Case file · Haunting
The Cideville poltergeist
In 1850–51, the presbytery of Cideville in Normandy was shaken by knocks and flying objects around two boys; the priest blamed a local shepherd-healer, who sued him for defamation.
1850 CE · 49.62, 0.90 · status: official
The account
The court of Yerville heard many witnesses in 1851 and dismissed the case, without ruling on the cause. The trial record is one of the best-documented poltergeist files of the century.
The researched reading
A well-recorded poltergeist case with many witnesses. Its focus on two boys and its sudden end when they left point mainly to mischief and expectation.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Undetermined | 30% | The share the reading had given to fabrication on doubt rather than evidence: the record does not settle it either way. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 20% | Once the priest blamed a local shepherd-sorcerer, villagers expected and remembered more marvels, and testimony given months later in court was shaped by that. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 15% | The events centred on two boys boarding with the priest and reportedly stopped when they were sent away in February 1851. Child-centred poltergeists commonly prove to be pranks when tested. |
| A cultural story | 15% | Rural Normandy belief in sorcerers and curses framed the whole affair, which ended as a defamation suit. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 12% | Many witnesses, including the mayor, testified under oath to objects moving, and the court record is unusually full. That is why a real share stays open, even though controls were absent. |
| Something in the surroundings | 5% | Some knocks may have been ordinary building noises in an old presbytery in winter. |
| A known natural phenomenon | 3% | Not otherwise relevant. |
Official position: The justice of the peace at Yerville dismissed the shepherd Thorel’s defamation suit in 1851 without ruling on the cause of the phenomena.