Phelps Poltergeist Further Investigation

The Highly Publicized Haunting on Elm Street Happened in 1850

Nov 9, 2007

This unique case occurred before psychic phenomena, psi, were investigated scientifically by unbiased researchers. Later parapsychologists researched it.

The Reverend Dr. Eliakim Phelps and his family moved into the Stratford, Connecticut, house in 1849. In March 1850, the entity known as the Phelps Mansion Poltergeist and Stratford Poltergeist made its presence known.

Some of the antics of the more common entity agent poltergeist were witnessed. Objects flew and were scattered about. Eerie noses emanated from walls. Furniture was destroyed and windows, shattered. Silverware was bent and twisted. There were phenomena that have rarely been reported. Son, Harry, was carried across the room and placed on the floor. He was also punched and slapped. Daughter, Anna, was pinched and slapped.

What makes this case unique is that the poltergeist fashioned effigies out of the family’s clothing.

The press publicized the strange events. There were no scientific psi investigators then. The American Society for Psychical Research, ASPR, the first parapsychological organization in America, wasn’t established until 1885.

Spiritualism, which adheres to the belief that spirits can be contacted by people with mediumistic abilities, was popular.

Phelps Poltergeists - Theories and Contemporary Investigations

Some of the locals blamed the ghost of Goody Bassett, an alleged witch hanged near the house in 1651, for the haunting. No evidence supports this.

Dr. Phelps and other clergymen believed the house was possessed by a demonic entity. Two séances they held appeared to support their theory. Communication was repulsive.

Andrew Jackson Davis, a respected nineteenth century psychic, investigated. Civil War documents indicate he might have advised Abraham Lincoln. Davis believed the activity was genuine, caused by “vital radiations” from Henry and Anna when their magnetism was the strongest, thus affecting objects.

Parapsychologists’ Theory about Phelps Poltergeist

Dr. Nandor Fodor was the pioneer in researching the relationship between psychology and the human agent poltergeist. Hereward Carrington was a parapsychologist and author. Both are highly respected in the field of parapsychology.

They researched accounts in The New Haven Journal and Courier, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s History of Spiritualism, Frank Podmore’s Modern Spiritualism, E. W. Capon’s Modern Spiritualism and Charles W. Elliot’s Mysteries: or Glimpses of the Supernatural. The newspaper gave the most complete reports of the haunting.

According to Carrington and Fodor, the cause of the phenomena was never explained.

Current Poltergeist Theory

There are two types of poltergeists, human agent, HAP, and entity, EAP. Activity is the manifestation of psychokinesis, PK, the ability of the mind to affect matter.

HAP’s antics are simple and usually limited to moving objects, rappings and affecting electronic and electrical objects. The occurrences do not exceed the physical ability of the agent and only occur when the person is present. Phenomena are centered on the person. William Roll, one of the leading poltergeist experts, coined the term “recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis,” RSPK, for this type of phenomena. There is a psychological profile for these agents. Psychotherapy is the appropriate treatment.

EAPs have greater repertoires. Antics may include moving heavy objects, setting fires and water gushing. They appear to have an intelligence of their own. They don’t center on a specific person and are, generally, confined to a specific place. Although documented cases are extremely rare, there have been cases of demonic poltergeists, as some believe the Phelps poltergeist was.

Haunted People, Hereward Carrington and Nandor Fodor, (Signet Mystery Book, 1951)

The copyright of the article Phelps Poltergeist Further Investigation in Ghosts & Hauntings is owned by Jill Stefko . Permission to republish Phelps Poltergeist Further Investigation in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.