Traditionally, it is believed that in Belarus there are no absolutely egregious cases of poltergeist, such as in the movies, but they probably happened “somewhere on the other side of the world”. I would like to believe that domestic poltergeists are as pampered as the Belarusians, but occasionally Ufokom's next challenge to a new poltergeist object still confronts us with a similar fact. In August - early September 2016, a mysterious phenomenon disrupted the usual way of life of one of the families in the city of Zhodino (Minsk region).
At the end of August, Sergei (all names have been changed) turned to Ufokom, driven to despair by the atrocities occurring in his apartment, perpetrated by someone unknown. At that moment, he and his mother even had to run away from the apartment to the dacha. We agreed that our emergency response team will visit them in a few days, if this does not stop. However, after 2-3 days, Sergei said that everything was over suddenly. Despite this, we decided to visit this family to give advice on the proper behavior in such situations and to document everything that happens.
Communicating with the tenants, on whom dozens of unexplained incidents fell like a bolt from the blue, we noted that they seem to have almost come to terms with the fact that the living space will have to be shared with one or two "tenants". They sometimes talked about anomalous cases even with irony and admitted that at some point indifference had come, and the frightening phantasmagoria at one point turned into "fun".
Two people currently live in a three-room apartment located in the town of Zhodino: Sergei (33 years old) and his mother - Anastasia Nikolaevna (57 years old). Earlier, Sergei's wife lived in the same apartment, who, after the divorce that took place in the spring of this year, moved, and by the time the probable poltergeist activity began, she was already absent. The couple did not have children, but quite often the fourteen-year-old niece, who lives nearby, came to visit (and even slept on weekends).
The beginning of events can be considered the first days of August 2016 (the very first documented "leprosy" is dated August 5, at about 8 o'clock in the morning1 "). Then the number of events increased exponentially, until, after the most aggressive outbreak, Sergei and his mother moved out to their dacha (this happened on August 24-25). On September 10 the apartment was visited by the representative of "Ufokom" I. Butov, however, according to the tenants, "everything has been calm for several days already." Thus, the poltergeist phenomena lasted for about a month. Further contact with the tenants confirmed that the oddities really ended there. We were very lucky that Sergei and his mother filmed many of the incidents, hoping for further help from the police or an objective assessment from specialists. That is why we have the date and time of some episodes.
First documented episode of the front door handle
From the obvious "stress factors", from our point of view, two can be distinguished so far: (perhaps something was not reported): the death of Sergei's father (in 2013) and a divorce from his wife (in May 2016, she moved out of the apartment) … Before the divorce, there were frequent quarrels and scandals. Unfortunately, we were unable to communicate with my niece, who was absent at the time of our visit. An indirect physiological factor that must also be taken into account when investigating this incident is a serious car accident (in 2007), in which Sergei received a head injury. Those events echo in the appearance of cysts in the frontal sinus, which periodically leads to severe headaches.
Promotional video:
Strange events began with a whitewashed inscription on the door: "Life is pain - when the brain is zero." After that, someone began to stain with paint the handle of the front door, the door itself and the windows in the stairwell. Items appeared near the front door (keys, torn advertisements). At first, they thought that someone was indulging, but then they began to suspect some kind of "revenge" by Sergei's ex-wife or his mother-in-law, who allegedly wanted to get an apartment, which her daughter, alas, could not claim. Proof of their involvement were messages on one of the social networks, which, according to Sergei, "self-destructed." In these messages, the couple allegedly demanded to sell them an apartment "for $ 5000".
It is worth noting that attempts to explain unusual phenomena with something ordinary are present in almost all real cases of poltergeist that we have encountered. Sometimes these attempts lead to the fact that the culprit is assigned to a certain "bum" (as in the case of the Gomel ram in 2007), a "criminal neighbor" (as in the case of another poltergeist in Gomel2), a "witch" (a poltergeist district in 2011), thieves (poltergeist on Avangardnaya street in Minsk), etc. Any sane person simply cannot “blame” some otherworldly force for this and calm down, he will in any case seek a rational explanation for what he saw. Therefore, the insidious "wife" and "mother-in-law" in this series are no worse.
