Setting the Record Straight: Jason Hawes on Paranormal Community Drama, Standards, and What Really Matters

There comes a point where you have to stop, look around at what's happening in the paranormal community, and say something — even when it's uncomfortable. That's exactly where I find myself right now. Between the drama that certain people have dragged into a field I've dedicated my life to, and the broader conversations we need to be having about how we conduct ourselves as investigators, I felt it was time to sit down and talk openly with all of you.

I've been doing this work for a long time. I founded TAPS back in the early days when paranormal investigation wasn't a television spectacle — it was a calling. Ordinary people were reaching out because something in their home or their workplace was frightening them, disrupting their lives, and they had nowhere to turn. We showed up, we listened, and most importantly, we tried to find a rational explanation before we ever entertained the idea that something paranormal was at play. That approach hasn't changed for me. Not once. And that's part of why what's been happening lately in the community bothers me as much as it does.

Let's be honest about something. The paranormal field has grown enormously, and with that growth has come an influx of people who are more interested in the drama, the clout, and the content than they are in the actual work. I get it — social media rewards spectacle. But when you start manufacturing conflict, making false claims, or treating grieving and frightened people like a backdrop for your personal brand, you've crossed a line. You're not a paranormal investigator anymore. You're an entertainer playing dress-up with something that real people take seriously. The families who contact us aren't looking for a show. They're looking for answers. They deserve investigators who come in with integrity, patience, and a genuine commitment to the truth — whatever that truth turns out to be.

I also want to address the community itself, because I think we have a responsibility to hold each other accountable. For years I've watched good investigators stay quiet while bad actors spread misinformation, fake evidence, and toxic behavior because nobody wanted to start something. I understand that instinct. I've been there. But silence has a cost. When we don't speak up, we allow the loudest, most reckless voices to define what the public thinks this field is. We allow the charlatans to set the standard. And then we wonder why serious researchers struggle to be taken seriously. That stops when we decide it stops — when people who actually care about this work choose integrity over comfort.

What I'm asking for isn't complicated. Come into every location trying to disprove what's being reported. Exhaust every natural explanation — drafts, infrasound, electrical interference, structural settling, psychological factors — before you point a camera at a corner and call it haunted. Treat the people you're investigating for with dignity. Be honest about what your evidence shows and what it doesn't. And when someone in this community is cutting corners, faking results, or bringing unnecessary drama that harms the field, say something. We built something real here. TAPS was founded on the principle that we serve the client first, the truth second, and ourselves last. That's still the standard I hold myself to, and it's the standard I'm asking this community to return to.

I don't enjoy having these conversations, but I've learned that avoiding them only makes things worse. The paranormal community is full of genuinely passionate, talented, and honest people — and those are the people I want to show up and keep doing this work. If tonight's livestream struck a nerve, good. Let's use that energy to make this field what it was always meant to be.