Poltergeist

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Poltergeist activity is probably the most misunderstood form of paranormal activity, at least in conjunction with haunted houses. The word poltergeist actually means "noisy ghost" when translated from German and for many years, researchers believed that noisy ghosts were causing the phenomena reported in these cases. It was assumed that the things which occurred in a house that was "haunted" by a poltergeist were caused by an outside force. While some cases of real-like “poltergeists” have turned out to be both “intelligent” spirits and the work of human agents, some cases exist that lead researchers to believe that they may actually be combination of the two. I believe it is possible that some locations actually attract both kinds of phenomena!

Poltergeists!

First, let’s take a look at the two different types of cases that are referred to as “poltergeists”.....

Poltergeist cases are the work of actual, intelligent spirits.... while poltergeist-like cases are the work of human agents. What makes this so hard to define is the fact that some cases are a combination of the two.... where haunted locations carry such a charge of energy that they make it possible for ghosts to exist there and for the unconscious energy of the human agent to manifest.

In both kinds of cases, similar phenomena takes places, including: knocking and tapping sounds; noises with no visible cause; disturbance of stationary objects like household items and furniture; doors slamming; lights turning on and off; fires breaking out; rock and dirt throwing; physical and sexual assaults and much more. In some cases, these events can be tangible evidence of ghosts, but in other cases, while the activity is paranormal, it has nothing to do with the spirits.

Leaving out the actual cases involving negative and violent spirits, the current and widely accepted theory behind poltergeist phenomena is that the activity is usually caused by a person in the household.

This person is usually an adolescent girl, and normally one who is troubled emotionally. It is believed that this person may be unconsciously manipulating the items in the house by psychokinesis (PK), the power to move things by energy generated in the brain. This kinetic energy remains unexplained, but even mainstream scientists are starting to admit that it does seem to exist. It is unknown why this energy seems to appear in females around the age of puberty, but it has been documented to occur. It seems that when the activity begins to manifest, the girl is usually in the midst of some emotional or sexual turmoil. It is also possible for young boys, and even adults, to be able to manifest this unknowing ability. The vast majority of people have no idea they are causing the activity and are usually surprised to find there is even a possibility they could be making the strange things happen.

What can be even more difficult for the researcher is when the acts of the spirits and this energy both manifest themselves in a location. It is believed that this can, and does occur, and two of the most famous “haunted house” cases of this century boasted just this sort of strangeness.

BORLEY RECTORY
One of the world’s most famous haunted house cases was actually a case of where a haunted location assisted a human agent in creating her own activity. There seems to be no question that Borley Rectory was actually haunted... whether you choose to believe researcher Harry Price (and I do) or not. The long history of independent accounts leads us to believe the haunting went on for many years before Price ever got involved.

Briefly, Borley Rectory was a deteriorating old manor house in the English county of Essex. Harry Price got involved in the case in 1929 when a newspaper report told of some of the strange things that had gone on there for many years. He would later write two books about the house and it would go on to be known as “the Most Haunted House in England”.

Price was asked by the paper to investigate and he was told about the history of reported there, like phantom footsteps; strange lights; ghostly whispers; a headless man; a girl in white; the sounds of a phantom coach outside; the apparition of the home’s builder, Henry Bull; and the spirit of the nun who walked in the garden.

Local legend had it that a monastery had once been located on the site and that a 13th century monk and a beautiful young novice were killed while trying to elope from the place. The monk was hanged and his would-be bride was bricked up alive within the walls of her convent.

The stories had been told for many years by scores of reliable and independent witnesses. Price interviewed many of the former tenants and investigated the house thoroughly, even leasing the place for one year for a 24 hour a day vigil. Many of Price’s accounts from Borley would be first-hand, as he claimed to see and hear much of the reported phenomena like hearing bells ring, rapping noises and seeing objects that has been moved from one place to another.

Although troublesome, the ghosts at the rectory had been relatively peaceful until October 1930 when Reverend Lionel Foyster and his wife, Marianne moved into the house. Their time in residence would see a marked increase in the paranormal activity. People were locked out of rooms, household items vanished, windows were broken, furniture was moved, odd sounds were heard and much more.

However, the worst of the incidents seemed to involve Mrs. Foyster, as she was thrown from her bed at night, slapped by invisible hands, forced to dodge heavy objects which flew at her day and night, and was once almost suffocated with a mattress. Soon after, there began to appear a series of scrawled messages on the walls of the house, written by an unknown hand. They seemed to be pleading with Mrs. Foyster, using phrases like "Marianne, please help get" and "Marianne light mass prayers".

