Bill Murphy - host of Fact or Faked
  | Expect the Unexpected - Paranormal Investigations
Cameras are everywhere. Mounted on buildings, in our phones, and on our computers. With so many photos and videos recording the world around us everyday, there are some mysterious images that are being broadcast on the news and on the web. Many people form an opinion about the videos, asking "Is it real?"
The SyFy Channel has assembled a team that puts compelling videos that have gone viral to the test. Beginning with witness interviews and conducting experiments in an attempt to recreate the videos the team selects, the six members of Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files investigate claims of unexplained events using a variety of tools and methods. Can the team debunk the videos they have chosen? Not always.
Hauntings, UFO's, cryptids, all this and more are subjects studied by the Fact or Faked team. Bill will discuss the making of the hit series and the steps they take while searching for their answers. Joining Bill on stage, Anita McMillan-Murphy will conduct a thought provoking experiment with volunteers from the audience that may leave attendees questioning the nature of some forms of communication.
From Objective to Subjective
Some forms of communication result in material intended for just the individuals seeking answers. The controversial methods of Instrumental Trans Communication (ITC) is considered to be on the fringe of paranormal research. The results are almost always interpreted with different meanings depending on who is reviewing the data, but the practice of ITC has been going on for decades. Many people reject the results of ITC, but others consider it to be a form of electronic scrying, a hybrid data stream influenced by mind/matter interaction. The purely experimental practice of ITC will be touched upon for those that are curious about what has been documented by a growing body of researchers that are interested in this sub-genre of paranormal investigations. |
Bill Murphy Bio: Bill was a communications major and began his career working for technology manufacturers focused on media management for over 17 years while independently producing training materials for computer graphic artists. Understanding the methods used to create visual illusions while researching paranormal phenomena provided a strong basis for Bill to examine video evidence believed by some to provide proof of paranormal activity. A white paper prepared by Bill for industry peers acknowledged artifacts resulting from employing codecs used to compress video signals that enable reasonable file sizes, but can distort the recorded images. This insight has been useful for discerning anomalies that are a byproduct of digital interpolation versus actual objects recorded by the camera. As Bill began to scrutinize media gathered from various paranormal investigation teams, he began to document events from his own research. As the evidence began to mount, he took on the role of videographer for several teams in Southern California. When Louisiana was struck by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Bill formed a production team to document the widespread trauma signature and this led to examining the reports of mysterious communication reported by some of the survivors. This was Bill's first paranormal documentary which he titled, The World's Largest Ghost Town and was followed with The Queen Mary: A Floating Phenomenon and The Stanley Effect: A Piezoelectric Nightmare! |
Anita McMillan-Murphy is a native of South Carolina and since an early age has been an advocate for special needs people. She began counseling physically and emotionally challenged youth through her church at the remarkably young age of 15. Then at the age of 25, Anita was blessed with a son who was diagnosed with Severe Factor VIII Hemophilia when he was just three days old. After researching his special needs, reality set in as she learned the cost to treat one patient can exceed $100,000 a year to maintain a regimen needed to survive. The fight to raise public awareness of this condition was on.
Anita volunteered to assist the South Carolina Hemophilia chapter ultimately becoming a board member. She lobbied in front of state legislators trying to get assistance for families facing the catastrophic cost of treating this and other illnesses. Anita demonstrated that the cascading effect of diseases that lead to other serious health issues must be considered, when there is limited public assistance, in order to provide life saving measures for individuals facing a threatening condition. Her efforts modified the guidelines the Crippled Children's fund follows to give families some relief when a loved one has been diagnosed with hemophilia. It took seven years and many fights but it is now in place. Anita states her biggest challenge was educating school administrators, hospital staff, and even strangers that would stare at the helmets and protective pads her son would need to wear.
When her son reached the age of 5 he was diagnosed with ADHD and then at age 12,Tourette Syndrom. Medications had numerous side effects and caused other complications. The decision was made to begin behavioral therapy. With such a myriad of challenging conditions, her son's traditional school asked that he be removed from class and be schooled at home. Without any viable alternatives, a program of home studies was undertaken.
After several years of being a full time care giver for her son, Anita decided to become a health care professional in order to help all patients that need empathy and proper care. Anita became a licensed phlebotomist while earning prize money from beauty pageants. She discovered that having opportunities to speak about special needs children was personally rewarding and vital to helping educate others. Anita maintains national certification and has worked in some of the finest medical facilities as a phlebotomist and will always be an advocate for all special needs patients.
