Interesting bit in the news about the visit and show.
...
The visit had to be approved by the Pentagon; Derek Kaufman, a base spokesman, said military officials considered the amount of exposure it would bring the base.
"It did have a lot to do with our decision to invite them out," Kaufman said. "It's a great showcase of Wright-Patterson for a national audience we wouldn't otherwise reach."
The Air Force recently launched a new "national awareness campaign," Kaufman said. In Jaunuary he described the 'Ghost Hunters' as "rock stars" to the age group the Air Force is trying to recruit.
"The show is huge with the 17 to 24 year-old market we are trying to attract," he said.
Now to be fair, the armed forces have every right to promote themselves and spur what has been lackluster recruitment. And they do it all the time already with ads all over the airways. And it is not like this is the first time Ghost Hunters has used their viewership to get in to places and also promoted haunted inns, restaurants, and historic sites. If you watch them, notice who the people get to introduce their places and at the end the guys always rave about the place. Deal complete. And that is real life.
But I wonder what does bug we more? The air force giving legitimacy to this woo? This show acting as an hour long recruitment poster? I think I am more disappointed in the air force. Let us face it thee guys have promoted the stupid magic meters, and in essence acted as an infomercial, at the place of the most noted Charles Manson murders (I think, I haven't seen the episode in a while and may be misremembering.). But the armed forces...they do stick all the young recruits in Colorado Springs and surround them with evangelists, what should I expect. But it was bad enough when the military aid after Katrina was trying to exorcise haunted spots in the flooded city (No. Get the water out, power on, and get the living back in.).
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