Bonus Episode: The Black Forest Haunting | The Colorado Poltergeist Case That Was Never Explained

A Poltergeist Story Begins

In the late 1960s, a quiet home in the Black Forest area of Colorado became the center of a strange series of events. The family living there said objects were suddenly flying across rooms. Furniture moved without anyone touching it. Small disturbances began turning into something much harder to explain. At first it was easy to dismiss, a misplaced object, a noise in another room, the kind of thing people usually chalk up to coincidence. But the activity didn't stop. In fact, according to the family, it started getting worse. Before long, the family was claiming the items were being thrown across the house, sometimes right in front of them. Doors moved on their own. Objects shifted position without anyone near them. Eventually, the disturbances became intense enough that investigators took an interest in the case. It would later become known as the Black Forest Haunting, a lesser-known American poltergeist story that raised a difficult question. Were the witnesses experiencing a genuine paranormal event, or was something else happening inside that house in Colorado? I'm your host, Robert Barber. Tonight, we're taking a closer look at one of the more unusual American poltergeist cases. This is a short bonus episode of State of the Unknown, inspired by a listener's suggestion about the Black Forest haunting in the Colorado Springs area. Let's get into it. Black Forest is a heavily wooded area just northeast of Colorado Springs. Even today, it's known for quiet woods, scattered homes, and long stretches of pine forest. In the late 1960s, it was even more isolated. It was here that a family living in the area began reporting a series of disturbances inside their home. Accounts of the case placed the reported events in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the Black Forest area was far less developed than it is today. The disturbances were reported inside a private residence surrounded by dense forest, far enough from neighboring homes that outside activity would have been difficult to mistake for movement inside the house. At first the events were small. Objects would be found in places where no one remembered leaving them. A sound would come from another room, only for the family to find nothing out of place when they checked. Things like that happen in any house from time to time, and at first the family didn't think much of it. According to the people living in the house, the activity slowly began to change. Objects were no longer just misplaced, some were reportedly moving. A small item would slide across a table, something would fall from a shelf without anyone touching it. Over time, the incidents became harder for the family to ignore. The events seemed to happen when people were present, sometimes right in front of them. And as the disturbances continued, the family began to believe they might be dealing with something far stranger than a simple household mystery. Reports of the activity eventually began circulating among paranormal researchers, and investigators started taking an interest in what was happening inside that home. What they heard sounded less like a series of coincidences and more like something investigators refer to as a poltergeist case. As the disturbances continued, the reports coming from the house began to change in character. What began as small disturbances gradually became events the family said were happening directly in front of them. One of the earliest reports involved objects moving across surfaces without anyone touching them. Items placed on a table would slowly slide several inches. An object resting near the edge of a counter might suddenly move or fall even when no one was standing nearby. At first the family tried to explain the events in ordinary ways. A slight slope in the floor, vibrations from outside, someone brushing past something without realizing it. But the activity didn't stop. According to the family, the incidents began occurring more frequently and sometimes in front of multiple people at the same time. Small household objects were reportedly thrown across rooms, sometimes striking walls or landing several feet from where they had been sitting. One report described a drinking glass sliding across a table several inches before tipping over and falling on the floor. A book might fall from a shelf even though no one was standing close enough to touch it. The family said some of these events happened so abruptly that they left little time to react before the object had already moved. What made the situation more unsettling was the unpredictability. Long periods would pass where nothing unusual happened at all. Then, without warning, another disturbance would occur. An object shifting position, something falling, or an item suddenly moving across a surface. The activity seemed to center around the house itself rather than a single room. Reports described disturbances in the kitchen, the living room, and even other areas of the home. Stories of the events eventually began circulating beyond the family. Friends, neighbors, and eventually paranormal researchers heard about the disturbances and the possibility that something unusual might be happening inside the house. To investigators familiar with similar cases, the pattern sounded recognizable. Reports of objects moving, items being thrown, and unexplained disturbances inside a home are often associated with what researchers refer to as poltergeist activity. Poltergeist cases have been reported around the world for centuries. They're also among the most difficult paranormal claims to document clearly. In many cases, the activity is brief, unpredictable, and rarely happens when investigators are present. The Black Forest case appeared to follow the same pattern. But the family remained convinced that something real had taken place inside their home. And that