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Poltergeists - Dr. Christopher Laursen


macqdor

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Poltergeists and PhDs: An Interview with Dr. Christopher Laursen

 

Dr. Christopher Laursen is a social and cultural historian of religions, science, and nature focusing on modern America and the world. He is also among the world’s foremost scholars on poltergeist phenomena. Currently teaching at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington (UNCW), Christopher recently took some time out of his busy schedule to satisfy my curiosity about a phenomenon that has long been a staple of horror cinema and literature, and which continues to capture the imaginations of millions…

 

http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2018/04/poltergeists-and-phds-an-interview-with-dr-christopher-laursen/

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So a PhD and years of study has led him to conclude that there might possibly be something, maybe related to psychokinesis, if such as thing exists.  Well colour me unimpressed. 

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I tell you what I got from the thoroughly read article.  Both society(Hollywood) and the Science (Psi studies) have tried to define poltergeist on their terms. One can be forgiven for doing so (that being Hollywood) the other IMO cannot.  We are no close to figuring out the true nature of poltergeist activity and thats partially because Parapsychologists as a whole have determined that majority of not all "Geist" outbreaks is related to a mentally disturbed adolescent teenage girl.  Individuals are trying to make the activity fit around the theory vs. having the theory fit around the activity.

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That is, it is a force of nature, or of human consciousness,

The phenomena is probably a part of both. Force of Nature and human consciousness not just girls though) and by force of nature I mean

spirits.   The malevolent kind.

 

I'm in firm agreement with the doctor that the study needs to be aimed at those experiencing the phenomena more.  So-called thinkers (men and women who study this daily so-called) are leaving a lot of data on table and thus furthering a theory that might not need furthering which is its - all from the mind.    One question out of many remains.

 

Why are two people from different walks of life for the past 1000 years - reporting similar phenomena

a) water puddles

b). flying pottery

c.) spontaneous fires

d.) missing items

e). stone throwing and

f). scribble writing

 

 

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4 hours ago, I'mConvinced said:

So a PhD and years of study has led him to conclude that there might possibly be something, maybe related to psychokinesis, if such as thing exists.  Well colour me unimpressed. 

I am going to agree that Laursen guy seemed a little too melee-mouthed for my tastes too.

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24 minutes ago, papageorge1 said:

I am going to agree that Laursen guy seemed a little too melee-mouthed for my tastes too.

Just for future ref and because i hate doing this myself....but it's mealy-mouthed :P

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I'm confused. Is there one verifiable case of actual poltergeist activity-documented, fairly verified through a reputable source?

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1 hour ago, Wes83 said:

I'm confused. Is there one verifiable case of actual poltergeist activity-documented, fairly verified through a reputable source?

Good question, the answer is no. However there are well documented cases such as the Enfield Haunting.

As with all things paranormal, nothing conclusive.

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1 hour ago, Wes83 said:

I'm confused. Is there one verifiable case of actual poltergeist activity-documented, fairly verified through a reputable source?

I would say ‘Yes’ to that. The guy that started this thread had his major experiences confirmed by reputable scientists that even flew in from overseas and confirmed this is real. I have watched videos. And his experiences are run of the mill in poltergeist cases.

But, to my dismay,, there are always those hard-core people that insist there is no such thing as the paranormal. And I and them shall never meet on anything.

if you say you are confused, then you have at least been paying attention.

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2 hours ago, I'mConvinced said:

Just for future ref and because i hate doing this myself....but it's mealy-mouthed :P

Right, I try to pride myself on spelling but I get lazy when on a phone.

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I'm confused. Is there one verifiable case of actual poltergeist activity-documented, fairly verified through a reputable source?

Great question Wes83.  The word reputable source is has been elusive since time began.  Define reputable source?  I find a lot of people, organizations, etc reputable and some I find guilty of malpractice.  No one's ever been able to define whats reputable when it comes to things paranormal. But that's not limited to just the paranormal.  Name me a reputable religion? A reputable church or house of God?  Or University? Or institution for higher learning.    I know I can name some, but not everyone is going to agree with me. I know you can name some and not everybody is going to agree with you. In short the term is relative. Like beauty itself it's in the eye of the beholder. 

The Enfield haunting is a well documented case as is the Humpy Doo case (coming out of Australia) but those cases have their haters and detractors alike.  Matter of fact there are several other cases that are well documented present company included.

 

 

 

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On ‎4‎/‎18‎/‎2018 at 3:33 PM, macqdor said:

Great question Wes83.  The word reputable source is has been elusive since time began.  Define reputable source?  I find a lot of people, organizations, etc reputable and some I find guilty of malpractice.  No one's ever been able to define whats reputable when it comes to things paranormal. But that's not limited to just the paranormal.  Name me a reputable religion? A reputable church or house of God?  Or University? Or institution for higher learning.    I know I can name some, but not everyone is going to agree with me. I know you can name some and not everybody is going to agree with you. In short the term is relative. Like beauty itself it's in the eye of the beholder. 

