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By: Andrea Ellingham

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This is a very old print of a family trapped in the chaos of a poltergeist attack. Poltergeists are manifestations of energy that are believed to be able to manipulate objects in the physical world, as well as be able to make physical contact with the living.
Connection:
This connects to the belief of the unexplained. Back before we had the advances of modern science people would just guess and come up with whatever solution they could to explain why things are occurring. If the house started shaking and things were falling off of the table people would assume it was an angry poltergeist, but in reality it could've just been a small earthquake and they just didn't have the technology to figure it out.

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This is a picture of a young girl who was apparently the victim of a poltergeist attack. Poltergeists are aggressive manifestations of energy that can be capable of physically harming humans.
Connection:
This is an example of an emotional connection. This girl has obviously just been through something very traumatic and her emotions might be clouding her judgement. She might not have seen the thing that attacked her, and she is probably to emotional to make a clear judgement, so she assumes that it was a poltergeist that scratched her face.

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This website discusses how poltergeists can be created by the energy from a living person. they discuss how a person can produce enough angry or bad energy that can cause a poltergeist to form, and list of a few incidents of this happening, a swell as compare them to other known causes of poltergeist phenomena.
Connection:
This article lacks scientific evidence or credible resources. This article is also a key example of the red flag mystical energy. Throughout the article they discuss how different energies cause poltergeist and spirit manefestations, and how more negative energies can cause more violent encounters. This not only lacks scientific and credible proof, but it’s telling us that we somehow can cause events to happen using nothing but our feelings and emotions.

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POLTERGEISTS! SUPERNATURAL MANIFESTATIONS, HUMAN AGENTS... OR BOTH?

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This is a website that discusses the eight stages of a poltergeist haunting. The eight stages were described by a man named Rupert Mathew, in his book titled "Poltergeists". Mathews goal was to help people identify real hauntings from the fake. If you look in the comment section of this article, you'll notice that some people still use these methods today as a way of detecting and debunking poltergeist activity.
Connection:
This connects to ancient wisdom. This book was written in 1911, when technology was still very primitive. People who believe this book are trusting scientific methods that probably would not hold up considering how far we have advanced in technology. We know a lot more about poltergeists hauntings now then we do in 1911.

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The eight stages of a poltergeist haunting has been taken from Rupert Mathews' book Poltergeists. For anyone interested, Mathews' book is well researched and a great read. He covers the many different characteristics of what we would now consider to be the classic poltergeist haunting. Mathews does not necessarily subscribe to the common poltergeist theories of ghosts or psychokinesis, but instead offers many other possible explanations such as fraud or misidentification. Within the book, Mathews covers historic and modern cases, investigations and scientific experiments, as well as famous early mediums and fraudsters. Mathews concludes there are generally eight stages to an "idealized poltergeist visitation" or haunting where fraud has not been detected:
Stage One: Beginnings
The activity usually begins with faintly registered sounds. This is usually a scratching noise, which may be disregarded as being made by rodents or to be the sounds of water pipes. These noises are usually only heard at night.
Stage Two: Noises
These sounds will then become harder to ignore. These noises resemble knuckles knocking on wood or other objects such as glass. Sometimes, very loud cracking or unexplained banging noises are heard but this is less likely. Objects can sometimes be felt to vibrate. At this stage the activity may also be heard during daylight hours.
Stage Three: Moving Objects
Mathews does state that sometimes Stage Three begins at the same time as Stage Two. Objects may be moved inexplicably. Stone throwing, or lithobolia, is very common. Objects may disappear and reappear. This activity usually focuses around a certain type of object such as a specific ornament or keys. It's rare to actually see the item be moved. Items may be hot to the touch immediately thereafter.
Stage Four: Apports and Disapports
When an object appears from out of nowhere it's called an apport. When an object disappears "into oblivion" it is called a disapport. These types of activities are extremely rare but have been reported.
Stage Five: Communication
In some cases communication is established through a code of knocks. This may be two knocks indicating a "yes" and one knock indicating a "no" or some other established pattern. Sometimes speech is achieved. In almost all of these cases there seems to be a gradual process which starts with whistles, slurps, growls and so on. At first, mutterings or distant voices will be heard. Next, the voice will be said to sound robotic. Finally, witnesses will claim regular speech is achieved. The poltergeist will then be able to speak as a normal person and will begin to make statements. Claims by the poltergeist about their identity are usually grande. They may claim to have been a murderer, a victim, a suicide, or even a famous person. When claims are checked out they will usually be determined to be false. According to Mathews, it is rare for a poltergeist to have knowledge of events outside of what is widely known within the community. Mathews does not mention this, but it is interesting that many claimed spirit-contacts through a Ouija board also share these same characteristics of deceit[i].
Stage Six: Climax
The poltergeist activity will suddenly increase to a point it had never reached before. This may last several hours or several days. If the poltergeist can talk it may state that it's going to be leaving soon. Unlike previous claims, however, this will generally turn out to be true.
Stage Seven: Decline
According to Mathews, "the decline is almost always much shorter than the build-up." The poltergeist will lose its abilities in reverse and gradually become weaker.
Stage Eight: Endings
The activity may slowly skip to an end. Sometimes, this poltergeist activity will reach a dramatic conclusion. In many cases, exorcisms or blessings may prematurely kill the activity. Sometimes, the focus person leaving the premise may cause the activity to cease.
Other Features
The "idealized" poltergeist haunting will usually have a focus person. According to Mathews, this focus person is usually a teenage female but may be of any age or gender. Some investigators believe that this poltergeist activity will center around one person but this is not always the case. Mathews also states that, "it is often said that focus people are usually in a stressful situation of some kind." Examples given within the book are a divorce and an attempted rape.

