The San Pedro Poltergeist Case

The San Pedro Haunting - The Haunting of Jackie Hernandez.....

A while ago I began writing up quite a number of paranormal themed threads, but admittedly later abandoning them half way through due to other threads I wanted to finish also - A small issue I regularly come across It seems. But, the paranormal being the utmost fascinating topic for me on ATS you see, I'd love to finally be able to come back to these threads and finish them off once and for all. Partly due to the fact I don't want to see them go unfinished, and partly due to my fascination with them - particularly this case I'm discussing now.

Anyway, these types of paranormal cases - Poltergeist ones are the type which I'm admittedly very much "a fan of" when It comes to research. Reason being, I believe they can, out of any other "strange phenomenon" come closest to once and for all providing the vital albeit elusive piece of evidence that all those whom find this topic interesting shall seek. Evidence of a life after this one.

With that being so, I shall begin discussing the thread in question: This thread is the story of Jackie Hernandez and how herself, her children (particularly her 4 month old baby) and the investigators whom were brought in to her Californian were all seemingly affected mentally and as rare as it is - physically by the poltergeist haunting there home in San Pedro.

(For those whom are interested at this point, such physical acts allegedly caused by this poltergeist include causing red liquid to ooze from the walls, causing physical scars to appear (which appeared on the 4 month old baby) and in one incident, the attempted hanging of one of the investigators - A video providing "evidence" and I use the word evidence loosely here, for all of this is shown later on in this thread - Please keep reading.)

Admittedly I'm more of a believer than a skeptic in the paranormal, something I'm sure won't go down well with some as I'm attempting indiscriminately look at one of the most extraordinary and plausible poltergeist cases possibly ever recorded, but with this thread I do hope to find my own sense of enlightenment still. What I mean by that is with most topics discussed here by me on ATS, I find very much so I'm in a skeptical position (Or It's always my goal) - myself being more a skeptic than a believer in most things already you see. With the nature of the paranormal though, It's different, I've had many of my own experiences - ones which have made me a believer (which is a difficult task), but It's for that reason alone I enter this thread more of a believer in this topic than a skeptic.

Anyway, here is one such paranormal case I've always found to be nothing short of fascinating - The San Pedro Haunting - one which I would assume few will know a great deal about here, but one which is quite possibly the one plausible and terrifying of any before or after it.

Thanks for reading thus far and I hope you continue (as well as enjoy) reading this thread..

The San Pedro Haunting

The Haunting of Jackie Hernandez

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/be14b9168ab1.jpg[/atsimg]

...Barry Conrad (Investigator) at the infamous San Pedro home...

San Pedro, California - according to those whom investigated this case is quite possibly home to what was one of the most extraordinary recorded incidents of paranormal phenomenon ever.

It's said to be one of the most dangerous placed for an investigator to visit also. Not something you will hear much in the paranormal world I find but as recent as 2008 (20 years after the Jackie Hernandez case began), the residence here has been subject to investigation - and many of those whom actually did the investigating allegedly report being followed home by the spirits which are said to reside here.

Something the investigators of this case from the 1980's - where It received It's reputation - also report. The strange occurrences don't end here though of course, one of whom was investigating here was, as I mentioned, almost strangled while investigating the strange noises emanating from the attic and was only saved by a fellow investigator whom was with him. Or so the story goes...

This house seemingly is one that certainly shouldn't be taken lightly, believer in the paranormal or not.

Anyway, I'll begin by discussing the history of this story, the people involved and the house itself first and foremost...

The Californian residence (which I won't name) was the site of what was seemingly a very very volatile spirit indeed. This house full of strange unexplained occurrences - even physical attacks and not always on the main source of the attention - Jackie Hernandez herself. Full full body apparitions have been sighted (by numerous witnesses might I add), objects were throw, lamps smashed, strange red liquid bled from the walls, physical scars. This seemingly not a typical haunting at all. Not in the slightest

It all began in the late 80's not along after Jackie moved in there I believe. She started to notice certain unusual activity occurring - particularly centered around herself - such as the as I just mentioned, objects moving on there own as well as strange voices from nowhere, bangs, thumps and on ocations clear sightings - which were allegedly seen by her, her children and also the neighbours - The neighbours being the ones whom actually sought out the help from an investigator after Jackie was reluctant to do so out of fear of ridicule.

