A poltergeist haunting is characterized by extreme paranormal behavior

Tony Kochie doesn’t mind being called a ghost hunter but she’s quick to correct that ghost “hunting” is not what the Orange County Paranormal Society does.

While she and her 10-person team, which includes stay-at-home moms and retired military members, get a thrill from the rare chance to experience the paranormal, their main objective is to help the living. Kochie’s job is ghost investigating, which means she spends her time disproving that a person is experiencing something supernatural in order to help them move on with their lives.

Most of the dozens of calls the society gets each week — many from East Orlando — are not valid, but those that are usually have some very frightened people on the other end. “Usually people who come to me are at their wits end and they’re scared,” she said. “And sometimes they’re just crazy. Of all the requests, I get maybe 3 of 50 have something really going on.” Kochie said that when she was 6 years old, a poltergeist haunted her home — slamming window shutters until they fell off, shoving sugar bowls from the counter and knocking picture frames from the wall. One day Kochie was clearing the dinner table when the glass chandelier above her exploded into millions of pieces.

“It was the biggest bang I ever heard,” she said. “My dad ran over to me but not one piece had hit me. I had no cuts. Not a single piece was even in my hair. It was the weirdest thing.” Kochie has been hooked on the supernatural ever since.

Many people believe in the paranormal, which is defined as unusual experiences that lack a scientific explanation. A 2005 Gallup Poll found that nearly three quarters of those surveyed believed in at least one paranormal category. More than 40 percent believed in extrasensory perception (ESP), 37 percent in haunted houses, 32 percent in ghosts and 21 percent in witches.

“Most people are afraid of death and they don’t want to accept that when they die they cease to exist. They don’t want to accept that everything boils down to molecules,” University of Central Florida physics professor Costas Efthimiou said. “If something happens it must be explained by laws of physics. If it can’t then it does not happen. There is an explanation; we are not smart enough yet to explain it.”

“Many people do not want to hear that they don’t have a ghost,” she said. “They will say, ‘I know I have a ghost. I can feel it.’ I am a humanitarian who likes to help the living and the dead. Sometimes just us coming by helps people, and it feels good when people thank you and tell you they can finally sleep.”

Occurrences often associated with reports of poltergeists are:

• Objects are moved or thrown around, sometimes at the victim
• Objects appearing in random places
• Raspy or vague voices are heard (sometimes are only heard from an EVP)
• noises are heard (such as tapping, dragging, thumping or footsteps)
• being pushed, tugged, or knocked down by an unknown force
• Ghostly figures or shadows being seen (sometimes are only seen on a thermal imager or camcorder)
• Haunting or activity starts after something bad happening (such as a death)
• Forcing things on the victim (such as poison)
• Rapping noises ( e.g.: one means no, two mean yes)
• Electronics malfunctioning (during the presence of the poltergeist)
• Victim may have strange feelings or sensations during the presence of a poltergeist (such as nausea or EMF sickness)
• High EMF ratings from an unknown source
• Cackling is heard upon presence of a poltergeist (usually only heard from an EVP)
• Cold spots are often felt usually in dark areas
• Blood appearing on floors, walls, ceilings, shiny and grimy surfaces
• Inappropriate drawing of faces or contents usually on foggy mirrors
• Unexplainable fear within the home or depression
• Sensation of poltergeist activity becomes stronger and more prominent

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