Which segments were bogus?

[Robert Stack, Jr.]

While most of UM's stories were mysterious and intriguing, I must say there were a handful of segments that I would call BS on.

Jim Boumgarten--Made a thread on this in the past. The "mystery" was just too easily solvable to have had to had an entire segment devoted to it.

The Hum--This is called "tinnitus." It's not an unsolved mystery, it's a documented medical condition.

Men in Black--No proof of anything. And even if, seeing men in dark suits with lighter-than-average facial hair is hardly worthy of national TV.

Curtis Borton--Like the Men in Black segment, there is no way to prove any of the tales told in this one. The segment lost all credibility when the sister chose not to approach the man. Whenever a person involved in a mystery ignores an opportunity to solve it, they are less about closure and more about publicity.

Does anything else ring a bell?

[Necco]

The radio murder confession was proved to be false and updated as such on UM.

I do think you're being a bit hard on Curtis' sister. The segment MAY have been wishful thinking, but I don't think it was intentionally false.

[TheCars1986]

-Any segment involving demon posession seemed fake to me.
-I think the Alan Mann/Mann family haunted house in Florida was just overactive imaginations and that the house was not haunted at all.
-The lady that had gold growing out of her body was definitely a fake, IMO.

[Blackout]

the dude who rain followed everywhere

[DarkDante]

Originally Posted by Robert Stack, Jr.

While most of UM's stories were mysterious and intriguing, I must say there were a handful of segments that I would call BS on.

Jim Boumgarten--Made a thread on this in the past. The "mystery" was just too easily solvable to have had to had an entire segment devoted to it.

The Hum--This is called "tinnitus." It's not an unsolved mystery, it's a documented medical condition.

Men in Black--No proof of anything. And even if, seeing men in dark suits with lighter-than-average facial hair is hardly worthy of national TV.

Curtis Borton--Like the Men in Black segment, there is no way to prove any of the tales told in this one. The segment lost all credibility when the sister chose not to approach the man. Whenever a person involved in a mystery ignores an opportunity to solve it, they are less about closure and more about publicity.

Does anything else ring a bell?

The Hum was not tinnitus. For it to be tinnitus it would've had to have been the most widespread epidemic of tinnitus the world has ever seen. Something in the radius of where those people were hearing the hum was generating the sound that all the individuals heard.

Boumgarten and Borton to me were obvious hoaxes. The Borton case reads right out of pure detective fiction.

Whether or not you believe in The Men In Black segment boils down to how much you buy into UFO conspiracy theories I suppose.

[zack007attack]

The fertility statues is a disgrace to UM, IMO.

Bee sting healing is an interesting idea but I still don't see how it should be an unsolved mystery. Similar to this would be pets who saved their owners' lives; though interesting, they don't quite fit the UM style.

Sleepwalking, spontaneous combustion.

[MegtheEgg86]

How about all those "amnesia" patients who upon identification suddenly discover they're wanted on criminal charges of various sorts?

[RobinW]

Can't forget to include Ed Walters and the Gulf Breeze UFO case, which was officially exposed to be a complete hoax. Because of this, UM didn't even include the segment on their UFO DVD set.

I always loved Robert Stack's update when he announced that the radio murder confession was a hoax. You could tell from his voice that he was legitimately pissed!

[Necco]

Originally Posted by RobinW

Can't forget to include Ed Walters and the Gulf Breeze UFO case, which was officially exposed to be a complete hoax. Because of this, UM didn't even include the segment on their UFO DVD set.

I always loved Robert Stack's update when he announced that the radio murder confession was a hoax. You could tell from his voice that he was legitimately pissed!

That was such a great moment. It was then I realized that Robert Stack really cared about these cases and wasn't just doing a job.

[Gelatinous Goo]

Originally Posted by MegtheEgg86

How about all those "amnesia" patients who upon identification suddenly discover they're wanted on criminal charges of various sorts?

It's funny someone should bring this up, as I was thinking about such cases not long ago. While the people featured were obviously looking for a convenient way out of their problems, the stories were certainly intriguing when they first aired and had yet to be "solved". The advent of the internet has rendered such entertainment antiquated. Too bad; it certainly beat reality TV!

Who was the first person to be featured in one of these hoaxes? Tyler?

Then there was the case of Craig Williamson, who may have created his own alibi through watching such UM cases!

[1990 UM fan]

Originally Posted by zack007attack

The fertility statues is a disgrace to UM, IMO.

Bee sting healing is an interesting idea but I still don't see how it should be an unsolved mystery. Similar to this would be pets who saved their owners' lives; though interesting, they don't quite fit the UM style.

Sleepwalking, spontaneous combustion.

How is that bogus? It really happens to people. My brother used to suffer from it.

[Necco]

Yeah, are you talking about the kid who ran into the truck?

Sleepwalking happens.

[zack007attack]

I'm not really saying it's bogus, just that I don't see the whole rationale behind showing such cases on UM; putting it on UM is kind of like comparing apples and oranges.

[DarkDante]

Originally Posted by zack007attack

I'm not really saying it's bogus, just that I don't see the whole rationale behind showing such cases on UM; putting it on UM is kind of like comparing apples and oranges.

As has been discussed much previously UM went off the deep end around 1995 or so when they began favoring segments on phenomena as opposed to the true crime fare that had previously been their hallmark. By strictest definition both types of segments fall into the category of mysteries but I easily see your point. The show really did become akin to apples and oranges then which is why for the most part a lot of the cases that were profiled during those years aren't as highly regarded as the ones profiled in years previous, right or wrong.

[Necco]

Ah, so more of a "jumped the shark" sort of bogus, not fake bogus.