Ghost Hunters is a paranormal reality television series that premiered on October 6, 2004 on the Syfy Channel. The program features paranormal investigators Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson ,along with other members of The Atlantic Paranormal Society, who investigate places that are reported to be haunted across America. Each show features a different investigation in which the TAPS team attempts to collect "hard proof" of a haunting. This "hard proof" can be audio or video recording and/or odd readings from equipment. The investigators also attempt to "debunk", or find natural explanations of, claims of hauntings before declaring any location haunted. If substantial evidence is collected, Jason & Grant declare the location haunted.
Jason Hawes created The Atlantic Paranormal Society, or TAPS, with fellow plumber Grant Wilson. Both are part of a small, blue-collar Rhode Island community where many of the TAPS members were born and raised.
His own highly personal paranormal experience (which he prefers not to discuss) prompted Jason to do more than wonder about an afterworld. He launched TAPS from a spare room of his apartment.
Jason met Grant more than a decade ago, and they're best friends. Jason's three girls and twin boys consider Grant an adopted uncle, and Grant's kids view Jason the same way. Their wives, also friends, respect TAPS's mission, but keep their distance. Each has asked her husband not to bring his paranormal work home.
Jason enjoys chasing ghosts, obviously, but he also loves spending time with his kids, deep-sea fishing and writing screenplays — he has written four sci-fi/thriller stories.
When Grant Wilson's not hunting or plumbing, he's whipping together an authentic Italian dish (he spent two years in Italy and speaks Italian fluently). He also can be spotted writing songs on the piano and guitar, and penning fantasy novels.
He and Jason Hawes met more than 10 years ago, and they live in the same small, blue-collar Rhode Island community where many of the TAPS members were born and raised.
Like Jason, Grant had a life-altering experience with the afterworld, and both prefer not to discuss the incidents. In doing the show, Grant has encountered human ("regular" ghosts) and inhuman (demons and such) hauntings.
Grant is humble, self-assured and inquisitive as TAPS searches for answers, and he is comfortable with unsolved events. Through the years, Grant and Jason have not forgotten why they do what they do — to find answers for themselves, and to help others who have experienced paranormal activity but don't know what to do about it.
Steve Gonsalves is the TAPS technology manager and evidence analyst. It is his responsibility to train all TAPS members how to use and maintain the team's wide range of high-tech equipment.
As the technology manager, Steve oversees all members of the TAPS Tech team. This includes investigators, technical advisors and investigators-in-training. Steve has been a public speaker and educator about paranormal phenomena for more than 10 years. He is also the co-founder of the TAPS publication, Paramagazine.
Kris Williams was born in Massachusetts and raised in New Hampshire as the oldest of three children. Her close-knit family was always open to the possibility of the paranormal - specifically ghost hauntings.
"My mom grew up in a house that was very active [with paranormals] and my father's side has had several experiences over the years," said Kris.
And although Kris was raised as a believer she still considers herself to be a big skeptic. She is known to not believe things unless she sees, hears or feels them for herself and is given the opportunity to personally debunk them.
These same strong opinions, keen analytical skills and her friendships with Jason and Grant are what brought her to TAPS. TAPS offered the opportunity to: have explanations for the things she'd experienced, indulge in her love of history and utilize her background in genealogy, which started off as a fourth grade school project and then turned into a life long obsession.
"Jason and Grant felt my experience with researching the dead through genealogy would carry over well in the field of the paranormal. They also felt they needed a no nonsense, rational female, who didn't scare easily and could also stand her ground in a group made up of mainly males," said Kris.
Before joining TAPS, as their historical researcher and investigator, Kris worked as a flooring installer and carpenter for three years. She's also worked in electronics.
Dave Tango, has worked with TAPS for the past several years. His current role within the team is as an investigator and evidence analyst. Dave has always been interested in the paranormal and loves being able to find answers to the questions he has.
"I used to perform professional magic shows for children and adults alike, so I still have a fond interest in magic and illusions," said Dave.
In his free time he enjoys listening to electronic music, brainstorming inventions and spending all his money on gadgets. Dave also enjoys photography, art, working out and music creation.
And although in ghost hunting the team sometimes encounter spirits that may not be so nice, Dave enjoys being around people who are caring and considerate of others.
"My heroes are the kind of people who do things for the less fortunate, who are always giving without wanting anything in return."
Amy Bruni is a good example of what happens when a hobby, turns into a passion, which in turn becomes a way of life. Like many in the paranormal field, Amy grew up in a haunted house. Yet, unlike most in that situation, Amy's family embraced it. Her Father was an amateur paranormal investigator and routinely, he and Amy would investigate haunted sites.
At a young age, she was reading and absorbing everything paranormal related she could get her hands on — and as she grew to adulthood, that didn't change.
Her first investigative job was with a paranormal team in Sacramento, California. And eventually her lifetime of supernatural knowledge drew the attention of Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson of The Atlantic Paranormal Society and the SCI FI Channel series, Ghost Hunters. She then began helping them with various TAPS activities and shortly thereafter, she helped form the first ever TAPS satellite team, TAPS West. Since then, Jason and Grant have recruited Amy to be part of the TAPS home team on the East Coast and now she travels with the show as a core team member.
Most recently, Amy has been using her connections in the field to conduct important research on the nature of group dynamics in the paranormal, and she's also begun lecturing on ghosts and the supernatural.
Her goal is to work across the paranormal community with the hope that serious field research can occur and then be shared within the society.
Britt’s interest in the paranormal began when he was a teenager. He lived with his parent’s and personally experienced paranormal activity. Britt joined an organized paranormal investigative group in 2003. In 2007, he helped form the TAPS West Coast home team, in which he currently leads today.
He has also joined SciFi's Ghost Hunters (season four) as a part time investigator.
Britt is also an instructor for the TAPS Para-101 classes on the West Coast.
Brian Joseph Harnois was an investigator with and on both Sci-Fi Channel's Ghost Hunters and Sci-Fi Channel's Ghost Hunters International. He has been on over 600 investigations in his 17 year career as a paranormal investigator and has been all over the world. He has been to many majr haunted places like Waverly Hills Sanatorium, Eastern State Pentitentary, The Stanley Hotel, Chillingham Castle, and many, many more. Brian has seen many different types of hauntings and paranormal activity. He has witnessed everything from residual hauntings, demonic posessions, and even has come face to face twice with an inhuman entity. He is still doing paranormal research and has scheduled a bunch of events, lectures, radio shows, and conventions for 2009 as he continues to spread his knowledge of the paranormal to anyone who is interested. Brian is also in the middle of writing his own book about his exploits in the paranormal field over his 17 year career.
