Poltergeists - Part II

This entry was originally posted on the Paranormality blog, on 9 Nov 2008, but has been expanded for Paranormality Reincarnated.

Perhaps the most "famous" case of poltergeist activity is that of young Carol Ann Freeling. I'm speaking, of course, about the 1982 Steven Spielberg movie, Poltergeist, and its sequels, which almost everyone knows about. In the beginning, Carol Ann (played by Heather O'Rourke) has "imaginary friends", but then things become rather unpleasant after she hears voices coming from the television set. Dolls come to life, objects fly violently around the house, doors shut of their own accord, trees grab the children and the bedroom closet becomes a portal to the other side.

As with most poltergeist cases, the poltergeist needs an "agent" to activate, in this case young Carol Ann. Since the family has just moved into their new home in suburban California, she is adjusting to her new surroundings, her chemistry is changing; emotional and chemical changes are starting to occur in her body; her mind is still a child's, not yet fully developed, but she is old enough to recognize the changes in her surroundings. As she learns to adjust, these chemical and emotional changes play havoc on her system, causing conflicting signals and imbalances, which might inevitably result in latent psychokinetic abilities surfacing. She would be unaware that she was acting as agent, as in most cases. This is a factor in the movie sequels, where the poltergeist apparently follows her (and the family) wherever they go.

Throughout the movie, it becomes quite evident that Carol Ann is afraid as the frightening events unfold around her. Fear is the most powerful of all emotions and produces all kinds of additional chemical reactions in the body. The amygdala is considered as the "fear center" of the brain because when we feel threatened or fear something, it triggers responses in every other part of the brain. The hypothalamus, which controls basic drives - such as hunger or thirst - sends a signal that activates the sympathetic nervous system. This in turn releases hormones that allow the body to react to and deal with danger and emergency situations. Adrenaline or epinephrine is released, causing all kinds of reactive symptoms in the body, including increased heart rate, dilated eyes, sweaty palms and horripilation (goose bumps).

When certain changes occur within the body, the pituitary and pineal glands may also factor into the poltergeist equation. The pituitary gland is known as the "master gland" of the endocrine glands because it monitors hormones regulating bodily functions, including sleep, energy levels, metabolic rate and libido. Also affected is the pineal gland, located deep within the brain, controls biological rhythms (such as our internal clock) and produces melatonin, a substance that controls sleep cycles but also inhibits sexual maturement. Melatonin production increases at night, thereby increasing the likelihood of somnambulism (sleep-walking) and hallucinatory reactions to the surroundings through a kind of warped perception. When there is no release for pent-up emotions, especially fear, psychokinetic responses are more likely. The greater the fear, along with the super-charged chemicals in the body (adrenaline, serotonin, melatonin and endorphins), the greater the psychokinetic activity will be.

It's highly unlikely that Carol Ann would be sexually mature, since she is only five years old, but can still assume that, since she is forced to readjust to her new surroundings, her natural fears would prey on her mind.

At the start of the movie, a chair moves autonomously, and then Carol Ann is propelled across the floor. Some form of levitation is common during poltergeist activity, although usually only during sleep. Seeing her communicating to "spirits" via a static television set infers early on that she possesses underdeveloped mediumistic abilities.

It is conceivable, however, that some exterior "evil" force could be haunting the family. As the first Poltergeist movie progresses, it becomes evident that Carol Ann is not a just a poltergeist agent, responsible for psychokinetic activity, but rather an "object of desire" by a demon known only as The Beast. The reason this becomes important is mentioned in the second movie, Poltergeist II: The Other Side. It is revealed that the Freelings' house is built over a huge underground cavern, extending underneath the un-relocated graveyard from the first movie. Rev. Henry Kane, a power-hungry, egocentric utopian cult leader, orchestrated the mass suicide of his followers in the underground cavern in the early 1800s.

There are several reports (that I know of) where angered spirits have returned to wreak their revenge in the earthly plane. There are others where in life the spirit had had a life of nothing but negative experiences, so they have craved the innocence of youth or a family's deeply-bonded love. And more often than not, they will go to any lengths to acquire it. Other reports of heightened poltergeist activity are where houses have been built over graveyards or sacred Native American ground, thereby upsetting the spirits buried there.

