What else is one supposed to do on a Sunday during The Quiet Time? Why, go in search of the energetic sources of poltergeist activity, of course. Obvious. Kal had kindly invited me into the situation. He had been asked by a friend to investigate the activity reported by the lady’s sister, and so with a full kit of potential useful items – candles, incense, crystals, dowsing rods – we made our way into the heart of suburbia in an ordinary modern northern English town.
The day was already shaping up to be unusual. In a huge car park covering several acres I had managed to park a few cars away to Kal’s without realising it until I got out and looked around. What a coincidence. Next, when we met up, Kal fumbled for his wallet to have a pen drop out of his coat. He swore it wasn’t his pen! Odd.
On arrival we were made welcome by a nervous family – mother, father and three teenage girls. They were used to their sister’s “white witch” ways and proclaimed themselves open-minded to what we might find. The father remained silent. We invited the assembled household to tell us some of the events that had been happening, and the discussion suddenly went into overdrive – the incidents tumbled out like a flash flood – they couldn’t speak quickly enough. All except the father, until he pressed by Kal to reveal how it had affected him. Then he was able to add a tale or two that even this self-proclaimed sceptic couldn’t explain.
They talked of two different types of incidents. In one type there were items moved around the house which only a few had witnessed directly. The first type was classic poltergeist activity at a low level. They described the dangling crystal beads on a small chandelier lampshade left swinging when no-one was around and no windows were open; knocking from upstairs that everyone downstairs could hear; a thump as though something was jumping off a bed onto the hardwood floor. On investigation nothing would be there, of course. Doors closing unexpectedly, even with deep pile carpets that would prevent explanations of draughts or wind.
The second type of behaviour was slightly more sinister. The two elder girls who had separate rooms both reported sleep paralysis symptoms, feeling like they couldn’t move. They also felt as though they had been suffocated and even choked on one occasion! Finally, one of the girls reported that she felt that she had been moved in her bed by some force. This was very recent behaviour, and from the history of the accounts it was clear that the symptoms were getting more frequent, and more powerful by the day.
Read on to find out how we investigated this series of events, and how we concluded the situation.