**I'll note at this time, the main was of an elderly man n jeans and a red flannel shirt - so a fairly descriptive sighting given what most of this nature are like. One other sightings was of a head in the attic which started moving towards Jackie - The attic being the main source of the activity also**

Genuine paranormal case..Or a hoaxer?

The Investigator whom was sought out was none other than the well known para-psychologist, Dr. Barry Taff - the investigator who was also involved with the famous "Entity" case also. The case which spawned a movie. From this article I'm citing he allegedly links the 2 cases together citing the extreme similarities from both Jackie Hernandez and from Doris Bither themselves as opposed to the spirit seemingly present - both according to Taff perfectly fitting into the stereotypical sufferer from poltergeist activity:

According to Dr. Taff, Jackie fit the bill of a quintessential poltergeist victim. Jackie came from a very volatile background. Suffering from severe mental duress, she had an uncanny resemblance to Doris Bither’s background. Abused by men, violent lifestyle, mental anguish and depression. Like most poltergeist victims, Jackie lived in an unhealthy environment in which one can argue that was conducive to extreme acts of psychokinetic violence.

Upon starting their investigation, Dr. Taff and his team heard loud scuffling coming from the attic. In what he recalls as “a 200 pound rat running around the attic” the noises were loud enough for everyone to hear. According to Jackie, she said that it was the ghost of the disembodied head she had seen earlier in the attic. When Joe and myself interviewed Barry Conrad who was the cameraman, he mentioned to us that there had been several documentary crews that went to the house, and taking footage only from the outside, they could hear the same loud and heavy scuffling in the attic. The latest report was in late September of 2008.

(Source)

Upon investigation, alongside Professional Cameraman Barry Conrad, Larry Wheatcraft (Whom became famous because of this case due his attack) and a few others, Taff - remember he was a well known para-psyhologist, reported the same occurrences as Jackie previously had done.

The noises, the scratching, everything else. Even the mysterious strange red ooze began to drip down the walls and out from kitchen cupboards etc. again (see below)

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/06bd1032f915.jpg[/atsimg]

But, the extraordinary thing about this in particular Is that Taff managed to get a sample done of this "ooze" at a forensics lab at UCLA and It was confirmed to be human blood plasma (giving this case a huge boost in credibility IMO given who was investigating and the fact this was certainly real blood). Please read this interesting snippet below:

Then there were the reports of some form of ectoplasmic ooze that seemed to drip down from various places in the home. While the team investigated, the ooze manifested itself. Barry Conrad quickly managed to catch that on tape. The ooze was studied and taken to a forensics lab at UCLA. The results were that it was human blood plasma with high levels of iodine and copper. It’s important to note that the team reported smelling like rust or oxidation when entering the home. There was also the overwhelming stench of decomposing matter, which is a good indicator of a haunting.

(Source)

Now, as I said, according to Dr. Taff, Jackie Hernanzez had seemingly fit the perfect stereotypical description of what one would expect from a poltergeist sufferer - the unsavory background, the mental instability etc., reason being it almost seems as though, going from studying past poltergeist cases myself, they seem to latch themselves onto this type of individual easier as the state of mind is not in a strong position. Assuming A poltergeist is one such thing that is real of course as It's still a possibility that they are not still.

Anyway, because much of the activity - one which is always questionable from a paranormal researcher - is seemingly placed onto this one individual, we are always left with the dilemma of "are they being completely truthful here?". With Jackie Hernandez though, It really does seem as though, and this is something I'll not say often, she is in fact being truthful. I believe Dr. Taff had his suspicions also (something he noted) but nothing hinting directly at this women being specifically a hoaxer.

And It's difficult to dismiss the events which had occurred still. The fact that respectable individuals were seemingly being attacked, then followed to there own homes, the fact that the Hernandez' neighbors saw the full body apparition also - which is why I believe the investigators were called in in the first place, as well as the blood pouring from the walls randomly also.

Just my thoughts of course. Anyway, during the investigation, Jeff Wheatcraft and Larry Brooks - 2 of the investigators, had decided to go up to the attic of the house as that was where much of the activity was stemming from. They went up with there cameras also in the hope of capturing something extraordinary.

But, upon taking pictures, It wasn't long before major activity started to occur - just before being able to take the third and final picture, Jeff Wheatcraft (who become center of much of the attention in this case) reported that he had heard a noise behind him in the dark attic. Without turning around, he swung his camera around and started snapping pictures. Seconds after he took that picture, something snatched the camera away from his hand and threw it several feet away from him.

