Paranormal Pioneers and Other Strange Phenomena

Frederic Myers (1843-1901)

Frederic Myers was a professor of classics at Cambridge University in England. One overriding interest characterized this man was a passionate curiosity about the meaning of human life. But instead of poring over theological writings and philosophical speculation, as many of his contemporaries did, he felt that if human life did have a purpose, then it could be discovered in only one way: through the study of human experiences.

This conviction led him, in 1882, to co-found the first Society for Psychical Research with Henry Sidgwick and some of his other Cambridge colleagues.

Myers had a strong interest in mediumship His research centered on how a medium communicates with the dead.

Myers research found that when a medium became entranced, and a voice issued forth from her mouth, claiming to be that of a dead person and showing an encyclopedic knowledge of that person's life, then it seemed to Myers that contact was being made with the dead.

But his research, in the end, didn't turn out to be quite that simple. For in a few cases, someone had gone to a medium and mentally concentrated on an entirely fictitious personality, only to receive 'communications' from that personality. In other words, when mediums went into trance states, they could at times pick up accurate information about living or fictitious persons telepathically delivered.

Myers never solved this problem during his life. What he did was even more impressive. He solved it after he was dead!

Within a few weeks of Myers's death in 1901, some very strange communications began to be received by psychics in England, the United States and India.

They came through automatic writing to a total of a dozen psychics and continued for a period of thirty years.

What was strangest about them was that they seemed to make no sense. Or perhaps they did - for they were so mysteriously worded that it almost seemed their meaning was being deliberately concealed. And most of them were signed, "Myers. “

From 1901 to 1932, more than three thousand scripts were communicated. In the scripts he sent, he refers again and again to the suffering that this communication cost him.

"Oh, if I could only leave you the proof that I continue. Yet another attempt to run the blockade - to strive to get a message through. How can I make your hand docile enough - how can I convince them? I am trying, amid unspeakable difficulties. It is impossible for me to know how much of what I send reaches you. I feel as if I had presented my credentials - reiterated the proofs of my identity in a wearisomely repetitive manner. The nearest simile I can find to express the difficulty of sending a message is that I appear to be standing behind a sheet of frosted glass, which blurs sight and deadens sound, dictating feebly to a reluctant and somewhat obtuse secretary. A feeling of terrible impotence burdens me. Oh, it is a dark road."

Myers was not, of course, the first to describe life after death; plenty of others had done that in spiritualist séances, but their reports were soon dismissed with a snort of mockery. Why was this? It seems their descriptions of the afterlife didn’t mesh to what it was supposed to be. They described the afterlife as being pretty much what their living life was like - they played golf, drank Scotch and they smoked cigars, they played cards, lived in houses like those they had occupied on earth, and even went to work! Clearly, the skeptics said, this could not be Heaven. It could only be spiritualist self-delusion. Myers, however, was to show that these other communicators were right - at least in part. His point was that it had never occurred to the skeptics that it would be a kindness to those who have just passed on to start them off with something familiar to them on earth.

Near Death Experience (NDE)

Near-death experience (NDE), refers to a broad range of personal experiences associated with impending death, encompassing multiple possible sensations including detachment from the body; feelings of levitation; extreme fear; total serenity, security, or warmth; the experience of absolute dissolution; and the presence of a light, which some people interpret as God. These phenomena are usually reported after an individual has been pronounced clinically dead or otherwise very close to death, hence the term near-death experience.

Popular interest in near-death experiences was initially sparked by Raymond Moody's 1975 book Life After Life and the founding of the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS) in 1981.

The traits of a classical NDE are as follows:

• The notice of a very unpleasant sound or noise.

• A sense/awareness of being dead.

• A sense of peace, well-being and painlessness. Positive emotions. A feeling of being removed from the world.

• An out-of-body experience. A perception of one’s body from an outside position. Sometimes observing doctors and nurses performing medical resuscitation efforts.

• A "tunnel experience". A sense of moving up, or through, a passageway or staircase.

• A rapid movement toward and/or sudden immersion in a powerful light. Communication with the light.

• An intense feeling of unconditional love

• Encountering "Beings of Light", "Beings dressed in white", or other spiritual beings. Also, the possibility of being reunited with deceased loved ones.

• Being given a life review.