Because nearly all of the poltergeist-like activity occurred when Mrs. Foyster was present, Price was inclined to attribute it to her unknowing manipulations. However, he did believe in the possibility of the ghostly nun and some of the other reported phenomena. The rectory did not fit into pre-conceived notions of a haunted house, which was one of the reasons that it would go on to gain such a reputation. Despite the implications of the phenomena centering around Marianne, Price maintained that at least one of the spirits in the house had found the rector’s wife to be sympathetic to its plight. This was the only explanation he could find for the mysterious messages.

To Price, and to my own thinking, Borley Rectory was actually a catalyst for paranormal activity. There was something about the location itself that seemed to invite energy in and also to act as a storage battery that Marianne Foyster could somehow tap into. The house boasted three different types of phenomena... the ghosts that interacted with the investigators, the possible residual haunting the nun... and the poltergeist-like activity produced by Mrs. Foyster.

THE SAN PEDRO HAUNTING
Another case that brought together two types of activity seems to be the San Pedro Haunting or the Jackie Hernandez case, that was investigated by Barry Taff, who also investigated the famous “Entity” case.

Taff got involved in the case, along with cameraman Barry Conrad, in 1989 when he was asked to look into a house in San Pedro, California that was allegedly being haunted. The owner of the house was Jackie Hernandez, a young woman with a number of emotional problems.

The investigators were told of strange smells, unexplained sounds, moving objects, apparitions, a glowing cloud that tried to suffocate her (and which had appeared in front of other witnesses) and actually witnessed a peculiar, dripping substance dripping from the kitchen cabinets.

The events in the house grew stronger and even followed Jackie from place to place. Taff began to believe that she was creating the phenomena unconsciously because of her emotional problems and what became a strong romantic attachment to Barry Conrad. It seemed that anyone who might be perceived as threat to Jackie’s relationship with Barry ended up on the end of a violent attack by the “ghosts”.

However, there are problems with the theory that this was strictly a “human agent” haunting. The unexplained lights are certainly odd... and so would be the reports of male apparitions from witnesses and the fact that (as Barry Taff found out later) Jackie’s house continued to be reported as haunted long after she moved out. According to the owners, no subsequent tenants stayed there for longer than 6 months. Could this be merely some left-over “after effect” from Jackie’s presence there? Or something else?

Now, let’s take a look at some famous cases that leave little doubt as to their source!

THE MACOMB POLTERGEIST
One of the most famous poltergeist cases in America took place in Macomb, Illinois in 1948. In this case, a disturbed teenager named Wanet McNeil was forced to live with her father after her parent's bitter divorce. The girl and her father moved to an uncle's farm, just west of Macomb. Wanet was very unhappy with the situation and her emotions were high. In the weeks that followed, Wanet managed to start fires all over her uncle's farm with nothing other than the power of her mind. She had no idea that she was causing the phenomena.

The fires began on August 7 on the farm of Charles Willey. They began as small brown spots which appeared on the wallpaper in the house. The spots would appear and then mysteriously burst into flames. This continued to happen day after day and neighbors came to help keep watch and put out fires as they appeared. Pans and buckets of water were left all over the house and when a spot would appear, it would be quickly drenched. Still, the mysterious fires sprang up in front of the startled witnesses and volunteers began standing by with hoses to put out the blazes. The fire chief from Macomb, Fred Wilson, was called in to investigate and he had the family strip all of the wallpaper from every wall in the house. Dozens of witnesses then watched as brown spots appeared on the bare plaster and then burst into flames.

During the week of August 7, fires appeared on the front porch, ignited the curtains in every room, and even engulfed an entire bed. The National Fire Underwriters Laboratory investigated and reported that the wallpaper had been coated with flour paste and no bug repellant was present which might have contained a flammable compound. They had no explanation for what they had seen.

In addition to a number of insurance investigators, the Illinois State Deputy Fire Marshal, John Burgard, also came to the farm.

In the week that followed, over 200 fires broke out, an average of 29 per day. On Saturday, August 14, the fires raged out of control and finally consumed the entire house. Willey drove posts into the ground and made a shelter for his family with a tarpaulin, while McNeil moved himself and his children into the garage. The next day, the barn went up in flames.

On Tuesday, several fires broke out in the milkhouse, which was being used as a dining room. On Thursday, there were two more blazes and a pile of newspaper was found to be smoldering in the chicken house. Later that day, the farm’s second barn burned down in less than an hour.

The family fled to a nearby vacant house, but the fires continued. That same day, the United States Air Force got involved in the mystery. They suggested the fires might be caused by some sort of directed radiation, but had no other explanation for what was going on.

