Conference hydra::dejavu

889.0. "Beset House? One to keep an eye on..." by MARKER::KALLIS (Anger's no replacement for reason) Tue Oct 18 1988 09:52

                     -<shades of _Poltergeist_>-
    
    News item from Associated Press
    
              HOUSE TORN DOWN AFTER BIZARRE PHENOMENA
    
    Orland Hills, Ill -- a real-life version of "The Amityville Horror"
    forced authorities to bulldoze a house in this Chicago suburb after
    flames mysteriously shot from an electrical socket and smoky mists
    filled the air.
       "Maybe it's ghosts, I don't know," insurance adjuster Joe Skubisz
    said Friday, laughing and quickly noting he doesn't believe in such
    things.
       "There's no truth to the rumor there was and type of haunted
    situation there.  It was strictly some kind of escaping gas.  But
    the fire department wouldn't allow the policyholder to live in the
    house, so we had to pay out the claim," said Skubisz, associate
    manager of a Travelers Insdurance Co. claim office.
       While Skubisz believes there is some logical explanation for
    the phenomena, arson investigators Steve Smith and Terry Hyland
    of the Orland Fire District say engineers, chemists, geologists,
    scientists and experts in explosives ran every conceivable test
    and couldn't come up with an answer.
       They ruled out arson, natural gas, methane gas, sewer gas, other
    vapors, or electricity.  
       "We have no logical explanation now, but maybe 50 years from
    now somebody will come up with an answer," Hyland said.  "Right
    now, we just don't know.
       "The house was subjected to every kind of test.  It was demolished
    because there was nothing left to test for.  The only experiment
    left was to let somebody live in that house," he said.
       "Fire officials recorded 26 separate reports of strange happenings
    from March to August.
       Travelers, which had insured the house, finally concluded it
    wasn't safe to live in.  So on Thursday, the 9-year-old home south
    of Chicago was bulldozed into a pile of rubble.
       One of the most frightening incidents happened in April, when
    a  flame one inch in diameter roared out of a wall socket in an
    upstairs bedroom and shot 21 inches into a mattress, Smith said.
       The flame, witnessed by an Orland Hills police nmofficer, an
    electrician who was a part-time officer in another community, and
    two consulting engineers hired to investigate the mystery, Smith
    said.
       "The fire was under pressure, and that kind of pressure can't
    build up in an electrical conduit because it's open throughout the
    entire house," he said.
       At other times, dense smoky mists or a strong smell of sulfur
    permeated the house, the investigators said.
       After the first few inciodents, fire authorities advised the
    family who lived there not to sleep in the home at night.  When
    the bizare events continued, authorities told the family to move
    outy and Travelers hired an engineering company to investigate.
                                  #####
    
    From the 16 October _Middlesex News_ 

    Very interesting.....
    The Middlesex News, huh?
    
    I live here in Chicago and haven't seen anything in the papers or
    heard anything on the news about this.

    Thanks for the info Steve.

    Heard teaser about this on the radio but missed the fill in.
    
    Its not just in the Middlesex News.
    
    thanks
    dwp

... it is too funny: Skubisz, manager in an insurance company! When you say it
out loud, it sounds like Szgubisz. This is Polish, and it means "you lose"...

Revealing, isn't it?

Arie
:-)

    Ever wonder why most of these incidents are reported on *after*
    the event?  I think I'd like to read the official and un-official)
    investigation findings--insurance companies don't pay off claims of 
    dubious nature w/o a thorough look-see. 
                                          
    In this day & age of video tapes you'd think someone would have
    thought of it.  I'll bet there's no film-at-11.
    
    							Don

    Re .4 (Don):
    
    >Ever wonder why most of these incidents are reported on *after*
    >the event? ...
     
    Because only a DEJAVUer could report it _before_ the event. :-D
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.
    
    Sorry; 'tis difficult to resist a good straight line ....

    I am looking for information on a house in Tewksbury MA.  I Know
    the St. but not the St. number.  The St. is livingston, and this
    house made the evening news and local newpapers within the past
    five years.  My question is what was the outcome of what was bothering
    the the house?  BTW, I believe that the Cathlic Church was involved
    in helping the then owners
    
    Further info please?
    
    Tom

RE: .6
    
    Tom,
    
    If you are serious about finding out, why don't you check with the
    nearest Catholic church (or churches if it's long) to Livington
    Street.  That is where I would start.  Alternately, you can go
    to the Tewksbury library, and find out if the local paper is
    indexed.  Review the background information especially who was
    involved, check for later references on various keywords, and
    check personally with anyone/organization specifically mentioned.
    
    						Topher

    RE: .6
    
    Tom,
    
    Be sure to put whatever you find here or mail me (I work in Tewksbury)
    and, although I haven't heard of this incident, I'd be interested
    in reading about what happened.
    
    George