FORMER `POLTERGEIST' STAR DIDN'T BECOME A POLTERGEIST

FORMER `POLTERGEIST' STAR DIDN'T BECOME A POLTERGEIST

LOS ANGELES (Wireless Flash) -- Today (Dec. 27) would have been the 25th birthday of "Poltergeist" star Heather O'Rourke, who became a pop culture icon when she exclaimed "They're heeeere" in the 1982 flick. Although many have wondered whether the pint-sized star became a poltergeist herself after dying during surgery in 1988, one parapsychologist says "it's highly improbable" the actress is now haunting her fellow cast members. Dr. Barry Taff says that's because, contrary to popular belief, poltergeists aren't the spirits of dead people. They're actually "psycho-kinetic energy" created by emotionally or physically troubled kids. What's more, he says there's not even a chance O'Rourke became a ghost because spooks are only created when folks suffer a quick, traumatic death -- and O'Rourke died after a long-term illness.