Issue date: Saturday, Sept. 16, 2006
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P A R A N O R M A L I N S I D E R
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Read stories that defy logic every week in Paranormal
Insider. Subscribe instructions and email links are at the
bottom of this page.
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Dear Readers:
We had some great feedback on the
topic of apports so I
thought I'd devote another issue to this
weird and some-
times wacky phenomenon. If you have a brief
comment or
question to share, please post it to our new forum
at:
<a href="
http://archives.gophercentral.com/Forum.aspx?fid=14
">
Paranormal Insider Forum</a>
If
you have a paranormal experience you'd like to send in
for
possible publication, please send it to me at
paranormal@zsuzsana.com.
****************************************************
Apports, Asports, and Ghostly Hi-jinks
In doing some
additional research on apports, I've been
rather surprised to
find limited information or written
theory on the nature of this
phenomenon. Most paranormal
researchers, however, seem to feel
that apports, deports
(or 'asports') and teleportation (or
translocation) are
related, and in my personal opinion, I would
also in some
cases link the apport experience to poltergeist
activity.
I have seen poltergeist activity with my own eyes
so I do
believe that spirits can interact with us on the
physical
plane, although I am confounded as to how they do
this.
Apports gained infamy in the séances of the
Spiritualist
era, and were a mainstay of the Madame Blavatsky
set and
those of her ilk back in the heyday of the
Spiritualist
movement. Translocation of objects, however, has
also been
noted amongst Sufis and Eastern yogis, as well as
being
the subject of some modern day paranormal
research.
Some people believe that apports are ethereal in
nature,
meaning that they are only a temporal image created by
an
outburst of energy, but as you will read below in the
many
stories our readers have sent in, they can most
certainly
also be solid, touchable and altogether 3D objects
which
appear (and/or disappear) seemingly out of
nowhere.
It has been proposed that apports/deports would be
better
explained using the theories of Quantum Physics, and
that
the materializing/dematerializing of objects is
actually
quantum teleportation of the "Beam me up, Scotty"
variety,
but despite scientific research into this area, to
date,
physicists have not found a way to 'move' anything
beyond
extremely small particles of matter. People,
animals,
jewelry and other trinkets most definitely do not
fall
into this category so we are still stumped as to how
such
objects can appear or disappear from nowhere.
Many people have experienced receiving unexplainable
'gifts' that they believe have been brought to them by an
angel or a spirit, such as a deceased loved one, and often
the gift has a symbolic meaning for the person receiving
it.
I hope you enjoy our readers' stories and comments
about
apports and I hope that all your experiences with
apports
are good ones. I recently found an unusual little
personal
object I hadn't seen for many years in my bed and I
am
still puzzled as to how this item got there, although
we
had in fact been moving furniture that day so maybe,
just
maybe, there is a rational explanation that I just
haven't
been able to see. I'm still pondering whether there is
a
message hidden in the event. All I can say for certain
at
this point is that if someone REALLY wants to apport
some-
thing to me, I wouldn't say no to a pile of gold
coins:>)
Perhaps I'll just have to ask!
Carpe diem
Zsuzsana
------------------------------------------------------------
Hello,
I am so glad to finally know a name for the
strange stuff
that has happened in our home since we bought it
12 years
ago. A picture my mother-in-law painted and gave to
my
husband for his birthday refused to stay hung on the
wall,
no matter where we hung it. It would sound like a car
wreck
when it supposedly fell, but when we checked, it would
look
like it was gently placed in an upright position like
it
slid down the wall.
One evening my
husband and I were watching TV and the lamp
shade on the end
table between us spun around like someone
had reared back and
let it go like a Frisbee. We always
joke someone is trying
to tell us something.
Just recently his car keys showed up
in my purse after
being "gone" for about 6 weeks.
My little dog has been entertained by our visitors and I
have pictures of her enjoying their attention. Some of
the people I have them shared them with have freaked out.
Blessings,
Tessie
*************************************************
I
have had my own apport experiences: mostly things like
keys and
coins disappearing for days, then reappearing
elsewhere.
I've mostly blamed brownies and faeries for
these
tricks.
My aunt, however, has had quite a few
episodes. They began
after her granddaughter was killed in
her home (by her own
brother's hand, in an 'accident' with a
handgun. We still
have doubts about the accidental ruling, but
that's another
story altogether). The little girl, who
died at age 10,
loved coins. She would go around the
house, checking in
the sofa and chair cushions for money.
