A Stone’s Throw from the Paranormal

If you’ve ever been walking around and suddenly felt the pelt of a stone, stick, or clod of earth pelt you in the back, you may have joined the throngs of people who have been hassled from the beyond by seemingly invisible stone throwing entities.  The phenomenon has plagued individuals and even entire towns leaving all who suffer its wrath scratching their heads and feeling at least a little vexed by their tormentors.  Thankfully, however, though the stones seem to cause quite a disturbance, the primary bruising that takes place because of them is to the egos of those effected.

One account of a town so affected by the paranormal rock throwers is the village of Harrisonville, eight miles from Pomeroy.  On the 13th of October in 1901, Zach Dye was getting ready to begin his day when suddenly a boulder of considerable size crashed through his window and smashed the floor just beneath it.  Considerably disturbed by this, he soon went outside to see who could have done such a thing.  Looking into the field surrounding his house he didn’t see a single living soul anywhere.  The field around Zach Dye’s house stretched for several hundred yards with no obstacles or obstructions for anyone to hide behind, and Zach circled his own house to ensure no one had taken refuge behind it.  Finding no one, he declared it a mystery and shortly thereafter found himself and his family the target of several stones thrown from unseen assailants.  They quickly sought refuge inside their house, and eventually the shower of rocks died down.  But that was not the end of the rock drama that would soon unfold in this little town.

By Monday the entire town was in an uproar over who could possibly be perpetrating such an elaborate prank without being caught.  The stones seemed to be coming from everywhere, including places far away from one another simultaneously, and places where no one could possibly be hiding.  One observer, an old man with one leg and a crutch named James Clay was yelling down at the panicked citizenry below, saying it was all just some sort of prank when a massive stone flew up and smashed the crutch he was leaning on sending him clattering to the ground.  As he struggled to get up the mayor declared that every male should be gathered in the town square so a head-count could be made.  It seems they didn’t take into account the possibility that the hoax could be perpetrated by women as well as men.  As all the men were counted, they came to the realization that none were missing and yet the stones were still flying about.  At times the stones would hit with such accuracy as to knock pipes out of mouths, break bottles on shelves, and wing people knocking them over.

So what is behind this phenomenon of stone throwing?  Since the stones seem to come from nowhere they have been attributed to poltergeist activity which often results in objects being moved or even thrown about.  Could a poltergeist have infested the town of Harrisonville?  To this day experts are still unsure which theory is rock solid and which should be tossed out.