• Being presented with knowledge about one's life and the nature of the universe.

• A decision by oneself or others to return to one’s body, often accompanied by a reluctance to return.

• Approaching a border.

The medical community has been somewhat reluctant to address the phenomenon of NDEs, and grant money for research has been scarce. However, researchers, such as Bruce Greyson and Kenneth Ring developed tools that can be used in a clinical setting. Major contributions to the field include the construction of a Weighted Core Experience Index in order to measure the depth of the Near-Death experience, and the construction of the Near-death experience scale in order to differentiate between subjects that are more or less likely to have experienced an NDE.

In the 1990s, Dr. Rick Strassman conducted research on the psychedelic drug Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) at the University of New Mexico. Strassman advanced the theory that a massive release of DMT from the pineal gland prior to death or near-death was the cause of the near-death experience phenomenon. Only two of his test subjects reported NDE-like aural or visual hallucinations, although many reported feeling as though they had entered a state similar to the classical NDE. His explanation for this was the possible lack of panic involved in the clinical setting and possible dosage differences between those administered and those encountered in actual NDE cases.

Many view the NDE as the precursor to an afterlife experience and many NDE-accounts seem to include elements which, according to several theorists, can only be explained by an out-of-body consciousness. For example, in one account, a woman accurately described a surgical instrument she had not seen previously, as well as a conversation that occurred while she was under general anesthesia.

The more popular accounts of NDEs are the ones about people who were greeted by a being of light, who felt peaceful and happy. But that is not always the case. For some people, NDEs are far from pleasant. Instead of a feeling of floating upwards, they report being pulled downwards - towards a pit inhabited by demons.

Whether or not NDEs are hallucinatory or not, pleasant or unpleasant, they do have a profound impact on the observer. Many psychologists not necessarily pursuing the paranormal, such as Susan Blackmore, have recognized this. Many of these effects are associated with changes in personality and outlook on life and with many people we find a greater appreciation for life, higher self-esteem, greater compassion for others, a heightened sense of purpose and self-understanding, desire to learn, elevated spirituality, greater ecological sensitivity and planetary concern, and a feeling of being more intuitive.

Oak Island – The Money Pit

Oak Island is a 140-acre island in on the south shore of Nova Scotia, Canada. The tree-covered island is one of about 360 small islands in Mahone Bay and rises to a maximum of 35 feet above sea level and is the location of the so-called Money Pit. This area has been the site of numerous excavations to recover treasure believed by many to be buried there, and most of those attempts at recovery have ended in collapses and flooding. Critics argue that there is no treasure and that the pit is a natural phenomenon, likely a sinkhole. However, it’s a rather unique sinkhole, if it is one at all.

The ‘sinkhole’ was discovered in 1795 when 16-year-old Daniel McGinnis found a circular depression in a clearing on the southeastern end of the island. McGinnis, with the help of some friends, excavated the depression and discovered a layer of flagstones a few feet below and on the walls there were visible markings from a pick. As they dug down, they discovered layers of logs at about every ten feet

About eight years after the 1795 dig another company investigated the area. The Onslow Company sailed from Nova Scotia near Truro to Oak Island with the goal of bringing home what they believed to be secret treasure. They continued the previous excavation down to approximately 90 feet and found layers of logs about every ten feet and layers of charcoal, putty and coconut fiber at 40, 50 and 60 feet. According to one of the early accounts, at 80 or 90 feet, they recovered a large stone with an inscription of symbols. It is said researchers have tried to decode the symbols and that one of them translated it as saying: "forty feet below, two million pounds are buried." However, no photographs, drawings, or other images of the stone are known to have been produced before its claimed disappearance around 1912. The pit subsequently flooded up to the 33-foot level. Bailing did not reduce the water level, and the excavation was abandoned.

The next attempt at excavation was made in 1861 by the Oak Island Association. This attempt resulted in the collapse of the bottom of the shaft into either a natural cavern or booby trap underneath. The first death occurred during excavations when the boiler of a pumping engine burst. The company gave up when their funds were exhausted in 1864. Further excavations were made in 1866, 1893, 1909, 1931, 1935, 1936, and 1959, none of which were successful.