She always got to
keep what she found, but would make little
piles on the
coffee table and end tables, to show off her
trophies.
The week after she died, one morning my aunt found
a stack
of pennies, and another of dimes, on the table next to
her
chair. Now, she never has change in her pocket to
lose,
and no one but my aunt ever sits in that chair, so
there
was no reason for there to be a stack. But we figure
her
granddaughter left it, as a reminder that she was
still
around.
Since then, whenever there is
a trying time, my aunt will
find a little reminder, five or six
dimes or pennies in a
pile, right beside her chair.
***************************************************
Hi, Zsuzsana!
I'm replying to the question about
personal apport
experiences. My best friend and I live across
town from
one another, and randomly things from our rooms
will
disappear for a month or so and reappear in the
middle
of the other's bedroom floor. I don't know if
this
classifies as an apport, but it's really cool.
Thanks for reading!
****************************************************
Zsuzsana,
I don't know if this would be considered
an apport
experience or not. It happened to me many years
ago as I
sat with friends in a quaint basement tavern in
Mystic,
Connecticut, at the Daniel Packard Inn. The
building,
which belonged originally to a sea captain, was
converted
into a lovely restaurant and tavern. There were
artifacts
commemorating the seafaring life all around the
building.
I happened in conversation to be describing to my
friends
a stairway I had seen leading up to a man's
apartment
that I had previously visited. It had all kinds
of
antiques piled everywhere, including a large
wooden
figurehead on a landing. We were all laughing at
the
thought of the conglomeration. All of a sudden I felt
a
sharp tap in my lap, as if a piece of plaster or
something
of weight had dropped on my lap. Startled, I
looked down
to find my very lightweight earring sitting on my
lap. It
was a hook style earring that loops through the
pierced
hole and hangs down. The wire hook was long and
never
accidentally slipped out of my ear before. Also, the
tap
on my lap was too strong to have been created by a
small
earring. I felt that a spirit must have whipped
the
earring from my ear and tapped my lap to alert me
that
she was offended at me making fun of a ship's
figurehead.
The waitress later said that a female spirit
inhabited the
inn and often did mischievous things. Some
think it is
the deceased wife of the sea captain, Daniel
Packard.
Diane
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
Hi, Diane. I had my keys moved from one
pocket to the
other while sitting at a bar and discussing a
resident
ghost with the proprietor of an inn. Not long
afterward,
again discussing this same ghost at the same
establishment,
my signficant other had a roll of bathroom tissue
thrown
at him when he went to use the men's room. It was
quite
the excitment!:>) Thanks for sharing.
Zsuzsana
------------------------------------------------------------
Hi! I love your web column! I've definitely had an
apport
experience. I always felt that there was *something* in
my
parents house. I mean it's an old house, there's bound
to
be something in there. One day I came home from
high
school, and sat in my kitchen to watch some TV. No one
was
home and my cat wasn't around -- must have been
sleeping
upstairs or outside. Anyway, I went to take out a
bottle
of Pepsi and sat back down at the table. The way my
kitchen
is set up, the head of the table is the best view of
the
TV. I took off the cap, poured a glass, and put the
cap
down more towards the back of the table, where the
bottle
was, by the cup shelf. My back was turned to the table
as
I watched TV. About 5 minutes later, the bottle cap
falls
into my lap from the ceiling. I instantly get up,
look
around, say "Hello!" and no one was there, so I just
sat
back down again and continued watching. I didn't
knock
anything over and the cap was on the opposite side of
the
table. It was very weird. I'm pretty sure I almost saw
it
take form late one night, as I woke my cat up when I saw
a
fuzzy looking "bust" (one of those statues of the chest
up
from the 1700s) kind of hovering in my doorway. Well,
the
cat looked right up, ears went back and he ran out of
the
room, and I freaked out and spent the night heavily
breath-
ing under the covers.
Hope you
enjoyed my stories!
-Hannah-
*******************************************
Hi...
I just call them 'gifts' and there have been
way too many
to count! It's usually feathers, which I like. One
appeared
on my hymn book in the middle of a song in church just
a
couple of Sundays ago! But two of the neatest,
most
memorable ones were not feathers.
The
first one was when a friend came over and was examining
my
extensive crystal collection. I keep it on a mirror
tray, on top
of a mirrored dressing table, in my bedroom.