Windows stained with paint in the entrance
Clamps near the front door
Key and paint on the entrance mat
Traces of varnish in the apartment
Inscription in the apartment, made with varnish
Soon the "artist" reached the apartment: things, walls, windows and people were poured with paint or varnish, clamps (a tool used to fix parts) began to appear, as well as glass for welding (they were not in the apartment, whose - could not be established). Naturally, the owners tried to call the police, but they did not want to deal with this story, saying that everything is done by the tenants who have contacted them.
August 8 turned out to be a particularly "hot" day, when, in addition to the usual appearance of objects, an inscription appeared, made with varnish - "Loch". Sergei said that it arose instantly: when the light was turned off in one of the rooms in the evening, it immediately smelled of varnish, the light was turned on and we saw the inscription (time in the photo is 00:31). On August 9, the same inscription appeared at the entrance. One day, when Sergei was not at home, his mother noticed that someone had hung boots on the door handles and wrote with varnish: "Do not touch the sucker's shoes."
On August 11, someone wrote in the apartment on the door with a handle3 ":" Katya (niece, name changed - approx. Ufokoma) has nothing to do with it, this is a sucker, besides. " On August 12, when Sergei tried to swear at invisibility in his hearts, in response, an inscription appeared on the glass in the bathroom: "Fuck you," made with varnish of unknown origin. As it was later found out, there were two varnishes: one red, the other turquoise. However, there was never such varnish in the apartment.
The inscription "Fuck you" on the glass in the bathroom
Having learned about the "talkativeness" of this something, someone advised the family to communicate with him by means of notes - and then answers to various questions began to appear on paper, including the numbers of lottery tickets (they filled in as they said - and did not win), ending with an answer on where Napoleon's treasure was buried - “in the Chernobyl zone”, etc. All the inscriptions were made with a blue marker, which was not in the apartment either. At the same time, those present never saw the moment of writing, only the result. The otherworldly thug introduced himself as Dimon (then the thought arose that he was not Dimon, but a Demon4 ").
They began to serve Dimona food, but he only broke the cutlet offered to him. Although Dimon's appetite was so-so, he, apparently, was a good psychologist, because he skillfully “played along” with the version about revengeful former relatives. In some of the inscriptions, he directly accused Sergei's wife that she had sent him. And he allegedly acted as a "defector." Here is the content of one such text (spelling preserved): “Marriage was DEMANDED because they wanted to understand your apartment, but you see what didn't work out, so they struck me that I packaged you, but I don’t want to see that you are good people and I can negotiate with you, I smashed the dishes for them, painted them on Alina, I hid their things in the same place and messed things up! thanks for the cutlet … ". Moreover, Dimon kept up with the latest trends and actively used emoticons. According to Anastasia Nikolaevna,The scribbles were a bit like Sergei's handwriting, which aroused certain suspicions. However, one day she saw how words appear on a blank sheet of paper at a time when no one was around. But we know this only from her words.
Note from "Dimona"
At some point, the disenfranchised inhabitant of the Zhodino apartment announced his departure and replacing himself with a completely different "person". On August 12, this was preceded by the appearance of an inscription made in varnish: "That's it, I left before [mine?]." This "evil" opposite of the good-natured person who lived earlier was more aggressive and more persistently pursued the "goal set for her" - to survive the family from the apartment. In the following days, the flowers got very bad - they either broke off, or the pots with them broke, covering the rooms with earth, and it happened that they somehow "teleported" to the staircase (at first intact, and then they began to turn over and the earth began to turn out of them outside). Lids fell into pots, onions scattered throughout the apartment. Sometimes there was a feeling of someone else's presence. Sergei claimedthat Dimon (or his "evil" analogue) accompanied him even on the street. This thought was prompted by the following incident: not far from the house, a dog attacked him, the owner of which said that this was the first time she attacked a passer-by and was very surprised.
The earth turned out of the flowerpot and the bow scattered around the apartment
One day, a notice came to some parcel, which was not ordered. They didn't even go to get it: it was a little scary. Another time, the telephone disappeared from the apartment. When Dimon was asked a question, he replied that his mother-in-law had a "pipe". However, the phone was eventually found in another apartment (with her sister Anastasia Nikolaevna). Another time, on a carnation for a painting, a hanging jacket of the owners of the apartment was found.
