Prime Time Replay:
Philip Stander
on Poltergeists
MsgId: *high_strangeness(159)
Date: Tue May 20 21:58:26 EDT 1997
From: Moderator At: 168.100.204.161
Welcome to High Strangeness on Prime Time Live! My name is Patrick Huyghe and I will be your moderator this evening. Our guest is the psychologist Philip Stander. The topic: The Mystery of the Poltergeist.Philip Stander has served as the Chairperson of the Department of Behavioral Sciences at Kingsborough Community College from 1971 until 1995 when he retired. He has also taught undergraduate and graduate level courses at Brooklyn College and C. W. Post College of Long Island University. He is currently responsible for the supervision of faculty in the areas of psychology, sociology and education at Kingsborough. And for more than a decade he has taught a course called Principles of Parapsychology to hundreds of students.
Stander is the co-author (with the late Paul Schmolling) of a new book called Poltergeists & the Paranormal, published by Llewellyn. The book examines some never-before- published poltergeist cases, as well as some that have been very thoroughly investigated by scientists. Let kick off this evening with a question that some of you may be asking: What is the difference between a poltergeist and a ghost?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(162)
Date: Tue May 20 22:02:54 EDT 1997
From: Philip_Stander At: 207.146.245.184
A poltergeist is defined as a noisy ghost that makes things go bump in the night. A poltergeist may be caused by energy from a living person. A ghost on the other hand is always defined as a disembodied spirit.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(163)
Date: Tue May 20 22:03:22 EDT 1997
From: Moderator At: 168.100.204.161
But isn't there a huge variety of poltergeist manifestations besides simple noises?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(166)
Date: Tue May 20 22:05:18 EDT 1997
From: Philip_Stander At: 207.146.245.184
Yes. Some poltergeists cause objects to fly through the air, cause lightbulbs to explode and cause electronic appliances to go on and off.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(167)
Date: Tue May 20 22:05:43 EDT 1997
From: Moderator At: 168.100.204.161
There are electrical poltergeists, fire poltergeists, water poltergeists, sexual poltergeists ... let's see have I left any out?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(168)
Date: Tue May 20 22:07:38 EDT 1997
From: Philip_Stander At: 207.146.245.184
Yes. There are poltergeists who have actually hurt people. We have seen video tapes of people who have bite marks and bleeding scratches spontaneously appear. Some poltergeists have actually been heard to speak as in the remarkable case of "Thirsty Lucy". The investigation of the case of "Thirsty Lucy" revealed a range of noises such as footsteps and the often repeated message, "I'm thirsty". Research revealed that the home in which the poltergeist appeared had been built on a potters field. Lucy had died in 1740's and was buried in this potters field. As a ghost, she was confused and was not aware that more than two hundred years had passed since her death.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(171)
Date: Tue May 20 22:12:37 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 152.163.205.21
Is it true that husbands and wives can have a psychic connection?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(173)
Date: Tue May 20 22:14:57 EDT 1997
From: Philip_Stander At: 207.146.245.184
Yes. Research shows that husbands and wives, siblings, parents and their children as well as people deeply in love with one another have a special bond that facilitates mind to mind communication, or telepathy, as well as generating images about their future experiences.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(176)
Date: Tue May 20 22:20:07 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 152.163.205.21
What has been the strangest case of paranormal behaviors?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(177)
Date: Tue May 20 22:21:49 EDT 1997
From: Philip_Stander At: 207.146.245.184
The strangest case is one that appears in the book that we call the case of Margo. It is strange because of the violence that had been directed against Margo while she lay in bed. Before she could run away she felt her self pinned down, her legs lifted into the air and this ghost attempting to possess her. It tried to enter her body through her mouth but before it could possess her she was able to resist it and free herself from the attack. This was an investigation that we conducted and that exclusively appears in our book. In total , we have investigated over 24 cases some of which suggest that the poltergeist were caused not by ghosts but by the energy emanating from living agents.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(183)
Date: Tue May 20 22:30:02 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 152.163.205.21
How does she know it wasn't a dream?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(184)
Date: Tue May 20 22:31:49 EDT 1997
From: Philip_Stander At: 207.146.245.184
My colleague was a trained psychologist who was as convinced as I that Margo had never fallen asleep and was fully awake when this attack accured.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(182)
Date: Tue May 20 22:29:59 EDT 1997
From: Moderator At: 206.80.164.26
Unlike most investigators of the poltergeist phenomenon, you do not ascribe to a single theory for the cause of poltergeists, isn't that right?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(185)
Date: Tue May 20 22:33:44 EDT 1997
From: Philip_Stander At: 207.146.245.184
We have come up with several theories for poltergeists. We have found cases of ghosts caused by psychokinesis which we believe is energy from living people. At Princeton University they have found that each of us may be able to create ghostly events and make objects move with psychokinesis.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(186)