She picked up a
large crystal clump, and suddenly sat it
on the bed. In a
shocked voice, she asked, "OK, where the
heck did THAT come
from?" I looked, and there was a silver
chain, with an amethyst
moon and sun on it, hanging from
one of the crystals on the
clump! I told her it was a gift
for her...but she wouldn't touch
it. I still have it,
hanging on the clump.
The second was really odd. I'd purchased a Black Hills
gold necklace and earring set for my granddaughter who was
turning 13, but didn't have the money for the ring that
matched them. She came to visit the next day, and was
sitting on my bed chattering away about all her gifts and
she was wearing the necklace and earrings. I was dusting
the
crystals on the mirror tray. She got up to help me,
picked up
that rather large crystal clump and said, "Oh.
Did you forget to
give me the ring that goes with my
necklace and
earrings?"
I answered, "No, I couldn't afford the ring
too."
She said, "Well, look here! This ring matches
perfectly!"
It did. It does. And that was her
gift...
And, by the way, quite often one or another of my
crystals
will just disappear. There is nothing left other than
a
small clear spot in the dust on the mirror tray. (It
seems
to collect dust like a magnet!) They always reappear
a
few days later...in the same exact spot.
Hugs and blessings, Jan in Montana
***************************************************
I know I just wrote you with a psychic cat story and I
hate to write again so soon, but you keep hitting on
topics
I can relate to!
When I was 17, my sister and I were in the
house alone and
I was rushing around to get ready to take her to
a party.
I went for my car keys that I always kept on the hall
table
but they were not there. My sister and I searched
every-
where but just could not find those keys! As I was
making
one last round through the dining room, something
caught
my attention out of the corner of my eye. In the
china
cabinet, on the top shelf, in a crystal goblet were
my
keys! We were alone in the house and I know my
sister
didn't do it since she was not tall enough and she
was
very upset that we were late for her party. That
same
summer while washing my face, I lathered up my face
and,
with eyes clamped shut, dropped the soap in the
sink.
After rinsing my face I opened my eyes and the soap
was
gone. I checked everywhere in the bathroom and I never
did
find it. You had mentioned that apports were common
with
poltergeist activity and these experiences were just
two
of many "poltergeisty" things that happened that
summer.
**********************************************
Yes!
I didn't know there was a name for it! I have an
antique
amethyst colored, gold and enamel decorated small
glass box. It
very often disappears for months at a time
and then suddenly
appears again, not necessarily in the
same place. We always have
"blamed" it on my mom, because
her little Buddha figurine that I
had on my hutch
continually turned around the other way from
where it
was put. That, too, has disappeared but hasn't
returned.
But so has she -- she no longer visits any of us, so
we
presume she is finally "home". I enjoy your page ...
El
**************************************************
Your description on apports made me think about some
experiences I have had with my cats. I always was very
close
to my cats. I'd rather have them around than people,
sometimes.
(Actually, usually).
When my Juju passed, years ago, I was
with her at the
vet's for euthanasia. Juju seemed to express
that she had
happy life. She also seemed to thank me. As I gazed
into
her eyes, I asked her intently in my mind that if
there
were an afterlife, to let me know this, somehow. Then
she
was gone.
I work at a video store. Juju
had never been there.
Imagine my surprise to go to work the next
day only to
find a red, felt ladybug, Juju's favorite kind of
toy,
sitting on top of the cash register, where I could
not
fail to see it!
And quite recently, my
12 year old cat Spar-kle died. She
had a brother named Spike who
had died unexpectedly. I had
hoped he'd "be there" for Spar-kle,
so she wouldn't be all
alone. A couple of days ago, one of
Spike's favorite toys
somehow ended up in what was formerly
Spar-kle's bed. They
didn't get along well in their life. The
only time I ever
saw them sleep together was one time in that
very bed. I
have no explanation how it got there,
either.
-Jake
*****************************************************
There is a theory of the sudden appearance and disappear-
ance of objects that basically goes like this. Since the
'big bang', time itself was shredded into long thin lines
that swirl and drift all over outer space, occasionally
coming into contact with people, places and things here
and
in different worlds, some civilized. This explains
the
shimmering of documented UFOs as well as a number of
unexplained
phenomena, such as items and people from the
past and presumably
the future appearing or disappearing.
The belief is that they
get caught up in a limbo-like wave
to glimpse the centuries and
worlds never dreamed of as a
total act of chance. Some say this
even explains why some
people may wake up speaking a different
language than
they could speak when they went to
bed.
