General News
5 February, 2021
Spike in paranormal activity in Cairns
EVERYBODY loves a good ghost story but a recent spike in calls to local real estates and pastors requesting help to remove paranormal presences has even seen non-believers asking for help.
It’s a little talked about fact but real estate agencies actually set aside a portion of their annual budget for ghost removal and in recent weeks they have seen requests for help increase.
Freeman’s Real Estate Principal Jade Kilpatrick has been in property management for more than 20 years.
Ms Kilpatrick said three weeks ago she received a call from a tenant who reported seeing shadows in her bathroom and having the pumps of hand wash bottles mysteriously removed.
“This happened for a couple of days and the breaking point came when her kids were sitting at the table and they had a bottle of coke and this bottle of coke’s lid went flying off and across the room,” she said.
“(The tenant) said enough is enough and called her parish to come and bless the place.”
Ms Kilpatrick said they took requests for help seriously.
“Over the years I have had situations happen and you don’t want to say to people oh that’s rubbish, you’ve got to act on it, you’ve got to say this is a serious thing,” she said.
Ms Kilpatrick said her latest request for help came from a recently rented unit that had deliberately been left untenanted for 12 months due to ongoing issues.
“I called it the jinxed unit cause everything was just going wrong with it – we had plumbing problems, lock problems, everything was just going nuts with it,” she said.
Ms Kilpatrick said the new tenant spent one night at the unit then refused to stay after that saying she heard whispering and would experience other “freaky things” every time she was there.
ARK Ministries pastor Danielle Dixon has also noticed a spike in supernatural activity and said they also have seen people forced out of their homes by unwelcome, unseen guests.
“Maybe they’re seeing something like shadows in their mirror or their fans are going on or their doors are shutting or there’s just a sense,” she said.
While many people associated hauntings with older buildings Ms Dixon said the type of dwelling was not a discriminating factor.
“We’ve been called to do schools, businesses, people’s units, from someone renting a unit to someone owning over a million dollar house so there’s no discrimination in where that type of activity is,” she said.
And it’s not just people of faith Ms Dixon is called out to help.
She said she receives requests from people from all kinds of religious beliefs including non-believers.
“Often people will say I heard you helped these people, I know these other people, they don’t believe in anything but they’re really terrified, do you think you could go to their home,” Ms Dixon said.
One self-confessed non-believer who is now questioning his beliefs is Star 102.7’s breakfast radio announcer Dave Warner.
Mr Warner said he and his family were left with no choice but to consider a supernatural culprit after inexplicable activity occurred while minding their neighbour’s house recently.
After staying in the house the night before, Mr Warner’s wife Fleur and daughter Summer cleaned it but when they returned the next day they found one room was not as they left it.
Fleur said she has no explanation for how a pile of teddy bears got on the floor including one she found in the middle of the bed with its arms and legs twisted backwards.
“The room is upstairs, bars on the windows and the house has an alarm system,” she said.
Initially the family thought their son Floyd might have been playing a practical joke but with no keys or alarm code he was quickly ruled out.
With no way to explain what had happened Fleur contacted the home’s owners who confirmed her suspicions.
“I rang the owner and said is there something you forgot to tell me about minding your house… like that we’re sharing the house with a spirit or something,” Fleur said.
“She sort of coughed and went oh, um, I thought we got rid of that.”
Fleur said the owners told her they had previously attempted to remove the ghoulish presence with holy water and blessings after their daughter reported seeing a shape in the dining room.
Fleur, who is still minding the house said she now keeps her caretaking duties to daylight hours.
“I go in and out that house and water plants and check and make sure everything’s ok then I get the (blank) out of there.”
So what do you do if you think you have a ghost? Pastor Dixon recommends contacting your local ministry.
“People need to be careful when employing someone to remove these entities make sure they have a good track record and references otherwise you may waste your money and keep your unwanted guest.”
