The Enfield Poltergeist

gumboot · 21st June 2006, 03:19 AM

I remember seeing a documentary on this incident some time ago. From the presentation of the documentary, it is the only "supernatural" event I've heard of that had the least liklihood of truthfulness.

The status and volume of "Witnesses" presented in the documentary seem quite a compelling argument. (Police officers, the BBC, etc)

I'm just curious what has been dug up regarding this event as an explanation.

Cheers,
Andrew

Banbury · 21st June 2006, 03:57 AM

Originally Posted by gumboot

..., it is the only "supernatural" event I've heard of that had the least liklihood of truthfulness.

This might be my lacking knowledge in English, but I think this sentence says that this event has very little likelihood of containing any truth. With this I would agree.
According to the Wikipedia teenagers where involved with this Poltergeist activity, as usual.

brodski · 21st June 2006, 03:59 AM

Originally Posted by gumboot

I remember seeing a documentary on this incident some time ago. From the presentation of the documentary, it is the only "supernatural" event I've heard of that had the least liklihood of truthfulness.

The status and volume of "Witnesses" presented in the documentary seem quite a compelling argument. (Police officers, the BBC, etc)

I'm just curious what has been dug up regarding this event as an explanation.

Cheers,
Andrew

can you give any more information?
or even a link?

MRC_Hans · 21st June 2006, 04:01 AM

The best account, from a quick search is this one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enfield_Poltergeist

I find the accounts to be somewhat biased.

If we cut to the bone, it seems:

The phenomenon seems entirely confined to the family. Nothing happened before or after the period mentioned.

Various typical poltergeist pnenomenon were recorded, accelerating over time. Of course, many of them must necessarily be bona fide accounts of the involved family.

Various investigators, none of which appears to have been magicians or physicists, were able to find mundane explanations.

One of the daughters admitted to having faked some incidents.

The claim that using the false vocal chords for more than a few minutes is provably false. Several performers have been doing this for prolonged performance.

My conclusion: Inconclusive, but mundane explanations can certainly not be excluded. Especially not fraud.

Hans

gumboot · 21st June 2006, 04:09 AM

Originally Posted by brodski

can you give any more information?
or even a link?

Sorry, I was being vague.

The Wikipedia entry is here

The children claimed to fake one or two things to try catch out the investigators, and the investigators seem to have caught them. However the investigators who stayed 5 months still maintain much activity was genuine (despite catching the children out on the fake ones). The other research, over only a couple of days attributes it all to the children, however there are also incidents such as the attempted briding of a child to say they did it all.

This also doesn't address things like a police officer giving a sworn affidavit claiming to see a chair move on its own and the damaged BBC equipment.

I'm inclined to have "Faith" there is a perfectly scientific explanation. But unlike most ghost stories I can't really produce an air tight one simply from common sense.

-Andrew

gumboot · 21st June 2006, 04:19 AM

A link from Wikipedia leads here

This site seems fairly biased on first glance... the background gives it away... :P

It seems fairly conclusive that later activity in the second investigation (of only a few days) was purely the children playing around.

-Andrew

Miss Whiplash · 22nd June 2006, 06:31 AM

Ed and Lorraine Warren were in on that investigation, too. Where they go, humbug follows.

Transcript of Voices Tape

QueigBladecaster · 6th March 2007, 04:13 PM

One of the main investigators claiming it was genuine was Guy Lyon Playfair.

He is also the co-author of "the geller effect" (co-authored with the great spoon bender himself)

I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions on the subjectivity of the investigations.

Since I lived in Enfield at the time I've obvioulsy taken an interest in this case over the years, and my opinion is that it was faked. The second set of occurances most certainly were and the girls were caught on tape doing it (bending a spoon strangely enough).