------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Zsuzsana,
Your apport email reminded
me of what happened years ago
when I was teenager. My
mother found an old spoon in the
hall of our home in a little
alcove where the phone was
kept. After several inquiries there
was no explanation of
how that old spoon got there. Later
on, she was on an
errand and when she got back, on the front
seat of the car
was another old spoon. She was always very
careful to lock
the car so how did that spoon get into a locked
car?
One time I had lost an earring on a Thursday
afternoon
in my home ... I could not find it anywhere. Then on
a
Saturday morning, my husband got up to make coffee
and
then he came to wake me up and tapped me on the
shoulder
and told me to look at what was next to me ... my
earring!
How could it have appeared like that?
Another time my husband had bought a belt for our roto-
tiller. He knew it was on his work bench and when he went
to
use it, it was gone! He looked everywhere for it.
Several days
passed and when he went into garage there it
was plain as day
sitting in the middle of his work bench!
Were these
incidents of apports appearing? Maybe so. Then
we will
have explanations for their existence, but the
question is what
do spoons have to with anything? Are they
symbolic of something.
They did appear after my grandmother
passed away and I always
wondered if she had anything to do
with them
appearing.
Penny
- - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
Hi Penny! Yes, it seems as if they were a
personal symbol.
Spoons also can symbolize the giving/receiving
of nourish-
ment, childhood memories, or being given special
treat-
ment... perhaps there is a message in these
meanings
also:>)
Zsuzsana
*****************************************************
I've never had anything show up that didn't belong to
us, but I have lived in a house that used to have
stuff
disappear regularly! My husband, four kids, and
I lived in house
with my mother-in-law and her other
son. We were in the process
of renovating this house
and there was always lumber, sheetrock,
etc., laying
around along with our possessions.
Things were always disappearing, sometimes you would
find them later and sometimes they never came back. We
joked
about having a "black hole" that stuff fell
into. The strangest,
and biggest, thing to disappear
was six foot long two-by-four
board! My husband was
building bunk beds for our kids and had
cut the board
to use for them. He was working on the beds when
he
reached for the board, and couldn't find it. It
totally disappeared and we never did find it, even
when we
moved and cleared everything out of the house!
That house
never did feel right to me. I don't know if
it was the stress of
us and the kids being crammed
into two rooms or living with a
cranky mother-in-law,
or something that was already there. I was
always
uncomfortable being alone in the house. My
oldest
daughter told me later that being in the front
hall
scared her and she wouldn't go up there alone at
night
Ruth in WA
**********************************************
Hi,
The house I lived in before my present one was
haunted,
in an unpleasant manner. I could rattle on a whole
page
long, but I'll stick to the apport appearing. One
evening,
my husband, children and myself were sitting in the
living
room watching TV when out of the blue I felt something
land
on my head. It was not a hard hit. I reached up to
feel
that spot on my head and felt something small on it.
Mind
you, my house was clean, let me make that clear. The
object
that fell on my head was a small white worm! I
almost
passed out! I have an extreme aversion to them. I
looked
up, and even stood up on the sofa, to inspect the
ceiling.
There was no possible explanation for it falling from
the
ceiling. The apport was a one time thing. I had
never,
before or after, seen any of those little worms in
the
house again. As I said there were quite a number of
happen-
ings at this house the whole nine years we lived
there,
otherwise I wouldn't have been quite as positive it was
a
paranormal experience.
Thanks for
reading,
Gayle
******************************************
Hi
Zsuzsana,
We have had objects disappear; however, they have
never
reappeared.
When I was about 8 years
old, I was playing jacks in the
kitchen with a bigger-than-usual
red ball. I threw the
ball up as far as I could without it
hitting the 7-foot-
high ceiling. It came down, hit me on the
head and
disappeared. We searched everywhere. None of the
doors
were open, so it couldn't have rolled outside. Since
then,
we remodeled the entire house and moved away many
years
later.
A few months ago, my mom was
watching TV and fell asleep
with the remote in her lap. When she
woke up, it was gone
and the TV was off. My dad said he hadn't
turned it off.
Again, they searched everywhere, and I looked for
it when
I visited them.
And, yes, I verbally
asked whoever or whatever took the
remote to please give it
back. Neither the red ball nor
the remote have ever been
found.
Rosie Walsh