Jeff was, as far as I know, one of the hardcore skeptics of the crew - one of the deciding factors in him going up in the first place I would assume, but he was from reports obviously shaken up from the events which had just occurred as one would expect. They swiftly left after this occurrence only to later decided to go back up there in the hope of retrieving there there camera and bizarrely, after searching could not find it anywhere. Until they noticed a small crate in the corner of the room that is and upon looking inside, finally found the camera - albeit with the lens missing. Something which they then spotted near some rafters.

After reporting this to the crew downstairs, Barry Conrad, the cameraman, decided to take his video camera to the attic in the hope of capturing activity as It was more than obviously highly likely to do so at this time more than any other. The only issue was, after fitting through the small porthole into the attic, his camera mysteriously stopped working. No matter what he did, It just wouldn't work...Until he came out of the attic again that was. And this repeated itself every time It was taken into the attic, It just kept malfunctioning.

As all the crew was preparing to leave for good. They then reported a 'malodorous scent' completely filling the entire attic. Then the skeptic, Wheatcraft randomly deciding to flew while in the attic at which point, promply followed by Conrad also. He claims that he could remember having felt a "bony" hand running along his lower back.

He was about to close the attic back up also when suddenly he shouted to the others that he could see three lights. Within moments, a large black mass manifested itself briefly before vanishing suddenly once more. Neither was anything caught on film nor video during the entire event.

Later, after suffering through tremendous pain from his lower back, Wheatcraft would claim, after visits to a local chiropractor that he had suffered "Massive internal bruising of his back." Presumably from the ghostly hand.

The Ghostly Hanging of a crew member

Upon there return, one of the most extraordinary incidents I've ever come across while studying Paranormal cases occurred. There return being around a month after the previous one I believe, due to frantic calls by none other than Jackie Hernandez herself reporting a massive influx of activity - in one incident a feeling as if someone was trying to smother her, the crew deciding to go to the attic once more as that was where almost all of the activity was occurring from and that's where it had all previously come from also.

It was this though which was seemingly a huge mistake from them as shortly after entering here, all whom were there, report hearing a strange clicking noise. Almost like someone was literally snapping there fingers at them - then the most extraordinary incident of the entire investigations events occurred - the attempted Hanging of the crew member, Wheatcraft.

Here is a snippet from one of the investigators on there own site I believe:

Fully alert, I instinctively powered up my video camera and prepared to roll in case anything else should happen. The girls grew more nervous by the second and then suddenly a very loud, distinct trio of snapping sounds echoed through the room. The sounds were so clear that it seemed as if an invisible man were present snapping his fingers. "Snap! Snap! Snap!"

(Source)

In the attic, there was a nail on one of the rafters I believe, on that nail was a piece of clothesline cord, well, what happened next was this loud bang - then continuous moan from none other than Jeff Wheatcraft - He was seemingly being attacked at this point.

One of the fellow investigators actually managed to capture an image at the exact moment Jeff was seemingly attacked by an unknown force. Here is the image captured of Jeff Wheatcraft during his attack where he was found hung on the nail attached to the rafters with a piece of cord around his neck:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/92ea869788fd.jpg[/atsimg]

Here he is directly after as they swiftly left the attic. The piece of cord can be seen around his neck still, It was apparently being twisted during the event also. (see the video below - more images of the events can be seen also in the video provided):

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/c29e7c04318b.jpg[/atsimg]

Here's yet another direct snippet from one of the investigators on there own site I believe:

"I've got to get out of here!" Jeff's voice trembled, "It's definitely raising hell!" "Oh, my God..." Susan Castaneda cupped a hand over her open mouth as her eyes transfixed the opening with disbelief. Jackie stood dumbfounded and in awe as the scene before us crushed every ounce of logic from our minds.

"It put something around my neck!" Jeff yelled down to us from above. "I've gotta get outta here!" My heart almost froze with fear as I noticed a weathered clothesline cord dangling from my friend's swollen neck as he stiffly emerged from the hole above. It was at this instant that we all felt the pangs of incredible disbelief.

(Source)

Whatever was there, It pulled Jeff onto the nail on the rafters (If I remember correctly, he blacked out for a short period of time here), and It placed the cord around his neck and tightened It. All seemingly happening is too fast a time for Wheatcraft to have done it himself, and going from the pictures, It's hard to see how he possibly could have done it himself.

