Thornton Road poltergeist

Thornton Road Poltergeist is a well documented Poltergeist phenomenon that underwent official investigation.

The quiet residential area of Ward End in Birmingham, England began to suffer from anti-social behaviour in the latter part of 1981.Almost every night the residents of five houses on the east side of the street were subjected to sustained bouts of stone throwing, causing significant damage to windows and roof tiles.

Initially the residents attempted to find the culprits - assumed to be young vandals or neighbours harbouring a grudge. When that came to nothing, the Police were called in.

The case was investigated by a team led by experienced officer Chief Inspector Len Turley. Turley's team went to great lengths to catch the individual or individuals responsible. Officers camped outside overnight during the vicious winter of late 1981 to early 1982. The latest technology available at the time was employed: Night sights, image intensifiers and automatic cameras. However, they spotted nothing but foxes, rats and rabbits.

Unlike many poltergeist disturbances, even during the period of very close observation, the stone throwing continued. However no evidence was forthcoming of the source.

The Police gave up the investigation by the end of 1982, but left the case open. During the time of the Thornton Road investigation, the same team had solved five murder cases, without making any progress with the Thornton Road problem, in what should have been a simple case to solve.

The nature of the thrown stones was said to match those found within the soil of the locale, but it is unclear who investigated this and how this fact was established.

As in most poltergeist cases, no-one was hurt. The worst injury recorded by the flying stones was a grazed cheek.

It is unclear when, or if, the stone throwing ceased.

Literature

*Fairley, John & Welfare Simon 1984: Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers pages 31-34. ISBN 0002166798.
*Time Life Books 1989: Mind Over Matter pages 53-54. ISBN 0809463369.

External links

*http://paranormaaliblogi.wordpress.com/2007/05/16/poltergeist-ilmio/ (Finnish)