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Poltergeists

I would caution that one personal example is not a fair basis to make a VERY sweeping generalization loaded with culturally-derived assumptions.

From what I've gleaned across the board, from historical to recent, poltergeist episodes could be centered around pre-pubescent girls but this concept never been clearly elucidated and CERTAINLY never has been established. In fact, some researchers have suggested the entire troubled family contributed (in whatever way - normal or paranormal).


Well no, which is unsurprising, as the whole phenomena has not been 'established'. Before we worry about anecdotal evidence of prepubescent girls being the most common focus (and why that should be problematic I can't understand) perhaps we need to establish what is actually happening. If anything.

As for culturally derived assumptions....my own experience supports the stereotype of adolescent boys tending towards horny and aggressive and adolescent girls tending towards hysterical and very susceptible to group pressure.,,,make of that what you will.

Perhaps young males can release their energies with fits of agression or destruction, whereas young females require the opportunity to group in public places in order to be annoying.


TL;DR Teenagers - deeply troubled, wildly annoying and a general affliction on society.
 
Might the following, historical, newspaper accounts be of interest?

They are the two earliest I can find and would gladly search for others, if worthwhile.

Simply not sure if these are already well known and therefore probably all which I would find.

From the 'North Star', Vermont in 1825 and the 'Guardian' published in 1868:

www.forteanmedia.com/p_001.jpg

www.forteanmedia.com/p_002.jpg
 
The mayor of Armenia, Colombia is being haunted by a poltergeist. Take a look at the terrifying footage he has posted to YT:

He asks for our prayers to combat it. No matter how much it looks like a man falling over, it was a real polt attack, dammit!
 
Might the following, historical, newspaper accounts be of interest?
excellent

The Muchelney case is cool - the noises were very loud it seems. And when the noises are that loud, you can't really put it down to people mucking about (not if you know where they are). I've got other newspaper reports on it somewhere. (I should put something together really). People visited to debunk it, but their theories seem more outlandish than if you were to believe it was just a good old common or garden poltergeist. Such is often the way with forteana I think :)

It's interesting that similar things come up through the years like 'the stones are invisible until they strike', that the phenomena 'followed the family wherever they went' from the first one. And from the second, that the noises were considered to sound weird 'with no reverberation'.

I mean you might think 'it's all guff' and that people knew stories so when they're hoaxing they copy what's gone before. But I think I like to believe in some of them. There's more meat to a poltergeist than a ghost, so to speak, because everyone present experiences (presumably) the same physical things. The cynic thinks all ghosts are hallucinations, but they have to put poltergeists down to hoaxing.
 
It's interesting that similar things come up through the years like 'the stones are invisible until they strike', that the phenomena 'followed the family wherever they went' from the first one. And from the second, that the noises were considered to sound weird 'with no reverberation'.
Was it the Enfield case where lego bricks were appearing in mid-air with velocity? I'd never associated that with the stone throwing common to poltergeist reports before, but I suppose it's just an updating of that.
 
It is a mistake to think that poltergeist equals wild and crazy stuff.

It’s the small stuff, like items missing or out of place, noise in walls and crooked pictures, and screws unscrewed out of your furniture.

If something crazy has been videotaped, it is probably a set up and not true.
 
Poltergeist caught on Ghost Adventures camera. Scaring the shit out of one of the investigators(Nick Groff?).
You can barely see a brick being trown in the low light condition.

 
Was it the Enfield case where lego bricks were appearing in mid-air with velocity? I'd never associated that with the stone throwing common to poltergeist reports before, but I suppose it's just an updating of that.
Re: I read or heard somewhere lately* that either the photographer who got hit with the lego brick or one of the witnesses to that happening absolutely believes what happened BUT found the whole issue with the 'man' speaking through the girl to be, quote, "childish". Have to say I have watched a video of her apparently channelling his voice and she is grinning and not the slightest bit perturbed by what is supposedly happening to her.

*Think it was Danny Robins (Battersea Poltergeist researcher) on the Mysteries and Monsters podcast.
 
Re: I read or heard somewhere lately* that either the photographer who got hit with the lego brick or one of the witnesses to that happening absolutely believes what happened BUT found the whole issue with the 'man' speaking through the girl to be, quote, "childish". Have to say I have watched a video of her apparently channelling his voice and she is grinning and not the slightest bit perturbed by what is supposedly happening to her.

*Think it was Danny Robins (Battersea Poltergeist researcher) on the Mysteries and Monsters podcast.
The voice being channelled by Janet never really felt part of the overall phenomenon. Not to me, anyway.

EDIT: Are there any other cases of poltergeist speaking through people that way?
 
