From the Case Files of Antietam Paranormal Society: Possible Poltergeist Phenomenon

In 2009 we (Antietam Paranormal Society) got the first private residence case in Frederick County, Maryland. There were three individuals that lived in the small home; the Father, the Mother, and their teenager. One of the first incidents involved the Mother on a regular day. She would often stay in bed long after everyone left for work and this day was no different. She awoke because she heard their front door open and close, then footsteps walking across the downstairs. Calling out to whom she thought was her husband because of the sound of the footfalls, she asked if he had forgotten something. Her questions were left unanswered as the quiet of the house started to alarm her. Who was it? A burglar? She arose and called out again only to be met with silence. Upon dressing and checking the house, she found that the front door was locked and there was no one in the home. That night she asked if anyone had come back in, maybe she missed them leaving again, and no one had re-entered the house after they left that morning. This became a regular occurrence which they just accepted.

Weeks passed by and each of them noted that things would move, but it was mostly the Mother that experienced strange things, after all she was home alone most of the time. She would clean the entire home only to leave and return to crafts on her coffee table that previously were all put away in a basket in the corner of the living room. Chairs would be moved from one place to another while they were gone. Objects moved on their own, constantly. Initially we had the owners place recorders in the home when they left for a few hours and we were able to capture a few EVP and even the sound of a chair sliding across the kitchen floor, which we heard the homeowner exclaim over when he returned one time. (I really wish we could have had cameras in the location during this event.) At this point we decided to do several investigations over the course of the next few years. 

Our investigations of the home yielded some of the best EVP that we have ever captured (you can hear one on our You Tube Channel). We also were able to validate one of their experiences. During one investigations several of us were sitting in the living room. No one else was in the home except us. We all clearly heard footsteps start upstairs in the Master Bedroom, walk down the hallway, down the steps, and across the kitchen. Now this house is extremely small, so any sound is easy to hear. It was a very interesting experience. We also noted that their electronics in the living room would turn on by themselves. We attempted to debunk them but we were unable to find any settings or concerns that would cause them to do that. During another night that two of us were there, we saw a serving spoon come up out of the draining tray in the sink, spin, and then land back in the sink. Some would ask why we continue to do so many investigations, why didn't we remove the spirits? The client did not want to remove the spirits, they just wanted to learn more. (We also don't remove spirits and we do not do cleansings. A.P.S. refers cases out for any type of removal/ blessing/ cleansing.)

There was a time that we were not called into the home because things had seemed to calm or they didn't experience anything that was of note. Then the teenager, no longer a teen, moved out. It was like a switch went off, the activity increased significantly. The Mother would find strange puddles in the home and wet spots on the floor, there were no leaks and they did not have pets. The frequency of things occurring drastically increased and they brought us back in to investigate. While these investigations didn't yield nearly as much a the first one, we still captured a few EVP and were able to get a few questions answered. Over time things calmed but never really stopped altogether. Over the course of a few years they had things happen that were usually more distressing than before. One occurrence was the Mother was poked repeated in her foot at night. Another occasion they were both in the bedroom when a loud banging or rapping began to happen. It was alarming and they considered calling the cops but after all what if it was another paranormal occurrence? The loud sound continued for hours and they even yelled for it to stop. Eventually they were driven out of their bed and slept in the living room. They have not experienced that again.

So for years this client experienced objects moving (sometimes in front of us and them), they heard disembodied footsteps, there were audible sounds with no physical movement of objects (the door opening and closing), they had strange puddles of water with no source, they had loud rapping sounds, and we were able to validate many of these experiences. We noted that in most cases the activity increased when there were stressful situations in the home. Based on our audio and ITC communication that there was a spirit named John that lived in the attic. He was not thrilled with us being in the home, however he was never harmful. On several occasions we would ask how many spirits were in the location and the answer was ever changing, at last questioned it was 19. The home had been a toll house at one point in its history and there was a small creek behind the home. Was there potential that one of the residents had psychokinetic abilities? Was this an example of poltergeist phenomenon? The activity continues to evolve and is ever present, however it only seems to increase when there is anxiety or stress in the home. Many different haunting categories cross over each other when you look at the bigger picture but when there is a potential of a living agent being the center of the activity, we have to ask if there is some legitimacy of calling this a case of RSPK (recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis). This doesn't necessarily mean that all the experiences are caused by this living agent, it just means this supernatural ability seems to cause the spirits to react. We continue to return to this location periodically when asked and it is one of our private residence locations that takes precedence over other cases. Hopefully someday we have more answers. (NOTE: At this time our private residence cases is at the max. We maintain that any private residence case that is ongoing prevents us from taking new cases that may result in the compromise of our high standards for every case. We have no plans to change our stance on this at this time.)

Rebecca Boyer
Co-Founder/ Case Manager
Antietam Paranormal Society