will enjoy watching this live? Xxxxx"
As you can see from their statement, the Cornish Ghost Whispers hit a good few points which were discussed by Beardo and his guests; hence why I've included the statement here. I could be wrong in thinking the statement was prompted by Beardo's livestream; but the proximity with this statement being released on the 22nd of August, roughly a week after Beardo's livestream, leads me to believe it could have been prompted by the live. Just as with Dead Cold's original statement, I will include an image of it as proof of quoting it word for word at the end of this article.
The specific points in the Cornish Ghost Whispers' statement which I believe relates to the livestream are the references to over the top behaviour, debunking, and being able to tell the difference between what is and isn't true. Plus, she mentions the angle to the paranormal that is the media and trying to become more famous. I like the statement that the Cornish Ghost Whispers have released as it sounds like a step forward to be studying paranormal research on a professional level, and she perfectly explains what every investigator should be trying to do regarding not jumping to conclusions and being over the top.
It will be interesting to see how the museum goes. I've seen a couple of articles on items they are likely going to have in the museum, so I am curious; especially as in this statement it's been described as a research project. Hopefully, this statement means that they'll be a good and legitimate team to watch in the future. Also, if the statement was influenced by Beardo's livestream, then hopefully it indicates a much larger impact that his stream may have had on people involved in the paranormal. Let's hope that it has, and that we see more and more people trying their best to question methods and equipment, and as a result bring the paranormal into a new era of legitimacy.
Thank You!
Thank you for reading this article! I know it's been a bit different from the usual articles, but I did feel it incredibly important to document all of what I viewed as responses to Beardo's amazing livestream. This article is the last in the 'Beardo Live: Fake Vs Real' series of articles, which means next Friday's article will be documenting something completely different. If you want to watch Beardo's livestream, you can click the link below. I will also include a link to Dead Cold's youtube channel too, plus a link to Mr. Grey's reaction video, and a link to the Cornish Ghost Whispers' Facebook page.
A special thank you goes to Damain, Nicolette, Kerry, GD, Gran, Chris Willcx, Nicola Jada, Nita Raveling-Hamilton, David Lee Jones, theinoculator, 1141520851813892291920, Angeles Wernicke Zapiola, Ke v, Crispinfandom, Thiago Lima, Edgar Darnell, Megzii Hughes, SPIDEY/theronwhittet, Saun Evans from Lift Hills and Thrills, Jacks-and-graves, The Cornish Ghost Whispers, Beardo Gets Scared, Starlight Phoenix Paranormal, Paranormal Penny Pinchers, the Australian Paranormal Society, Codegas Codex of Curiousity, Phantom Detectives LLC, Shadow Walkers Paranormal Investigators, South Of Spooky, Don't Scare Claire, blogparanormalexpresso2stuff, Paranormal Connections, Phantom Seekers Paranormal, chatibelieveinghosts, Purbeck Paranormal Investigators, Ghost Investigations, ParanormalTruthNetwork, haunted, Kev Kerr Paranormal, and Tamworth Castle for your continued support of The True Paranormal. If you want to be thanked in an article, or in the monthly appreciation post I make across social media, then please share my articles and tag 'The True Paranormal'. If I see that you've shared, then I will publicly thank you!
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Dead Cold's Original Statement
The Cornish Ghost Whispers' Original Statement
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