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Bridgeport Poltergeist On Lindley Street

MrRING

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I didn't see an existing thread on this one.

http://www.damnedct.com/lindley-street-bridgeport
http://www.damnedct.com/lindley-street-bridgeport
First few lines:
In November 1974, Lindley Street in Bridgeport became the epicenter for one of most-documented hauntings in Connecticut history. A small bungalow-style home owned by Gerard and Laura Goodin was reported to be under attack by otherworldly forces that were allegedly responsible for moving furniture, breaking windows, levitating objects, making a cat talk and generally perplexing and terrifying everyone who stepped foot in the house.
As the situation seemingly increased in intensity, police and firefighters were called in, as were news reporters, priests, paranormal investigators and of course, Ed and Lorraine Warren. Thousands gathered in the street to try and glimpse the unexplained phenomena that was supposedly besieging the house, and an international haunting sensation was born.

The woman at the center of this died not too long ago:
http://whatliesbeyond.boards.net/thread/3692/woman-center-bridgeport-poltergeist-haunting
http://whatliesbeyond.boards.net/thread/3692/woman-center-bridgeport-poltergeist-haunting
First few lines:
Woman at Center of 'Bridgeport Poltergeist' Haunting Dies

MANSFIELD, Ohio – The Richland County Coroner's Office set out to find a deceased Shelby woman's next of kin. In the process, investigators uncovered a chilling story of purported supernatural mayhem dating back to the 1970s.

The experiences of Marsha Godin and her family are chronicled in a book, The World's Most Haunted House: The True Story of the Bridgeport Poltergeist on Lindley Street. The book's author, William J. Hall, who helped local investigators track down Godin's family, compared her case to the Stephen King novel Carrie. "It was probably the most witnessed and well-documented haunting in history, as far as the type, the amount, of credible witnesses," Hall said, adding that the November 1974 incidents at the Goodin family's home (above) in Bridgeport, Connecticut, had more than 77 credible witnesses.

Marsha Godin – then known as Marcia Goodin – was at the center of it all. Godin, 51, was pronounced dead of apparent natural causes February 10, 2015, at MedCentral Hospital in Shelby.

In an effort to give the woman a proper burial, coroner's investigator Bob Ball exhausted all traditional means of searching for relatives, including the Mansfield/Richland County Health Department, now known as Richland Public Health. It appears Godin hadn't lived in Shelby long and there was no record of employment. Her neighbors knew very little about her. Her landlord knew she had a stepmother in Connecticut and a brother in Canada. "I even sent a letter to Canada, but came back with zip," Ball said.
 
This case was brought up again for me from an episode of the Weird Darkness podcast. What is interesting to me is that the level of documentation is apparently quite high in the case. The book covering it is called The World's Most Haunted House: The True Story of The Bridgeport Poltergeist on Lindley Street by William J Hall.

These things that struck me:
- Multiple police viewing the incidences, some of who were very mistrustful of the little girl at the center of the case. Some instances happened while very skeptical police were watching her like a hawk while the event happened in other rooms.
- Multiple people seeing entity outlines like the famous Doris Bither/Entity case, seemingly otherworldy beings getting off on making chaos.
- The Lindley Street Poltergeist incident started in 1974 in Connecticut, and while incidents lessened they never really stopped according to the family. In a weird coincidence, the Doris Bither Entity incidents started in 1974 in California and never really stopped either.
- Like the Enfield Poltergeist, there was a troubled teen girl (in this case adopted) at the center of it. Events started, things got crazy with many witnesses, and at some point the kids were shown to be faking some of the phenomenon and thus a hoax was declared. In this case at least, further investigations were taken up after the police declared a hoax.
- In this case at least, there is evidence to show that the police wanted to declare the incident a hoax to stop the crowds from hanging out and causing traffic and neighborhood trouble, so they seized the first chance they had to quiet the events.
- Ed & Lorraine Warren got cut out after it appeared that they were the ones who publicized the event to the press.

A video discussing the case - a bit dry, but it shows photos and diagrams of what was going on:
 
Thanks for this, very interesting

Another one from the ‘glory days’ of the 1970s. Will we ever have such a decade again…?
 
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