At the end of August (about 24-25), the manifestations of a new "guest" became so active that it became impossible to live in an apartment, and the family fled to their dacha. From the events of those days, the following incident can be distinguished: by itself, a carpet rose into the air, "which stood under the coffin at the daddy." The "Flying Carpet" patrolled the whole apartment until it landed on Anastasia Nikolaevna's bed. They were afraid to lay this carpet and put it rolled up on the balcony. Before the "flight" itself, Sergei's mother was hit on the head with a certain hard object. It turned out to be a rather weighty souvenir frame for photography.
For some time it was quiet at the dacha, then the phenomena resumed in a new place - old clocks and objects fell, a scoop and apples flew around the house, etc.
Around August 30, the family approached a woman practicing "alternative treatment." She took a considerable amount of money and made a "lapel". But "Dimon" and so fizzled out. After the last enchanting attempt to somehow declare itself, the phenomenon slowly began to decline and disappeared around September 6-7. It is worth mentioning that the German professor Hans Bender called this poltergeist stage before the end - the "final burst of activity" of the noisy spirit [cit. by 1]. It was impossible to predict what it manifested itself in, but the "demonstration of possibilities" was usually very effective: sometimes all the glasses and glasses in the buffet broke instantly, bottles burst in the bar, horns fell off and fell (hunting trophies), books fell out. from multiple cabinets, etc.
Floor plan with famous poltergeist episodes inscribed on it
Thus, the entire phenomenon went through several conventional stages before its disappearance: the "lacquer-colored" - the stage of notes - the stage of moving objects, which ended with the final burst of activity. Most of the episodes, according to residents, began or were tied to the bedroom (where my mother now lives, and Sergei's father lived earlier), to a lesser extent - to the bathroom, staircase, kitchen, balcony and nothing at all happened in the hall. Of the events that took place in Sergei's room, it was possible to recall only about the fall of a flowerpot with flowers, a jacket hung there on a carnation for a picture and the inclusion of a TV in the middle of the night. But often the trajectory of things was directed precisely towards his room (for example, flowerpots with flowers fell into the door), possibly because it was located near the epicenter of the poltergeist - the parents' room. At night,when everyone was asleep, no paranormal events occurred in the apartment / dacha.
Although the case as a whole developed "according to the laws of the anomalous genre," its discussion allowed us to focus on only a few markers of anomalousness. For example, a thorough analysis by Ufokom experts of the “poltergeist notes” and inscriptions that appeared in Zhodino made it possible to establish that they differ significantly from all previously known messages of this kind, primarily in the style of writing5”. Too even and correct letters immediately attracts attention. Sometimes, the letters become deliberately clumsy, but then return to the original way of writing. But grammatical errors, as always, are present in abundance. A well-known researcher from St. Petersburg, Mikhail Gershtein, who has repeatedly seen many such notes, expressed the opinion that in this case we have a place with either a deliberate hoax or a split personality. However, Anastasia Nikolaevna once saw how words appear on a blank sheet of paper at a time when no one was around. In addition to the version expressed by M. Gerstein, it can be assumed that the phenomenon of poltergeist is evolving in some way, or the statistics of poltergeist messages is still far from complete.
Examples of poltergeist notes: 1 - Zhodino (2016), 2 - Moscow (1991), 3 - Leningrad (1989–1991), 4 - Moscow (1989–1990), 5 - Moscow (1992)
Neither Sergei nor Anastasia Nikolaevna showed any desire to work to verify the notes they received from the "noisy spirit" and we decided not to insist on this. Unfortunately, the absence of a comparative analysis of the handwritings of all family members and their comparison with poltergeist notes significantly reduces the fact of the authenticity of such graphic artifacts.
Assuming that this case of a poltergeist is authentic, is there a "focal face" here? In the presented material, we practically did not pay attention to the personality of our niece, since we were not able to communicate with her. Meanwhile, we managed to find out that she quite often went into this apartment and was even present at many outbreaks. It was she who suggested that Dimon should be read as a Demon. Once Dimon tried to protect Katya by writing with varnish that she had nothing to do with it. We also asked Sergei and his mother to pay attention to the correlation "a visit by a niece - a poltergeist activity." It turned out that although this connection is quite high, it was possible to recall many episodes that took place without Katya. Interestingly, she spent the night in the same room where, according to residents, the lion's share of poltergeist episodes took place.
