Supernatural Phenomena

By
Valeria Retamal

When we think about paranormal activity, we tend to think about ghosts and demons, but
these are not the only types of paranormal phenomena. People have tried to document
those unexplained events several times; moreover, there are many movies that deal with
this subject. Some of them are The Others, White Noise, Paranormal Activity, The Sixth
Sense, and Poltergeist.
We can classify paranormal phenomena into three broad categories: Haunting, the most
common, happens when uninterrupted paranormal activity occurs in a particular place. It
can be caused by different reasons. One cause is when spirits stay where they lived in
when being alive (residual haunting). Another cause is when people die prematurely and
those spirits cannot pass to the afterlife, so they stay between there and our world, in a
limbo.
Sometimes, objects can be haunted by spirits, that is when there is a powerful connection
between people and the object they were devoted to. After the owner has died, this link is
so strong that can be perceived by humans.
Demonic possession is another category of paranormal activities. In movies like The
Exorcism of Emily Rose, the victims end up being, successfully or not,
exorcized to make demons or evil spirits to leave their bodies. This
phenomenon often happens when a portal is opened by a living person
when playing with a Ouija board or when practicing satanic rituals.
And last but not least category is the poltergeist phenomena. These events are confused
with house haunting; however, they refer to something completely different. Poltergeist is
psychokinetic energy originated by an incessant stressful situation. Although many
people are skeptical about this issue, the following passage attempts to present
insightful information and concrete evidence in relation to this topic.
 To grasp a general understanding, first we have to answer one simple
question: What is a poltergeist? The word poltergeist comes from the German
terms polter (noise) and geist (spirit). That is the reason why poltergeists have
been commonly described as “a type of ghost that makes loud noises, throws
objects around, etc.” (Hornby. AS, 1995).
Poltergeists have been part of common beliefs and popular stories throughout
history. Back in the first centuries, poltergeists were related to evil possession.
Later, in medieval times, different stories about the origin and causes of poltergeist
appeared. Nevertheless, these stories do not count as poltergeist events due to
the fact that they were not registered as official paranormal cases; instead, they
were told as tales, leaving its possible truthfulness aside.
It has been stated that there are many types of ghosts: those who appear in
front of dying people, those who do not know they are dead and perform the same
action repeatedly; those who do not notice living people around them, those who
have a specific purpose, such as letting someone know that something has
happened, among others. A poltergeist goes into the category of violent ghost,
those who frighten a whole family with loud noises, producing chaos. “A typical
poltergeist case has objects flying around, bottles falling over, and screw-tops lids
coming loose.” (Wallechinsky, D. and Wallace A., 1975).
There have been tons of supernatural anecdotes throughout history related to
these mysterious entities, but one of the most famous cases in the world is The
Thornton Heath Poltergeist Case. Almost thirty years ago, a family was teased by
poltergeist activities near Christmas Eve. During this tormenting experience, this
family had Christmas ornaments and furniture being thrown at them, heard
footsteps in the bedroom, strident noises, seen objects flying around the living
room, and bleeding images of a particular character in the television screen. After
several weeks of extraordinary episodes, the family hired a medium to find an
answer to these supernatural situations. What occurred after this was horrifying: a
farmer named Chatterton, who lived there during the eighteenth century, was
considering this family as trespassers of his property. Two days after the family
received this news, they moved out. Since then, there is no sign of Chatterton or
any kind of paranormal activity in that house. This event is considered as “some of
the best-documented, frightening, and controversial poltergeist cases of the last
30 years.” (Fodor, 2007)

Have you ever experienced a supernatural phenomenon such as hearing

inexplicable noises, or feeling someone staring at you and when you look over
your shoulder nobody is there? Surely, you can come up with different answers to
these situations: a friend’s joke, paranoia, or even the devil. However, an
undeniable truth is that “something else”--commonly known as dwarves, energies,
and so forth--is around us. But, the most well-known—and by far the most
frightening one—is poltergeist.

Poltergeists can be divided into five different categories according to perception.

The first type is perceived through hearing: these noises can be imitation of human
voices, bells, crashing objects, etc. The second one is dynamic, which refers to
object movement and levitation. The third category is optical, which involves
sparkles and bright spheres moving to and fro. Tactile type of poltergeist gives the
feeling as if you were being touched or pressed. And the fifth type is felt through
smell: both nasty and pleasant essences.

So far, several facts and actual anecdotes unconnected with our day-life progress
have been stated, and they can all be proved. But what better way to present real,
authentic information than to express our own shocking experiences? If a friend of
yours tells you he has seen, heard, or felt a poltergeist, you just laugh and don’t
pay him much attention; unless it has already happened to you. This experience
took place a couple of years ago in San Felipe, Chile. During the night, loud
footsteps were heard in the living room, but no one was there; also, one of the
bathroom mirrors was intentionally broken; and finally, exactly at 2:30 a.m., all the
lights in the house went on at the same time. It is only after you experience
something like that, you can truly believe in these chilling beings.

As you can see, there are many inexplicable elements in the world, which make it
a very mysterious place to live. But one thing is for sure: there must be an answer
to all these unanswered phenomena. This one in particular, poltergeists, as
dangerous as they may seem, must have a reason or a purpose for being here.
But, in the meantime, respect and fear is all that can be offered by now.

Bibliography

• Fodor, N. (2007) parapsychologist article. Retreived from

http://paranormal.suite101.com/article.cfm/thornton_heath_poltergeist_1938
• Hornby, S. A. (1995) Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current
English. Oxford: Oxford University Press

• Wallechinsky, D and Wallace, (1975) “The Curiosity Shop”. The People's

Almanac. Doubleday & Company, Inc. Garden City, New York.