By this time, the farm was swarming with spectators, investigators, and reporters. Over 1000 people came to the farm on August 22! The suggested explanations ranged from fly spray, to radio waves, to underground gas pockets.... with everything else being ruled out, the officials turned to the possibility of arson.

While they had no explanation for the fires that suddenly appeared in front of reliable witnesses, with no possible natural cause, they did realize the puzzle had to be solved... and quickly. On August 30, officials announced the case to be closed. The arsonist, according to officials, was Wanet, a slight, 13-year-old, who apparently possessed some pretty incredible skills.... and an unlimited supply of matches! Supposedly, no one had been looking when she started all of the fires by herself, using ordinary kitchen matches.

Deputy Fire Marshal Burgard and State’s Attorney Keith Scott had taken Wanet aside for a little talk and after "an hour’s intensive questioning," she had allegedly confessed. Her reasons? Apparently, she was unhappy; didn’t like the farm; wanted to see her mother; and didn’t have any pretty clothes. Forgotten were the witnesses who had seen the brown spots appear, spread and then turn into fires, while Wanet was nowhere to be seen. Also forgotten were the fires that had appeared on the ceilings, which could not have been set with ordinary kitchen matches.

This explanation pleased the authorities but not all of the reporters who were present seemed convinced.... and the hundreds of paranormal investigators who have examined the case over the years haven’t been either. One columnist from Peoria, who had covered the case since the beginning, stated frankly that he did not believe the girl’s so-called "confession". And neither did noted researcher Vincent Gaddis in his landmark book, “Mysterious Fires and Lights“, who was convinced the case was a perfect example of poltergeist phenomena.

In the end though, the case simply went away. Wanet was turned over to her grandmother; the insurance company paid Willey for the damage done to his house and farm; the reporters had closure for their stories; and the general public was hand-fed a simple solution... which could not possibly have been the truth.

While the media certainly got involved in this case, these were the days before tabloids and tabloid TV. Poltergeist cases and media coverage certainly seem to go hand in hand and in many cases, what began as actual event often deteriorates into trickery. When this happens (and I’ll explain more in a moment) many of these cases are often dismissed as being frauds all along, when this couldn’t be further from the truth.

(Note: According to sources, recent accounts of Wanet McNeill’s activities after the outbreaks in Macomb show that her life never again regained its normalcy. Apparently, her emotional issues continued and later in life she was jailed for a time for both petty theft and prostitution.)

THE ENFIELD POLTERGEIST
    This case became known as a perfect example of a poltergeist haunting which began as genuine... and devolved into trickery, thanks to media attention and the imagination of two little girls.

    The case began in Enfield, in North London, in a perfectly ordinary suburban townhouse. It was occupied by a woman named Peggy Harper and her four children; Rose, age 13; Janet, age 11; Pete, age 10; and Jimmy, age 7. The disturbances which would make this house famous began on the night of August 30, 1977, shortly after Janet and Pete retired to the bedroom they shared. The other children slept with their mother in another room of the small home.

    The activity was first reported by Janet to her mother. She stated that their beds began bouncing up and down and "going all funny". By the time that Peggy got to the room, the movements had stopped, leading her to believe that perhaps the children were making it all up. All remained quiet for the rest of the night, but the following evening, the events began in earnest.

    Around 9:30 the following night, Peggy was called to Janet and Pete’s room by their excited laughter. This time, they claimed to hear noises coming from the floor. Janet said that it sounded like a chair moving, so Peggy took the only chair with her out of the room and downstairs. She believed this would calm the children down and get them settled for the night. Then, from downstairs, she too heard something odd. It was the same shuffling sound that Janet had mentioned. She hurried up to their room but found both children lying in their beds asleep.

    Then, four distinct knocks were heard from the wall which adjoined the neighboring house. This prompted Peggy to turn the lights on once more, but she saw nothing out of the ordinary. Then, a heavy chest of drawers moved out away from the wall about a foot and a half. Peggy shoved it back again, but the chest moved back to its former position. The next time she tried to shove it into place, the chest refused to budge! Shaking with fear, the family left the house and went next door to the neighbor’s house. The neighbors investigated, as did the police.

    The officers also reported hearing the knocking sounds, now coming from all different walls. One of the officers was in the living room when a chair suddenly slid several feet across the floor. He examined it closely, but could find no explanation as to how it had moved.

    The next day brought more phenomena, like flying toys. The police were unable to help, so the Harpers and their neighbors turned to the press. The Daily Mirror sent out a photographer and a reporter, who stayed in the house for several hours. Nothing happened during their stay, until just as they got ready to leave. Suddenly, both men were assaulted with flying marbles and Lego bricks. A piece of a Lego flew across the room and hit the photographer so hard that it left a bruise which lasted over a week.

