A poltergeist, from German words meaning "noisy ghost," is a reported disturbance in which unexplained knocks, moving objects and other physical effects occur in a particular place, often centered on one person. Accounts span centuries and many cultures. Parapsychologists have proposed psychic explanations, but investigations have repeatedly found fraud, misperception or natural causes, and no case has been confirmed under controlled conditions.
Poltergeist at a glance
| Meaning | German poltern (to rumble, knock) + Geist (spirit) |
|---|---|
| Typical reports | Knocking, thrown objects, moved furniture, stone falls |
| Early English case | Drummer of Tedworth (1662) |
| Famous 20th-century case | Enfield, London (1977-1979) |
| Parapsychological term | RSPK, recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis |
| Scientific status | No confirmed case under controlled conditions |
Definition and typical features
Poltergeist reports differ from classic ghost stories. Instead of an apparition, witnesses describe noises and physical events: rapping on walls, objects flying or falling, doors opening, bedclothes pulled, small fires, or stones apparently dropping from nowhere. Episodes usually last weeks or months and then stop. Many reports note that the events seem to follow a particular person, often an adolescent or someone under emotional stress, rather than a building.
Historical cases
Accounts resembling poltergeists occur in ancient and medieval sources, but several early modern English cases became especially famous:
- The Drummer of Tedworth (1662): a Wiltshire magistrate's house was troubled by drumming after he confiscated a vagrant drummer's instrument. The case was publicized by the clergyman Joseph Glanvill as evidence of the spirit world.
- Epworth Rectory (1716-1717): the family of Samuel Wesley, father of Methodism's founder John Wesley, recorded knockings they attributed to a spirit nicknamed "Old Jeffrey."
- The Bell Witch (from 1817): a Tennessee farming family reported voices and attacks, and the story became a major American legend.
Chroniclers of the Middle Ages also recorded stone-throwing and knocking spirits, usually interpreted as demons or as souls seeking prayers. In the Victorian era, the rise of Spiritualism encouraged people to treat raps and knocks as attempts at communication. The Fox sisters of New York, whose rapping sounds in 1848 helped launch Spiritualism, later confessed that they had produced the noises themselves, a confession one of them afterward retracted.
Twentieth-century investigations
With the rise of psychical research, investigators began visiting poltergeist cases in person. In 1967 disturbances in a law office in Rosenheim, Germany, involving electrical faults and swinging lamps, were studied by the parapsychologist Hans Bender, who linked them to a young employee. From 1977 to 1979 the Enfield case in north London, centered on two sisters, drew investigators from the Society for Psychical Research and heavy press coverage.
Both cases remain disputed. At Enfield the girls were caught faking some phenomena, and one later said that some events were faked while insisting others were real. Critics consider the cases unproven; supporters continue to regard them as unexplained.
Theories
Traditional explanations blamed spirits, demons, witchcraft or the restless dead, and remedies included prayer, exorcism and protective charms. In the twentieth century parapsychologists such as William G. Roll proposed that the effects were caused unconsciously by a living person through psychokinesis, calling this recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis (RSPK). This view shifted attention to the "focus" person and their emotional situation.
Other researchers have suggested psychological explanations that do not require any paranormal force: the stress of adolescence or family conflict may lead a person to create disturbances, sometimes in a dissociated state they do not fully remember. Folklorists add that the pattern of a poltergeist story, with its escalating events and eventual fading, follows cultural scripts that witnesses may know from earlier accounts. Related claims are discussed under apports and psychometry.
Skeptical and scientific view
Mainstream science does not accept that poltergeists exist as a paranormal phenomenon. Investigators have caught many focus persons, often children or teenagers, throwing objects or making noises, sometimes on hidden cameras. Other reports have been traced to natural causes such as settling buildings, water pipes, drafts, vibrations from traffic or geological activity, animals, and faulty wiring. Memory, expectation and group excitement can also turn ordinary events into a frightening pattern, and newspaper coverage often exaggerates.
No poltergeist effect has been reproduced under controlled laboratory conditions. Psychologists nonetheless take reports seriously as experiences, since they often arise in households under strain. People who feel unsettled in their home may find our pages on psychic protection a starting point for reflection, but persistent fear or distress deserves practical and professional support.
In culture
Poltergeists became a staple of popular culture through films such as Poltergeist (1982) and many television documentaries on the Enfield case. Novels and ghost-hunting television shows have added dramatic conventions, such as scratches, voices and escalating violence, that are rare in older records. They also appear in folklore worldwide under other names, from household spirits blamed for mischief to stone-throwing spirits in Asian and African accounts. See also precognition and curses for other claims studied by psychical research.
Related entries
On The Mystica today: Psychic protection
Frequently asked questions
What does poltergeist mean?
Poltergeist is a German word combining poltern, meaning to knock, rumble or make noise, and Geist, meaning spirit or ghost. It therefore means "noisy ghost." The term entered English in the nineteenth century to describe disturbances involving unexplained sounds and moving objects rather than visible apparitions.
Was the Enfield poltergeist real?
The Enfield case of 1977 to 1979 remains disputed. Some investigators believed that genuine paranormal events took place, but the two sisters at the center of the case were caught faking some phenomena, and one later admitted that some events were faked. Skeptics regard the case as unproven and largely explained by trickery.
What causes poltergeist activity?
Investigations have attributed reported activity to deliberate trickery, especially by children or teenagers, and to natural causes such as structural noises, drafts, plumbing, vibrations and faulty wiring, combined with fear and expectation. Parapsychologists have proposed unconscious psychokinesis, but no such effect has been demonstrated under controlled conditions.
Sources and further reading
This entry replaces an article from the original Mystica encyclopedia (online since 2001). It was rewritten from the sources above by The Mystica Editorial Team under our editorial standards. Last reviewed: September 30, 2026.