21st June 2006, 03:19 AM	#1
gumboot lorcutus.tolere Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 25,327	The Enfield Poltergeist I remember seeing a documentary on this incident some time ago. From the presentation of the documentary, it is the only "supernatural" event I've heard of that had the least liklihood of truthfulness. The status and volume of "Witnesses" presented in the documentary seem quite a compelling argument. (Police officers, the BBC, etc) I'm just curious what has been dug up regarding this event as an explanation. Cheers, Andrew

21st June 2006, 03:57 AM	#2
Banbury Scholar Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 50	Originally Posted by gumboot ..., it is the only "supernatural" event I've heard of that had the least liklihood of truthfulness. This might be my lacking knowledge in English, but I think this sentence says that this event has very little likelihood of containing any truth. With this I would agree. According to the Wikipedia teenagers where involved with this Poltergeist activity, as usual.
Banbury Scholar Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 50

21st June 2006, 03:59 AM	#3
brodski Tea-Time toad Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 15,516	Originally Posted by gumboot I remember seeing a documentary on this incident some time ago. From the presentation of the documentary, it is the only "supernatural" event I've heard of that had the least liklihood of truthfulness. The status and volume of "Witnesses" presented in the documentary seem quite a compelling argument. (Police officers, the BBC, etc) I'm just curious what has been dug up regarding this event as an explanation. Cheers, Andrew can you give any more information? or even a link?
brodski Tea-Time toad Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 15,516

21st June 2006, 04:01 AM	#4
MRC_Hans Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 24,282	The best account, from a quick search is this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enfield_Poltergeist I find the accounts to be somewhat biased. If we cut to the bone, it seems: The phenomenon seems entirely confined to the family. Nothing happened before or after the period mentioned. Various typical poltergeist pnenomenon were recorded, accelerating over time. Of course, many of them must necessarily be bona fide accounts of the involved family. Various investigators, none of which appears to have been magicians or physicists, were able to find mundane explanations. One of the daughters admitted to having faked some incidents. The claim that using the false vocal chords for more than a few minutes is provably false. Several performers have been doing this for prolonged performance. My conclusion: Inconclusive, but mundane explanations can certainly not be excluded. Especially not fraud. Hans
	__________________ Experience is an excellent teacher, but she sends large bills.

6th March 2007, 04:13 PM	#8
QueigBladecaster New Blood Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 23	One of the main investigators claiming it was genuine was Guy Lyon Playfair. He is also the co-author of "the geller effect" (co-authored with the great spoon bender himself) I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions on the subjectivity of the investigations. Since I lived in Enfield at the time I've obvioulsy taken an interest in this case over the years, and my opinion is that it was faked. The second set of occurances most certainly were and the girls were caught on tape doing it (bending a spoon strangely enough).
QueigBladecaster New Blood Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 23

21st June 2006, 04:09 AM	#5
gumboot lorcutus.tolere Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 25,327	Originally Posted by brodski can you give any more information? or even a link? Sorry, I was being vague. The Wikipedia entry is here The children claimed to fake one or two things to try catch out the investigators, and the investigators seem to have caught them. However the investigators who stayed 5 months still maintain much activity was genuine (despite catching the children out on the fake ones). The other research, over only a couple of days attributes it all to the children, however there are also incidents such as the attempted briding of a child to say they did it all. This also doesn't address things like a police officer giving a sworn affidavit claiming to see a chair move on its own and the damaged BBC equipment. I'm inclined to have "Faith" there is a perfectly scientific explanation. But unlike most ghost stories I can't really produce an air tight one simply from common sense. -Andrew

21st June 2006, 04:19 AM	#6
gumboot lorcutus.tolere Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 25,327	A link from Wikipedia leads here This site seems fairly biased on first glance... the background gives it away... :P It seems fairly conclusive that later activity in the second investigation (of only a few days) was purely the children playing around. -Andrew

22nd June 2006, 06:31 AM	#7
Miss Whiplash Graduate Poster Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 1,574	Ed and Lorraine Warren were in on that investigation, too. Where they go, humbug follows. Transcript of Voices Tape