Also of note, poltergeists sometimes manifest physically. This apparition may be smoky or misty. Sometimes it will take on a human form. Sometimes the apparition may appear very strange such as in an animal or part animal form. Wet spots may also manifest which smell like urine. Sometimes this manifestation can be seen as it is occurring and seems to come out of nowhere.

Witnesses will sometimes claim to have been harmed by the poltergeist entity. Scratches and bite marks are often reported to have appeared on the person's skin without explanation. In some cases, animals will perish. Fires will sometimes start in the home inexplicably. In the Bell Witch case the poltergeist claimed to have killed Jack Bell. In one case - which is not in Mathews book - a woman named Doris Bither claimed to have been raped by a poltergeist. Witnesses later supported her claim. The Bithers' poltergeist account and investigation was made into the 1981 movie 'the Entity' starring Barbara Hershey. For the full interview of Doris Bither's surviving son please go to: ghost theory

It's important to note that the poltergeist distinction is not as clear as many imagine. The characteristics of these hauntings often share many similarities with conventional hauntings. The word poltergeist basically means "noisy ghost" but has come to represent a specific idealized type of haunting. Many individuals separate poltergeists from traditional ghosts because they believe that the spirits of the deceased causes other types of hauntings and there are psychic explanations for poltergeist activity. One early theory was that poltergeist activity was caused by uncontrolled female teenage sexual energy, an unfounded belief that persists to this day.

[i] For more on the apparent deceptive nature of spirits consider reading Hungry Ghosts by Joe Fisher 1991, which is a very interesting study.

The Poltergeist is a "noisy" spirit who makes knocking sounds & throws items around. Early parapsychologists claimed these types of hauntings were caused by uncontrolled female teenage sexual energy. An unfounded belief that persists to this day #FolkloreThursday (1911 magazine) pic.twitter.com/zRjXMP2afx

- Shanon Sinn (@ShanonSinn) July 12, 2018

@ShanonSinn I read your article "Eight Stages of Poltergeist Haunting" Do you help with these things? Or do you know someone?

- David (@davidmatine77) June 8, 2018

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The Eight Stages of a Poltergeist Haunting - Living Library

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The eight stages of a poltergeist haunting has been taken from Rupert Mathews' book Poltergeists . For anyone interested, Mathews' book is well researched and a great read. He covers the many different characteristics of what we would now consider to be the classic poltergeist haunting.

