Last night in Annapolis Bruce Beehler started his talk by asking us how many
of us believed the Ivory-billed is still around. I didn't take a count but I
think there were as many of us skeptics as there were believers.
    Somehow  - and I am somewhat ashamed to admit this - I left the TV on
after the news and Maury Povich comes on. His topic is 2 women who think
their house is haunted. A team of "paranormal investigators" go in there,
make recordings of voices that they claim are ghosts speaking and take some
video of some lights flashing aoround the room. They speak of "energy" at
certain locations in the house that confirm the existence of paranormal
things.
    Needless to say, I saw a parallel between the evidence for the ghosts
and the evidence for the Ivory-billed at both the Arkansas and Florida
locations. Until these people can come up with some MUCH better evidence, to
me they're just ghostbusters who, if you want to believe the ghosts are
there, will be glad to come in and tell you what you want to hear.
    I was as extatatic as everyone else at the news of the Ivory-billed
"confirmation" when it came out. Then I heard Tim Gallagher speak to us at
the MOS convention last year and he converted me from a potential believer
to a die hard skeptic in little over an hour. To me his terrible footage and
recordings were that unconvincing.
    The team in Florida seemed to want to say that the lack of photos and
other good evidence is just simply because this bird is that elusive and
determined to stay undetected.
    So are ghosts.
    Jerry Tarbell
    Carroll County