Poltergeist activity
German for rumbling ghost) is widely believed to be an invisible ghost that interacts with others by moving and influencing inanimate objects. Stories featuring poltergeists typically focus heavily on raps, thumps, knocks, footsteps, and bed-shaking, all without a discernable point of origin. Many stories detail objects being thrown about the room, furniture being moved, and even people being levitated! A few poltergeists have even been known to speak (The Bell Witch, 1817; Gef, the Talking Mongoose, 1931). Most classic modern poltergeist stories originate in England, though the word itself is German.
Poltergeists are a focus of study within parapsychology. Parapsychologists define poltergeist activity as a type of uncontrolled psychokinesis. Recurrent Spontaneous Psychokinesis (RSPK) is a phrase suggested by parapsychologist W. G. Roll to denote poltergeist phenomena.
Poltergeist phenomena tend to happen in the vicinity of persons called agents (typically a prepubescent female). Almost seventy years of research by the Rhine Research Center (Raleigh-Durham, NC USA) has led to the hypothesis among parapsychologists that the "poltergeist effect" is a form of psychokinesis generated by a living human mind, that of the agent. According to researchers at the Rhine Center, the "poltergeist effect" is the outward manifestation of psychological trauma. Skeptics think that the phenomena are hoaxes perpetrated by the agent. Indeed, many poltergeist agents have been caught throwing objects, and a few of them later confessed faking all of it.
Some people theorize that poltergeists are caused by the Hutchison effect.
William Roll and Harry Price are perhaps two of the most famous poltergeist investigators in the annals of parapsychology.
Famous alleged poltergeist infestations
Although poltergeist stories date back to the first century, most evidence to support the existence of poltergeists is anecdotal. Indeed, many of the stories below have several versions and/or inconsistencies.
- The Bell Witch (1817)
- The haunting of the Fox Sisters (1848) - arguably one of the most famous, as it started the Spiritualism movement.
- The Borley Rectory phenomena (1929)
- The Enfield Poltergeist (1977)
Poltergeists in fiction
Both the name and concept of the poltergeist became famous to modern audiences by the Poltergeist movies and the subsequent TV series Poltergeist - The Legacy. The first Poltergeist movie actually gave an excellent depiction (during the first half of the film) of a "typical" poltergeist infestation, right down to the depiction of the "focus" as a prepubescent girl.
There is a poltergeist named Peeves in the Harry Potter books. Peeves, however, does not conform to the classic definition of a poltergeist. The fact that he manifests visually would seem to indicate that he is a ghost. Perhaps J.K. Rowling wrote Peeves to be more of a literal translation of the word poltergeist, as Peeves is quite noisy and mischievous. However, it is also possible that Harry and other students can perceive Peeves because they are Wizards, and he would be still invisible to Muggles.
External Links
Skeptic's Dictionary
(See also: Sprite (fantasy))