If he went up alone, He may well have been strangled.

Here is a video from just after the events, Jeff Wheatcraft can be seen as resembling a something of a ghost himself and is clearly shaken up by the events:



And here's another video discussing some of the other events such as the oozing blood also Please do watch:



Now, upon browsing the Internet looking for sources on this case I came across what is seemingly a thread from a different website from the man whom was hung himself, I've linked to it a couple of times previously already but here it is in full again: Link to this story of the hanging of a crew member during the Investigation at San Pedro, California as well as the story of the previous events.

It makes for fascinating reading. Here are a couple of interesting snippets from it:

When we finally met Jackie Hernandez, "the haunted lady," she and her friends told us unbelievable tales of lamps flying across the rooms, strange drippings from the walls including the sighting of a supposed entity or apparition of a decaying old man sighted in the children's bedroom. As if these weren't enough, Jackie also said she'd seen another apparition in her attic-that of a disembodied head-which had floated towards her one day shortly after she'd moved in.

It would not take long, however, for that "something" to manifest itself. Before leaving, I suggested that my photographer, Jeff Wheatcraft, climb into the attic and shoot a couple of photos. Wheatcraft acquiesced and while standing atop a washing machine (the attic opening existed just above a small laundry room in the rear of the home), he began clicking away. Suddenly, without warning, all of us heard a scream. Jeff bolted down from the attic as if a shrieking Banshee were on his tail! As he approached our small investigation team, he held out his trembling hands, indicating that something had happened.

"What's going on?" we all asked in unison.

"M-mmy...camera! It pulled the camera from my hands!"

(Source)

And another:

Suddenly, a foul stench permeated the attic space and all at once, Jeff let out another scream and stumbled towards me as we attempted to flee the attic. Hovering over top of me, trying to brace himself with his left elbow pressed against a rafter, all the color again drained from his face as his body began to shake uncontrollably. Somehow we managed to crawl down from the attic to safety below as Jackie and her guests stared in disbelief at our plight.

Shaken by his ordeal, Jeff said that whatever had touched him, had felt like a "bony hand" applying tremendous pressure upon his lower back. Although it was not visually apparent that Jeff's back had been injured, he later experienced such pain that he found it necessary to visit a chiropractor who confirmed the fact that Jeff's lower back had indeed suffered massive internal bruising.

(Source)

And another:

And then without warning, Jeff was startled by something else, "Oooh! A Light! A Light! " Jeff exclaimed as three flashes or pops of light appeared without warning! Then an eerie black mass the size of" three adult men standing side by side," manifested for several seconds before vanishing. Unfortunately, Jeff was unable to photograph these events due to the brevity of their manifestations. It goes without saying, however, that something was amiss and we were plunged into the adventure of a lifetime.

Nearly one month later on the evening of September 4th, I received a frantic call from Jackie Hernandez. We recorded it on the answer machine and Jackie sounded about as frightened as anyone could possibly be. Jeff Wheatcraft and another friend, Gary Boehm, ( who both happened to be visiting my apartment at the time) listened to Jackie's desperate pleas via the speaker phone and finally we decided to drive to San Pedro as fast as possible. Jackie, it seems, was experiencing a vicious poltergeist attack! She claimed that a Pepsi can had flung itself at her as doors were slamming open and shut of their own volition. Just one night earlier, Jackie had claimed that an invisible force had held her down on the floor for several minutes and tried to smother her!

(Source)

And another:

At around 1:20 a.m. a very odd event suddenly occurred. Down in the laundry room where the ladies and myself were talking, a bright orange comet of light suddenly flashed before us and flew through a small door which lead outside! Unfortunately, I was unable to get a good look at this light since its visible duration was not more than two or three seconds.

Fully alert, I instinctively powered up my video camera and prepared to roll in case anything else should happen. The girls grew more nervous by the second and then suddenly a very loud, distinct trio of snapping sounds echoed through the room. The sounds were so clear that it seemed as if an invisible man were present snapping his fingers. "Snap! Snap! Snap!"

