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Sunday, January 1, 2012

Poltergeist Phenomena - Psychological or Paranormal

Poltergeist is a German word for noisy ghost. When I say noisy ghost I don’t mean a simple knock on the wall or a tap on a window. If it is a true poltergeist it would be more like banging on the wall, windows or doors slamming shut, objects tossed around the house, TV’s and radio’s turning on by themselves full volume.

So what causes these phenomena? No one really knows for sure. The old theory of poltergeist’s, it’s a ghost or a haunted home. The new theory of poltergeist’s, it’s a haunted person. 

Here are some symptoms that are always involved.


 Activity is centered around one person, usually a young person going through puberty though; it can happen to a woman going through menopause. Most times it involves a female, but it can and does happen to males. The agent is quite intelligent, repression by others or frustration, a high level of stress before and during activity. 

Poltergeist activity can last anywhere from a week to several months. It is very rare to find an active case, by the time someone hears of it the activity is over. Some of the activity involved with poltergeist’s are knocking, doors slamming, objects moving, electrical malfunctions including appliances working without power, and levitations.

Many parapsychologists believe it is Psycho kinesis. Psycho kinesis is the ability to distort or move an object with the mind. Nina Kulagina, was a Russian woman who claimed to have psychic powers, particularly in psycho kinesis. Research of her phenomenon was conducted in the USSR for the last twenty years of her life.



Parapsychologist William Roll studied 116 poltergeist cases and found that the agents were often children or teenagers, and supposed that recurrent neuronal discharges resulting in epileptic symptoms may cause recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis (RSPK), which would affect the person's surroundings. 

Parapsychologist Nandor Fodor proposed that poltergeist disturbances were caused by human agents suffering from some form of emotional stress or tension.

Colin Wilson wrote there seems to be a relationship between poltergeist and water, especially unexplained water. Example, after poltergeist activity in the Winchester Mansion there would be droplets of water on the floor ranging in size from a dime to a quarter. These unexplained water droplets were in rooms with no windows. Another connection to note is poltergeist activity seems to happen a lot in areas where water is available like kitchens, bathrooms and even underground streams.

Poltergeists still remain a mystery. Could they be the work of a spirit? A psychological condition? Could they be a little of both?

Below are some famous poltergeist cases.

Bell Witch has two popular claims, first it’s the only haunting known to have killed someone and the haunting involves a US president.

The historical marker reads, 

The Bell Witch
To the north was the farm of John Bell, an early prominent settler from North Carolina. According to legend, his family was harried during the early 19th century by the famous Bell Witch. She kept the household in turmoil, assaulted Bell, and drove off Betsy Bell's suitor. Even Andrew Jackson, who came to investigate, retreated to Nashville after his coach wheels stopped mysteriously. Many visitors to the house saw the furniture crash about them and heard her shriek, sing, and curse.

Betsy Bell
1817 John Bell encountered a strange animal on his farm; it had a body of a dog and a head of rabbit. After the sighting the bell family started hearing pounding on the outside of their home every evening. Eventually the noises moved inside the home, banging, scratching, slamming and strange whispers were common. 

John Bells youngest daughter Betsy most certainly got the worst of it. She often had her hair pulled and was slapped. Folks that came to help the Bells had similar things happen to them. Eventually the whispers gave way to a disembodied female voice that carried on conversations with the bells and guests, also quoting scriptures and singing hymns.

Word spread like wildfire and eventually Andrew Jackson heard of it and headed for John Bells farm. At the time Andrew Jackson was a Major in the US Army. Upon entering the Bell farm Jackson and his men horses would not walk onto the property. One of Jackson’s men was attacked by an unseen force in the home. Jackson and his men fled.

The witch continued to force her wrath onto the Bells and John eventually fell into frail health and died. It is said the witch laughed and sang, the haunting had continued and the legend lives on.

1972 Thornton Heath Poltergeist, England, a family was tormented by a poltergeist for nearly four years. It all started one August night when a radio turned on by itself and was blaring a foreign-language station. Near Christmas an ornament was thrown across the room, hitting the husband on the forehead, the Christmas tree started shaking violently. Footsteps were heard in the bedroom by new years. One evening while the family had guests over, there was a load knock at the front door, the door flew open and all the lights in the house turned on. A medium claimed the house was haunted by a man named Chatterton and considered the family trespassing. Once the family moved the activity ceased and there have been no reported claims since.

1977 the Enfield Poltergeist was studied over a period of 2 years. It involved a single mother and her four children. During this period furniture was said to move by itself, knocking on walls, the children’s toys were thrown around the home or too hot to touch. Though some fraud was committed, investigators did witness some things that weren’t fraud, moving furniture, cold breezes, pools of water on the floor, physical assaults just to name a few. They also witnessed Janet age 11 speaking using her false vocal cords for hours. Speaking in this way is believed to be medically impossible. When speaking this way Janet claimed to be Bill a man whom died in the home. Recording were made of these episodes but somehow got erased.

Mike Morris

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