'Poltergeist' baffles hardened Police Scotland officers after they witness paranormal activity including levitating dog

POLICE investigating reports of disturbances at a house were left stunned when they witnessed paranormal activity.

The officers witnessed clothes flying across a room, lights going off and when they went back on the lampshades were upside down and oven doors opening and closing. Even a chihuahua dog which was playing in the garden was then discovered sitting on top of a seven-foot hedge.

The family who live at the property had called the police in a panic. They endured two days of the bizarre occurrences before moving out of the property in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire. The situation has been discussed at high levels within Police Scotland, with senior officers perplexed as to how they best handle the incidents. A police source said: “These were incidents that were witnessed by our own officers. Incidents that are not easily explained. “One problem we’ve got is where we go from here as no crime has been established, so what else can we do but deal with any reports of disturbances. “But officers with more than 20 years’ service are saying they’ve never seen anything like this. It really is something that down-to-earth police officers are having trouble getting their heads round. “How do you handle what, despite us liking to use the word, has been described as a poltergeist.”

The family at the centre of the drama are devoutly Catholic and police did seek assistance from the church. A priest has been to the house in Stonelaw Road and performed what has been described as a ‘blessing’ at the property. The saga unfolded when the family, a woman and her son in his early teens, contacted police on Monday and Tuesday to report ‘disturbing incidents’ in her home. The woman and the teenager, described as extremely distressed, had been experiencing violent and unexplained circumstances and in desperation contacted police.

A source said: “The officers attended expecting it to be a mental health issue but they witnessed the lights going off, clothes flying across the room and the dog sitting on top of the hedge. “The officers called their superiors who also attended thinking the cops were perhaps being a bit silly but it’s being taken very seriously. “The fact it was witnessed by our officers has lent itself to a very different but active inquiry.”

With no reasonable explanation for what they witnessed police, acting with the support of the family, contacted the Catholic Church who sent a priest to bless the house. No-one has been harmed, though the family were given safety advice by baffled officers and chose to leave the house. They are understood to be living with relatives. The source added: “The main concern is with the family’s welfare and well-being but with no crime committed and no culprit we are at a loss how to proceed with it. Inquiries are ongoing but it’s difficult to know where to go with it.”

Police are understood to be looking into the family’s background, and working with doctors and social services to provide support. They are also thought to be checking the history of the property, to see if there been any reports of similar occurrences from previous residents. Our source said all options were being considered by way of explaining the goings-on: “Is it some form of hoax, or is it real or not real? These are the questions being asked by officers but without coming to any conclusion. A spokesman for Police Scotland said: “On 8 and 9 August police attended a house in Rutherglen to reports of a disturbance. No evidence of criminality was found and advice and guidance was given to the family.”

The Catholic Church was approached for comment but failed to respond.

Rutherglen 'poltergeist' could be caused by 'teenage energy', says Scotland's only official demonologist

JASON Love has offered his expert advice on the Scottish poltergeist attack and says they are more common than you'd think

JASON Love has been dealing with paranormal activity for 24 years, working on over 847 cases across the UK, Europe and USA. The story of the poltergeist attack in South Lanarkshire caught his eye due to the officials involved, saying: "The testimonies from the police strengthens the case that this was poltergeist activity." Working in his job as a psychiatric nurse, Jason knows that many of these incidents can be caused by medications. When he is asked to investigate activity - which he does free of charge - it is one of the first questions he asks. "The first thing I usually check for is physical or mental activities in the background, to see if there's a history of psychiatry involved. There are quite a lot of medications which can make you hallucinate."

This is one of the three main types of activities Jason has found, saying: "If you have a parent who says they're hearing and seeing things, soon the child will pick up on that and begin to 'feel' these things too. The first thing I do at a property is check if it could be caused by natural reasons first. 

"The second is a residual energy. This is when visual ghosts actually manifest on the property and are usually connected to the house or the land. It could be that the property was built on an old graveyard, battlefield or even a convent. "The last is human based - connected to one person and feeding off their energy. In this case you have to think outside the box, especially if there's a young person involved. It could be from physical, mental or sexual abuse which creates this vortex of negative energy that a poltergeist feeds off." In fact, Jason said that children are the biggest reason for poltergeist activity.

