Fact or Fiction: The Poltergeist of Mena, Arkansas

There are hundreds of poltergeist stories circulating around the country, from the Midwest and East Coast to the West Coast and the deep South. As time passes, people begin to believe in the stories less and less, but there's one story that still keeps people riveted and it started in Mena, Arkansas.

In the early 1960s the family living on the Ed Shinn farm began to experience some strange things. Ed and his wife Birdie were two relatively quiet people living on the farm with their grandson Charles Elbert Shaeffer. Shaeffer was just a teenager and it was probably difficult to spend most of his time with two people in their seventies, which might explain what happened next.

Ed and Birdie noticed some strange things, but fearful of what people would say, they kept to themselves. Finally Ed told his friend Alvin Dilbeck about some of the things that were happening. Dilbeck worked as a butcher in town and while he wasn't too keen to check out the stories for himself, he did ask someone else to investigate.

Slowly people began appearing at the farm, hoping to see the poltergeist activity firsthand. Before long word had reached other cities and states and the family had to contend with complete strangers trampling through their farm and property in the hopes of seeing something special.

Many people did see something special, the same things the Shinn family had been experiencing. There were knockings and rattles coming from inside the house and seemingly from inside the walls. Oddly enough Ed claimed that most of the noises came late at night, once he and his wife were safely tucked into bed. Other things the family experienced ranged from furniture turned over, blankets pulled off their bed while they were asleep, lights breaking, and even things flying through the air.

Friends and neighbors also experienced the weird behavior, long before strangers began appearing. Some claimed to see things moving through the air or items being thrown at them. A group of police attempted to find a reasonable answer to the problems, but experienced nothing out of the usual while there. Some claim the police stayed at the farm while the family was gone, which explains why they didn't see or hear anything.

Then word came down that there might be an explanation for those strange things. The grandson Charles told a reporter and a police sheriff that he had done everything on his own. He claimed that there wasn't any poltergeist activity, just an annoyed and angry teenager. One night after his grandfather yelled at him, he decided to start torturing the older man. Once the stories began spreading though, he just couldn't find a way to stop.

Almost as soon as he made his claims, people began poking holes in his confession. He couldn't explain how he could make things move on their own in the middle of the day as some people had seen. He also couldn't say how he could keep up his activities even when others were in the room and people were around him. A number of people claimed that it was simply impossible for him to do everything he claimed to do.

Even today there are theories circulating about the Shinn poltergeist case and who or what was behind the noises and activities. One popular theory is that Ed Shinn pressured his grandson into confessing so the story would go away. The family seldom had any rest due to the large number of people coming to the house, so the theory does have some merit.

Others believe completely in the boy's confession, stating that the case should be closed while some think the story was a scam. If this is the case though, the entire Shinn family as well as close friends and neighbors had to be in on the story as there were dozens of people who saw things firsthand for themselves.

Another popular theory is that Charles actually was guilty of some things, but he had a little help from a friendly poltergeist. These theorists point out that the Shinn's didn't experience anything odd until their grandson moved in and the activity started up when he was a teenager. The only people who may have known the truth were those on the Shinn farm and they didn't speak of the events again.

No matter what actually happened at that farm in Arkansas, it was enough to keep people talking and discussing for decades later.

Sources:

http://emystica.hypnoticworld.com/paranormal/poltergeists/mena_hoax.php

http://www.menaarkansas.us/fact_and_fiction.htm