Setting the Record Straight: Jason Hawes Speaks Out on Paranormal Community Drama and What's Really Going On

There comes a point where you have to stop, look around, and say something — and for me, that point is now. The paranormal community is something I've dedicated my life to, and lately, I've been watching things unfold that I can't stay quiet about any longer. Tonight, I'm sitting down and having an honest, unfiltered conversation about the state of the paranormal world, the drama that some people have dragged into it, and what I think we need to do to get back on track.

I've been doing this for a long time. I founded TAPS back in the early days when paranormal investigation wasn't a mainstream conversation — it was something people whispered about, something that got you laughed out of rooms. We worked hard to change that. We brought a methodical, skeptic-first approach to a field that desperately needed credibility. Every location I walk into, my first job is to disprove what's being reported. Not to confirm it, not to sensationalize it — to disprove it. That discipline is what separates genuine investigation from entertainment theater, and it's a standard I still hold myself to every single day.

But here's the thing about building something meaningful — it attracts all kinds of people. Most of them are genuine. They're curious, they're passionate, they're doing the work with integrity. And then there are others who see the paranormal community as a platform, a shortcut to followers, to clout, to controversy. Lately, the drama some of those people have brought with them has been impossible to ignore. I'm not going to name names tonight — that's not what this is about — but I do think it's important to call out the behavior patterns that are hurting this field. Manufactured conflicts, misinformation being spread as fact, personal attacks dressed up as "community concern" — none of that serves the work. None of that helps the families who reach out to us genuinely frightened about what's happening in their homes.

What I want to talk about tonight goes deeper than gossip. It's about what we stand for as investigators and as a community. When I built TAPS, the mission was never about fame. It was about helping people. It was about taking their experiences seriously while also being honest with them when there's a rational explanation for what they're going through — and most of the time, there is one. A large percentage of what gets reported as paranormal has a perfectly logical cause: faulty wiring creating electromagnetic fields that affect how people feel in a space, carbon monoxide leaks, infrasound from nearby machinery, simple settlement sounds in old buildings. Doing this work with integrity means being willing to deliver that answer even when the client was hoping for something more dramatic. The moment you start chasing drama instead of truth, you've lost the plot entirely.

So tonight I want to reset the conversation. I want to talk about where the community is right now, what I've been seeing, and what I genuinely believe we need to move forward in a way that honors the work. I also want to hear from you — the people who've followed this journey, who've believed in what we've been building, who show up not for the spectacle but because you actually care about understanding the unknown. This community is worth fighting for. The paranormal is worth investigating seriously. And I'm not going anywhere — but I'm also not going to sit silently while the foundation of what we've built gets chipped away by people more interested in chaos than in answers.

At the end of the day, my commitment hasn't changed — I'm still walking into every location as a skeptic, still putting the work before the drama, and still believing that this field deserves to be taken seriously. I hope you'll join me tonight at 8:30 PM EST for an honest conversation about where we go from here. The truth, whatever form it takes, is always worth pursuing.