Live Q&A With Jason Hawes and JV Johnson: Your Paranormal Questions Answered
“I walk into every location trying to disprove everything first — that's not cynicism, that's respect. Respect for the location, respect for the people living through something frightening, and respect for the truth.”
— Jason Hawes
There's nothing I enjoy more than sitting down directly with the people who've followed this work for years and just talking — no filters, no scripts, just honest conversation about the paranormal field. That's exactly what JV Johnson and I did during our recent live session, opening the floor to your questions and hanging out the way this community was always meant to operate. If you missed it live, here's a look at what we covered and why these conversations matter to me.
I've been doing this long enough to know that the investigation itself is only part of the story. The other part is the community — the people who watch, who question, who share their own experiences, and who push us to keep thinking critically about what we do. JV and I jumped on live specifically because we wanted that direct line. No production buffer, no edits. Just two guys who've spent a lot of years in this field taking questions in real time and giving you the most honest answers we can.
One of the things that always comes up in these sessions — and I expect it did here too — is methodology. People want to know how I approach a case, and my answer is always the same: I walk in trying to disprove everything first. That's not cynicism, that's respect — respect for the location, respect for the people experiencing something frightening, and respect for the truth. If I can find a rational explanation, I will find it. A drafty window, faulty wiring, infrasound from nearby pipes — these things cause real experiences that feel completely paranormal to the person going through them. My job is to rule all of that out before I even consider another explanation.
JV is someone who understands that balance. We've had a lot of conversations over the years about where skepticism ends and open-mindedness begins, and I think that tension is actually what makes this field worth taking seriously. During the live, we had a chance to dig into that dynamic — talking about cases that stumped us, cases we debunked cleanly, and the ones that still sit with me because I couldn't land on either side with confidence. Those inconclusive cases are the ones that keep me going, honestly. They're the reason TAPS still operates the way it does after all these years.
What I appreciate most about doing a live format is the unpredictability of the questions. You never know what someone's going to ask, and that keeps you sharp. Some people come in with deeply personal experiences they've never shared publicly. Others want to debate equipment choices or talk about the evolution of investigation techniques since Ghost Hunters first aired. All of it is valid, and all of it contributes to a larger conversation that I think the paranormal field desperately needs — one grounded in accountability, curiosity, and a willingness to say 'I don't know' when you genuinely don't know.
These live sessions with JV are something I plan to keep doing because the feedback loop with this community is irreplaceable. Whether you've been following since the early TAPS days or just found your way here recently, your questions shape the work. Stay skeptical, stay curious — and keep asking the hard ones.