Mom shares chilling footage of empty swings moving at playground: ‘I’m freaking out’
A freaked out mom took to TikTok to share an alleged paranormal happening involving her 2-year-old son, Jace.
Chrissy Smith, a 25-year-old mom of two boys who has founded her own cosmetics line, explained in her now-viral video that Jace has been the center of multiple unexplained incidents since he was born, including one that took place at a local park on Aug. 22.
“I’m freaking out a little bit,” Smith says in a TikTok that has been viewed 10.7M times. “My son, Jace … he can like, totally sense things, ever since he was little I’ve known it. There have been some things that have happened in my house, things that he says he sees … when we go to arcades, he can literally make things turn on that are broken.”
“We just came back from the park, and all my son did was walk over to the swings and stare and act very freaked out,” she continued. “And then this started happening, and I’m going to insert the clip because I can’t explain it and nobody’s going to believe me. So, here you go.”
The TikTok then cuts to a clip of four swings simultaneously swaying in alternating directions with Jace just standing in front of them.
TikTokers were pretty alarmed by the seemingly strange encounter.
“Are you sure he ain’t just like… possessed,” one wrote.
“Don’t let the government see this,” said another.
“He’s going to save 2020 watch,” wished a third.
Of course, there could be a much simpler solution than paranormal activity here — someone could have just pushed the swings and ran, leaving Jace to marvel at them, making it appear as if they began moving by themselves.
Still, the idea that young children can — or at least claim they can — see and experience ghosts is nothing new.
“There are admittedly lots of reports of kids seeing ghosts,” Jacqueline D. Woolley, a psychology professor at the University of Texas, told the Washington Post in a 2019 article about the phenomenon.
According to the outlet, there are several reasons that both children and adults are able to perceive ghost sightings.
“Our minds naturally make connections between events, whether they’re connected or not,” Woolley explained. “The brain pays attention to evidence that fits our theory and ignores the evidence that doesn’t fit.”
Charles Fernyhough, a psychologist at Durham University who investigates the phenomenon of hallucinations, told the Post that children’s fertile imaginations also play a role here.
“We know that between a third and two-thirds of children have imaginary companions,” Fernyhough said. “I think on occasion kids do mix up imagination and reality to have something like a hallucination-like experience.”
So, what is a parent to do if their kid reports sighting a spirit or another imaginary being?
First, ask your child how they feel about the “ghost” to find out if they are scared or distressed by the alleged sighting.
“Unless there’s real distress, do not worry,” Fernyhough advised. “Engage with the kid as to what it looks like and what it does. Ask her if she’s scared of the ghost or if she likes it and if she’s seen it before. Then it’s up to you as a parent to decide if you want to encourage or discourage this belief.”
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