    The newspaper contacted the Society for Psychical Research about the case and they in turn, contacted Maurice Grosse, a resident of North London and an investigator. Grosse arrived at the Harper house on September 5, exactly one week after the disturbances began. His presence seemed to have a calming effect on the family and for a few days, nothing out of the ordinary occurred.

    Then, on the night of September 8, Grosse and three reporters were keeping watch when they heard a crash in Janet’s bedroom. Investigation showed that her bedside chair had been thrown about four feet across the room. Janet was asleep at the time and no one had seen the chair move. However, it did happen again an hour later... and this time one of the photographers captured the event on film!

    Shortly after this, Grosse was joined in the investigation by author Guy Lyon Playfair and the two men spent the next two years studying the case.

    The case had a couple of aspects in common with standard poltergeist cases, including the involvement of two adolescent girls. In this case, one had already gone through puberty and another was about to. The case also had another feature typical of such cases, personal tension. Peggy had never altogether resolved her feelings surrounding her divorce from the children’s father. After she realized this might have something to do with the phenomena, she came to term with her volatile emotions and the disturbances ceased.

Or rather, they took a short break. When they started up again, they had a somewhat different character. Now, more than ever, they seemed to focus on the two girls, Janet and Rose, and on Janet’s bedroom. Investigators quickly came to the opinion that this new phenomena was more the work of human trickery than the work of a human agent. Two SPR investigators later revealed that reports from the two girls, usually unsubstantiated, seemed very contrived.

Some of the alleged activity had the girls literally "flying" out of their beds at night

In addition, a video camera secretly set up in the bedroom caught Janet bending spoons and attempting to bend an iron bar in an entirely normal manner. She was also seen bouncing up and down on the bed, from where she would later claim she was thrown.

Despite how this case concluded, there seems to be some strong evidence to say that the initial disturbances in the house were genuinely paranormal.

THE TINA RESCH CASE
In 1984, a Columbus, Ohio family was plagued by another case of poltergeist phenomena and in spite the claims of skeptics, many researchers believe this was a classic case of genuine activity... at least for a time.

John and Joan Resch first attracted publicity in late 1983 when a reporter from a local newspaper, the Columbus Dispatch, came to their home to chronicle the couple’s extraordinary work with foster children. Over the years, the couple had taken in more than 250 homeless and disturbed children. At the time the article was written, the family consisted of John and Joan, their son, Craig, their adopted daughter, Tina, and four foster children.

Five months later, the Resch family would be in the news again. Apparently, their 14-year old daughter Tina had become the focus for a strange and very frightening series of events. On a Saturday morning in March 1984, all of the lights in the Resch home suddenly went on all at once, even though no one had touched a switch. John and Joan assumed the incident had been triggered by a power surge and they telephone the local utility company. It was suggested that they call an electrician, which they did. An electrical contractor named Bruce Claggett came to the house, thinking that it was merely a problem with a circuit breaker. He was unable to keep the lights from turninff on. Claggett even tried taping the light switches so that they stayed on. Closet lights which operated with a pull string would be turned out, but seconds later, the bulbs would be glowing again. Claggett finally gave up, unable to explain what was going on.

By evening, stranger things were being reported like lamps, brass candlesticks and clocks flying through the air; wine glasses shattering; the shower running on its own; and eggs, rising out of the carton by themselves and then smashing against the ceiling; knives were flying from drawers; and more. A rattling wall picture was placed behind the couch, only to slide back out again three different times.

As the weekend wore on, a pattern began to develop. The intensity and focus of the activity seemed to be Tina, who was even struck by a number of the objects. A chair was seen tumbling across the floor in Tina’s direction and it was only stopped from hitting her because it became wedged in a doorway. The fact that Tina was the object of the activity is important. Family members, neighbors and unrelated witnesses actually saw Tina being hit and smacked by flying objects, which came from parts of the room where she was not located!

Near midnight on Saturday, the Columbus police were summoned to the house but there was nothing they could do. The only respite from the strange events came on Sunday, when Tina left the house for church and then again in the afternoon when she went out to visit a friend. On Sunday evening, three elders from the Mormon Church had been summoned by a relative and, laying their hands on Tina’s head, attempted a prayer blessing to dispel the force which was creating havoc in the house. Unfortunately, it didn’t work.

By Monday morning, the house was a wreck and literally dozens of reliable witnesses, including reporters, police officers, church officials and neighbors, had reported unexplained phenomena in the Resch home.

