PARAPSYCHOLOGY AND THE POLTERGEIST
Parapsychology is defined, very broadly, as the scientific study of the paranormal. It is concerned primarily with three categories of study: 1) Extra Sensory Perception (ESP) covers telepathy, precognition and clairvoyance; 2) Psychokinesis (PK) is the alleged ability to affect or interact with physical material with your mind (examples include bending spoons, movement of objects, apports, and levitating tables); 3) After Death Communication (ADC), an area of study concerned with evidence of survival after death (through, for example, apparition encounters or communicated messages from spirits via mediums, or related areas such as reincarnation and Near-Death Experiences). It is often referred to as survival research and typically covers all manner of haunting experiences (visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory and a sense of presence) in addition to examining the claims of mediums (who produce predominantly spoken messages but also physical phenomena such as object levitation and spirit materialisation).
The three categories are not mutually exclusive – certain phenomena in one category can occur in others. It is one of the reasons why parapsychologists also use the term psi to refer to many types of psychic phenomena which remain unexplained by established physical principles. For example, the alleged ability to predict the future is termed precognition and the vast majority of evidence within a parapsychology context comes from prophetic dreams. This ESP ability, however, has multiple layers of anecdotal and experimental evidence. A research area over the last few decades, for example, has explored the unconscious physiological response to future events, known as presentiment; this has a link to another area of research, DMILs (or Direct Mental Interaction with Living Systems), which is akin to the ability of a person (referred to as an “agent”) to interact with, or affect, another person’s physiology (referred to as the “target”). So rather than solely an ESP ability it could be viewed as a PK-type ability.
Another example, poltergeist phenomena, would typically appear in the third category (ADC) and perfectly illustrates a form of after death communication, with researchers proposing that characteristics indicative of poltergeists – objects moving, loud bangs, people levitating – are actually caused by a spirit. Other parapsychologists, however, propose that such phenomena are manifestations of subconscious psychokinesis, even terming poltergeist phenomena as instances of RSPK ( Recurrent Spontaneous Psychokinesis). According to some parapsychologists, this “poltergeist effect” is the outward manifestation of psychological trauma. Indeed, the originator of this “psychological dysfunction” theory back in the 1930s, Nandor Fodor, advanced the idea that poltergeist disturbances were caused by human agents suffering from intense anger, hostility and sexual tension. Fodor successfully supported his theory in several cases, including the famous “Thornton Heath Poltergeist” which he investigated in 1938.
Later, another parapsychologist, William Roll, widely discussed the psychological dysfunction theory (publishing in the 1960s his analysis of 116 worldwide written reports spanning four centuries), also stimulating debate around the profile of the human agent (typically female and in her adolescent or teenage years). Since then, parapsychology has largely viewed poltergeist activity as either being caused by spirits or caused by some sort of psychokinetic force.
Poltergeist cases are characterised by their physical phenomena, mischievous and often damaging or harmful. The
Parapsychological Association
defines a poltergeist, in terms of its phenomena, as follows: “A disturbance characterised by bizarre physical effects of paranormal origin, suggesting mischievous or destructive intent: these phenomena include the unexplained movement or breakage of objects, loud raps, the lighting of fires, and occasionally personal injury to people; in contrast to a haunting,
the phenomena often seem to depend upon the presence of a particular living individual, called the “focus,” frequently an adolescent or child; and apparitions are rarely seen.” (Parapsychological Association,
Glossary of Psi)
Alan Gauld and Tony Cornell, in their classic text Poltergeists (1979), analysed 500 cases from 1800 to the 1970s. They identified 63 general characteristics and subjected the data to factor analysis in order to establish whether any characteristics group together. At first glance, the data seems to support the contention that women are the primary agents (in 143 cases where an agent appears to be the centre of the phenomena, 29% were female, 11% were male, 60% no clear agent); yet Gauld and Cornell dispute the psychological dysfunction theory, also recognising that it is misleading to distinguish between hauntings and poltergeists. In terms of the characteristics they identified, they included the following: 64% involved the movement of small objects; 58% were most active at night; 36% involved movement of large objects; 16% featured communication between the poltergeist and agent. In addition, there is the overarching proposition that before the 19th century, poltergeist activity was blamed on the Devil, demons, witches, and ghosts. The Gauld-Cornell analysis found only 9% of the cases attributed to demons, 7% to witches, and 2% to spirits of the dead. Most of the demon and witch attributions occurred in nonWestern countries.
goes on your bed again,’ he said, you know, and we forgot it.