While the majority of cases centers on a poltergeist agent, those few incidences (as portrayed in the Poltergeist trilogy), where something else might be responsible, is still largely unexplored. Ultimately, it is often very difficult to distinguish between psychokinesis and poltergeistry; there is a very fine line between them, it seems.

Poltergeists - Part I

This entry was originally posted on the Paranormality blog, on 8 Nov 2008, but has been expanded for Paranormality Reincarnated.

Whenever the word "poltergeist" is mentioned, our minds are automatically drawn to the eponymous movie (usually) and the horrifying events attached thereto. However, in life it doesn't really happen that way. There are incidences of high poltergeist activity, of course, but they are nowhere near as fanciful as the Hollywoodesque creative licenses portrayals.

According to The Free Dictionary, a poltergeist is "a ghost that manifests itself by noises, rappings, and the creation of disorder; a spirit believed to be responsible for noises and acts of mischief, such as throwing objects". Indeed, the word itself originates from the German poltern (to be noisy) and Geist (ghost), so it's a "noisy ghost" - aptly named.

The common symptoms attributed to poltergeist disturbances start out as harmless-seeming, often entertaining, anomalies. As time goes by, however, if the cause is still unresolved, the activity becomes increasingly more severe. It usually reaches the point where the targets' lives are in danger and some kind of physical injury or mental trauma can occur.

The commonest symptoms attributed to poltergeist activity are:

• Unexplained noises – knocks, bangs and footsteps.
• Moving objects – furniture sliding across the floor, objects flying through the air, and objects disappearing (apport) and reappearing (asport).
• Disembodied voices – spoken or whispered words and one or more people speaking in different languages (xenoglossia).
• Levitation – objects, beds and people raising into the air, and beds shaking violently.
• Electrical disturbances – lights turning on and off, failing power, electrical appliances failing, and, in some cases, electrocution.
• Other reported symptoms include unexplained dripping water, electrical appliances still functioning after being unplugged, hallucinations, mysterious figures appearing, extreme mood swings, random fires igniting, epileptic seizures, and anomalous writing on walls or mirrors.

Since poltergeist activity is often experienced by everyone, not just individuals, it is often thought that a poltergeist is an angry spirit haunting the location. However, a haunting usually occurs either as an "intelligent haunting" (spirits remaining after death and interacting with their surroundings) or a "residual haunting" (spirits reliving events as when they were alive). Poltergeist phenomena has been studied for decades and most parapsychologists now agree that poltergeists are psychokinetic manifestations. Poltergeist activity normally revolves around a single person - usually a pubescent girl - who acts as a catalyst (or agent) for these anomalous occurrences.

In my own studies, I have found the latter to be true. I have conducted a fair amount of research into the subject, including visiting homes supposedly haunted by poltergeists. In fact, based on my own findings, not necessarily those of "mainstream" parapsychology, around 95% of these cases involved a poltergeist agent, i.e. the person around whom poltergeist activity seems to revolve.

I've heard many stories where families move into a new home and the poltergeist activity begins and heightens, forcing them to move out of their home. But even then it seems to follow them and the family experiences the same kinds of phenomena as before, suggesting that one or more family members are psychokinetic conduits.

With the remaining 5%, the disturbances continued even after the "agent" had left the house, suggesting something else may be present. These types of haunting are not usually associated with a person, but rather with residual energies from past events and traumas, events, discarnate entities (ghosts and the like), and even in some cases "time phasing".

Poltergeists are often attributed to being "evil spirits", but in all of the research I've done over the years, I have yet to find one that is truly evil, if you subscribe to the notions of the Devil and demons. There may be some spirits that come close to being evil (by definition of the word), but their base emotion is nearly always a deep-seated anger, jealousy and other similar emotions, which has been carried over from life to beyond life.

We still don't know enough about the "Afterlife" to concretely conclude whether or not poltergeists are real, imagined or somewhere in between. We can, however, say for certain that something happens that cannot be explained normally.

