The House of Flying Objects: The Seaford Poltergeist of 1958

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Archival reenactment of the Hermann family of 1648 Redwood Path in their living room, SOA palette with Ash Black shadows, Tarnished Gold lamplight, Fog White haze. On the sofa left to right: daughter Lucille, mother Lucille, father James Sr. On the floor in front of the dark wood coffee table, son Jimmy. Two glowing table lamps, ashtrays on the table, dark vignetted edges.

On February 3, 1958, something started popping bottles in a ranch house at 1648 Redwood Path in Seaford, Long Island.

It wasn't one bottle; it was dozens in different rooms, with the family watching.

For the next five weeks, Nassau County Police kept a file on it. A detective was assigned full-time. Duke University sent investigators. Reporters slept overnight. Life Magazine ran it as "House of Flying Objects" on March 17, 1958. Even a television audience watched it happen.

It became one of the most talked-about poltergeist cases in America, and the source of a myth that still follows it today.

What I found:

The popular story online leaves out what the police file actually says about who was in the room, and what the Duke investigators logged as the 17 incidents they couldn't explain.

I went back to the original reports to sort what was witnessed by police and reporters from what got added later.

The full breakdown isn't on this site.

Get the timeline, the investigators' actual conclusions, and why this case is still cited in RSPK research:

Read the full article on Patreon →


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About the Author

Ed Sweeney documents folklore, odd history, hauntings, and cryptid cases at SlightlyOddAmerica.com. He wrote Slightly Odd Fitchburg: The Odd and Haunted History of Central Massachusetts, is a content creator, and founder of the Slightly Odd Society

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