“Poltergeist” comes from the German words for “noisy” and “ghost.” Poltergeists are invisible entities who cause great disturbances in the place they are located &ndash such as by opening cabinets, slamming doors, or making knocking or groaning sounds.
The phenomenon is usually associated with an emotionally disturbed person, commonly a teenager or young adult, especially females.
There is much debate as to what causes poltergeist phenomena, and whether they are ghosts at all. One popular theory is that poltergeists are the result of psychokinesis. Therefore, poltergeists are possibly actually a form of telekinesis.
Poltergeists – Characteristics
Poltergeist activity is distinguishable by several characteristics. There is never a visible paranormal entity. Distortions in photographs or film may appear after the fact, but poltergeists are never visible ghosts.
The way poltergeists manifest is through various paranormal phenomena such as knocking on surfaces, slamming doors, turning on lights, throwing objects, etc. Often one pesron will seem to be the target of the poltergeist activity. Also, poltergeist activity is not located to a particular haunted place, but tends to follow a person around.
Poltergeists are likely not ghosts, but rather the result of a psychologically distrubed human manifesting telekinetic energy. The reason that ghost hunters have come to believe this is because of the characteristics of poltergeist activity described above. Not only is one person usually the focus of the poltergeist activity, but one person is usually always nearby when the activity occurs.
More tellingly, poltergeist activity tends to follow a family around, and it can become very apparent just who is the cause based on who is present when the activity occurs. Very often, poltergeist phenomena center around a young female, either in her teens or early 20s, who is undergoing a stressful life situation.
Locating Poltergeists
Since poltergeist activity is not centered on a haunted place, a ghost hunter cannot rely on the history of a place or stories of hauntings to track down a poltergeist. Rather, the only way to find a poltergeist is to listen for reports of poltergeist-like distrubances.
After quick research into the nature of the activity and the persons surrounding it whether the paranormal phenomenon is the result of poltergeist activity. If the activity matches the characteristics described above – an invisible entity causing great disturbances, centered around one person, typically a young female – then a poltergeist is the likely culprit.
Ghost Hunting for Poltergeists
Since poltergeists are probably not actually ghosts, the term “ghost hunting” is used here only as a useful shorthand. Ghost hunting for poltergeists involves different considerations from usual ghost hunting, since poltergeists are not the disembodied spirits of dead people, but rather a manifestation of the psychological distress of a human being.
Because poltergeists involve humans and not ghosts, ethical considerations must be taken into account. The investigator should not try to agitate or provoke the human subject in order to see a manifestation of poltergeist activity.
Instead, the ghost hunter should obeserve, record, and report his obeservations of the paranormal phenomena surrounding poltergeist activity without actively provoking the person.
Obviously, remaining completely unprovoking is impossible, since the mere presence of an investigator may agitate the subject who is causing the paranormal activity, but neutrality and unobtrusiveness should be striven for at all times.
Once the ghost hunter has located the poltergeist phenomenon, the best strategy for hunting poltergeists is to set up extensive recording equipement and then passively wait, hoping to capture something on the ghost equipement. The recording equipment should include EMF detectors, since poltergeist activity can cause shifts in the electromagnetic fields in the area.
Also there should be digital recording equipement, since some poltergeist phenomena have manifested as ghostly voices. Most importantly, there should be video cameras covering every as much an area of the location of the poltergeist activity as possible.
If lighting conditions are poor, night vision is preferable. With any luck ,the cameras will capture the poltergeist activity causing objects to be moved.
The ghost hunter should never attempt to anger or provoke the poltergeist activity, and instead should simply let the recording equipment perform the work while the ghost hunter remains out of sight – preferably at a different location from the poltergeist activity – so as not to provoke the poltergeist.
Since most poltergeist activity is reported in single-family homes, the ghost hunter will likely be dealing with family situation as well as paranormal phenomena when hunting a poltergeist. Because of this, the ghost hunter should take care to respect the family’s space and privacy as much as possible, and work closely with the family to make sure their wishes are respected.
Sources: Wikipedia, theparanormalguide.com
