1952 started out as a heck of a spooky year for the Thackers, a rural family living near Fern Creek, Kentucky (about 16 miles from Louisville). Henry, his wife, a 16 year old boarder named Walter Brown, and three sisters (Joyce, 11; Frances, 8; and Betty, 7) all made headlines when poltergeist activity broke out at their farmhouse, located at the corner of Thixton Lane and Oak Grove Road.
The activity actually started on Sunday, December 30th when the family noticed a variety of objects being thrown about the air, seemingly all on their own. A 2 lb photo album, a knife, a conch shell doorstop, various bottles and caps, and assorted pieces of jewelry were just a small sampling of items targeted by the alleged poltergeist.
A neighbor, Mrs. Robert Covington, was hit quite hard in the back by a fingernail file located on a dresser about 15 feet away. Walter Brown, the 16 year old boarder, claimed to actually SEE with his own eyes Mr. Thacker’s spectacles lift off a radio and land in a chair three feet away.
Despite dozens of neighbors and schoolmates witnessing the activity, there were several skeptics who came to inspect the ghostly goings-on at the Thacker home. Two such skeptics were local patrolmen, Russell McDaniel and Jack Fisher. Despite almost being hit in the head with a cardboard box himself, McDaniel still couldn’t accept the idea of an otherworldly source for the activity. He noticed that whenever objects began to move, one person was always nearby: Joyce Sanders.
On Thursday, he and Fisher asked to speak privately with the girl. After an hour, the trio emerged with a confession. Joyce admitted that she was throwing the objects when no one was looking. She did it for attention. “It made a lot of people come see me,” she is quoted as saying. Joyce and her sisters had been wards of the Louisville and Jefferson County Children’s Home. They had been staying with the Thackers for about 13 months because their mother was terminally ill with cancer, and their father was not in the picture. It was deemed that Joyce, a depressed and lonely young girl, made up the whole thing, and therefore, this is where the story ends for many.
But…does it really end there? Was the whole poltergeist act simply a hoax, perpetrated by an 11 year old to gain attention? I’m not so sure that’s the case. Here’s why:
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| Mrs. Thacker answering calls about the poltergeist |
In newspaper articles from the time period, McDaniel admits that he never actually SAW Joyce pick up an object and throw it. He just noticed that she was the one who constantly seemed to be nearby when activity occurred. So, he said to her that all the people who came to witness the poltergeist would be disappointed if they didn’t see anything move. “They just won’t come back anymore,” McDaniel is quoted as saying to the girl, to which she replied, “You mean they’ll all go home?” It was shortly thereafter, a brooch was seen moving. Thinking that his suspicions were confirmed, McDaniel and Fisher took the girl aside privately and assured her that she would not be in any trouble if she confessed to the poltergeist activity.So, we have no witnesses, not even the policemen, coming forward to say they actually saw Joyce faking the activity. We do, however, have a witness (Walter Brown) saying that he saw an object actually being moving, unaided by any human hands.
We also have some elements of a classic poltergeist case. Poltergeist activity is characterized by activity seemingly centered on a human agent. This human agent can be anyone, but historically tends to be a child on the cusp of, or going through puberty OR someone who has a lot of bottled up emotions that aren’t able to be expressed in their ordinary lives. Joyce fits both scenarios—she was a young girl, about the age of puberty’s onset, and she was most likely very troubled by the situation of her mother being critically ill.
Many modern researchers agree that poltergeist activity is NOT caused by an outside ghost or entity, but is in fact recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis (RSPK) manifested unconsciously by a human agent. That’s why she was nearby when these events occurred.
But why would she confess to a hoax she didn’t take part in? In the book, The Poltergeist Experience, by D. Scott Rogo, the author mentions that there are a number of reasons why poltergeist agents tend to confess to a hoax that they had no part in. Some will confess because they realize, either consciously or subconsciously that they ARE responsible for the turmoil and are compelled to take responsibility for it, which will often cause the activity to cease. Others may confess simply because they were pressured into it and are just trying to appease their accusers.
But, I think what REALLY happened is another scenario that is often seen in poltergeist cases. I think the original activity was not a hoax. Objects were moving around on their own, and nobody knew why. Joyce discovered that her schoolmates were fascinated and would come to witness the activity. Joyce and her sisters were heaped with attention, as reporters from radio, newspapers, and even television all wanted to hear and share their story. To a lonely, troubled girl, being in the spotlight, surrounded by people, probably did offer respite from her sad circumstances.
Either the activity had already started to wind down on its own, or Joyce was scared that it was going to, thanks to McDaniel’s statement, prompting her to stage at least one object being thrown, as a way to keep people happy and coming to see her. Poltergeist activity seems to stop as abruptly as it starts and Joyce wasn’t ready to let go of the benefits just yet. To further support this theory, Joyce actually does state in one newspaper interview that she WASN’T responsible for all the objects moving, although she believes that people just imagined those things.
Obviously, it is possible that Joyce DID knowingly trick her friends and neighbors, possibly assisted by her sisters and even Brown. Perhaps peoples’ imaginations ran wild, causing a childhood prank to escalate into a nationally recognized poltergeist case that within a week would come crashing down as a not-so-elaborate childhood hoax. However, the case was long ago written off as trickery and to my knowledge, neither Joyce nor the case has ever been formally studied. I can only hope that the lonely little girl was able to live a happy life, post-poltergeist.
Sources and Further Reading:
The Poltergeist Experience: Investigations Into Ghostly Phenomena, by D. Scott Rogo
Lonely Girl, 11, Was a “Spook” Just for Fun. The Courier-Journal. 04 January 1952
Objects Floating About Residence. Charleston Daily Mail. 03 January 1952
Haunter of House Fails C-J Reporter, by Phil Harsham. The Courier-Journal 03 January 1952
Source:
http://theresashauntedhistoryofthetri-state.blogspot.com/2020/05/1952-louisville-poltergeist.html
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Hi, My name is Anjel Sanders I can actually shine a little light on this story because Joyce was my Aunt. Sad to say she recently pasted away this March 2020. She grew up to be an amazing business woman in Fern creek. We would always ask her about this growing up and she would never give us a straight Answer. She would just laugh in a very knowing way. My Aunt Betty would swear to this happening. Having grown up around foster children In my opinion they attract sprite, ghosts and demons. I think its their Sadness. I never say anything float around her but she could read you like a book and she was endlessly kind and outspoken.