Poltergeist


By John Zaffis

There are many documented cases with poltergeist activity. Many experts have different views on what poltergeist activity really stems from. Some believe it is caused by built up electromagnetic energy, and some believe it to be a spirit presence. There are many that still believe it to be PK. The term poltergeist comes from a German word meaning "Noisy ghost", and German scientists believe that these events were connected with, and caused by a young person at the threshold of puberty. The energies that make the sometimes-violent phenomena possible were the sexual energy of the young people in the household. Sometimes the originator, however, is not the youngster in the home: they are merely the source, tapped against their will and usually without their knowledge, by a ghostly entity desperately trying to get attention for their plight from people in this world. Not to harm anyone, but to get people to notice their presence. This case was called in to The New England Society for Paranormal Research headed by Ed and Lorraine Warren. Lorraine went to the home days before any of the Investigators, to determine the validity of the case. While there she experienced the knockings in the home. I was called and asked to help Investigate this case and so on February 7, 1998 I took a drive to Vermont.

When I arrived at the house located in a large apartment community on the outskirts of a small, quiet Vermont town. The woman Sylvia was there to greet me and although looking tired like sleep was a very much needed thing for her, she was on her way out to take her son Kyle's place baby sitting as he was away at a local ski area snowboarding. From what I gathered he was there for the day. Before she left she introduced me to her husband Ed, who decided to show me around the home and explain in detail what was going on. I first noticed how clean and well kept their home was, except for the numerous holes that were in the walls. Ed stated he had to go pick up Kyle at 8:30pm. We talked some more and he decided to trust me and he left to pick up his son. After he was gone, I began looking at all the damage that was apparent in the household, most of the damage was on the second floor. There was one hole at the top of the stairs which was a large about two feet wide by two and a half feet high. I snapped some photos and went to the boy's room, the damage there was incredible. A fire erupted in his room a few weeks earlier and you could still smell the pine in the air. The Fire department Investigator was baffled as there were no natural causes for the fire and there were NO accelerates used. Many of Kyle's personal property were destroyed. There were also two large holes in the far wall, one of which "exploded" one night while the boy was in his room doing his homework.

Kyle was so scared of the incidents that he asked to sleep with his parents. After he moved into their room the wall separating the bedroom and the bathroom, which is between two bedrooms, began to explode into pieces. At this point the hole measured one and a half feet wide by almost five feet high and you could see right into the bathroom. As of February 18th, the bathroom wall has almost completely been torn down. All of the damage (except when Kyle was doing his homework) occurred while the family was out of the home running errands. They would enter only to find piece's of the plaster on the floor like it was coming from within the walls itself.

Ed and Kyle came back at 9:45 and I was introduced to Kyle, he and I sat down so I could hear his side of the story. He was very scared of what was going on. Then Ed and Kyle decided to show me something, they learned how to provoke the spirits. They stood on opposite sides of one of the few intact walls, hands on walls and stood there, quiet and listening. As they stood there, Sylvia came home and immediately knew what they were doing so she came to the top of the stairs and joined Ed. I stood in the bedroom with Kyle, just enough to see what was going on the other side. We all stood there for a few minutes, nothing and as soon as Ed stated he was not feeling anything a loud bang occurred in the wall startling everyone. Video cameras rolling, the banging continued on and off for several minutes until Ed resting his head on the wall said, "I wish this thing would get tired and just go away". Immediately, a hard loud bang occurred that literally bounced Ed's head on and off the wall several times. The family was exhausted.

It was now 11:00 and time for Kyle to go to bed. He refused to go up there by himself so Ed decided to go to bed, as he too was exhausted. No sooner had Ed hit the bed he was fast asleep. Then Kyle's mattress began shaking and he quickly came down stairs scared to death and told Sylvia and I what was going on. I escorted Kyle back upstairs and sat beside him on the floor and soon his mattress again began to shake. I could not stop it. Fifteen minutes after I went up with Kyle we were back down. We spoke for awhile then went back upstairs where I stayed until he was fast asleep. I left early the next morning, and no other activity occurred throughout the rest of the night. Poltergeist cases can, because of their nature, be very difficult to resolve. More often than not they cannot be removed from a house until they have run their course. Poltergeist activity normally lasts only a short period of time, although some cases have lasted many years. The activity in this case started in December 1997 and the spirit, using a knock code (1 for yes) and (2 for no) told the family that it would remain for 42 days. It is slightly longer than 42 days and the activity is still taking place but has died down considerably.

As of November 1998 there has been no further activity in the home.