Electricity consumption graph in a poltergeist apartment, kWh
The third curious point is associated with excessive consumption of electricity. In the "normal" months, this family burned about 110–150 kWh, in the months of poltergeist activity: 190 kWh in August and 240 kWh in September. The last reading was subjectively out of the general average. Moreover, people spent one week in August at their dacha and did not use electricity6”. To reliably assess how anomalous these emissions are, we requested readings for the entire 2016. The sigma method was used to check the received data for the presence of anomalous values. The essence of this method is that any values of a data series that differ from the mean by more than two standard deviations are potential anomalies. As a result of this simple analysis, we built a graph,which shows the actual values of electricity from January to November 2016, as well as the acceptable limits. As you can see, the "anomaly" of September just falls on the border of the permissible region. This suggests that although 240 kWh was somewhat overestimated, in general, for the readings of the electricity consumption of the apartment under study, this is a variant of the norm.
AA-index values from August 1 to September 9, 2016
Foreign researchers found that cases of poltergeist almost always occurred on the day or shortly before the burst of geomagnetic activity, at the same time, a week before that, the geomagnetic activity was normal. Usually these days the average value of geomagnetic activity shifts from a lower level (aa≤10) to higher values (aa≈20 and above) [3, 4]. The values of another indicator, the aa index of solar activity, were quite high in early August 2016, but the flare itself proceeded against the background of a more or less calm geomagnetic situation and ended when the values of the aa index began to increase again. However, on the most critical days (August 24–25), when the family was forced to flee to the dacha, the values of the aa-index significantly exceeded the threshold of aa≈20 formulated earlier by researchers [5]. Additionally, it is worth noting a significant surge in the period of September 1-3, when the values of the aa-index exceeded the threshold of aa≈50. According to family reports, this period corresponded to the end of the “noisy spirit” activity. However, by the arrival of the Ufokom experts, the geomagnetic activity had significantly calmed down, and the poltergeist did not manifest itself in any way.
Indirectly, that neither Sergey nor Katya were involved in the incidents is evidenced by another episode that occurred at the work of Anastasia Nikolaevna. The woman said that during the "last poltergeist week" (ie, September 5-9), the following happened: a strong blow on the door that everyone went out to look for who did it, but found no one. A very similar case was recorded by Ufokom in Borkolabovo7”[2].
Alas, we were unable to record any of the poltergeist episodes, everything we described was documented from the words of the residents, which means, according to the logic of science, it can be critically assessed and questioned. Only independent markers of poltergeist activity remain, but even here it is not at all dense. The verification of notes and inscriptions that appeared in the apartment under study was significantly hampered by the impossibility of matching the handwriting of family members, including the fourteen-year-old niece, with the handwriting of the conventional "barabashka". Visual analysis showed that the notes in Zhodino significantly differ from other typical poltergeist notes. There are also no significant marker signs of anomaly in the change in the apartment's electricity consumption and the aa-index values.
Thus, we are faced with a paradoxical situation that needs to be taken into account in the future by poltergeist researchers who seek to bring their materials into scientific circulation. When trying to apply scientific methods to the analysis of some, even the most striking cases, demonstrating various characteristic features of the phenomenon, they will look not at all as reliable as it seemed before. For example, the Novgorodov criterion, which makes it possible to assess the authenticity of the events that took place, is generally about 0% for this case. At the same time, after talking with eyewitnesses, inspecting the scene of the incidents and comparing all the facts, the author is subjectively inclined to consider this case real and, if this is true, then it will turn out to be one of the brightest poltergeist outbreaks in Belarus over the past decade.
Notes
1. Established by the time of the photo taken by Sergei. True, there is reason to believe that the time on the camera was set incorrectly.
2. The investigation into this incident is still ongoing.
3. Interestingly, this is the only inscription on the door with a handle. Apparently it was difficult to write with a pen on such surfaces and the rest of the inscriptions were made with varnish or a marker.
4. The residents themselves called this phenomenon a “miracle”.
5. You can only recall a few neat inscriptions in Leningrad (1989-1991) in the Maximovs' apartment, but the exception only confirms the rule.
6. However, Anastasia Nikolaevna said that all summer and part of autumn they had a fruit dryer. Although it worked all summer and part of the autumn months, it is possible that in August - September (at the peak of the harvest) it was turned on more actively and more often.
7. The builder was sitting in the back room when powerful blows began to be heard on the door. He immediately ran out into the street, but did not find anyone there.
