Potergeist trouble...wigan news

[alisondubois]

http://www.wigantoday.net/news/mum_s...ears_1_2829798

Can the logical among you please explain what could be causing this....the paper really should be responsible and include a non biased logical explanation and analysis.

Sorry guys, I think I have probably put this in the wrong thread can it be moved to General Paranormal? (I'm in work trying to skive and not let anyone see! )

[Matt]

A lot of poltergeist activity, when researched turns out to be young children. There's a child involved here. (Though in one of the incidents Holly says she was in the house alone, it is possible to be mistaken) I also note that the house appears to be quite close to Junction 26 of the M6 wiht the main exit from the motorway running right past the house so vibration may be a factor. It's also a flat so hearing footsteps is hardly surprising, and an old re purposed building so sounds of the house settling at night are to be expected.

Add in a dose of suggestion and we've got a fine old recipe for haunting reports.

[Harryprice]

http://www.wigantoday.net/news/mum_s...ears_1_2829798

Can the logical among you please explain what could be causing this....the paper really should be responsible and include a non biased logical explanation and analysis.

Sorry guys, I think I have probably put this in the wrong thread can it be moved to General Paranormal? (I'm in work trying to skive and not let anyone see! )

It needs to be properly investigated. However, here are just a few ideas to consider.

Sleep walking may explain how things happen when the witness is asleep. Object movement which no one witnesses may be a memory problem. Regarding 'flying' objects, I don't believe these have ever been caught convincingly on film. If you see the object only once it is already in the air your brain automatically projects a backward trajectory, which is frequently wrong giving the impression of 'flying'. The object may simply have fallen, in a perfectly normal parabola, from an unstable pile. I regularly have objects falling in my house but it is invariably my fault for not placing them in a sensible place!

Once someone is convinced they are living in a haunted location, every normal sound or movement (which they would not usually even notice) becomes part of the 'paranormal activity', so adding to the impression of a haunting. But, as I say, it really needs investigating first-hand before any conclusions can be reached.

[alisondubois]

Thanks for the answers, investigation is definitely needed but why do I get the feeling that if it is investigated then it will be by "experts" in the paranormal who will be trying to prove the existence of a poltergeist rather than explaining the logical reasons - like sleep walking or even that someone does actually have a key to the place!

[Harryprice]

Alison Dubois - irony?

[alisondubois]

Alison Dubois - irony?

Well I enjoy the series Medium as a work of fiction and find it very entertaining I haven't ever bothered reading about the actual Alison Dubois as I didnt' want to taint my enjoyment of the series.

[Viking]

Do any of you know whether or not these reported incidents have ever been investigated by scientists? If not, why should this be?

[alisondubois]

Do any of you know whether or not these reported incidents have ever been investigated by scientists? If not, why should this be?

That was really what I wanted to know, there is a profusion of these stories out there on the internet and in the local press - however there isn't any (that I can find) about the stories being investigated, it would make for interesting reading.

Does anyone know of any particular case that has been investigated from both sides of the fence?

[chaggle]

That was really what I wanted to know, there is a profusion of these stories out there on the internet and in the local press - however there isn't any (that I can find) about the stories being investigated, it would make for interesting reading.

Does anyone know of any particular case that has been investigated from both sides of the fence?

What you mean when you say 'both sides of the fence' here?

[alisondubois]

What you mean when you say 'both sides of the fence' here?

I wanted to know if there is any documented events investigated by the paranormal experts and the scientific experts and if the findings are available.

I mean - instead of just being investigated by the 'paranormal experts' it would be nice if these so called paranormal happenings could also be investigated from a scientific and logical point of view to discover what it actually is instead of automatically jumping to the 'it's a poltergeist' conclusion.

If both sides got together and put their findings together then wouldn't the 'paranormal experts' have to accept that logical and reasonable answsers are available, which may then encourage them to look at other alledged paranormal events more open mindedly?

[Harryprice]

I wanted to know if there is any documented events investigated by the paranormal experts and the scientific experts and if the findings are available.

It tends to be a case of whichever group gets there first. Also, in many cases witnesses aren't interested in having their 'case' investigated, they just want to get rid of 'it'. This means they are likely to call in a psychic.

I mean - instead of just being investigated by the 'paranormal experts' it would be nice if these so called paranormal happenings could also be investigated from a scientific and logical point of view to discover what it actually is instead of automatically jumping to the 'it's a poltergeist' conclusion. If both sides got together and put their findings together then wouldn't the 'paranormal experts' have to accept that logical and reasonable answsers are available, which may then encourage them to look at other alleged paranormal events more open mindedly?

Not many scientists are interested in the paranormal and the few that are rarely do field investigations. Even if they did, I can't imagine many would have the broad experience required to mount a successful investigation.

There are many kinds of amateur paranormal investigator coming at the subject from all angles. There are a tiny minority who approach cases from the viewpoint of experienced amateur scientists. Such people can do an excellent job of finding out the causes of a case.

[Croydon Bob]

The problem is: why would a "real" scientist want to investigate a poltergeist claim and what would they actually look for? Fake experts have a wide variety of electronic devices that do not in any way detect ghosts, spirits, ectoplasm, etc. How would a serious scientific investigation actually determine what was happening if the actual cause was an over-active imagination or lying?

There have been many proper investigations. Richard Wiseman has managed to come up with data that people are more likely to see things, feel a spooky chill, etc, in rooms with a draft than rooms without. The Australian Skeptics investigated the Humpty Doo Poltergeist and found some clear indications of hoax (for instance the room where things flew around had a ceiling fan with clean polished blades, no other fan blades in the hotel, or town, were clean, why that one? Because someone had been sticking things to it so that they later flew off and had removed the evidence before the skeptics searched the room?). But no investigation can ever prove a negative, some believers will believe whatever evidence is presented to them, and the media aren't as interested in a rational debunking as they are in a silly ghost story. "Serious" scientists have better things to do than damage their reputations on such nonsense.