"One of the most common triggers for this sort of activity is children in their early teens. Manifestations tend to be triggered most by prepubescent or teens going through puberty, because they are giving off the purest life energy. "This is the life force which feeds poltergeists. It's the most typical background as to why this activity exists. It is very rare to come across a case where there aren't children involved." Jason has a ritual which he carries out to cleanse the affected properties, which is very similar to an exorcism which is carried out by the Catholic church. "The Church is very limited in what they do to help. They will send priests to give blessings. I've seen cases where things are thrown at the priest and they'll still walk away. There is a stigma attached to the Church, with how much they're willing to help.

"I have my own procedure that I carry out. It is a form of blessing, but much more potent. It's technically a minor rite of exorcism - minor because I'm not ordained. But it is very similar to a Catholic exorcism. I invoke St Michael and St Benedict to draw out whatever is in the house so I can then banish them. It is roughly a 15 minute procedure, where I walk from each room in the house to bless them until they are clean." Much like the Rutherglen family, the incidents are generally quite mild. But Jason said there have been a handful of violent infestations.

"I have worked on some very violent cases - you know the expression 'could cut the tension with a knife'? There have been some cases where the energy is that heavy. On cases like that I take a small team of photographers and videographers with me, that I have worked with for years. It's good to capture evidence so we can use it as research later. We use digital cameras and infrared to capture the residual energy." So should you be scared? Jason thinks probably not.

"It is more common than you would think - I'm contacted on an almost weekly basis. Sometimes people will contact me and they decide they can just live with it, or it dies off. Most cases are not really severe - it is very rare to get anything violent."

The poltergeist case that terrified a Rutherglen family and confounded police

Police officers witnessed lights going off, clothes flying across a room and a dog, which was playing in the garden, suddenly perched on top of a 7ft hedge.

In 2016, a family in Rutherglen near Glasgow were forced out of their home. The reason? A series of terrifying encounters with what they believed was a supernatural force. Incredibly, even police called out to deal with the incident reportedly witnessed the poltergeist activity.

Officers were called to the house after the family at the centre of the incident endured two days of bizarre occurrences. In their panic, the woman and her son in his early teens, didn't know who else to turn to.  The police were said to have then witnessed clothes flying across a room as well as lights going off with lampshades upside down when the lights were switched back on.

Even the family's pet chihuahua dog, which was playing in the garden, was said to have been discovered sitting on top of a seven-foot hedge.

So shocked by the incident were the officers said to be, that the situation was even discussed at high levels within Police Scotland, with senior officers perplexed as to how they should handle the incidents.

At the time a police  source, who didn't want to be named, told the Record : “These were incidents that were witnessed by our own officers. Incidents that are not easily explained.

“One problem we’ve got is where we go from here as no crime has been established, so what else can we do but deal with any reports of disturbances.

“But officers with more than 20 years’ service are saying they’ve never seen anything like this.

"It really is something that down-to-earth police officers are having trouble getting their heads round.

“How do you handle what, despite us liking to use the word, has been described as a poltergeist.”

The German word for a 'noisy ghost', poltergeists are often linked to children or teenagers and are often blamed for items being moved and unexplainable noises in the houses they inhabit.

Said to be 'devoutly catholic', the family eventually moved out of the property.

With no reasonable explanation for what they witnessed police, acting with the support of the family, contacted the Catholic Church who sent a priest to bless the house.

A source added: “The officers called their superiors who also attended thinking the cops were perhaps being a bit silly but it’s being taken very seriously.

“The fact it was witnessed by our officers has lent itself to a very different but active inquiry.”

Though the family were unharmed in the incident they were left incredibly disturbed by it and moved out to some of their relatives.

The perplexed police officers reportedly checked the history of the property to see if there been any reports of similar occurrences from previous residents.

Our source at the time said all options were being considered by way of explaining the goings-on: “Is it some form of hoax, or is it real or not real? These are the questions being asked by officers but without coming to any conclusion."

Sceptics at the time stated that it could have been a hoax by local teenagers as the Conjuring 2, a film about the famous Enfield encounters where a family were terrorised by a poltergeist was released that year.