The truth about Fake Paranormal investigators through Hubhopper

Paranormal Reality is a podcast hosted by paranormal investigator Jay Alani. It is one of the successfully running podcasts hosted on Hubhopper Studio, with more than 7 million listens.
The show captures the journey of a man who is extensively trying to uncover the reality of the
paranormal. The host talks about his experiences and voyages while exploring the world of
the paranormal.

In a conversation with Thought Habitat, Jay Alani is answering some fundamental questions about paranormal activities. Also, he is revealing the truth behind ghost identification and how credible his show is.

We always have a question when it comes to ghosts. Do they really exist?

I don’t think any human or machine can prove the existence of ghosts. There are definitely things in this world like theories and incidents that no one can explain. Being a paranormal investigator, I believe my job is not to prove that ghosts exist. I dwell more into anti blind faith and superstitions. Even if ghosts do exist, I personally believe that their perception of existence has been wrongly created.

Your Hubhopper Podcast has got episodes that are aired live. How do we know that it is all happening real?

When it comes to the kind of content I create, it’s all about trust. I do my work with my sheer honesty and I present the same to my listeners. Different people perceive things differently. So far, I’ve been fortunate that all of my listeners have shown deep faith and trust in me. I think even the numbers speak for themselves. A lot of people contact me on my socials after tuning into my podcast and I’ve never had anyone tell me that they found it faux.

As a paranormal investigator, how do you identify ghosts?

I do not identify ghosts – I identify stories. There’s a perception about paranormal investigators that they carry huge fancy machines to contact ghosts and catch them. I think it’s all a gimmick. My investigation methods are different. I don’t usually use a lot of machines but when I do, it’s just to show people that they don’t really work. I rely more on my instincts, gut and what I’m feeling at that moment. I take in all kinds of information from my surroundings like sounds and see if I can logically explain them.

Paranormal investigation is tough and it’s a lifetime learning process. You have to be prepared for a lot of things. You need to have accurate knowledge of local wildlife. You should know what kind of animals are there and what kind of sounds they make. We all know what sound a cat or a horse makes. But there are a lot of animals, like bullfrog, barn owls or redfox, that we don’t know enough about, much less what they’ll sound like.

Imagine entering a haunted location at 2 am, with a preconceived notion of finding a ghost there, and encountering these animals that sound like someone’s screeching or crying. So it’s not possible to identify ghosts if you don’t know these things. You should also have knowledge about local history, traffic,and population of and around the location. That’s how I do my research and investigation.

So is it safe to say that, with experience, it becomes easier to detect these things?

Yes, it does but there are new challenges everyday in this field. Some locations are a lot easier to cover than others. For instance, places that come under the Archeological Survey of India are harder to cover because you need all kinds of permissions. There are other things like wildlife coming closer to civilization or haunted places like Bhangarh turning into hotspots for tourists where everyone wants to see ghosts. So, you have to face challenges like these everyday during your investigation.

Would you like to share the most exciting paranormal activity which you ever experienced?

A lot of people would expect that we see exciting things in this profession but that’s not always the case. Excitement comes from uncertainty and lack of knowledge. In my beginning years, I used to get spooked by unusual noises but now I know that there’s an explanation behind everything so I look for logic and reasons instead of running in the opposite direction.

One incident that recently happened was when I was investigating Garh Kundar fort in Madhya Pradesh with my team. The place was huge so we decided to split up to cover more area. I took a torch and a night vision camera and started covering the underground level of the fort. As I was passing by pillars, I felt like I walked by someone but when I backtracked, there was no one. Later we found out that it was just a reflection of a rock. So, more than getting excited, we look for reasons behind things that might seem unnatural.

Let us say, we believe in your theory of paranormal activities. How could we identify one for ourselves?

Firstly, I don’t advise anyone to explore haunted locations especially at night. People think that I say this because there’s a ghost there. No, I say this because that’s not the only danger you might face. If you do come across such a situation and you feel like running away, then don’t.

If you run, you might create a dangerous situation. You can trip, get injured or even get snake-bites. Believe it or not, there are more chances of it happening. You can even end up spooking an animal and it might start running in your direction. Anything can happen during that disruption. The best thing to do is to stay calm and look for reasons. If you look for it, you’ll find it!