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By Stephen Wagner, About.com Guide to Paranormal Phenomena since 1998

Reader question: Should I be worried about disappearing objects?

Saturday December 27, 2008
Astrid Pardew writes saying that she's having trouble with objects disappearing around the house. "The strangest happening took place before Mother's Day. My parents were coming over for lunch. I sorted out the knives and forks we would be using in advance. I placed the cutlery on a clean plate and left them on the microwave cooker. The next day the knives and forks were gone! The cutlery never turned up and I eventually had to replace them." Other things have disappeared, too: camera equipment, money, cards.... So what's going on? Read the answer.

Comments

December 27, 2008 at 3:09 pm
(1) Spectre says:

I’m curious if any of the things that previously disappeared ever reappeared.

December 27, 2008 at 9:09 pm
(2) Visara says:

Get a camera, hide it and start recording a room which items have ‘disappeared’ from before.

Then if something does disappear, (which it won’t) then you’ll have some proof.

I think you’re most likely just a forgetful person and lose things quite often. If you’re not, then prove me wrong. Film it.

December 27, 2008 at 9:22 pm
(3) Cecilia says:

I live in a house which is, reputably, mildly haunted - and I’ve just lost yet another knife, the third in two months. One, okey - two, strange, but THREE? Honestly.

December 28, 2008 at 9:50 pm
(4) mary says:

Have had things disappear, too, but most often the objects reappear in another place or in the same place some time later. I don’t do drugs or drink and live alone. My home has had things “happen” through the years (the previous owner died in the house)so I don’t know if the ante is being upped or what. It’s annoying, though.

December 29, 2008 at 12:16 pm
(5) Thedes says:

I agree that the first place to look would be a thief. Set up a hidden video camera to make sure it isn’t someone’s sticky fingers to blame. I’ve had episodes of things disappearing in my home. If after much searching I can’t locate the object I ask my late father or mother for help. Usually the object re-appears after a couple of days.

December 29, 2008 at 1:35 pm
(6) Brenda says:

I’d go with thieves first, since, as noted, the items that Astrid lost were all of higher monetary value.

I live in an old place and have had things go missing, most commonly shoes. I’ve saged the place a few times, which helped, then I got confrontational. I spoke out loud, loudly, telling the whatever it was that I wanted my things back now, and that if my stuff wasn’t back very soon, I would start saging the place every day. The first time I did this, both missing shoes reappeared right next to their mates, both shoes aligned neatly and waiting by the door.

When my kids things started going missing, I got really angry. Told the whatever it is to knock it off. It quieted for a while, then started up again. Then I got angry and told them that if they didn’t leave my kids alone, that they would really regret it. Since then, my kids things don’t seem to go missing anymore.

My things occasionally disappear, but I ask politely for them back, and they’re usually back quickly. The thing that is different between our case and Astrid’s is that the things that go missing are not necessarily valuable money wise. Shoes are not cheap, but they’re not expensive. A shirt or book are valuable, but not necessarily expensive money-wise. Astrid should think about who has a key or easy access to her home. I had several things stolen by a friend of my grandmother’s. We found them later at her home.

December 29, 2008 at 2:18 pm
(7) Ama says:

Good morning,

Have you asked for the things to be returned? Fairies are a real pain when it comes to ‘borrowing’ shiny things. They are like magpies. Their attitude is ‘what is mine is mine, and what is yours is mine too’. When stuff goes missing around here I firmly asked that it be returned, and it usually is. My cats tend to keep the fairies out of the house now, even chase them through the catdoor - which will swing hard when ‘nothing’ is near it.

I wonder what your fairies wanted with cutlery. LOL

Wishing everyone a great New Year,
Love & Light
Ama Nazra

December 29, 2008 at 8:39 pm
(8) Melissa Van Rossum says:

Ghosts love attention and they tend to feed energetically off of our reactions. Pranks such as moving or taking something helps them to feel the attention they want.
I love Stephen’s suggestions.
Also let them know you know what they’re doing and that you don’t appreciate it. Try not to react to their behavior. Chances are the missing items will turn up again, or at least your ghosts will move on to someone that gives them more attention.

Melissa Van Rossum
www.theirwayhome.com
www.twitter.com/ghostguide

December 30, 2008 at 9:25 am
(9) Cecilia says:

I may not be a big believer in fairies, but - last night I gave them a stern talking to, couldn’t hurt. Well, no knives reappeared - but I just found out that I’ve won a yummy mobile in a big newspaper competition. And I never win anything. Ever.

January 12, 2009 at 2:55 pm
(10) Ann says:

I really don’t want to blunt, but shouldn’t someone, who really cares about the person who keeps losing things, recommend a psychiatric evaluation? Does the fact that she claims to be at times absent-minded mean something? Perhaps it’s an unconscious revelation? In any case, a medical evaluation is the very first step before any claims about the paranormal - Occam’s Razor.

March 14, 2009 at 5:27 pm
(11) tom says:

Can ghosts reali haunt shoes? mine go missing sometimes and reaappear in weird places but ive never thought of them being haunted

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