conviction was enough to draw investigators to the case in hopes of learning more about what might have been happening there. Reports of the disturbances eventually reached paranormal researchers who had an interest in these types of cases. Investigators reviewing the reports heard repeated descriptions of objects moving without anyone touching them and items being thrown across rooms. Because several people claimed to have witnessed the disturbances firsthand, the reports eventually reached investigators familiar with alleged poltergeist cases. Investigators approached the case cautiously. They interviewed the witnesses and examined the house, looking for structural or environmental factors that might explain the disturbances. Investigators also looked for patterns in when the disturbances occurred, since many reported poltergeist cases appear to center around particular individuals or periods of heightened stress inside a household. Their goal was not to prove that something supernatural was happening. Instead, they hoped to determine whether the reported events could be explained by normal causes. In many investigations involving unexplained disturbances inside homes, researchers consider several possibilities. Structural issues inside a building can sometimes cause objects to shift or fall. Vibrations from nearby roads or equipment may create movement that appears unusual at first glance. Environmental factors such as uneven flooring or air currents can also influence how objects behave inside a house. Investigators also consider psychological explanations. In some cases, stress inside a household can influence how events are interpreted. What begins as a small, unexplained incident can gradually take on greater meaning as people become more alert to every unusual sound or movement around them. But the family involved in the Black Forest case maintained that what they had seen inside the home went beyond ordinary explanations. They insisted that objects had moved in ways that were difficult to attribute to coincidence or environmental factors. Like many alleged poltergeist cases, the Black Forest haunting ultimately left investigators with more questions than answers. The disturbances reportedly faded over time. Without clear documentation of the events as they occurred, determining exactly what happened inside the house proved difficult. Cases like the Black Forest haunting sit in a difficult space between experience and evidence. The people living inside that house were convinced something unusual had taken place. They described objects moving across rooms, items being thrown, and disturbances that seemed to occur while people were standing there watching. At the same time, cases like this are notoriously difficult to verify after the fact. Many of the accounts of the Black Forest case come from later retellings rather than detailed investigative records, which means the identities of the people involved are not always consistently documented. Because there is no police report to review or sworn statement to examine, we're left with the oral history of what the family said happened inside that house. In the world of the unknown, that's the most common ending. The data evaporates, but the story remains. And within that story are descriptions of what the occupants of the house said they experienced. And those descriptions follow a pattern that's appeared in reports of alleged poltergeist activity for centuries. Many reported poltergeist cases follow a similar pattern. Sudden disturbances inside a home that appear without warning and eventually fade without a clear explanation. What rarely exists is the kind of documentation that would allow investigators to fully reconstruct what actually happened. That leaves the Black Forest haunting in the same uncertain category as many other reported poltergeist cases. The family who lived in the house maintained that the disturbances were real. Investigators attempted to determine whether ordinary explanations could account for what was reported, but in the end, no definitive answer ever emerged. The house returned to normal, and the events became another entry in the long list of unexplained disturbances reported inside homes around the world. Whether the events in the Colorado house were the result of misunderstood natural causes, psychological factors, or something that still doesn't have a clear explanation depends largely on how much weight you give to the accounts of the people who live there. But the central question remains the same. If the people inside that house were accurately describing what they experienced, what exactly was moving those objects? This has been State of the Unknown. The Black Forest haunting remains one of the lesser known poltergeist cases reported in the United States. The family living in that Colorado home described objects moving across rooms, items being thrown, and disturbances that appeared to happen while people were standing right there watching. Investigators attempted to determine whether ordinary explanations could account for what was reported inside the house. But like many alleged poltergeist cases, the activity eventually faded, the home returned to normal, and no clear explanation was ever established for the disturbances that had taken place there. If you've been enjoying these stories, leaving a rating or review in your podcast app really does help more people find the show. On Spotify, it's just a tap of the stars. And if you're listening on an iPhone, you can leave a short written review right in the Apple Podcast app. I read them and I really do appreciate everyone. And if you want to make sure you hear the next story when it drops, just hit follow in your podcast app so the next episode shows up automatically. Until next time, stay curious. Because sometimes the most unsettling mysteries are the ones where the activity stops, the people who experienced it move on. But the explanation never comes up.