{"id":2848,"date":"2024-06-18T13:55:58","date_gmt":"2024-06-18T13:55:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/library.umbc.edu\/specialcollections\/garrett\/?page_id=2848"},"modified":"2024-06-26T17:32:02","modified_gmt":"2024-06-26T17:32:02","slug":"baltimore-poltergeist","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/library.umbc.edu\/garrett\/hauntings\/poltergeists\/baltimore-poltergeist\/","title":{"rendered":"Baltimore Poltergeist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Baltimore Poltergeist haunted the Jones family in Baltimore, Maryland from January 14 to February 8, 1960. Edgar G. Jones and his wife lived with their daughter and son-in law, the Pauls, and their 17-year-old grandson Ted. Like the Seaford <\/a>and Poultry Farm<\/a> cases, the Baltimore Poltergeist was believed to center around a child or teenager – in this case, Ted Pauls. Peculiar similarities have been noted between these children, particularly their intellect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parapsychologist Nandor Fodor, who investigated the case, recognized Ted’s talents through his zine, praising him on television. (Editions of Ted Pauls’ zine are located within the collection). Fodor theorized that the poltergeist activity was caused by the “somatic and psychic dissociation” of Ted’s depressed ego, a case of “projected repressions.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Theories connecting individuals to poltergeist activity were shaped by contemporary attitudes, some of which are recognized as offensive today. The adjoining quote displays prominent elements of ableism and homophobia. Fodor believed that poltergeists were manifestations of the subconscious, and so he made observations of characteristics that in his time were considered sources of psychological tensions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Thank you for the Poultry Farm Poltergeist report. More attention should have been paid in it to the CRIPPLE MOTIVE in the mother. I looked for the same motive in Baltimore. The boy is not crippled but walks like a duck or frog (Ted Pauls – tadpole) and looks, on some photographs, like a pixy. There is something odd about the lift of one eye and I can well imagine that in school he may have been subjected to cruel jokes.”<\/p>\nNandor Fodor, letter to Martin Ebon, Esc., Parapsychology Foundation, Jan. 24, 1960 <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In Folder “Baltimore Poltergeist,” Box D, Eileen J. Garrett Parapsychology Foundation collection, Collection 331, Special Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (Baltimore, MD).<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Unlike the Seaford and Poultry Farm poltergeist cases, the Jones family appears to have found a solution to their mystery. Frustrated with the bombardment of people who claimed to have the answers, Mrs. Pauls said to a newspaperman, “All you smart people who thought you knew everything about it didn’t help us at all. The plumber’s the only one who did anything for us.” After the plumber’s visit, the poltergeist activity ceased. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other Poltergeist Cases<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Seaford Poltergeist<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Poultry Farm Poltergeist<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\u2190 Back to “Poltergeists”<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Baltimore Poltergeist haunted the Jones family in Baltimore, Maryland from January 14 to February 8, 1960. Edgar G. Jones and his wife lived with their daughter and son-in law,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":2283,"parent":1711,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2848","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.umbc.edu\/garrett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.umbc.edu\/garrett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.umbc.edu\/garrett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.umbc.edu\/garrett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.umbc.edu\/garrett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2848"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/library.umbc.edu\/garrett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4256,"href":"https:\/\/library.umbc.edu\/garrett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2848\/revisions\/4256"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.umbc.edu\/garrett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1711"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.umbc.edu\/garrett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.umbc.edu\/garrett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}