Date: Tue May 20 22:33:54 EDT 1997
From: Moderator At: 206.80.164.26
But can't most cases be traced to an adolescent in a disturbed family?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(189)
Date: Tue May 20 22:37:09 EDT 1997
From: Philip_Stander At: 207.146.245.184
Adolescents have been involved in more than 80% of cases investigated. It appears that adolescents who are in emotional crisis may generate so much energy that objects are moved, made to fly and sometimes even break.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(188)
Date: Tue May 20 22:35:51 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 152.163.205.21
Was Uri Gella a fake?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(193)
Date: Tue May 20 22:42:05 EDT 1997
From: Philip_Stander At: 207.146.245.184
Uri Geller is a psychic who was investigated in more than 17 parapsychology labs. Investigations suggest that he had faked a number of experimental results with the simple use of sleight of hand. Uri Geller also had the assistance of 2 confederates who probably assisted him in fooling the lab scientists.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(192)
Date: Tue May 20 22:40:34 EDT 1997
From: Moderator At: 206.80.164.26
Do you think any poltergeists are purely spirit manifestations?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(195)
Date: Tue May 20 22:47:54 EDT 1997
From: Philip_Stander At: 207.146.245.184
Poltergeists may be spirits or energy from the living. We found some cases that suggest that they were a combination of a ghostly presence reinforced by a living energy.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(196)
Date: Tue May 20 22:48:05 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 152.163.205.21
Will there be a sequel to this book? and if so will you be researching in Great Britain as I have heard there are a lot of strange happenings over there.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(198)
Date: Tue May 20 22:49:28 EDT 1997
From: Philip_Stander At: 207.146.245.184
The sequel to the book will include new cases of polterseists as well as strange reports of ESP events.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(197)
Date: Tue May 20 22:48:46 EDT 1997
From: Moderator At: 206.80.164.26
Are you talking about a kind of hybrid theory where the dead are using the energy of the living?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(200)
Date: Tue May 20 22:49:39 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 207.1.160.135
How can one tell if he/she has a hidden talent for telekinesis?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(201)
Date: Tue May 20 22:51:18 EDT 1997
From: Philip_Stander At: 207.146.245.184
Labs in such universities as Princeton and Cambridge have invited subjects to be tested and many who suspected they had these abilities were proven correct. Through such testing we were able to confirm that the polterseists observed were not spirits but rather this telekinetic energy. It appears that all humans may possess this talent.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(204)
Date: Tue May 20 22:55:34 EDT 1997
From: Philip_Stander At: 207.146.245.184
Re the hybrid theory, we believe that some ghosts could never be witnessed if their weak energy was not combined with the energy coming out of the living who were present.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(203)
Date: Tue May 20 22:54:08 EDT 1997
From: Moderator At: 206.80.164.26
But isn't there a difference between PK, which is deliberate, and poltergeist activity, which is usually unconscious?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(207)
Date: Tue May 20 22:57:23 EDT 1997
From: Philip_Stander At: 207.146.245.184
People who send PK energy may either be aware that they are the agents or entirely unconscious of the fact that they themselves are causing things to go bump in the night.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(205)
Date: Tue May 20 22:55:44 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 38.26.21.11
Does your book mention Rupert Sheldrake type connection between people?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(209)
Date: Tue May 20 22:59:18 EDT 1997
From: Philip_Stander At: 207.146.245.184
Sheldrake's theory of morphic resonance suggests that all life forms are interconnected and that the psychic connections are waiting to be discovered.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(206)
Date: Tue May 20 22:56:54 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 152.163.205.21
Does the power of suggestion have any effect on people in these situations, to clarify if I was told I was Psychic,would I then experience Psychic abilities?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(210)
Date: Tue May 20 23:01:44 EDT 1997
From: Philip_Stander At: 207.146.245.184
The power of suggestion used in hypnosis and meditation has resulted in gaining control of a range of ESP and PK talents. Subjects who have been hypnotized have successfully acted on the suggestion to use ESP talent in order to see events taking place miles away. The Pentagon has invested much time and money in the investigation of the military applications for the use of such talents and psychic powers.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(213)
Date: Tue May 20 23:04:17 EDT 1997
From: Moderator At: 206.80.164.26
Thank you, Phil Stander for an fascinating interview. Everyone should check out your book -- Poltergeists and the Paranormal. And thank you chat poltergeists, for all the muck ups! For High Strangeness, this is Patrick Huyghe. Goodnight!
MsgId: *high_strangeness(214)
Date: Tue May 20 23:06:05 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 152.163.205.21
Thank you Dr. Stander, I have found this most interesting, James.
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