The Enfield haunting is a well documented case as is the Humpy Doo case (coming out of Australia) but those cases have their haters and detractors alike.  Matter of fact there are several other cases that are well documented present company included.

 

 

 

Yeah the whole "reputable source" thing when it comes to the paranormal is a catch 22. Just believing the paranormal might actually be a thing automatically makes one unreliable. Even if someone doesn't believe in the paranormal then experiences a case where they now believe it, they are suddenly in the same category. If Dawkins himself became a believer cause a certain case proved to him beyond a doubt the paranormal exists his reputation would shatter overnight.

The way I see it, a person has to rely on what they have personally experienced. Cause it doesn't matter who else says its real. To many, that automatically makes them a fool.

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On 4/18/2018 at 8:33 PM, macqdor said:

The Enfield haunting is a well documented case as is the Humpy Doo case

What evidence is there for the Humpty Doo case? Just the pictures of writing? 

If it rests on the witness statements then I'm not buying it. First night in a new house, hear noises and the first thing you do is scream poltergeist and call in several priests? Ok.

Did not one bother to try 

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How am I finding stuff and you guys not?  How am I able to reach people. And by reaching people I mean finding them online, exchanging emails, having conversations and viewing data.  I spoke to the investigators themselves who went to the home.  I read the reports i.e. findings.

FYI - there is life outside Unexplained Mysteries.com.  The information is not that hard to find and the invention of the email i.e. social media has made everybody reachable.

 

I guess it all bowls down to level of interests and sincerity. My interests is high, as is my sincerity.

 

And no I'm not going to bring the findings here.  You want it, you research it. You ask and be sincere when asking. 

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I think it's a little of both. You may indeed have a human agent, female or not who uses their fear unhappiness  or whatever to somehow make these manifestations. And then in some cases you do have a real spirit, a paranormal enity  causing things to happen. Seem to recall a case from Germany of a young woman who worked in an office. The  office euipment would go haywire. Anyhow, they discovered that it was really her causing the activity because she was very unhappy at her job. They fired her and all activity stopped.

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The  office equipment would go haywire. Anyhow, they discovered that it was really her causing the activity because she was very unhappy at her job. They fired her and all activity stopped.

I agree there's data to support both theories as to root cause.  

Human - extreme stress, emotional, unstable, etc

Spirit - enters an environment, creates chaos because of the environment being unstable. Negative spirits are opportunists, just like predators in the animal Kingdom. if a situation is ripe they're going to exploit it.  The host (victim) is always caught unaware.

 

 

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5 hours ago, HollyDolly said:

I think it's a little of both. You may indeed have a human agent, female or not who uses their fear unhappiness  or whatever to somehow make these manifestations. And then in some cases you do have a real spirit, a paranormal enity  causing things to happen. Seem to recall a case from Germany of a young woman who worked in an office. The  office euipment would go haywire. Anyhow, they discovered that it was really her causing the activity because she was very unhappy at her job. They fired her and all activity stopped.

In my opinion its not fear or unhappiness that causes poltergeist activity (or subconscious telekinesis).

Its about having strong feelings of anxiety but not acting on it. By that I mean when we feel anxious we consciously try to stop it - or avoid, prevent, ignore, overcome, etc. All this activity of the conscious mind gives the subconscious an avenue of escape out of the feelings of anxiety. You need to close off all conscious avenues of escape. Just focus on the anxiety and let it exist. Just let it do what its doing while watching it no matter how uncomfortable. Without a conscious means of redress, or attempts to find one, the subconscious will quickly give up and resort to poltergeist activity instead.

This is going to sound crazy but I think there is evidence of telekinesis in religion - love your neighbour, dont covert your neighbours wife, dont kill, dont steal, all the commandments and moral rules in the Bible. If you totally obey them instead of giving a moron a beating or being abusive to them then you are left having to close off all conscious means of redress during times of high anxiety which they have caused. The next thing that happens, is that the sea parts as if by magic (a subconscious redress) allowing you to escape!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Personally, I think the best documented poltergeist cases were 1) Humpty Doo (hey, I'm biased, I was there!) 2) Mayanup/Pumphreys in WA in the 50s and 3) Enfield. The best writeup of 1) and 2) is in Tony and my book Aus Poltergeists. Humpty Doo in particular doesn't just rely on witness statements - there was Brendan Gowdie's thermal cameral work which indicated objects that had been thrown had not had human contact. 

 

 

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I'm not sure what constitutes a case being the most documented?  What baseline are we comparing ourselves to?  Are we talking evidence obtained?  Evidence shared?  Evidence still made available to the general public, etc?   If one was to ask where is this evidence is now?   Where could you point to for to view it?  To study it?

 

The Humpy Dumpy case holds true and dear to me because of similar events taking place in our house. Knives thrown and Wall Writings.

I'd love to hear the EVPs(if any where capture).

 

At this time I don't know what constitutes a well documented case because I dont know what baseline we've (the paranormal field) has set for it self.

Most talked about?  Enfield (without question).

 

but we will agree there are way more profound cases than the Enfield.  Thousands more.  Some recent as last week.

 

 

 

 

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