I work for a small newspaper on an island in the Caribbean and this is our lead story for tomorrow (I didn’t write or research it, I am merely a production drone).
There are also photos like this one
and this one
It looks like the mattress has been burnt from inside.
What do the teeming millions think?
Please link to the newspaper.
but the story won’t be on til tomorrow.
The term “poltergeist” (poltergiest?) is used for this.
Typically there is a young person, usually a young teen-ager, in the household. Sometimes it is an outsider impressing/scaring a young attractive female.
(I have no time right now) Try Googling on “poltergeist” and look at the Skeptical Inquirer reference(s).
Imagine to yourself if a young, often ignored, person who has figured out how to perform a number of different tricks including delayed fire-starting, and who is watching everyone else get all stirred up. The poltergeist’s advantage is doing it differently and unexpectedly, taking advantage of moments when everyone’s attention is focused somewhere else.
For instance, “clothing set alight from inside a hamper right before the eyes of a visiting police constable”: a cigarette or other method might have been inserted into the hamper earlier, with no results visible until 15 minutes had passed.
The site seems to be down right now…I just went there, but it is a legitimate newspaper. You will just have to take my word for it for now (or you can google the paper, there are numerous site referencing it). I work in the production department and I send the paper to film.
Why couldn’t a prankster or mischief-maker do this?
Of course it is a prankster…maybe you misunderstood my question…I would like examples of how these things could be done, eg the cigarette in the hamper…if it is the cousin (I would presume it is from reading the story) how could he be making the stones hit the roof if there is no accomplice…how do you start a delayed fire besides using a cigarette…etc etc. I would just like to figure out how someone is doing this…I certainly don’t believe that it is really a poltergeist.
Thanks again.
Here’s my theory: the whole family is lying.
What’s sad is how unimaginitive they are in only giving the poltergeists two tricks… fire and stone throwing.
If this were real ghosts, what sort of supernatural forces are at play to give them temporal control of rocks and fire-starting? Couldn’t they throw lumber? Couldn’t they magically wet people? Is this ghost some guy who accidently caught fire and his family tried putting the flames out by stoning him?
Who stays in a house when being pelted by stones and being set aflame? (And then decides to sleep by himself in a separate room?)
Sometimes, whole families are con artists or mentally ill.
Peace.
From the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research
“For instance, some poltergeist events are extremely short and occur without warning to the observers…Another factor to consider is whether there was any warning that the event was about to occur. Magicians and fraudulent poltergeist agents make practical use of this concept. A good magician will usually not tell an audience what is to occur next (e.g., Fitzkee, 1945/1975). Most effects will generally not be repeated for the same audience.”
…“Although having a magician observing an event is no guarantee that fraud will be detected, it does improve the chances. …However, even an accomplished magician may not necessarily detect bogus poltergeist activity. Poltergeist phenomena usually happen without warning, thus it is difficult to direct one’s attention where needed in order to detect the trick.”
and for some particulars of tricks (no delayed fires however), Project Alpha
"Richards had levitated a small, light folding table – and photographs were taken. One of the photos revealed a very prominent thumb (attached to Richards) under the edge of the table, a fact that was called to the attention of the lab personnel by the Alpha boys. The researchers mumbled a bit, but said nothing more about it. Richards is fond of producing “spirit raps” with his foot, and the Alpha boys found it a hilarious sight as learned people stared at the floor whereon Richards stood, their mouths agape, while thumps came from a clearly moving foot. On another occasion, a video-tape record shows Richards and his wife as they approached a spoon on the lab table, blocked it with their bodies, and walked away again. The spoon was seen to have developed a paranormal bend while shielded from view. "
There are other examples in the Project Alpha report. It’s an example of a mindset, where someone wants to play tricks and is able to come up with sneaky ideas that work. In Project Alpha, they used digital wristwatches and video cameras for their results, but you can improvise with rocks and matches, and get people going just as well or better.
I have a certain sympathy with the monkey doing this, I hope he/she/they don’t get severly punished for these practical jokes. Maybe just medium punished.
My apologies, I did misunderstand.
I would assume he did have an accomplice with the stones. And another way to delay a fire is to use a candle. I used to use birthday candles to ignite firecrackers in my high school bathroom long after I left. This has the disadvantage of generating light though, so a cigarette is a better choice.
I have to agree with moriah:
Either the whole family is lying, someone in the family is lying, or there are some very talented pranksters out there with a very dangerous grudge against that family.
Is there a chicken coop next to the house? If so, it could be poultry-geist. 
Bumping for updates. Has anything more been found out? I searched the Antigua Sun site a couple of days ago, but didn’t find the article.
It has to be monkey business, but what might be the next chapters in this mini-drama?
Or just a case of fowl play.
That’s pretty damn funny.