Poltergeist caught on Ghost Adventures camera. Scaring the shit out of one of the investigators(Nick Groff?).
You can barely see a brick being trown in the low light condition.

This particular program has always irritated me. Bunch of drama queens. They go looking for paranormal experiences and when they have one they run screaming and have an anxiety attack and talk about their feelings endlessly. Apparently whoever owns the program is getting very wealthy. All of this makes me very dubious. I prefer the plumbers.
 
The voice being channelled by Janet never really felt part of the overall phenomenon. Not to me, anyway.

EDIT: Are there any other cases of poltergeist speaking through people that way?
I agree and in his book Playfair did concede that the girls did make some of the phenomena up to play to the legend, but he did accept that the voice was real at that point I have to say that he lost me a bit.
 
I agree and in his book Playfair did concede that the girls did make some of the phenomena up to play to the legend, but he did accept that the voice was real at that point I have to say that he lost me a bit.

Also the information she provides about how the man died was most probably local knowledge, especially at that time when communities were closer. In fact, she was probably told it by other children in the street.

But yeah, it's the fact she is grinning and almost laughing whilst "channeling his voice" that makes it unbelievable for me. She also has an overbite which makes it harder to see her lower mouth and larynx etc.
 
An experience at the weekend.

Alone in the house, I settled a folded newspaper on a convenient flat surface - well, the edge of the bath - while I turned away to do other things; I left my cigarette lighter on top of the newspaper, as you do, resting on the folded edge. (I know. Horrible habit). I was surprised to see the lighter suddenly shift on its own by about six inches and move the length of the newspaper. I picked it up and returned it to its place before it fell off the edge and into the bath.

Then it spontaneously moved again, all on its own.

I moved it back again and said "If you're trying to attract my attention, you've succeeded." As you should. But no reply, except the lighter moved again, from the fold to the far edge of the paper. I caught it again and realised I needed to look more closely.

Then I realised the folded paper wasn't completely flat. I thought it had been, but the fold down one side had created just enough of a slope, which wasn't immediately obvious. It shouldn't have been enough, given this was coarse newsprint, for something to slide down it on its own weight - a glossy magazine would have been better for this, less friction - but I had been positioning the cigarette lighter right at the top of the fold. Almost as if I'd been "priming" it to slide by setting it at a fulcrum point, or something, so only the slightest stimulus might tip it. The shifting and settling of the liquid gas inside it might have been a factor, too, to give it that kick - but that's a little detail that might easily be missed by somebody who just sees a household object inexplicably moving of its own volition.

So this has me wondering... could a lot of "poltergeist events" be explained by factors like this, things which are not that immediately obvious when the event is actually happening, and distracting attention?

Or.... it could have been a poltergeist. (Herself maintains she saw, or sensed, an old lady at the top of the stairs just after we moved in, as if a former occupant was checking out the newbies)
 
An experience at the weekend.

Alone in the house, I settled a folded newspaper on a convenient flat surface - well, the edge of the bath - while I turned away to do other things; I left my cigarette lighter on top of the newspaper, as you do, resting on the folded edge. (I know. Horrible habit). I was surprised to see the lighter suddenly shift on its own by about six inches and move the length of the newspaper. I picked it up and returned it to its place before it fell off the edge and into the bath.

Then it spontaneously moved again, all on its own.

I moved it back again and said "If you're trying to attract my attention, you've succeeded." As you should. But no reply, except the lighter moved again, from the fold to the far edge of the paper. I caught it again and realised I needed to look more closely.

Then I realised the folded paper wasn't completely flat. I thought it had been, but the fold down one side had created just enough of a slope, which wasn't immediately obvious. It shouldn't have been enough, given this was coarse newsprint, for something to slide down it on its own weight - a glossy magazine would have been better for this, less friction - but I had been positioning the cigarette lighter right at the top of the fold. Almost as if I'd been "priming" it to slide by setting it at a fulcrum point, or something, so only the slightest stimulus might tip it. The shifting and settling of the liquid gas inside it might have been a factor, too, to give it that kick - but that's a little detail that might easily be missed by somebody who just sees a household object inexplicably moving of its own volition.

So this has me wondering... could a lot of "poltergeist events" be explained by factors like this, things which are not that immediately obvious when the event is actually happening, and distracting attention?

Or.... it could have been a poltergeist. (Herself maintains she saw, or sensed, an old lady at the top of the stairs just after we moved in, as if a former occupant was checking out the newbies)
Great post. Six inches of movement seems a lot though. Were you then able to make it slide intentionally?

My Dartmoor cottage had an open plan kitchen and lounge, with a woodturner in the old granite fireplace (still had the old bread ovens!). The radiators were powered by a gas boiler that required those large gas cylinders and so I rarely switched them on. Thus, when I came home one cold Winter's evening the house felt colder inside than outside and immediately lit the wood burner. The house was soon warming up as the wood burner blazed away.

