An invisible man

sleeping in your bed

who you ganna call?

Katie (Uschie) Burke

Haunting in Germany

I ain't afraid of no ghost• What is Poltergeist?

• What is poltergeist activity?

• What causes it?

• First documented poltergeist activity

• More documented cases of poltergeist activity

PoltergeistPoltergeist• Comes from the German word

“Poltern” meaning ‘to make noise’, and “Geist” meaning ‘Spirit’.

• Literally means “noisy spirit”

What constitutes Poltergeist activity

• Inanimate objects being moved or thrown across a room

• Unexplainable noises

• Knocking or banging

• Beds shaking or furniture moving

• In rare cases violence has been known to occur. Small fires, objects actually hitting

people, and scratches and bruises.

• Even rarer cases have been noted where ‘contact’ has been made.

• In the form of a ‘ghost’ or ‘apparition’ or unexplained sounds or voices

In the mid-1970s, an organization conducted a computer study of recorded poltergeist activity, and found this pattern:

64% 58% 48% 36% 24% 16% 12%

15% 11% 5%

• For hundreds of years poltergeists were thought to be ‘ghosts’ or ‘Demons’ or the curse of a ‘witch’– Mainly because of strong religious influences

• Another theory is that Poltergeists are created by the violent or angry death of a person.

• This creates a ‘mark’ on the area where the death happened.

• The energy created by the ‘mark’ supposedly replays through supernatural activity over and over.

You know, you don't act like a scientist.

PsychokinesisPsychokinesis• The recent belief that Poltergeist activity is the unexplained

manifestation of a persons strong emotions or severe stress.

• William G Roll - studied around 116 documented cases and discovered that the main cause of the activity was often children or teenagers

• He also theorized that recurrent neuronal discharges resulting in epileptic symptoms may cause Recurrent Spontaneous Psychokinesis (RSPK), which would affect the person's surroundings.

• In the case of the Rosenheim Poltergeist, none of the disturbances could be explained through fraudulent means and it was suggested to be caused by psychokinetic forces.

You‘re more like a game show host.

• Most cases of Poltergeist activity though, is found to be fraud.

First recorded poltergeist activity occurred around

~858 AD~A Germanic home had an

“invisible force” throwing stones them, banging and knocking on the walls all day and night, and knocking over beds causing the sleeping inhabitants to be thrown on the floor

Hopfgarten Poltergeist• Occurred in Hopfgarten, near Weimar, Germany• Minna Sauerbrey, 1919• Sick, invalid, bed ridden second wife of Ernst Sauerbrey.

– She suffered from, which was only described as, “an incurable internal complaint of long standing”

– She laid for over a year on the couch (her makeshift bed) and was to weak to even raise an arm.

– This occurred for over a year• Was visited by her step-son, Clock maker and exhibitions in

hypnotism, Otto Sauerbrey, on the 10th of February

– He proceeded to hypnotize her, though police testimonials have him denying this fact despite multiple witnesses.

– 12th of February he left

• Second day after Otto left, unexplained knocking started to occure.

– Happened for almost two days in a row, all day and night

• Ernst and his daughter, Frieda Pappe, Claimed it sounded like a fist banging on the walls and doors of the room, and on various pieces of furniture – This was repeated night after night from the 13th to

the 28th of February

There is also evidence of unexplained moving objects, a jug and water basin.

.• During this time Minna’s mental and physical

health began to greatly decline.

• She became obsessed with the thought that her step-son, Otto, was actually there and had

control over her.

• There was a day when her condition grew considerably worse, the 17th of February, and it

was noted that day at around 11 pm the knocking on the walls grew ‘unusually loud.

• That night Minna confided in Frieda how afraid of

Otto she was, And how she “Saw his eyes on her every night’.

• February 27th Weimar Police were called. – They witnessed the unexplained rapping and saw

Objects move with no one near them.• Februrary 28th Police called in “nerve-

specialist” Dr. kalhe.– He proceeded to “counter the hypnoses” and cure

her.• She is said to have yelled out “I Am Free!”

From that moment on the occurrences stopped and never happened again.

On March 27th 1921 Minna Died due to her“Internal complaint”.

Rosenheim Poltergeist• Occurred in the offices of Sigmund Adam in Rosenheim

Southern Bavaria.• 1967 – Adams office started receiving phone calls with no

answer.– Disconnected phone lines– Phones still making calls, at least 6 a minute (45 every 15 minutes) to

a ‘time clock’• A feat that was impossible with the phone system in the 70’s

Oct. 1967 – lights would swing on their fixtures for no reason, turn on and off, and light bulbs would rotate 90% in their sockets. When light bulbs were replaced with lower voltage one they simply exploded.

Hans Bender of Freiburb’s Institute of Paranormal Research came to help

• Discovered phenomenon only occurred at certain times.– When a Young employee, 19 year old Anne-Marie Schneide started her

office hours the incidents would start,– As soon as she went home everything stopped.– Further Investigation showed the was a “High Strung teen” with a lot of

“emotional turmoil” and repressed anger

– Two Physicists F. Karger and G. Zicha Made a study on this phemenon later

Rosenheim continued• Dec. 1967 – Jan. 1968

Calendars flew off walls, Paintings turned on their hooks, and drawers opened.

• Large 400 pound book shelf was seen to move a few feet away from the wall on its own.

Rosenheim bookshelf said to

have moved on its own

• Middle of Jan – Anne-Marie Lost her job, everything stopped.– Several other jobs in

which she held experienced the same strange ‘electrical phenomenon’

• Last know Anne-Maries’ Boyfriend broke up with her due to a scoreboard dying during a game of bowling

• She is said to have gotten married in 69’ and the incidents surrounding her stopped.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1LjrnsH144

The phenomena were witnessed by Hans Bender, the police force, the CID, reporters, and the physicists, F. Karger and G. Zicha.

What do you think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PK_tFaDY8A

• http://www.elfmanworld.com/spookyarchive/poltergeist.html• • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poltergeist• • http://www.ghosttheory.com/2008/12/24/rosenheim-poltergeist-looking-

back-at-the-most-documented-haunting

• http://monkeywah.typepad.com/randis_prize/hopfgarten-poltergeist.html

• http://monkeywah.typepad.com/randis_prize/poltergeists.html

• http://paranormal.wikia.com/wiki/Poltergeist

• Haunting and Poltergeists , Multidisciplinary Perspectives – Edited by James Houran and Rense Lange