In 1928, a New York newspaper printed a feature story about the island. Gilbert Hedden, operator of a steel fabricating concern, saw the article and was fascinated by the engineering problems encountered in the previous excavations. He began digging in the summer of 1935, following the excavation by William Chappell in 1931.

Chappell’s attempt sank a 163-foot shaft, 12x14 feet to the southwest of what he thought was the site of the 1897 shaft, close to the original pit. Some artifacts were found at 127 feet, including an axe, an anchor fluke, and a pick were found. The pick has been identified as a Cornish miner's poll pick. However, due to all the previous excavation attempts, the area around the Money Pit was covered with the debris and refuse, making it near impossible to know whom the pick actually belonged.

Four more deaths occurred in 1960 during the excavation by the Restall family; they were overcome by fumes in a shaft near the beach. In 1965, Robert Dunfield leased the island and, using a 70-ton digging crane with a clam bucket, dug out the pit to a depth of 134 feet and width of 100 feet. The causeway used to transport the crane to the island still exists and is located on western end of the island to Crandall's Point on the mainland two hundred meters away.

Around 1967, Daniel C. Blankenship and David Tobias formed Triton Alliance and bought the bulk of the island. In 1971, Triton workers dug out a 235-foot shaft supported by a steel caisson to bedrock. After cameras were lowered down the shaft, they detected some chests, human remains, wooden cribbing and tools but the images were unclear. It should be noted that none of these claims have been confirmed. The shaft collapsed, and the excavation was abandoned. This shaft was later successfully re-dug to 181 feet, reaching bedrock but work was halted because of lack of funds.

During the 1990s, further exploration was halted because of legal battles between the Triton partners. As of 2005, a section of the island was for sale for around US$7 million. A group called the Oak Island Tourism Society was hoping the land would be purchased by the Canadian Government, but as it turned out a group of American businessmen in the drilling industry did so instead.

There has been extensive gossip amongst enthusiasts as to who originally dug the pit and what it might contain but most of the accounts disagree about details such as where the oak beams were found and what kind of marks were seen on the walls of the pit. The stone which is said to have been translated to read "Forty feet below two million pounds are buried" is said to have been seen last in the in the early 20th century and by some accounts, it was used as a fireplace backing. Others say it was last seen as a doorstep in a Halifax bookbinder's shop. In any case, the accuracy of the translation remains inconclusive.

Man-made structures under Oak Island do in fact exist, but whether these structures are the remains of prior excavation or just stuff left behind by those who originally built the Money Pit are unknown. What is known is that several documented post-1860 treasure recovery attempts ended in collapsed excavations and flooding.

But what exactly is supposed to be in the pit? One conjecture is that the pit holds a pirate treasure hoard buried by Captain Kidd or possibly Edward Teach (Blackbeard). Others think it was dug to hold treasure but believe this was done by someone other than pirates. There is also a story which places the priceless jewels of Marie Antoinette on Oak Island. In his 1953 book, The Oak Island Enigma: A History and Inquiry Into the Origin of the Money Pit, Penn Leary says that English philosopher Francis Bacon might have used the pit to hide documents proving him to be the author of William Shakespeare's plays.

Still others have speculated that the Oak Island pit was dug to hold treasure much more important than mere gold. It has been asserted that the pit might have been dug by exiled Knights Templar and that it is the last resting place of the Holy Grail.

Suggestions that the pit is a natural phenomenon, specifically a sinkhole or debris in a fault, date to at least 1911 but as we can see, this theory doesn’t seem to be very viable, even if there are numerous sinkholes on the mainland near the island. What we can say for sure is that many, many people believe there is something in the pit and are willing to risk life, limb and a considerable fortune to find it and whomever originally dug the pit was a master engineer who was determined to keep the treasure from being discovered.

To find out the latest information about Oak Island, watch the History Channels series “The Curse of Oak Island.” It’s fascinating and some new and unusual theories have been uncovered, along with more artifacts. Still the ‘money pit’ has yet to give up its secret!

Eusapia Palladino (1854-1918)

Eusapia Palladino was a Spiritualist medium from Naples, Italy. Being orphaned as a child, she was taken in as a nanny by a family in Naples and received little, if any, formal education. She seemed to display unusual powers in the dark which included levitating and elongating herself, "apporting" flowers, materializing the dead, producing spirit hands and faces in wet clay, levitating tables, playing musical instruments under the table without contact, directly communicating with the dead through her spirit guide John King. Many Europeans regarded Palladino as a genuine medium, claiming that she didn’t use the usual trickery of most fraudulent mediums. In the United States, she was described as a medium that resorted to fakery when her supposed talents failed her.