I happened to be looking in the direction of the kitchen counter and witnessed the cork stopper from a posh bottle of olive oil pop out and fly in a graceful arc onto the stone kitchen floor, where it landed lid first without any bounce. To say I was spooked is an understatement. However, I eventually reasoned that the air in the bottle had been rapidly warmed by the blazing fire, creating pressure until the cork popped, but I never 100% convinced....
 
Great post. Six inches of movement seems a lot though. Were you then able to make it slide intentionally?

My Dartmoor cottage had an open plan kitchen and lounge, with a woodturner in the old granite fireplace (still had the old bread ovens!). The radiators were powered by a gas boiler that required those large gas cylinders and so I rarely switched them on. Thus, when I came home one cold Winter's evening the house felt colder inside than outside and immediately lit the wood burner. The house was soon warming up as the wood burner blazed away.

I happened to be looking in the direction of the kitchen counter and witnessed the cork stopper from a posh bottle of olive oil pop out and fly in a graceful arc onto the stone kitchen floor, where it landed lid first without any bounce. To say I was spooked is an understatement. However, I eventually reasoned that the air in the bottle had been rapidly warmed by the blazing fire, creating pressure until the cork popped, but I never 100% convinced....
A very similar thing happened to me. I had a bottle of oil beside the cooker, with the lid placed loosely on the bottle neck (I was using the oil but wanted to keep it covered). I turned on a ring on the cooker and was boiling potatoes, when suddenly the lid of the bottle shot up into the air and landed on the hob beside the pan. Nobody else saw, but they heard me react and came in, where I explained what had happened and everyone said 'poltergeist!' (because we are that kind of family).

Like you, I think it was something to do with the air in the bottle warming up and blowing the top off.
 
A very similar thing happened to me. I had a bottle of oil beside the cooker, with the lid placed loosely on the bottle neck (I was using the oil but wanted to keep it covered). I turned on a ring on the cooker and was boiling potatoes, when suddenly the lid of the bottle shot up into the air and landed on the hob beside the pan. Nobody else saw, but they heard me react and came in, where I explained what had happened and everyone said 'poltergeist!' (because we are that kind of family).

Like you, I think it was something to do with the air in the bottle warming up and blowing the top off.
Glad it's not just me...!

What got me was how gracefully t'flew' and landed without so much as a wobble, that aspect still puzzles me.

I posted on here before how in a different house a large piece of discarded orange peel literally jumped off a plate whilst I was reading in bed (it was in my field of vision). It was suggested that as the peel dried, it flipped inside out and that made it 'jump'.
 
It's satisfying to learn how some apparent weirdness could come about naturally. :)

A few years ago I described how a row of infra-red motion-activated taps at work would switch on as I walked past, too far away to have been stimulated by my mere presence. :omg:

Some smartarse deduced that I was wearing a coat with reflective components which set off the sensors. Mystery solved. :twothumbs:

Spoilsport. :mad:
 
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It's satisfying to learn how some apparent weirdness could come about naturally. :)

A few years ago I described how a row of infra-red motion-activated taps at work would switch on as I walked past, too far away to have been stimulated by my mere presence. :omg:

Some smartarse deduced that I was wearing a coat with reflective components which set off the sensors. Mystery solved. :twothumbs:

Spoilsport. :mad:
Or...it was yer smokin' hot bod. Just another option. :cool2:
 
More on Malcolm Robinson and the Sauchie Poltergeist
Audio recording of Scotland's most famous poltergeist to be heard for first time in 60 years

Paranormal researcher Malcolm Robinson is to play the sounds of what he calls the most 'distressing and upsetting poltergeist event ever to have occurred on Scottish soil' at an event to promote his new book on the creepy goings-on.

Last played in a BBC radio broadcast in the 1960s, few have ever heard the noises captured by a local GP, Dr Logan, of a spirit that haunted an 11-year-old girl. The presentation will occur at Sauchie Hall, in the town's Mar Place, at 7.30 pm on Saturday, November 20. Entry is £5.
https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co...udio-recording-scotlands-most-famous-25457352
 

A quite recent Liverpool poltergeist case:

Face at the Window​

Location: Southport (Merseyside) - Private residence near Meols Cop Station
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2012-2016
Further Comments: Lights would turn on and off, small items would be moved or thrown at occupants, and footsteps heard coming down the staircase. A shadowy figure would occasionally be spotted, and the face of an older person appeared at a bedroom window. The activity ceased after a blessing.

https://www.paranormaldatabase.com/recent/index.php
 
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