User Note: Click on the page images to learn more about each item

What Makes a “Poltergeist”

What Makes a "Poltergeist" From Tomorrow, Vol. 8, No. 2, Spring 1960 On the following pages, the readers of Tomorrow will find a variety of articles dealing with cases of so-called "poltergeist" activity. These narratives are presented with one aim in mind: to advance the knowledge of the human personality, as it manifests itself through such phenomena as odd noises, mysterious movements of household goods and furniture, inexplicable explosions, and similar happenings. In the majority of cases offered in this issue, the suggestion is strong that they are without paranormal cause; that neither a discarnate spirit, nor an unknown psychophysical force is involved. The conclusion that perhaps most 'poltergeist' phenomena are somehow man-made, does not, however, solve the riddle of their existence. Even if it is true that someone in Baltimore or Iowa decided to play spook during the past few months, this does not answer the questions put in "The Case of the Noisy Intruder" by Edmond P. Gibson or in the historical material on "The Violent Ghosts of Amherst" by Susy Smith. Man-made spookery leaves us with these questions still unanswered: Why this particular type of phenomena? Why not something quite different, in this day of electronics and super-sonics? Why ghosts, and bumps, and fear? Parapsychology, or psyschical research, makes it its business to explore frontiers of human knowledge that are neglected by other areas of science.

Many theories have tried to explain poltergeist activity. Sometimes, physical forces such as magnetism were thought to be the cause. Paranormal skeptics were likely to consider the possibility of a hoax. Parapsychologists were unsatisfied with many of these theories, as they are interested in explaining the “why” of psychic phenomena and examining the unknown of human consciousness and existence. One theory, promoted by parapsychologist Nandor Fodor, suggested that poltergeists were a creation of the human subconscious, an externalization of inner struggle.

See: What is Parapsychology?
 
“What Makes a ‘Poltergeist'”, in Tomorrow, Vol. 8, No. 2, Spring 1960, Folder “Baltimore Poltergeist,” Box D, Eileen J. Garrett Parapsychology Foundation Collection, Collection 331, Special Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (Baltimore, MD).

← Back to “Poltergeists”