The Sumatra Poltergeist

In 1928, a poltergeist outbreak in Sumatra attracted the attention of Dutch colonial authorities, who conducted one of the first scientific investigations of such phenomena in Southeast Asia. The case centered on a young Malay girl and featured the stone-throwing phenomena common to poltergeist cases worldwide.

Colonial Context

Sumatra was part of the Dutch East Indies in the late 1920s, and Dutch scientific and administrative traditions shaped how unusual events were investigated. When reports emerged of stones falling inside a house with no apparent source, colonial officials decided to investigate rather than simply dismiss the accounts as native superstition.

The household experiencing the phenomena was a modest Malay family. At its center was a young girl in her early teens—the typical focus age for poltergeist activity.

The Phenomena

The primary manifestation was stone-throwing. Stones fell inside the house from no apparent source. They appeared to come through the roof, yet the roof was intact. They fell near the girl regardless of which room she occupied.

The stones were not thrown with harmful force. They fell gently, almost drifting, in a manner inconsistent with normal gravity. Some witnesses described them as floating down rather than dropping.

Objects beyond stones also moved. Household items relocated themselves. Doors opened and closed. The phenomena followed the typical poltergeist pattern of escalation, peak, and eventual decline.

Dutch Investigation

Dutch officials conducted a systematic investigation unusual for poltergeist cases of the era. They examined the house structure, verified that no stones could enter naturally, and observed the phenomena under controlled conditions.

Investigators watched stones appear in mid-air and fall. They could find no mechanism for fraud. The girl was observed carefully, and she did not appear to be throwing the stones herself.

Dr. A.J.N. Tremearne, a British colonial administrator with interest in psychical research, documented similar stone-throwing cases across the Dutch and British colonies in Southeast Asia. He noted the consistency of phenomena across different cultures.

Cultural Interpretation

The Malay community interpreted the phenomena through local spiritual traditions. The activity was attributed to jinn, spirits, or the work of a bomoh (traditional healer or witch). The Western investigators recorded these interpretations while maintaining their own scientific framework.

This clash of interpretive frameworks—Western scientific and traditional Malay spiritual—characterized many colonial investigations of supernatural phenomena. The same events were understood completely differently by different observers.

Resolution

The phenomena ceased after several weeks, following the typical poltergeist pattern. The girl matured without further incidents. The case was documented in colonial records and later incorporated into parapsychological literature.

Significance

The Sumatra poltergeist demonstrates that poltergeist phenomena occur across cultures with remarkable consistency. The stone-throwing, the adolescent focus, the escalation and decline—all match patterns seen in European and American cases.

The case also represents an early example of scientific investigation of paranormal claims in colonial Asia, where Western methodology encountered phenomena interpreted through non-Western spiritual traditions.

Assessment

The Sumatra case adds to the global evidence for poltergeist phenomena. Whether these events represent genuine supernatural activity, unconscious psychokinesis, or some consistent pattern of fraud across cultures remains debated.

What is clear is that the pattern repeats: adolescent focus, stone-throwing, gradual escalation, eventual cessation. This consistency across vastly different cultures and historical periods suggests that poltergeist phenomena—whatever their ultimate explanation—represent a genuine category of human experience.