“But that night, the banging started…”
It is not unusual to have knocking sounds in poltergeist cases. Gauld and Cornell found that rapping/knocking sounds were evident in 48% of cases. These can develop into louder bangs or sometimes take on a communicative aspect, although this is much rarer. This auditory development mirrors the typical slow build-up of phenomena, generally going from smaller, sometimes barely perceptible sounds to loud, highly evident incidents. Eyewitnesses in such cases report initial tapping sounds and even the occasional very small object being thrown by unseen hands. There are exceptions, and the Battersea Poltergeist case was one of them. Neighbours came to the Hitchings’ front door on the first and subsequent nights complaining about the loud noises. The family were compelled to call the police and surveyors, desperate to solve the problem. No cause was found and, unfortunately, the initial police involvement resulted in a tip-off to the media; this resulted in a wave of press interest that left the family in a situation akin to a lockdown.
As Shirley recalled: “I couldn’t poke me head out the door because if I went out, you know… I think one time I asked my mum if I could go two doors down to my friend Doreen, and she said ‘Yes, go on,’ and there were so many, when I went out and had to just walk down the road. I got halfway and all the press were around me, all asking questions: ‘Oh hello Shirley’… ‘Oh, let’s stand there.’ They were snapping photographs and I just turned around and ran back indoors in tears and mum said, ‘What’s wrong?’ I said ‘Oh, there’s loads of men out there,’ and dad went out and I couldn’t handle it, you know. I wanted to see my friend and I never got there.”
The incessant media circus reached a peak towards the end of February 1956 when a work colleague of Shirley’s father named Harry Hanks, a self-professed medium, conducted a séance in an attempt to exorcise the poltergeist. There appeared to be no concern for the psychological impact of such an event on a young girl. Local police interrupted the séance, concerned that ‘Black Magic’ was being practised: the result was the aforementioned Commons debate. Within a few days of the séance, there were hundreds of newspaper articles worldwide, as well as extensive reporting from the leading UK-based newspapers at the time and the various news programmes which televised the séance (largely in the form of recreations). Shirley even appeared on the BBC the night before the séance, recounting her experiences to a prime-time audience.
For weeks, then months, the family had to
deal with persistent recurrent phenomena. They were in a constant, heightened state of fear; at night they either huddled together in the kitchen or all bedded down in the same bedroom.
In Shirley’s words: “After about a couple of weeks in, things started to fly around the room, things were thrown. Pots and pans that were on the kitchen stove, in the next room, would come flying out the door… floating and go across the room and speed up. Sometimes they would hover and then go down to the floor, other times they’d hit, bang into the wall… the clock [on the mantelpiece] would raise very slowly and then it would glide across from the fireplace to the table… and land on the table, very gently.”
ESCALATION
Eventually, the family attempted to communicate with whatever was causing the activity. The adopted brother came up with the now common suggestion of ‘one knock for no and two for yes’. This developed into an alphabetical code. The family also attempted to name the perpetrator. Initially, they called him “Spooky Willie”, then settled on “Donald” because he said he resembled one of the Hitchings’ neighbours.
At some point, largely due to Ethel’s deeply religious beliefs and her insistence on the presence being evil, a vicar came into the house and blessed it with holy water. He also threw it over Shirley despite her protests. Her grandmother said: “That’s to rid you of this awful thing”. However, this attempt at an intervention had an adverse effect. As Shirley recalled: “He was very naughty that night. He really was; the bangings and noise was horrendous.”