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This is a website that is defining what a poltergeist is, what they do, how to detect one, and how to stop one.
Connection:
This connects to confirmation bias. People are going to read this article if they feel like theyre experiencing a poltergeist problem, and their bias will be confirmed. The information in this article can also be very misleading, and turn people away from more factual info. For example, somebody might be hearing noises in their house, decides to read this article, is convinced they have a poltergeist in their home, and hires a priest to cleanse their home. They convinced themselves by reading this article, but what they didn’t realize is that noise could’ve been a much more serious issue like a leaky pipe or structural damage.

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This is a poster for the popular film "Poltergeist". "Poltergeist" is a horror movie about how a bunch of rowdy ghosts end up terrorizing a family.
Connection:
This connects to a red herring. Not everything portrayed in this movie is real, and much of it is very exaggerated. This could lead people to believe in false information instead of researching the facts.

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This video is about 10 creepy poltergeist encounters. It was uploaded to YouTube by a man named Matthew Santoro.
Connection:
This connects to appeal to authority. Many people turn to YouTube for advice, and many youtubers nowadays are treated like celebrities. Many young children especially look up to youtubers and even want to be youtubers themselves. People will believe this mans poltergeist stories because he is a popular youtuber.

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10 Terrifying Tales of Creepy Poltergeists

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1. The thing in l learned about this topic that surprised me the most is how many people actually believe in poltergeists. Lots of poltergeist phenomenon can be easily debunked by modern day science, yet most people still believe in it.

2. This topic is interesting to me because I am a huge fan of any sort of paranormal activity. For years I have been afraid of ghosts, yet I constantly find myself watching paranormal haunting videos.

3. I found Video_003 was the most interesting. The video is from one of my favorite shows, "Ghost Adventures", and I find the history of the building they were investigating and the amount of paranormal events that have happened there very interesting.

4. I will most likely remember forgetting about this assignment, then struggling to get the research done while struggling to complete 10 other assignments.

5. I believe that anti-vaxx is the most harmful because it actually can kill multiple people, even people who don't believe in it. It is the most ignorant and many people who all victim to it are innocent children because their parents refused to get them vaccinated. The least harmful in my opinion is the flat earth society. If a bunch of uneducated people want to believe the world is flat, let them. They aren't really harming anyone besides themselves.

6. I believe the most important thing to pass on is that most of the time these paranormal events can be explained. My family are firm believers in ghosts, and I find it can get annoying at times the something makes a noise and they blame my dead grandmother instead of the faulty plumbing.

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This is a video about 10 alleged poltergeist sightings caught on camera. Most of these sightings include stuff falling off of shelves or things being moved around. A narrator describes the footage to us and explains why he believes it’s poltergeists.
Connection:
This connects to simplicity. There’s a poor quality security camera clip of something falling off a shelf, so the most simple explanation to that is that it was a poltergeist. Not everyone has the knowledge or time to research the video and see if there’s an alternative explanation, or if the video has been tampered with.

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Truly Shocking & Horrifying Moments Caught on Camera

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10 of the Freakiest Alleged Poltergeists Caught on Video

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Uh oh, ghost footage; get ready for some horrible quality cameras. From plates being thrown off tables, to shopping carts pushing themselves, here are 10 of the freakiest and most intriguing alleged poltergeists caught on video that I could find. Want to follow me on Twitter? https://twitter.com/mista_nightmare

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This is a clip from the popular paranormal show "Ghost Adventures". In this episode they were investigating the infamous Penhurst Asylum. In the video one of the investigators gets hit by a coat rack that was apparently thrown by a poltergeist.
Connection:
This can connect to an emotional connection. There are still many survivors who endured the torment of the Penhurst Asylum when it was in operation, and many of them still live with residual pain and suffering. This could affect their judgement, and it might even hurt them more to see this.

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Ghost Adventures Pennhurst Flying Coat Hanger