Help with a haunting question?

I hope the Wizard doesn't mind me not posting this in Diversity Tomorrow but I'd like to get the opinions of a few more people than the excellent folks that contribute to DT. Around this time of year it is not uncommon for priests get some strange calls about hauntings, ghosts, demons, etc. Sadly, I think it is because the eve of one of the greatest feast days int he Church - All Saints Day - has been commandeered by commercial forces to sell scary stuff and make awful movies. Anyway, I am not an exorcist, just a regular old parish priest, so when I get these calls I just go over and bless the home. I was told long ago that Holy Water and a prayer service will make it very obvious if you have a problem in the house and then you can call in the big guns. As you can imagine 99% of the time the blessing helps the people to relax and nothing manifests itself or causes any problems. I have previous to the story I want to mention in this post have had only one instance of an obvious problem. That instance from the past was so obvious that we knew what to do and I'd rather not talk about it.

Okay, now to the story that just recently happened. I was called by a woman in hysterics about her apartment being possessed. I went over with a friend, don't do these calls by myself if I can help it. We got to the apartment and the woman was no longer in hysterics, quite calm, but you could tell that there were most likely some mental health issues. Anyway when we went into this small apartment I started to hear what sounded like a big dog barking. She ignored it and so did I, it was coming from her bedroom where the door was open. I thought she had an unfriendly dog of hers in a cage of something. We did a small prayer service and blessed the home, nothing happened. The service and chit chat was probably 10-15 minutes and all the time that dog was going crazy. As we were leaving I looked into her bedroom to see the dog, I like animals, and was surprised to see nothing. Her TV was on and there was a huge dog on the screen barking like crazy. I asked if I could turn off the TV and reached for it and then that dog actually started growling at me?!? She also yelled from behind me to leave the TV on. To be honest it didn't register how crazy this sounds until afterwards when I was thinking and praying about this woman and her situation. All the sudden I thought how in the heck could a tv show be playing a large dog barking for 15 minutes? Maybe she had a DVD of large dogs barking that somehow relaxed her, but then I thought it didn't start till we got in there and that scary perfectly timed growl would just have been coincidence? I don't know. I wanted to see if anyone else had any thoughts about what it could be? I was thinking some of the skeptics on this site could give me a better explanation than demonic forces at work before I follow up and decide what I should do. Thanks and God Bless!

There is a TV Network called "Dog TV" that is made for your dog, perhaps it was some kind of feed on there?

BTW: It costs more per month than my NetFlix subscription. I'm not making any of this up.

Could have been another special channel, DVD, or anything similar. Could be some kind of "interactive" thing that is a borderline game made to keep-you-company and had a motion sensor like Wii?

First thing I'd do is ASK her about the televised dog, i.e. "Say, this dog on TV just seemed to growl at me as I reached for the TV: what program or source material are you watching?"

Then follow up until you get a straight answer from her and are satisfied with it.

In fact, since this incident clearly has had an impact on you, I suggest you either call her or visit her to question her today.

But yes, the dog growling at you as you reached for the TV is weird, no question about it.

Quote: FrGamble

That instance from the past was so obvious that we knew what to do and I'd rather not talk about it.

You're killing me.

Must... respect... wishes of privacy... ><

Quote: MrV

First thing I'd do is ASK her about the televised dog, i.e. "Say, this dog on TV just seemed to growl at me as I reached for the TV: what program or source material are you watching?"

Then follow up until you get a straight answer from her and are satisfied with it.

In fact, since this incident clearly has had an impact on you, I suggest you either call her or visit her to question her today.

But yes, the dog growling at you as you reached for the TV is weird, no question about it.

Yeah you are right, it is so strange that I really didn't think about the weirdness of it all until later that evening. I'll post an update if I get a chance to see her or talk with her soon.

Maybe somebody markets a DVD of a barking dog to scare off burglars. A friend of mine is a police officer in San Diego and he said the best defense against home invasion is a dog, by far. I'd file the part about the dog growling at you as you reached for the TV under coincidences.

Please follow up if you get the chance. Also, don't forget to see my challenge in the football contest.

Gotta go with Wiz on this one. The fact that she was "obviously mental" sort of helps me accept she would have a barking dog clip on TV. Hell, some of the supposedly sane people I know watch much worse fare.

I know you'll completely disagree, but whenever something "weird" happens, I personally always have to immediately test it again (if you still read Fishing with Face, remember my lightning episode. Like that ;)) You should've reached again. And again and again, if necessary. My desire to get to the bottom of things overrides my fear of tempting fate. YMMV.

