THE HOLLOW REGISTRY Field notes: destroying a possession-vessel
Field Notes  /  Compiled Across Cases

Locking it away
was never the plan.
Ending it is.

This page compiles everything we could find on destroying a possession-vessel — whatever object it happens to be. Not a registry of specific artifacts. Not a symptom log. Just the research: what's been tried across reported cases, what held, what didn't, and what's left to try.

Summary across cases — do not treat as solved
Object typeVaries — any vessel qualifies
Cases reviewedMultiple, cross-referenced
Attempts on record4, detailed below
Attempts that fully worked0
Best documented outcomeTemporary containment only
Research statusOngoing
01

Why containment isn't on this list

Before the methods below, it's worth being clear about what doesn't count as one. Every household in these reports tried the same three things first. None of them held.

Tried first

Covering reflective surfaces

Slows contact but doesn't stop it. The presence reached through any reflection — screens, glass, standing water — not only mirrors.

Tried second

Locking the object away

A closed drawer or a dishwasher buys hours, not days. The carrier reported an involuntary pull back to it, wherever it was hidden in the same house.

Conclusion

It has to actually end

Storage delays the timeline. It doesn't close the file. That's the whole reason this research exists — the methods below are what's left after containment stopped working.

02

Method comparison

Compiled across reported cases. "Confirmed" means witnessed and repeatable — right now, nothing qualifies. Read this as a shortlist to investigate, not a manual.

Method Theory Requires Confidence
Fire Removes the physical anchor entirely rather than just breaking its shape. Carrier separated from object first; sustained heat, not a quick burn Untested to completion
Running water + salt Older accounts describe moving water as inhospitable to whatever's attached — theory, not confirmed. Continuous flow, not a bath or basin; extended exposure Weak evidence
Return to origin Some reports suggest returning the object to where it was first sealed resets whatever bound it there. Original sealing location, unknown condition requirements Speculative
Structural destruction Breaking the object beyond reconstruction — on the theory that it needs a whole shape to anchor to. Full breakage, not cracking or chipping; carrier must not be holding it Attempted once, incomplete
Combined method Structural destruction followed immediately by fire, on the theory that a single method alone hasn't been enough in any recorded attempt. Both of the above, in sequence, without delay between them Not yet attempted
03

Working protocol — current best guess

This is the sequence the case file currently points toward. It has not been carried out to completion. Written down here so the next attempt isn't starting from zero.

Separate the object from the carrier — physically, not just by request

Every failed attempt so far started with the object still in the carrier's reach. Move it to another person's hands before anything else happens.

Note: the carrier will resist this more than seems reasonable. That resistance is expected, not a reason to stop.

Remove every reflective surface from the room

Not because it stops anything on its own — it doesn't — but because every prior escalation across these reports happened through a reflection the carrier could see.

Break it first, then burn it

The one attempt that got furthest combined structural damage with fire, in that order. Neither alone got the same reaction from the carrier.

Note: the carrier described this stage as the most violent point in every account we have. Do not do this with the carrier alone in the room.

Don't stop at "it looks destroyed"

The doll case (the only closed file we know of) wasn't marked resolved until two independent witnesses confirmed it separately, days apart. One witness, one glance, hasn't been enough anywhere else.

04

Case notes — attempts on record

What's actually been tried, across reported vessels, in the order attempts occurred. Nothing below is a success story.

Attempt 1 Object surrendered to a household member for off-site disposal. Retrieved before disposal
Attempt 2 Object placed in a running dishwasher as a stopgap during an active episode. Contained the moment only
Attempt 3 A religious object presented directly at the carrier during an episode. Rejected, no effect
Attempt 4 Structural destruction attempted mid-episode without prior separation from carrier. Outcome unconfirmed at time of filing
05

Before you try any of this

Not disclaimers for their own sake — every point below came from something that already went wrong once in a reported case.

!
Never attempt this with the carrier alone. Every escalation on record happened when only the carrier and the object were in a room together.
!
Expect the carrier to actively stop you. Not metaphorically — physically. Plan for that before you start, not during.
!
Don't declare it over on a single look. "Looks destroyed" and "confirmed destroyed" have not meant the same thing anywhere in this file.
!
Have someone outside the room the whole time. Every account we have comes from a witness who wasn't the one holding the object.