Ghost Trap

A piece of ghostbusting equipment almost as important as the proton pack in the Ghostbusters universe, the ghost trap was used for detaining and transporting "busted" ghosts until they could be safely stuffed into the Ecto Containment Unit. Believed by some to entrap the ghost with a laser containment field, precisely how the trap works was never fully explained in the films. For filming, the production utilized both hero, stunt, and smoking traps. The hero traps were designed to be cosmetically appealing (including a removable trap "cartridge" and rolling wheels), while the stunt traps were made for action sequences; the smoking traps exhibited strips of fabric along the sides to which an SFX smoking liquid was applied, giving the appearance of a recently-trapped spook. The ghost traps were worn on the Ghostbusters' belts via a custom belt attachment, and each included a pedal for opening the trap remotely while a ghost was held in the proton pack's containment stream. Although the traps look similar in both Ghostbusters 1 and 2, there are subtle differences in several details as well as overall shape.