Overcome by the sensation that "unseen" eyes were watching me, I rolled the camera. And then before we knew it, we heard a loud moan from above. "OOOOHHHH!" It was Jeff's voice, crying out from the inky void of the attic space. And then there was a silence that seemed to last forever broken by a sudden outburst from Jackie, "Come down! Come down! I told you what this thing was capable of!" Susan berated her from further outbursts with the fear that whatever had happened would only be worse if Jackie didn't calm down. All eyes riveted upon the small attic doorway above.

The video camera whirred atop my shoulder, as two flashes from Gary's 35mm shattered the darkness above. And then again, there ensued a period of silence finally broken by the sounds of confused murmurs. "What's happened? What's happened to me?" Jeff's enfeebled voice quavered. And then the shaken figure of Jeff Wheatcraft scrambled on his knees towards the opening, breathing heavily as he climbed down towards the lens of my waiting camera.

(Source)

And another:

As I continued rolling videotape, Jeff washed off at the kitchen sink and as the camera zoomed into close-up shots of his neck, it became readily apparent that "something" had indeed attacked Jeff in the darkness of the attic. Pronounced red friction burns encircled his neck as a result of the unknown attack. Upon questioning Gary Boehm who had come to his rescue, we learned that Jeff had been hung on a nail protruding from one of the rafter beams in the attic.

"If I had not been there, Jeff would have been strangled in that attic. " Gary later told us. "Because he didn't know what was going on and the cord was wrapped so tightly that it was very difficult to get him down. I had to bend the nail down in order to release him."

The fact that this startling event happened so quickly in a blinding flash of time, makes it very unlikely if not impossible that Jeff could have perpetrated a hoax. Logically, we also knew that it would have been very unlikely for someone to injure himself for the sake of a prank.

(Source)

And finally, the last exert of Interest from this fascinating tale:

What are these bizarre lights? No one seems to know. While these objects at first glance appear to be insects, computer analysis has revealed the contrary. Dr. Keith Dobrey, a noted Los Angeles entomologist, examined the tapes and came away completely baffled.

"As far as insects go, there would be nothing so bright and so glowing as these objects appear to be." Dr. Dobrey stated. "These things seem to be self-illuminated. Insects, outside of fireflies which don't occur here (in Southern Calif.), are not self-illuminating!"

(Source)

Jackie Hernandez to this day still resides in San Pedro but certainly not in the same residence anymore - It's one she'll more than likely never go back to. And It's no wonder really - despite whatever was living there seemingly following her to her new home time and time again, I believe no one else has ever survived living in the same residence where the activity was most active and where the investigations above occurred for longer than a period of 6 months.

It could be down to hype - or there could be a genuine Spirit living here causing terror for more families. We don't know.

Anyway, thank you for reading this thread, any thoughts into this fascinating case from anyone? I'd particularly love to hear thoughts from a skeptical angle to be honest, myself being a believer in this case I'd genuinely love for someone to provide some evidence to show I'm wrong here.

a star for you as you prob know poltergeist phenomena comes from a human " living agent" and is knowen as rspk

I saw this documentary way back when it first aired! I forgot about it up till this point..S&F! well put together post op! It made for a great read.! this is the reason why I still come back to ATS every single day..Posts like this one!..

reply to post by rikgrimsby


Can you explain this?

I've investigated quite a few poltergeist cases for the Ghost Club Society and the Society For Psychical Research and in my opinion they are nothing to do with spirits of the dead. They are, in my opinion, the result of a depressed or tortured, but cut off and reclusive, mind. Most of us in times of stress and tension offset the energy by throwing a tantrum or releasing the pent up stress by cursing, throwing objects, basically showing our annoyance and frustration. I think in some cases people who are quiet and reclusive who dont consciously rid themselves of this energy sometimes have the pent up energy released by their subconscous minds in the form of poltergeist phenomena. Since the subconscious is, by design, a seperate character (look up split brain patients and the severing of the corpus collosum) sometimes they create a fantasy character, occasionally based on a real life person, and make the polt act as if it was the spirit of that person, or persons!
I've seen some terrific shows of strength caused by a polt. In one case in Crewe, UK, the polt up-ended a video camera and dragged it along a corridor setting off movement sensors as it went. This was done in a locked and scientifically controlled and empty home! However, I have watched the rogramme that deals with the case you are talking about and have to admit to being more than sceptical... Too many people involved, no control measures, and the people involved seem to be overly eager for something (anything) to happen. The ideal atmosphere for fraud...Reminds me a lot of the Enfield, north London talking poltergeist case. A real haunting which is then abused and used by investigators who see the chance of getting their names in the papers and faces on the television while supplying them with more than enough data for a book...

