Danny Robins Opens The File On A Poltergeist Case In Platte County Missouri
Photo: © Brian Stansberry
In the latest episode of Danny Robins' paranormal podcast 'Uncanny', the spotlight turns to a haunting that disrupts the peace of a dream family home in rural Missouri. Available on BBC Sounds now, the episode titled 'The Platte County Poltergeist' unfolds through the experiences of Lisa and her family.
Lisa and her husband, Derek, built their home in Platte County, near Kansas City. "At the time we built, we were pretty spread out, there was no direct neighbour within, I would say 10 acres," Lisa tells Danny on the podcast. This isolation was initially a part of their utopian dream, but as they settled in, the family started noticing odd occurrences, beginning with something as mundane yet unnerving as lights being inexplicably turned on.
"The lights would be off... and then in the morning, we would go downstairs and the basement light would be on. And I would just think, 'Oh well, somehow we missed it,'" Lisa explains. Despite multiple checks by electricians, no faults are found, relegating these incidents to minor annoyances.
However, the disturbances escalate. Lisa describes hearing loud footsteps traversing the length of their home when no one else is around. "It always tracked from the garage, straight through the house," she notes, an occurrence that even their children witnessed, mistaking the noise for their father returning home.
One particularly unsettling event involves Lisa and Derek's daughter Brooke, who witnessed her younger brother Devin's tricycle move. "The tricycle slid all the way across the floor on its side to where they were on the couch," Lisa recounts. Even more disturbing are the aggressive knocks heard on walls during the dead of night, which led Derek to consider abandoning their home.
As the family continues to experience these events, their distress grows, particularly when their son begins exhibiting violent night terrors. The incidents peak one eerie Easter night when, upon returning home, Lisa witnesses what she believes is Derek looking out from their son Devin's window, only to find him beside her car at the same time. This terrifying doppelgänger moment convinces them to finally leave.
What The Experts Think
As always, Danny is joined by two guest experts, Ciarán O'Keeffe, a psychologist and self-proclaimed skeptic, and Jim Harold, a veteran of paranormal broadcasting. Ciarán initially approaches the phenomenon from a psychological perspective, suggesting that the stress and anxiety associated with building a new home in an isolated environment might be contributing factors. He explains, "Historically, we have always associated ghosts with older properties, but I'm going to go down the skeptical route and say, well, actually, anywhere where anybody lives has the potential for causing paranormal phenomena, because a lot of it is in the psychology of the person."
Jim, on the other hand, likens the occurrences to classic poltergeist activity, emphasising the physical interaction evident in the case, such as objects moving and unexplainable knocks. "It represents kind of a gold standard in the sense that you can explain away a lot of things, but physical objects moving by themselves, I cannot explain away," Jim says, pointing out the escalating nature of poltergeist phenomena from benign beginnings to more aggressive manifestations.
Ciarán discusses the possibility that some of the noises could be attributed to natural causes like animals or infrasound. He also considers the power of suggestion and memory in shaping the family's experiences, suggesting, "The only other explanation could be that they are hearing some other knocking sound that has been created by an animal and actually in them discussing what they think it is. They're creating that memory."
Jim speculates that the land the house is built on could be haunted due to its links to Native American displacements or Civil War activities. "We think of buildings as being haunted, but actually, land can be haunted too. And we know this area has a bloody history," he explains.
Addressing the unsettling incidents involving Lisa's son, Devin, Ciarán attributes these to a combination of night terrors and sleepwalking. However, Jim agrees but thinks that these might have been induced by paranormal activity, suggesting an outside entity could be targeting the most vulnerable family member.
The panel discusses the Easter night incident, where Lisa sees what she believes is her husband at a window, yet he is simultaneously beside her. Ciarán is skeptical of this being a paranormal event, suggesting it could be a case of pareidolia - seeing patterns in randomness - brought on by anxiety and expectation. However, Jim sees this as a sinister climax to the poltergeist activity, concluding that what Lisa saw was a "false representation of Derek," a doppelgänger created by the poltergeist.
You can listen to this episode in full plus the full 'Uncanny' archive on BBC Sounds now.
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