Paranormal Path
Poltergeists
The word poltergeist comes from the German word poltern meaning rumble or noise and geist meaning ghost or spirit. These noisy spirits are known to cause trouble. They are characterized by their ability to move stationary objects such as furniture. Some may report hearing knocking or scratching sounds. They have even been known to write notes and at times cause physical harm by hitting or slapping whoever occupies the “haunted” location. There are rare reports of actually seeing the source of the poltergeist activity and there are two main theories of why and how this activity occurs.
The first theory is that it is a ghost that has such a high level of energy it is able to move objects, cause noises, and make themselves known. The other theory is that this is an example of psychokinesis, or the ability to move objects generated by energy in the brain. This raises the debate if poltergeists are really a paranormal occurrence or not. Below are two cases, one example of the activity being caused by a spirits high energy and another that discusses the high emotional state of a human as the source of the activity.
Case #1; Danny; Al Cobb from Savannah Georgia bought a vintage 1800’s bed as a present for his teenage son Jason. After about three nights Jason reported feeling as if someone were leaning on the pillow, watching him and that he could feel a cold breath. The next night he noticed a picture of his grandparents turned face down, Jason sat the photo upright and the next morning the photo was moved once again. Later in the day, after returning to the room Jason noticed several toys moved to the center of the bed. Finally his parents began to take notice. Al decided to ask if there was a ghost present to reveal its name and age. He then left a piece of lined paper and a crayon on the bed. The family returned several minutes later to find written on the paper in a child’s script the word Danny and the number seven. Al encouraged the communication with the spirit and Danny continued to leave notes. Danny explained that his mother had passed away in that bed in 1899 and he wanted to stay there with it; he also left a note warning “no one sleep in bed”. Jason had moved out of the room but stretched out on the bed one day possibly to test that warning, and upon getting up a piece of wall décor flew across the room barely missing him. Yet a spirit seemed to reveal itself as the source of the occurrences around the bed, a parapsychologist that studied the case argues it was the electromagnetic energy of the wall that the bed was moved to that caused a heightened psychic ability in Jason
Case #2; Macomb; In 1948 in Macomb Illinois a teenage girl named Wanet Macneill was forced to move with her father to her uncle’s farm after her parent’s bitter divorce. Wanet was very emotionally disturbed and her emotions ran high. Soon small fires began erupting all over the farm. They began as small brown spots on the wallpaper and would soon burst into flames. This would happen day after day and the family began to keep pans and buckets around the house so water was readily available to extinguish the fires. Neighbors would come to assist and witness the phenomena. The fire chief was even called and decided to strip all of the wallpaper. Soon they witnessed the brown spots appear on the bare wall and burst into flames. The fires began to ignite in several other rooms as well as the porch. In one week over 200 fires broke out and finally claimed the entire house. Other areas of the farm including the barn began to suffer the same fate. The fire marshal questioned Wanet and came to the conclusion that she was starting the fires with matches when no one was looking, which pleased the authorities, but several witnesses refused to believe this since they had witnessed the fires erupt without any form of heat or fire such as a match. Many believed that because Wanet was so unhappy with the living situation, she was causing the fires with the kinetic energy of her mind.
There will always be the debate if this activity is spiritual or scientific. There are several reported cases and the source is always controversial. Yet this activity will always remain in a category of its own due to the intensity of the cases and the emotions involved.
Sources
http://www.prairieghosts.com/macomb.html