# This can't be a poltergeist...any ideas as to a rational explanation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 11, 2008, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cant-be-a-poltergeist-any-ideas-as-to-a-rational-explanation/476771 "2008-12-11T21:27:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cant-be-a-poltergeist-any-ideas-as-to-a-rational-explanation/476771/21 "2008-12-12T05:17:33Z")
Don’t poltergeists tend to be more, you know, destructive–green goo out of the walls and heads twirling and all that? You must have the really friendly variety.\* (Do a vet checkup with your cats, check your walls for condensation, possibly check your locks if you think someone’s been in, and don’t freak about the meowing, cats are just weird.) - You know what’s really weird? I typed this comment with a cheap paperback version of _A Christmas Carol_ sitting next to the keyboard… with a picture of ghostly green Marley hovering on the cover. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cant-be-a-poltergeist-any-ideas-as-to-a-rational-explanation/476771/22 "2008-12-12T05:24:59Z")
If it aint coming from the pipes or spills the next logical source of puddles is your cat. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cant-be-a-poltergeist-any-ideas-as-to-a-rational-explanation/476771/23 "2008-12-12T05:39:48Z")
My ice maker often drops a cube after the person getting cubes through the door has given up and walked away. When the cube hits the floor one of my cats goes and gets it and plays hockey with it all over the kitchen floor, then abandons it; result: puddles of water on the floor. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cant-be-a-poltergeist-any-ideas-as-to-a-rational-explanation/476771/24 "2008-12-12T06:22:27Z")
Unlikely, but I thought I would mention [phrogging](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=phrogging). ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cant-be-a-poltergeist-any-ideas-as-to-a-rational-explanation/476771/25 "2008-12-12T07:04:50Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > Don’t poltergeists tend to be more, you know, destructive–green goo out of the walls and heads twirling and all that? No. That’s just Hollywood hyperbole. Actual, regular ghosts are much more quiet, and spread stuff like water or toothpaste much more commonly than green goo or blood. You shouldn’t mistake what is depicted in movies for what happens in real (un)life. ---
**Author:** ![Tinkertoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cant-be-a-poltergeist-any-ideas-as-to-a-rational-explanation/476771/26 "2008-12-12T07:27:03Z")
Have you considered the possibility your girlfriend is trying to mess with your mind? ---
**Author:** ![seodoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@seodoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seodoa)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cant-be-a-poltergeist-any-ideas-as-to-a-rational-explanation/476771/27 "2008-12-12T07:57:23Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > I just love when some rationalist tries to reason away spirits when they are **effecting** them. Wait, when did the OP say that the spirits had caused him to come into existence? I’m pretty sure he existed before Casper peed on his beanbag chair. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cant-be-a-poltergeist-any-ideas-as-to-a-rational-explanation/476771/28 "2008-12-12T08:43:20Z")
Ever seen [Gaslight](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslight_(1944_film))? ---
**Author:** ![zhlf210](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c4cdca/32.png) [@zhlf210](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zhlf210)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cant-be-a-poltergeist-any-ideas-as-to-a-rational-explanation/476771/29 "2008-12-12T13:04:22Z")
Hmm, maybe I don’t have a poltergeist after all! Found a leaking pipe in the bathroom. Sorry for the false alarm dopers & thanks for all the suggestions :o Really glad I hadn’t tasted something horrible produced by my kitty. I still don’t have an explanation for that other pool of water though. But it’s not up there with ‘What happened to Amelia Earhart?’ in the League of World Mysteries. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cant-be-a-poltergeist-any-ideas-as-to-a-rational-explanation/476771/30 "2008-12-12T13:32:37Z")
Dude! Jesus totally peed on your floor! ---
**Author:** ![seodoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@seodoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seodoa)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cant-be-a-poltergeist-any-ideas-as-to-a-rational-explanation/476771/31 "2008-12-12T13:39:40Z")
> [@zhlf210](#): > > Hmm, maybe I don’t have a poltergeist after all! Found a leaking pipe in the bathroom. Thank gawrsh, I thought you had been _effected_ by the ghost of baby Jesus’ spit-up. ---
**Author:** ![Henrichek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5daacb/32.png) [@Henrichek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Henrichek)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cant-be-a-poltergeist-any-ideas-as-to-a-rational-explanation/476771/32 "2008-12-12T14:08:28Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > I suggest praying to Jesus for Him to get rid of them. [QUOTE=Gyrate] Dude! Jesus totally peed on your floor! [/QUOTE] Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. And stop peeing on our floors: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cant-be-a-poltergeist-any-ideas-as-to-a-rational-explanation/476771/33 "2008-12-12T14:21:35Z")
> [@Henrichek](#): > > And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Heretic. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cant-be-a-poltergeist-any-ideas-as-to-a-rational-explanation/476771/34 "2008-12-12T14:25:07Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Unlikely, but I thought I would mention [phrogging](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=phrogging). That’s what popped into my mind, too, when the OP talked about feeling the house was lived in. Even though, as you said, it’s pretty unlikely. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cant-be-a-poltergeist-any-ideas-as-to-a-rational-explanation/476771.md?page=1)