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I’m miss Destination Truth, but I put together a short list of some of my favorite episodes. Pretty much every episode is a gem but here’s a couple that jump to mind. Which are your favorite episodes?

Season 2, Episode 11: Aswang & Haunted Forest

This episode has a much creepier atmosphere than the others. Josh and team head into the forest to investigate ghost sightings. This forest is the site of an alleged 1,000 suicides and is riddled with warnings asking people not to kill themselves. Additionally, there’s a wrecked campsite and personal items strewn around. It plays like the Blair Witch Project, but this one’s real. Incredibly creepy and sad.

Season 3, Episode 2: Island of the Dolls/Lusca

Old tattered dolls can be creepy. Dark, lonely islands can be creepy. Being on the site where a young girl supposedly drowned can be creepy. Combine them all together and you have the freakiest island I’ve ever seen. The place is riddled with hundreds of rotting dolls strung up to trees, poles and scattered on the ground. At any second you expect one of them to come to life and start talking. It’s unnerving!

Season 3, Episode 4: Ghosts of Chernobyl/Sal’awa

Josh is truly risking life and limb for this one; he heads right into the middle of ground zero of Chernobyl. Saying it’s a ghost town is a complete understatement. There is absolutely no human life and the creatures that scurry around on the outskirts are just small animals, but you really get the feeling they’re horribly mutated or "changed" and they’re going to attack. The plot of a scary horror movie to be sure.

Season 3, Episode 6: Chullachaqui/Bermuda Triangle

This episode is hilarious. We all know there are some funky things going on in the Bermuda Triangle and as you might expect, when Josh gets there odd things happen. You know things are off to a rocky start when the roof of your scout plane comes off and you have to yell to your crew to hang on. And that’s just the start. The runways and the coastline are littered with crashed airplanes and as Josh is flying over the island and into the hotspots, he loses all communication with the team and the instruments go haywire. It’s all fun and games until you’re flying through the clouds without instruments. No wonder his team changes so frequently.

Season 3, Episode 13: Haunted Mining Town/The Taniwha

This also one of the creepier episodes. Josh and team go to an abandoned mining town where remnants of the old workers, including children, are scattered all over the place. But the really scary part is the massive cemetery full of unmarked graves and exposed remains. The graves have literally crumbled apart and the skeletons are looking back at you. You see this sort of thing on amusement park haunted rides, not within an old town. Wild stuff!

Other Articles of Interest:

• Ghost Adventures – Island of the Dolls – S10E04
• Destination Truth – Season 1 and Season 4
• Destination Truth – Haunted Mining Town/Taniwha S03E13
• Destination Truth: Season 1 – Finally on DVD!
• Destination Truth – Vampire Monster and Island of the Damned – S05E06
• Destination Truth – Pompeii – Nandi Beast S04E01
• Ghost Adventures Season 2 Available Today
• Destination Truth – Spirits of Easter Island – The Moa – S03E15
• Ghost Adventures returns tonight with a marathon!
• Ghost Hunters at Alcatraz 100th Episode

Easter Island

Josh and team head to Easter Island to investigate mysterious spirits that are not only said to inhabit the island by may also be responsible for the creation of the Moai. (I have to admit right off I had no idea there were so many of those statues on the island. I thought there were a few dozen, not several hundred).

On the tiny island Josh talks with locals who believe they’ve seen and experienced the spirits. They describe them as shadows, and claim to hear workers calling out directions for the construction of the Moai. They are also told that the island itself contains energy and can either accept or reject you. Upon the advice of a local tribal leader and a local healer Josh seeks out a special plant that will protect them as well as increase their chances of the experiencing the spirits of the island. Following the special map the healer has created they inch their way along a sheer rock cliff until they find the leaf. I have to say this is one precarious climb and the crazy drink better be worth the trek! And was it me or did this entire segment seem like some sort of Holy Grail quest?

After bringing the leaf back they’re made a tea and drink to luck. Right afterward the team gets ready for the investigation. Of course, I fully expected Josh and Ryder to start hallucinating and speaking in tongues, but the drink didn’t seem to throw them off kilter any more than they already were.