The phenomena appeared to escalate over the first few months and culminated in violence, seemingly in response to situations Donald was not happy with. At times, the poltergeist would demand action or insist on specific things: if the instructions were not obeyed, threats or retaliation followed. Heavy pots and pans would be thrown and gas taps turned on. One night, the family discovered Shirley’s quilt had been repeatedly slashed and its innards removed. In other violent incidents, a pair of scissors was thrown at Wally, a screwdriver at another family member, and a boiling kettle overturned, narrowly missing Shirley’s feet. At the height of the phenomena, a mysterious fire resulted in an injury requiring hospital treatment. The poltergeist even tapped out a message following the fire: “You made me angry. I set fire. You can’t stop me. You all must die. No escape now…” The family’s attempts to communicate and try and appease the aggressive spirit continued when an investigator turned up at the door, a month or so after the phenomena had started.
ENTER CHIB
Harold Chibbett, or ‘Chib’, was a tax inspector by day and a dedicated investigator of strange phenomena by night. Indeed, he was a dedicated fortean throughout his life (see FT310:50-51). He had been conducting his investigations for many years, motivated by a desire to prove the existence of life after death through mediumship research. In the 1930s he set up a paranormal investigation group known as ‘The Probe’. Although it was months before Chib joined the case, he remained involved for its entire duration, and it is largely due to his records of the Battersea Poltergeist that we have such a well-documented case to study. These records have been wonderfully preserved, together with Shirley’s recollections, in a 2013 book by James Clark (co-authored with Shirley) entitled The Poltergeist Prince of London. Harold Chibbett’s interactions with Shirley and her family also provide wonderful insight into one investigator’s approach to the case over a period of many years.
Chibbett persisted with attempted communication, and with that persistence came clues about who ‘Donald’ possibly was. The narrative that was being built up from the
communicative knockings started to hint at an actual identity. ‘Donald’ tapped out “La Manche” (French for the English Channel) and various other significant words. The poltergeist’s professed identity then became another path of investigation, especially for Chib, who obsessively dedicated the best part of a decade to establishing it. ‘Donald’ the neighbour transformed into a royal figure known as the ‘Dauphin’ (although the family still referred to him as Donald). He claimed to be Louis XVII, younger son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette of France, both guillotined in 1793 during the French Revolution. Louis XVII became Dauphin of France in 1789 on the death of his elder brother, Louis-Joseph.
The French theme manifested in other ways – according to Chib, writing in Fate magazine in 1959: “…the sitting room had effectively been commandeered by Donald and was littered with dolls dressed as Marie Antoinette and other royal personages, attired by Shirley under Donald’s express directions. Now drawings began to appear on the walls, some of shields with crossed swords superimposed. There were fleur-de-lis on the shields and underneath the words: Roi Louis. Shirley denied having made these drawings. As time went on, more fleur-de-lis appeared on the bedroom
Psychical researcher Harold Chibbett, at the rear of 63 Wycliffe Road, 13 June 1956. walls, ceilings and elsewhere.” ( Fate, Vol. 12., Oct 1959, pp68-78).
The communication took a different turn when Donald started to produce written messages (scratched onto walls and written on paper). The key moment was when a message was discovered in Chib’s notebook, scrawled in almost illegible writing. It said ominously: “Shirley, I come, My Shirley”.
Another investigator who was briefly involved in the case – Andrew Green, ‘The Spectre Inspector’ – even received three letters and a Christmas card through the post from ‘Donald’, written in a mixed form of French and English. Green raised concerns about how the spirit could purchase stamps, let alone paper, envelopes and a card. Chib also started to receive posted letters apparently directly from Donald and devoted himself in the latter part of the case to establishing proof of Donald’s identity.
The case took various fascinating turns from its inception in January 1956 to its gradual decline 12 years later (see timeline, pp32-36). There was even a period where Donald developed a fixation on celebrities; there were recorded instances of apparent precognition in which Donald predicted accidents involving celebrities and also a plane