Should I be worried about disappearing objects?

Question: Should I be worried about disappearing objects?

Astrid Pardew writes saying that she's having trouble with objects disappearing around the house. "The strangest happening took place before Mother's Day. My parents were coming over for lunch. I sorted out the knives and forks we would be using in advance. I placed the cutlery on a clean plate and left them on the microwave cooker. The next day the knives and forks were gone! The cutlery never turned up and I eventually had to replace them." Other things have disappeared, too: camera equipment, money, cards.... So what's going on?

Answer: Whenever we look into claims of the paranormal, we first have to eliminate the possibility of something quite normal taking place. In your case, just about everything that you mentioned was missing (there were other things named in Astrid's original letter) was an object of value: silverware, money, camera equipment. My first thought is that you have a thief! If the people you live with are not suspect, perhaps a friend of theirs is the culprit. Does anyone else (a neighbor, perhaps) have access to your house? Someone could be stealing your stuff to sell.

Another possibility with disappearing objects is absent-mindedness, which Astrid herself said she sometimes was. But it doesn't quite fit with the instances she mentioned. For example, absent-mindedness would not account for the cutlery NEVER being found. The chances of the problem being a ghost or poltergeist are slim... but what if it is?

Others who have had this kind of problem with unseen entities have had success with confronting them about it. When something disappears, talk aloud to the entity, saying something like, "Whoever you are, I do not appreciate that you take my things, even if you do sometimes return them. This is my house, and you are welcome to visit here as long as you do not cause disturbances, frighten me or my family, or take my possessions. Do not take them anymore."

Be very firm in speaking with them, as if you are taking to a child whose behavior you want to change. You may need to repeat the admonition a few times before it has its desired effect. If the activity escalates into something else -- other kinds of disturbances -- it might be time to call in a reputable paranormal investigator.