Originally posted by TechVampyre
I saw this documentary way back when it first aired! I forgot about it up till this point..S&F! well put together post op! It made for a great read.! this is the reason why I still come back to ATS every single day..Posts like this one!..

Thank you.

And interesting that you saw the documentary a while ago, I unfortunately missed it. So, out of curiosity, what did you think of it though? I'm still looking out for it you see..

reply to post by CholmondleyWarner

Reminds me a lot of the Enfield, north London talking poltergeist case. A real haunting which is then abused and used by investigators who see the chance of getting their names in the papers and faces on the television while supplying them with more than enough data for a book...

Ah, yes, I did a thread on the Enfield case a while go for ATS as well, It was an interesting case admittedly but one I'm, like you, very much so sure is nothing but a hoaxed attempt. Sad but true really.

Too many people feel comfortable exploiting for there own benefit.

I've investigated quite a few poltergeist cases for the Ghost Club Society and the Society For Psychical Research and in my opinion they are nothing to do with spirits of the dead. They are, in my opinion, the result of a depressed or tortured, but cut off and reclusive, mind. Most of us in times of stress and tension offset the energy by throwing a tantrum or releasing the pent up stress by cursing, throwing objects, basically showing our annoyance and frustration. I think in some cases people who are quiet and reclusive who dont consciously rid themselves of this energy sometimes have the pent up energy released by their subconscous minds in the form of poltergeist phenomena.

Now, that, admittedly is a theory I have always been fascinated with to be perfectly honest. Particularly because It really does remind me of the "Philip Aylesford" Experiment (I did a thread on this) also - the experiment in which a group of individuals literally set out to "create a ghost" through nothing factually based whatsoever, just through there own imaginations - then attempt to contact said ghost via Ouija. And would you believe it, the experiment proved successful if I can remember correctly.

I believe they even came across paranormal activity during this experiment.

This alone I suppose can be used as evidence to back up the theory a "poltergeist" is nothing but the result of someones own imagination or something similar. It's not a theory I believe In however but It's an interesting one to ponder over still..

I've seen some terrific shows of strength caused by a polt. In one case in Crewe, UK, the polt up-ended a video camera and dragged it along a corridor setting off movement sensors as it went. This was done in a locked and scientifically controlled and empty home!

Interesting.

Any chance you would have the video of this?

reply to post by Rising Against


This is creepy stuff

Just glad I've read it now and not before bedtime !!

Awesome read RA as per usual, S&F well deserved baby

xx

Originally posted by Rising Against

Originally posted by TechVampyre
I saw this documentary way back when it first aired! I forgot about it up till this point..S&F! well put together post op! It made for a great read.! this is the reason why I still come back to ATS every single day..Posts like this one!..

Thank you.

And interesting that you saw the documentary a while ago, I unfortunately missed it. So, out of curiosity, what did you think of it though? I'm still looking out for it you see..

I enjoyed the documentary it was on the discovery channel..If i am correct it was titled" A haunting the entity".. It was part of the a haunting series..Famous for a haunting in Connecticut. (also a great documentary)

Originally posted by TechVampyre
I enjoyed the documentary it was on the discovery channel..If i am correct it was titled" A haunting the entity".. It was part of the a haunting series..Famous for a haunting in Connecticut. (also a great documentary)

The entity case was one Dr. Taff worked on prior to coming to the San Pedro case I believe. Was this documentary discussing both cases (maybe others also) by any chance?

Either way, It sounds interesting, I'll definitely have to look out for it. Thanks for letting me know about it.

Originally posted by uk today
reply to post by Rising Against

 

This is creepy stuff

Just glad I've read it now and not before bedtime !!

lol, Just feel lucky there is only a handful of these types of cases on record.

Wow interesting stuff. How much more evidence do the sceptics need to prove that hauntings actually do happen? S&F.

Originally posted by Rising Against

Originally posted by TechVampyre
I enjoyed the documentary it was on the discovery channel..If i am correct it was titled" A haunting the entity".. It was part of the a haunting series..Famous for a haunting in Connecticut. (also a great documentary)

The entity case was one Dr. Taff worked on prior to coming to the San Pedro case I believe. Was this documentary discussing both cases (maybe others also) by any chance?

Either way, It sounds interesting, I'll definitely have to look out for it. Thanks for letting me know about it.

