Poltergeist featured a family that had “ghosts” in their home. At first objects moved, amusing them.Then, the entities begin to terrorize them. Finally, they put a young daughter in her closet, a gateway to surreality. The movie offers thrills, but is far removed from reality. Please refer to Poltergeists! The Reality, Not the Movie
Poltergeists
Poltergeists are manifestations of PK, psychokinesis, the ability of the mind to affect matter. The agent can be a person or an entity. Usually, the phenomena are limited to harmless activities, like pranks of a mischievous child.
There are documented cases of poltergeists causing water to gush, biting, scratching, throwing stones and starting fires. These manifestations are rare.
Simi Valley Poltergeist Investigation
D. Scott Rogo first heard about the fires on the news the day after the phenomenon started in the home of John Eaton in California. There was one conflagration shortly after another. No cause was found. Rogo thought the instigator might be a fire poltergeist.
The parapsychologist called the fire department. Rogo talked to the inspector and was informed arson was suspected. When he told the inspector about fire poltergeists, he was asked to send information about the phenomenon and was given Eaton’s phone number.
Eaton said a friend, Fred, stayed overnight and slept on the sofa on the night the fires broke out. A few hours after he went to bed, Eaton awoke and smelled smoke. The kitchen table and a chair next it were smoldering. He dragged both outside. When he returned inside, he saw smoke and went to his bedroom to open windows. His mattress was on fire.
He ran past Fred, asleep on the sofa, to get a hose to extinguish the flames. When Eaton went back inside, he saw a corner of the sofa was afire. He woke Fred by spraying him with water.
The men extinguished both fires. Then, they found a burning ottoman in the den adjacent to the living room. They put the flames out. The events lasted ten to fifteen minutes. Eaton called the fire department, fearing another outbreak, but the fourth incident was to be the last.
Conclusions about Simi Valley Fire Poltergeist
The firefighters were as perplexed as Eaton was about the cause of the fiery outbursts. The inspector suspected Eaton set the fires. Rogo still suspected the cause was a poltergeist. He wondered if Fred could have started the fires, either deliberately or as a human poltergeist agent.
There were at least two outbursts that Fred couldn’t have caused because he was with Eaton. He was, according to Eaton, asleep when the others started.
Rogo inspected the charred furniture. Most were burnt over a large area. Eaton said the flames were extinguished quickly. The mattress’ box springs were more damaged than the outer layers, indicating the flames started there. The table began burning from the bottom. The chair looked like the combustion began inside.
When Rogo mapped the locations where the fires occurred, he found a pattern. The movement wasn’t random, so it appeared there was a deliberate force moving through the house. Information doesn’t exist to validate this because of the rarity of fire poltergeists.
Officials didn’t pursue the arson theory and were intrigued when they talked to Rogo. They hadn’t learned about the fire poltergeist in classes.
Was Fred the agent? Could it have been an entity agent poltergeist?
While the fire department didn’t pursue arson, Eaton believes an arsonist crept into his home and started the conflagrations. He cannot explain why or how.
Sources:
On the Track of the Poltergeist, D. Scott Rogo, (Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1986)
The Poltergeist, William G. Roll, (Garden City. NY, 1972)
The Poltergeist Experience, D. Scott Rogo, (Penguin Books, 1979)
Jill Stefko - I'd rather deal with the paranormal than human abnormal - having dealt extensively with both.
