Pripyat: October 2009 Archives

Destination Truth's Ghosts of Chernobyl episode finally aired on SyFy last night. I think the only good thing I can say is it was interesting to see Pripyat at night, though it seemed they only spent time in the hospital complex, the cultural center and amusement park. The thermal image of the ferris wheel was also pretty cool.

However, there was a bit of misinformation and redirection in the segment. Since I know the Chernobyl area pretty well, it was easy to identify misinformation and see how their editing took scenes out of chronological order. For instance, there is no "5 km checkpoint." The Dytyatky Checkpoint is at the southern entrance to the 30 km Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The Leliv Checkpoint is located 10 km from the Chernobyl Plant. What Josh Gates said was the 5 km checkpoint is at the entrance to Pripyat, which is 2-3 km from the Chernobyl Plant.

Editing took viewers from the Pripyat Checkpoint directly into the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant parking lot where visitors can see a close up of the Sarcophagus covering Reactor 4 (the visitor's center is also located at this parking lot). In reality, they would have visited the Chernobyl Plant several minutes after passing the Leliv Checkpoint, not the Pripyat Checkpoint.

The Thyroid Shield additive and radiation protection suits were definite overkill. The group was way too concerned about their radiation exposure. They did not seem to be in any areas of Pripyat that are known to have higher levels of contamination.

There is absolutely no way their cumulative dose of radiation reached a dangerous limit in that short amount of time. I personally know people who spend a lot more time in Pripyat, including in areas with higher levels of radiation and they have never had a problem ... and never wore radiation protection suits. Either someone manually set off the alarm or they set their dosimeter to sound its alarm at a very low level, just for effect.

As far as their evidence, my first reaction to the thermal footage with the shape in the window was a reflection, which was later verified by Jason and Grant from Ghost Hunters. I also question the other thermal footage that was referred to as a "great piece of evidence." The Destination Truth crew may have all been in radiation suits, but the shape could have been one of their cameramen or it could have been their guide Yuri. Despite what they implied, there is no way they would have been left completely alone in Pripyat without a guide.

They also got all excited about the small light in the cultural center (second floor of the building). As Jason and Grant mentioned, it could have been an animal. Wild dogs are known to wander the streets of Pripyat. If they did any research on the city, they would also know that thieves have been looting Pripyat for more than 20 years and continue to do so today. Could it have been a looter's flashlight?

The EVP session was also a joke. Construction of Pripyat began in 1970, so it was a young city that was only populated during Soviet times. Why the hell would you ask questions of spirits in the English language? In this location, do you really think someone is going to be able to understand a question in English and respond in English?

Lastly, Jael's freak out when she was "touched" reminded me of a scene with a wrestler on one of Ghost Hunter's live Halloween specials. It was too much of an overreaction to be real. The Destination Truth group is supposed to be there searching for the paranormal. If every little thing is going to scare you, why would you go on such investigations?

Overall, I found the Ghosts of Chernobyl episode to be a disappointment. For me, it revealed major issues with the Destination Truth show - issues that were previously suspected, but now seem more true than ever. These people are supposed to be professionals, yet whenever they see anything suspicious, they jump to the immediate conclusion they experienced something paranormal. Josh Gates has worked with Jason and Grant from Ghost Hunters and should be quite familiar with their approach, where if something is experienced, you investigate and try to disprove it.

I guess I should end with what I thought was a fascinating and appropriate quote from Josh Gates at the end of the episode's second segment: "Panic is a powerful agent of  imagination." I think Gates and his crew proved that tonight in the Chernobyl segment, where the destination was not the truth.