'Paranormal Witness' recap: The Poltergeist/Watch In The Wilderness

BY AMANDA POOLE

Paranormal Witness is a reenactment program airing on Syfy at 10 p.m. on Weds and highlights stories taken from everyday people's encounters with the paranormal. Using a mixture of intimate first-hand testimony, actual home video and gritty realistic drama, Paranormal Witness transports viewers into a world turned upside-down by extraordinary, terrifying and sometimes life-threatening paranormal events. 

The first installment this week focuses on Susan Lewis and her family who moved into a new California home in 2006. As you could guess, the dream home turned into a nightmare. First the family noticed objects being rearranged and stacked atop of each other. One day Susan's daughter Jamie was cleaning up spilt coffee - which was mysteriously thrown on her bed - when she set a bottle of bleach on the dresser. After briefly turning away, her dressers drawers were pulled open and the bleach was knocked over, pouring over all her clothes. Jamie yells for her mother, and when Susan entered the room, things began to launch off the bookshelves.

The family gathered they might have a poltergeist in the home, but say they had no clue that things were about to get a lot worse. Doors began to slam, lights flickered on and off, objects continued to be stacked and rearranged.

Witness then shows actual photos and video taken by the family of these events. This is a first for the show. There are images of writing on the walls, of objects strangely arranged throughout the house, and food thrown all over. One of the creepier images is of a footprint on the kitchen floor - a very inhuman-looking footprint, I might add.

Obviously the family was living in fear - except for Susan's boyfriend Matt who didn't, or perhaps wouldn't, believe what was happening. But then Matt came around when his daughter Marie was attacked by a unseen force. The eyewitnesses claim furniture moved on their own and and objects were thrown at her. Marie started to take random photos during the attack - using the camera's flash as a light source to be able to see and unaware that she caught unusual energy light formations on film.

The evil spirit then set its sights on Jamie. She barricaded herself in her room, but that didn't stop it. She took video on her cell of something banging on her door relentlessly. When she went to look, there was a hole in the door from its efforts to get in. She tried to leave the house, but the doors would be locked. She then smelled smoke, and found a paper towel roll on fire. When she ran downstairs she found the house strung in rolls of toilet paper and paper towels - anything that was easily flammable. Jamie believed the entity was trying to burn the house down. She extinguished the fire, and removed all the toilet paper, and sat in fear until her mother came home.

 They decided that was the final straw, and moved out. They have not experienced any paranormal activity since, but later noticed that their neighbors were moving and that there were actually about four other houses for sale on their block - and Susan's house still remains on the market.

The second tale this week involves Officer Jeff Boiler who decided to take a hike through the Cascade Mountains in Oregon in 1997 when something decided to pursue him.

About two hours into his hike, Boiler stopped to look at his compass and noticed he was being watched. He found himself staring at some sort of beast. The officer naturally cocked his head to the side, studying the creature, and was startled when the thing mimicked him. The officer reached for his gun, but the creature took off into the deep woods.

Boiler began the hike back because he didn't have much day light left, then heard a loud snap from behind him. Then more sounds occurred and were moving closer. He was being hunted. The officer made a sprint to his car, then with possibly the worst of luck, his vehicle would not start.

Eventually he got it to start, and took off, heading back to the station. He confided in another officer, telling him about his horrible encounter. It turns out that Boiler was not the only person to encounter something in those wood. There have been more than 200 reports of bigfoot sightings in the area in the past decade.

Is it possible that bigfoot is real and hiding in the deepest parts of the forest? Perhaps more unsettling is the question of whether the beast isn't so much a tame creature but something that may have an interest in pursuing passersby. As far as Boiler is concerned, the questions to all of the above are a resounding yes.

What did you think of this week's Paranormal Witness? Tell us on the Forums, and share what stories you think the show should cover next.