Paranormal Weather

This entry is not strictly speaking about the paranormal, but the way our weather has been, it might as well be paranormal in nature. The weather been decidedly colder and snowier than usual. We had some more snow at the beginning of April, although none of it stuck for very long. This entire winter we had snow accumulating to 15 to 17.4 feet, which is the most that this area has received since 1968. In 1963, however, the snow started three days before Christmas and lasted until mid-March, but many of the old-timers around here do not remember it snowing in April.

Orange Snow

Orange snow in Russia

One consolation is that at least our snow was not orange, as it was in Russia in 2007. On February 2, 2007, oily, malodorous yellow and orange snow fell over an area of 1,500sq km (570sq miles), which included Omsk, Tomsk and Tyumen.

It was later determined that the snow was non-toxic, ruling out speculations about a rocket launch or a nuclear accident. The official cause of this colored snow is that dust and clay particles were blown into the atmosphere from a sandstorm in neighboring Kazakhstan. Environmentalists, however, counter-claim that it was due to industrial pollution, since the snow contained four times the normal quantities of acids, nitrates, and iron.

Watermelon Snow

Watermelon Snow

Or even pink snow.

In Sierra Nevada, California, snow lingering during summer (primarily at altitudes of 10,000 to 12,000 feet) has some unusual properties. Snow compressed by boots leave a pinkish coloration behind, like watermelon pulp. It even has a distinct watermelon scent, giving its nickname "watermelon snow". Its cause is a species of algae, Chlamydomonas nivalis, which contains a "bright red carotenoid pigment in addition to chlorophyll" and is cryophilic (cold-loving), allowing it to thrive in freezing water. When the snow is compressed, the density of the red cells is increased and the color is heightened.

Source: NOAA's Unusual Snow Phenomena.



It's not unusual to have colored snow because dust, clay, soot and other particles can be swept up into the atmosphere and fall along with rain or snow. But I wonder how we would have reacted if we had awoken one morning to see orange- or pink-tinged snow lying on the ground.

Paranormal State

One of my favorite shows right now is Paranormal State, hosted by Ryan Buell and his team. Now in Season 3, it's gained a lot of popularity since its first episode on A&E. What I like about this show is the fact that they investigate rather more objectively than some of the others, gaining insight from experts rather than people who think they know things, then put the pieces together in a logical sense. There is also an underlying sense of a genuine desire to help people experiencing paranormal activity.

For quick updates, they can be found on Twitter. There are some very interesting "extras" worth watching, including video articles about Ouija Boards and updates after the shows. The "official" website is at A&E Television, which includes full episodes.

I will be giving this (and other) TV shows more detailed entries in the future, perhaps including full episodes if I can.

In the mean time, this is one of the most edge-of-the-seat episodes I've seen in a long time. The full episode (in 5 parts) can be watched on the A&E site: The Possession - Return of The Six.

Movie Making Madness

A long time ago, I used to create my own mini-movies, along with soundtracks that I had created with my trusty Yamaha Portasound. I would write short stories and convert them to movie format, the subject being, of course, paranormal thrillers. For the longest time now, I've really wanted to get back into it, but have deferred because it seemed such a difficult, daunting undertaking. But, I guess the other day, I thought, "It can't really be that hard to do, can it?" So I started downloading all of these cool programs and utilities - video editing, sound editing and animation software - and did some experimenting. And, guess what, it was much easier than I anticipated.

So, for the next few weeks I think I'll be starting on a mini-movie based on one of my older short stories, entitled Beyond Life. I'm not going to reveal any part of the plot regarding that, as it's better that way. When it's done I'll post it here as a special feature. (I'd put it on the Inspired Inkpot blog, only the place I uploaded the graphics for the layout decided to delete everything!) When they're done, I'll be placing them on this blog as "special features".

Some of the other projects I have planned, as part of this "movie making madness", are documentaries and docu-dramas about various paranormal topics. They won't be the investigative work that I do occasionally, more like some of the research that I've conducted into the paranormal over the years, including some photographs and video footage I've taken. We're all really excited here about these particular projects, as you can imagine.

It's something to strive towards and look forward to.