In 1892, seventeen séances were held in Milan with Eusapia giving evidence of paranormal events. Cesare Lombroso, an Italian criminologist and founder of the Italian School of Positivist Criminology, relates the experiments that led him from a strictly materialist worldview to a belief in spirits and life after death. He writes:

Among the most important and significant of the occurrences we put this levitation. It took place twice, – that is to say, on the 28th of September and the 3rd of October. The medium, who was seated near one end of the table, was lifted up in her chair bodily, amid groans and lamentations on her part, and placed (still seated) on the table, then returned to the same position as before, with her hands continually held, her movements being accompanied by the persons next her.

And so it went throughout her career. But not everyone was convinced, and it is known that Palladino did use fraud on occasion, allegedly because she felt pressured to do things she could not normally do. Palladino was proficient at freeing a hand or foot to create phenomena. She chose to sit at the short side of the table so that her controllers on each side were forced sit closer together, making it easier to deceive them. Her shoes were loose and unbuttoned in such a way that she could remove her feet without disturbing a "control." Her levitation of a table, for example, began by freeing one foot, rocking the table, and then slipping her toe under one leg.

As time passed, Palladino's abilities began to wane. Her supporters claimed that it was because she was growing older, not because of the tighter controls demanded by magicians and the scientific community, or perhaps it was just the many times she was caught cheating.

The Philadelphia Experiment

The Philadelphia Experiment is the conspiracy theory about a military experiment at the Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania sometime around October 28, 1943. It is claimed that the U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Eldridge was rendered invisible to human observers for a brief period of time. What we commonly call the Philadelphia Experiment is actually known as Project Rainbow.

The story is widely regarded as a hoax but nonetheless has people who claim to be witnesses to the event. While the U.S. Navy maintains that no such experiment occurred, and details of the story contradict well-established facts about the Eldridge, it has nonetheless caused speculation in conspiracy theory circles, and some essentials of the Philadelphia Experiment can be found in other government conspiracy theories.

Several different and sometimes contradictory versions of the alleged experiment have circulated over the years. The following summary outlines key story points common to most accounts.

The experiment was allegedly based on a portion of the Unified Field Theory, a term coined by Albert Einstein. According to the accounts, it was thought that some adaptation of this Unified Field Theory would allow the Navy to use large electrical generators to bend light around an object making it essentially invisible. Clearly this would be of great military value for the Navy, and according to the accounts, subsequently it sponsored the experiment.

In most accounts of the experiment, the destroyer escort USS Eldridge was fitted with the necessary equipment at the Philadelphia Naval Yard. Testing began in the summer of 1943, and it was supposed to be successful to a limited degree. It is said one test, on July 22, 1943, resulted in the Eldridge being made almost completely invisible: some witnesses reporting a "greenish fog" appearing in its place. However, crew members supposedly complained of severe nausea afterwards. In addition, report says that when the ship reappeared, some sailors were fused in the metal structures of the ship, including one sailor had his hand embedded in the steel hull. At that point, it is said that the experiment was change, with the new objective being to render the Eldridge invisible to radar.

None of these allegations have been independently substantiated to any satisfactory degree.

The conjecture then alleges that the equipment was not properly recalibrated, but none the less, the experiment was repeated on October 28, 1943. This time, the Eldridge not only became invisible, but she vanished from the area and teleported to Norfolk, Virginia, over 200 miles away! There are claims that the Eldridge sat for some time in full view of men aboard the ship SS Furuseth, and then just vanished from their sight, and reappeared in Philadelphia at the site it had originally occupied.

Many versions of the account talk about serious side effects for the crew, including crew members who were said to have been physically fused to bulkheads, while others suffered from mental disorders and still others who simply vanished.

Because of the exceptional amount of speculation and the number of different accounts behind of the story of the Philadelphia Experiment, it’s impractical to go into much detail here, but if the reader is interested, there are numerous books on the subject that one could find in the library or on Amazon.com.