As far as fear of satanic whoseywhatsits... wouldn't things of that nature become quite apparent indeed during the ceremony you performed? It is my understanding that the meeting of the holy and the unholy 100% of the time result in a severe reaction. Could you imagine or have you heard of the "satanic" being able to sort of put up with the holy, waiting patiently in the corner just to kind of fiddle with the holy man's mental state? Not break it, or destroy it, but just kind of tickle it?

Face brings up a good point that the holy and unholy don't mix 100% of the time, at least that's how the theory goes. I will say I do not usually go into people's bedrooms and sprinkle holy water and I did not on this occasion. When I get the chance I will try and follow up and use copious amounts of holy water on that tv. I also understand the Wizard's point about a protection type of DVD, but she does live in an apartment building. The details are too fuzzy for me to say for sure but I also think when we first arrived or outside the door I did not hear the barking dog. Anyway if your interested I will try and update, but I might have to call in the big dogs for this one if it gets any stranger.

Occam's Razor, padre..

One in million things happen every day and sometimes they happen to you. So, it could be one of those rare coincidences. (why a dog video I don't know)

In college, they showed movies for $1 at the student auditorium. So one evening I was watching the original Hitchcock "Psycho" and it had a pretty good attendance. .
Anthony Perkins plays a [spoiler] "psycho" and he makes quirky expressions to give the character the crazy feel. So there is one part where he is talking, but suddenly looks sideways. Right as he did that someone was leaving and the theater exit door squeaked loudly and it matched perfectly to timing and direction of the look. It wasn't so spooky, but it did make everyone laugh.

UPDATE
Got to see this dear woman again and I think she was surprised by me calling her. Nothing seemed to be happening that necessitated my return. She warmly greeted me and we chatted for a bit. I noticed the bedroom door was closed this time. I brought up what I thought might have been a strange occurrence with her TV the last time I was here. Her face turned white and she seemed a little perplexed. She opened the bedroom door to reveal no more TV and was wondering why or how I knew her TV was having problems. She explained that she had trouble with it and that it was broken and she finally threw it away after I left. I asked her for some clarification and she told me that at times it, "had a mind of its own". Examples of this were it turning on in the middle of the night by itself, fuzzy pictures (she did show me that the apartment had cable), and strange images especially of angry or violent animals. I told her then of my experience with the "dog", she did not remember it or recall it but she did not seem overly surprised by it. Something like the dog incident and the growl had never happened to her and when something strange like that happened she just turned off the TV without incident. She never alluded to thinking any of this, in regard to the TV, was a supernatural problem. I asked her if she had a DVD player and she said no. Anyway it was a pleasant little chat and visit, we prayed again gave her a blessing and I was on my way.

I am happy to hear that the woman seems to be fine, but how do you explain your experience? Did your partner also hear the dog barking, and see the image on the tv?

Edit: There is a "Guard Dog Theft Alarm" app on Amazon, that has video and audio of a barking dog that is tied to the motion sensor on most phones and tablets.

Yes my friend and I have discussed the barking and the dog on TV, he did not see the dog or hear the growl I received as he was already almost out the door when it happened. We both thought it was very strange. I went back by myself and have not spoken to my friend about the update yet.

I continue to think the dog is unexplainable by any guard dog app, theft deterrent, DVD, or motion sensor. She reported to me having had similar incidents with angry animals appearing on the screen which she promptly turned off without incident as well as other strange things with the TV leading to her actually throwing it out. I kind of remember it being an old TV, picture tube type, and a little smaller screen than a computer monitor - so it might have been time for it to go anyway.

I too am glad she seems fine and relieved of whatever was causing her such anxiety. I will talk to somebody with more experience about this stuff soon, but my conclusion is that the simplest answer (thanks for the reminder Evenbob) is that some evil spirit was trying to torment this poor woman by using the TV. It was very upset that I was there as evidenced by this strange phenomenon on TV and that this lady once she made up her mind to get rid of the TV, which had been causing her problems for some time, was relieved and at peace. I know it sounds strange, even stranger to write, but I am trying to come up with other solutions and they all seem to fail the test of reason. Again this was a rare experience for me and I hope I don't experience many more like them. Thanks.

Bad Prankster? Anyone remember the comic books ads for fm transmitters? Transmit through any nearby radio. You had to be within 20 30ft of it.