While he was there, a picture flew from the wall in front of him and his own tape recorder flew over seven feet under its own power. Roll was convinced that RSPK was at work.

Skeptics weren’t so sure and wisely began investigating the other photographs on the roll of film shot by the photographer on Monday morning. In one of the photos, Tina’s hands had clearly been in a position to have manipulated the telephone cord and base. Soon, there was other damning evidence as well. During an extended visit by television reporters, a camera that had accidentally been left running recorded the girl grasping a table lamp by its cord and jerking out toward her. At the same time, she let out a cry of horror.

When confronted, Tina admitted that she had faked some of the later phenomena. She explained that she had been bored by the lengthy interviews and irritated by the constant attention. She hoped that the press would leave once they got their story. For the skeptics, the film and the confession were proof positive that the poltergeist had been Tina all along.

Yet not everyone shared that view, including the majority of the supposedly skeptical journalists. Many of them remained sure they had witnessed genuine, unexplained activity. They also pointed out that the skeptics had conveniently forgotten (and isn’t that normally the case?) about the scores of witnesses who would swear that activity had been directed toward Tina, not originating from her. William Roll, a trained scientist and observer, was also convinced of phenomena that he witnessed. He conceded that he had not been observing Tina under "controlled conditions", but continued to assert that Tina seemed to have demonstrated authentic RSPK.

What caused the manifestations? Researchers believed that it was a case of repressed anger and anxiety seeking release. Apparently, there had been recent problems at home over the fact that Tina, against the wishes of John and Joan, had recently been searching for her natural parents. Also, Tina’s best friend of two years had ended their friendship just two days before the events began. All of this apparently combined to create an outward transference of energy. How exactly? We may never know.

For those who question whether or not, emotional problems can cause poltergeist-like activity to take place should look at what happened to Tina after the TV cameras and reporters went away. According to a 1993 report, Tina, then 23-years old, was awaiting trial in Georgia for the murder of her three-year old daughter. The child had been badly beaten and had died from injuries to the head. What the outcome of the trial was, and whatever became of Tina is unknown.

CHRISTINE M. CASE
Several years ago, I was contacted by a young woman who reported that strange phenomena was occurring in her home. She was 18 years old at the time, although the incidents had been taking place since she was 14. According to her letters and follow-up calls, her house was very active and the phenomena included doors opening and closing; cabinet doors banging open; dishes being thrown about and broken; footsteps in the hallways at night; scratching sounds and most disturbingly, violent physical assaults that were directed at Christine. It was no uncommon for her to receive large bruises, cuts and scratches from an invisible source.

After meeting with Christine and her family and arranging an investigation of the house, I was contacted privately by her mother who explained that the strange happenings had begun shortly after Christine became pregnant in high school and starting having problems in school and with her friends. She became even more stressed after having the baby and the events escalated. All of it was centered, her mother explained, around Christine.
The investigation that was conducted did seem to show that the activity revolved around her. Although nothing was actually observed during the initial investigations, we did hear slamming noises and doors closing in a sealed-off section of the house.  Kitchen cabinets were also seen during unexplained movement. There was no one else present at the time and we were unable to explain away the sounds. A follow-up trip revealed the photo at the top and the globe of what seems to be energy was actually observed by two investigators. No natural explanations could be discovered for the photo.

A short time later, Christine began to see a psychologist and counseling seemed to have a very positive effect on the situation. The strange phenomena in the house began to dissipate and eventually stopped altogether. Her mother reports that Christine is happy and well-adjusted today and there has been no repetition of the phenomena.

Troy Taylor

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Sources:
The Ghost Hunter’s Guidebook by Troy Taylor (1999/ 2001)
The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits by Rosemary Ellen Guiley (1992)
Mind Over Matter editors of Time-Life Books (1988)
On the Trail of the Poltergeist by Nandor Fodor (1958)
On the Track of the Poltergeist by D. Scott Rogo (1986)
The Haunted House Handbook by D. Scott Rogo (1978)
The Haunted Universe by D. Scott Rogo (1977)
ESP, Hauntings and Poltergeists by Loyd Auerbach (1986)
The Poltergeist by William Roll (1972)
Poltergeist! A Study in Destructive Hauntings by Colin Wilson (1981)
Poltergeist over England by Harry Price (1945)
This House is Haunted by Guy Lyon Playfair (1980)
Poltergeists and the Paranormal by Dr. Phillip Stander and Dr. Paul Schmolling (1996)
Aliens Above, Ghosts Below by Barry Taff (1997)
The Awful Thing in the Attic by Brad Steiger (1996)
The Poltergeist Phenomenon by John and Anne Spencer (1997)