Things move quickly with Josh and Ryder seeing a floating orb off in the distance. They give chase but end the pursuit as they literally come to the end of the island. They stop right at the foot of a Moai. No sooner have they stopped when Evan goes "straight up crazy bananas", throws his camera equipment down, rips off his shirt and starts screaming that something is all over him (are we sure Evan didn’t drink the crazy brew made by the old medicine woman from the strange plant?). It’s so bizarre and so out of character you have to wonder what the hell is going on. Evan claims he feels hands all over him, grabbing and pulling at him. He’s clearly unnerved and freaked out (and partially naked, in the rain no less). But there is no evidence of the assault so the team has no choice but to press on and continue the investigation (while Evan puts his shirt back on).

They soon come across a cave and start an EVP session (because you always go into the creepy cave during a rainstorm and start asking questions). They get some moans and groans in response to their questions, but nothing quite definitive. That is until the EMF meter goes off for no apparent reason. Clearly there is no electricity in there so that is a little strange.

Meanwhile, Rex and team are doing their own investigation in the woods when Rex hears someone calling his name. He hears quite a bit of movement and footsteps but they aren’t able to capture much. Are the spirits talking to Rex or is it just his imagination and the wind?

When all is said and done they capture some sounds and what could be a moan. Since most of the recordings come from their time in the cave, a lot of the sounds could be water, rocks, animals or other echoes. Clearly there is some spiritual energy out there and people believe in and respect that energy. Was it enough to be captured on tape? No, but that doesn’t make the island less mysterious and if you ask Evan, something is surely out there.

The Moa

The Moa is a real life bird that used to live in New Zealand and is thought to be extinct. But is it? People have recently begun to have sightings that may dispute that claim. The Moa is a wingless bird that can grow to over 10 feet tall and remains have been found in multiple locations.

But before they can even begin the investigation they are plagued with problems. First the GPS won’t actually give them directions in a language they can understand (technology, such a convenience). Next, Ryder feels compelled to show off her sheep herding skills. Sadly, she must have left those in her other adventurer pants and all we see if Ryder running back and forth across the field with great speed and dexterity, but alas, no sheep in hand. Good effort though… I guess…

After talking with some locals and the museum staff they formulate a plan (which includes a helicopter) to head into the high country to see where some of the remains of the Moa have been found. They head right up to the top of a snow packed mountain peak and while looking around Josh and Evan take a bit of a tumble. It certainly looks like they’re going to tumble down the mountain but they manage to dig in and keep from falling off the cliff. We don’t need a cliffhanger with Josh and Evan literally hanging off a cliff, that is a bit much.

Narrowly escaping disaster they head back to the low country to scout the area with the help of a plane and boat. Of course when it comes to boats and planes, who doesn’t want to play a game of chicken and Ryder buzzes Josh as she skims along the water. Considering their luck with motorized craft I half expected some sort of mechanized water disaster to occur. Luckily it was all good clean fun and no harm was done.

They made their way to shore and set up base camp. Josh and Ryder set off on a sweep and get a hit on the thermal. Considering the distance and the fact the thermal hit was a red blob, it could have been anything. But not to let an opportunity get away, Josh bolts down the path after it, and right over another cliff. With the audio completely "bleeped out" we see Josh go headlong into the bushes. Unfazed he jumps up and says whatever he was chasing is gone. That’s it Josh, walk it off!

As they continue looking around they find some feathers, a jawbone, and footprints. The teams also hears plenty of noises like rustling, footsteps and broken branches. They are in a forest so for the most part that is all pretty normal stuff, no?

And with that they head back to HQ to analyze the evidence.

Many of the sounds were of native birds. Rare birds, but regular birds none the less. Also, the feathers were from native birds and didn’t belong to the Moa family. The footprints were from a large bird, but not from the Moa. Strangely, the evidence gathered is from rare and hard to capture birds which does speak to a need for conservation, but doesn’t quite support that the Moa is still in existence. A wild ride to be sure with the team risking life and limb and falling down a lot. However, both of these cases will remain a mystery for now.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Destination Truth – Vampire Monster and Island of the Damned – S05E06
• Destination Truth – Naree Pon/Aiya Napa – S04E13
• Destination Truth – Vietnam’s Bigfoot – S05E01
• Josh Gates and Erin Ryder on the Radio
• Destination Truth – Ghosts of Masada/The Leprechaun S03E10
• Destination Truth – Sandstorm Spirits Cerro Azul – S04E11
• Destination Truth Spirits Of Angkor Wat/Canadian Lake Monster S04E02
• Destination Truth – Great Wall/Israeli Mermaid S03E11
• Destination Truth – Hanging Coffins and Kiyik Adam – S05E07
• Destination Truth – Live from Ireland – S04E09