.. It could have been the same episode..But I remember seeing a hour long documentary on it..hmm. Maybe I had the title wrong..who know's, it's been awhile..I will do some digging see if I can find it.

reply to post by Rising Against

I, and the SPR have the video and related pictures and case notes logged in their library. I dont believe for one minute in spiriitualists, psychics or those who claim they can contact the dead. There is absolutely no evidence of this anywhere although some have made outrageous claims. As for what you said about the Enfield case. I knew the lead investigator, Maurice Grosse, very well and there is absolutely no chance whatsoever that he would be easily fooled, however, he was soon joined by Playfair and then a hoste of photographers, independent investigators and news paper reporters and the whole scene grew to such proportions that he couldn't keep control of what was going on... Enfield was a real case which probable blew itself out after the usual 12 to 16 weeks time limit, but the girls in the house loved the attention of the media and investigators so much that they then hoaxed events to try to keep those involved interested.
I understand that you don't agree with me but that's what makes this subject interesting. We all, those who study the subject seriously at least, agree that the polt is a real phenomenon but we can debate, without resorting to insults as some do, on what causes them and why they happen to some types of families more than others...
"If we all agreed with one another about everything, what a boring world we would live in..."

Hung from a nail? Wouldn't the nail break/bend with full human weight on it? I find it a bit odd as well that he didn't take the thing around his neck off until he was down. I think any person would have done that first, and probably jump down the hole, not just climb down. Unless it was twisted or something were he couldn't take it off, but it looked like he was able to.

The San Pedro haunting was incredible. I'm a skeptic, and at first I thought it was a few people trying to 'cash in', as it were. I thought it was a hoax. I have a really good b.s.detector.

I typically dismiss 'orbs', and laugh at the idiots who claim a moth flying by is a 'spirit'. BUT...those tiny lights that were flying around Jackie were NOT insects, dust or reflections. They really seemed to have an intelligence behind them.

When the researchers actually contacted the ghost of the murdered sailor, that was just a mind-blower. He told them "phantoms fill the skies." Spooky!!!!!!

I can't believe Hollywood hasn't made a movie of the San Pedro haunting

reply to post by Rising Against


Excellent thread! I remember seeing a special on this case some time ago, and being completely blown away by the events that occurred there. Especially the blood plasma seeping from the walls... wow! I don't even know how I would react if I witnessed something like that. Crazy! I had forgotten about this story until today.
S&F for bringing it back to my attention! I love stuff like this!

Originally posted by CandiceZ

Wow interesting stuff. How much more evidence do the sceptics need to prove that hauntings actually do happen? S&F.

Hey, I'm one of those skeptics.

Admittedly though this case in particular is one case I'm something of a believer in - something I won't say very often at all on ATS. But, I really do feel that the evidence in favor of this case really does outweigh the reasons to dis-believe it. The physical scars for example, the, I feel, credible witnesses involved and so on.

It really is a fascinating case, one of the best I've ever had the pleasure to really look into.

reply to post by TechVampyre

..

It could have been the same episode..But I remember seeing a hour long documentary on it..hmm. Maybe I had the title wrong..who know's, it's been awhile..I will do some digging see if I can find it.

Who knows, I'll do some more digging later on as well.

I doubt they'll show something like this on TV again though until they are doing a Halloween special or something similar to he honest. This case being one of the better known and all round "scarier" ones..

Thanks again for bringing it up btw!

reply to post by CholmondleyWarner

I understand that you don't agree with me but that's what makes this subject interesting. We all, those who study the subject seriously at least, agree that the polt is a real phenomenon but we can debate, without resorting to insults as some do, on what causes them and why they happen to some types of families more than others...
"If we all agreed with one another about everything, what a boring world we would live in..."

Agreed it does make it interesting ( ) but I'm a little confused by what you said here to be perfectly honest. You said previously you don't feel they are "spirits of the dead" (citing your first reply) but you are now saying here that "the polt is a real phenomenon." So, bearing this in mind, I have to ask the question, what do you personally feel they are? Since they aren't a spiritual phenomenon but they are certainly real..

Also, don't you agree, with such experiments like the Philip Aylesford experiment" that I previously mentioned, Poltergeist activity could at the very least be exasperated simply through acknowledging It's own existence or maybe simply focusing on it more in any way what so ever?

...Just a thought I had is all.