5 Most Famous Poltergeist Events Ever Recorded!

In German, the word poltergeist means “noisy ghost or spirit”. The word is usually used to describe entities that cause audible disturbances or physical destruction.  There’ve been many cases of poltergeist activity documented over the years, but these are 5 of the weirdest and still unexplained cases of poltergeist activity ever recorded.

5. The Stockwell Ghost
In the village of Stockwell, on the 6th of January 1772, the house of Mrs Golding became the site of a famous case of paranormal activity.   Various cups, saucers and stone plates were reported to have fallen from a shelf to the ground, as well as items of food were thrown across the room.  Violent noises were also heard around the house.  In fear, Mrs. Golding decided to take refuge with her neighbor as the disturbances continued. It was noted that the disturbances only took place when her servant Anne Robinson was present. She was eventually dismissed and suddenly the disturbances ended.  The case was considered for many years by the public to be the result of poltergeist activity or even witchcraft.

4. The Drummer of Tedworth
In 1661 a local landowner named John Mompesson, owner of a house in the town of Tedworth brought a lawsuit against an unlicensed vagrant drummer named William Drury, whom he accused of collecting money by false pretenses.  After he had won judgment against the drummer, the drum was turned over to Mompesson by the local bailiff. Mompesson then found his house plagued by nocturnal drumming noises. It was alleged that the drummer had brought these plagues of noise upon Mompesson's head by witchcraft.  For years after, anyone who had come to live in the house would report strange noises and unearthly sounds coming from various parts of the house.

3.  The Bell Witch of Tennessee
The Bell Witch or Bell Witch Haunting is a legend from Southern American folklore, centered on the 19th-century Bell family of Tennessee.  According to legend, family and the local area came under attack by a mostly invisible entity that was able to speak, affect the physical environment, and shapeshift. The haunting began sometime in 1817 when John Bell witnessed the apparition of a strange creature having the body of a dog and the head of a rabbit.  Despite extensive hunting expeditions, they never caught the animal. As time went on, the family was plagued by loud pounding on the outside of their cabin, and some family members were attacked in their sleep. Sometimes waking up with mysterious bruises and welts all over their bodies.

2.  Gef the Talking Mongoose or the Dalby Spook
In September 1931, the Irving family, consisting of James, Margaret and a 13-year-old daughter named Voirrey, claimed they heard persistent scratching, rustling, and vocal noises behind their farmhouse's wooden wall panels.  The noises resembled that of a ferret, a dog or a baby.  According to the Irvings, a creature named Gef introduced itself and told them it was a mongoose born in New Delhi, India, in 1852.  The Irvings made many claims about Gef, they said told them that he was "an extra clever mongoose", an "Earthbound spirit" and "a ghost in the form of a mongoose".  He was the size of a small rat with yellowish fur and a large bushy tail.  He supposedly guarded their house and informed them of the approach of guests and also attended to various household duties.  To this day, the truth is still unknown as the family maintained that ‘Gef was real’ even to their graves.

1. Enfield Poltergeist
The Enfield Poltergeist was the name given for a series of strange and supernatural activity at 284 Green Street, in Enfield, England.  In August 1977, Peggy Hodgson called police to her home claiming she had witnessed furniture moving on its own, as well as two of her four children had said knocking sounds were heard on walls.  A police constable who visited the premises said that she saw a chair "wobble and slide".  Later claims included disembodied voices, loud noises, thrown and toys, overturned chairs, and children levitating.  Over a period of 18 months, more than 30 people, including neighbours, psychic researchers and journalists, said they variously saw heavy furniture moving of its own accord, objects being thrown across a room and the daughters seeming to levitate several feet off the ground. Many also heard and recorded knocking noises and a gruff voice.  The activity in the house attracted considerable media attention and the story was covered in British newspapers until the reports came to an end in 1979.