DESTINATION TRUTH - Ghosts of Chernobyl & Sal'awa

SyFy Channel - Original Air Date: 9/30/09

Josh and crew go to Ukraine to investigate the famous nuclear meltdown site at Chernobyl. Is it haunted by the ghost of its victims?  The team passes through the 3 security zones intended to keep people out of the still-highly-radioactive area, taking radiation gear and detectors with them.  Despite the radioactivity, locals -- including a patrol officer -- are seeing strange things in the ruins: ghosts and spirits.  The DT equipment gets a little goofy (radiation?) as our heroes move through the area, and the Fleer (thermal) camera seems to show a human shape darting across a window.  One of the team suggests a reflection, and notes they will have to check it out later.  They see another shape, before the radiation makes them move from the area.  They then search the city and see other odd things and start hearing things, too.  When they've reached their radiation limits, they head back to the US to consult the Ghost Hunters.  Some of the "hits" are probably animals, others reflections.  But one figure the GH declare "good evidence" -- but evidence of what?

Switching locations to Egypt, the team looks for the Sal'awa, a wolf-like creature that supposedly haunts the sugarcane fields.  Some locals convince Josh to kiss a live cobra, before heading south to find the monster.  After the usual scary rumors and eyewitness encounters, the team sets up base camp, cameras, and trap cameras.  They begin poking around at night (naturally) and soon find some signs, including fresh dog-like tracks, which they take casts of.  Things get freaky as Jael hears growling and the team starts running through the cane fields.  They spot eye shine and hear howling and other noises, and try to chase the creature out into the open.  This seems a dangerous thing to do with a wild animal, and the crew quickly backs off and tries to flank it when something emits a deep growl.  They emerge without a sighting, and hope that their cameras caught something.  Back home, an expert listens to their tapes, and suggests a canine or -- perhaps a wolf or dog or some local domestic animal.  They do capture an Egyptian fox on camera, and Josh concludes the Sal'awa may be a combination of local canines and the fox (which looks like the DT CGI model) exaggerated to monstrous proportions.

Another fun entry in this series, which even includes a likely suspect for the monster. It seems to me that if there were less superstition and fear in the world, there would be less "monsters."  (And, perhaps sadly, less need for fun shows like Destination Truth.)