Among the most diverse, baffling and controversial areas of the paranormal, physical phenomena range from miraculous events attributed to Jesus and the Saints to the more humdrum manifestations said to occur in séance rooms. Since they are generally unpredictable in appearance and uncontrollable in effect, they rarely lend themselves to normal scientific scrutiny, and their validity is heavily dependent on human testimony rendered suspect by the influence of religious belief or desire. Events in these categories are generally called spontaneous phenomena. However, there are many examples where the weight of evidence, the variety, consistency and impressiveness of human testimony, and the implausibility of alternative explanations, defy airy dismissal.
A leading example is the widely attested and critically assessed levitations of St Joseph of Copertino. In the 19th century by far the most consistently impressive demonstrations by Daniel Dunglas Home of physical phenomena, conducted in different private houses, before upwards of fifty witnesses over a number of years, and in adequate visibility. These included the playing of an accordion without touching the keys or working the bellows, burying his face in glowing coals, placing a burning coal on the head of a fellow guests and covering his white hair over it, and levitating. A later medium, extensively tested over quarter of a century, was the Italian peasant woman, Eusapia Palladino, although unlike D.D.Home she was subject to accusations of fraud. Other famous physical mediums who underwent extensive tests were the brothers Rudi and Willie Schneider, Mrs Helen Duncan, later gaoled under the 18th century Witchcraft Act in 1944, and Jack Webber. Here the chief mechanism for the creation of physical objects was ectoplasm, a semi-transparent and seemingly animated material extruded from a medium's orifices which could assume the shape and appearance of parts or all of a recognisable human being independent of the medium. There has recently been a recrudescence of physical mediumship in scores of small domestic circles, promoted through the Noah's Ark Society. Only one such circle has been the subject of close professional examination, the Scole Group, on which three leading members of the Society for Psychical Research published a generally favourable report, although no ectoplasm was involved. Here the phenomena included the production, under conditions which varied from loose to tightly-controlled, of images and messages stretched across the lengths of rolls of unexposed, unopened films.
More commonplace are hauntings and poltergeist activities, the latter falling more firmly into the physical category, since reports of ghostly activities are rarely accompanied by the movement of physical objects. Several poltergeist (mischievous spirit) phenomena have been widely reported and closely examined. In recent years among the most celebrated is that Enfield case in London, the Cardiff workshop case in Wales and the Rosenheim case in Germany. The disruptions, which can be very severe and even dangerous, are often associated with a disturbed or frustrated member of the household, and are not always location-specific. Another example of spontaneous interference with normal rules of perception is thoughtography, most famously demonstrated under the supervision of the late Jule Eisenbud by Ted Serios, who appeared able to create images on blank films. More popular and topical are the spoon-bending demonstrations introduced by Uri Geller and, for a time, a popular craze among uninhibited children.
If one disregards the hypothesis of spirit intervention, these cases can all be regarded as examples of macro-PK or psychokinesis, the alleged ability of the mind to move objects at a distance (see separate entry under PK by Richard Broughton). It is widely considered among psychical researchers that the PK phenomenon is an integral part of the PSI faculty, and that its study ought not to be considered in isolation from the general evidence for telepathy and clairvoyance, or distant viewing.
Montague Keen is a council member of the Society for Psychical Research. He is a co-author of 'The Scole Report' - see below.
Braude, S (1997) The Limits of Influence: Psychokinesis and the Philosophy of Science. University Press of America ISBN 0-7618-0623-7.
An impressive defence of the genuineness of physical phenomena by D. D. Home and Eusapia Palladino and a strong rebuttal of criticisms, leading to a controversial theory of PK.
Gregory, A. (1985) The strange case of Rudi Schneider, Scarecrow Press N.J. & London ISBN 08108-1711-X.
An examination of the safeguards adopted by prominent researchers investigating Schneider's physical phenomena in the 1920s and 1930s, with an exposure of the duplicity of Harry Price's role as investigator-turned accuser.
Roll, W.G. (1976) The Poltergeist. Wyndham Publications Ltd ISBN 0 352 39793 4.
A good general review of the major poltergeist cases by a leading USA researcher, together with a critical survey of theories.
Guiley, R.E. The Guinness Encyclopaedia of Ghosts and Spirits. (1994) Guinness Publishing ISBN 0-85112-748-7 .
A popular but admirably researched volume with extensive entries for such physical subjects as apports, famous fraudulent mediums, ectoplasm .
Edwards, H. (1962) The Mediumship of Jack Webber, Healer Publishing Co., Guildford, England.
A first-hand account of the physical phenomena produced by a young Welsh miner between November 1938 and December 1939 with many photographs purporting to show the materialisation of ectoplasmic forms while Edwards remains bound in his chair. An impressive but neglected study.
Keen, M., Fontana D. Ellison A.J. The Scole Report (1999) Society for Psychical Research, London. Proceedings 58 pp151-451. ISBN 0 900677 06 6.
A detailed and authoritative examination of the evidence for physical and mental phenomena produced during sittings with the Scole Group of physical mediums, 1995-1998, together with critical assessments and responses. Essential reading for those wishing to be up to date in this controversial field.
Hasted, J. (1981) The Metal Benders, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London. ISBN 0 7100 0597 0
A leading scientist's critical but positive examination of the Geller effect, with detailed accounts of the tests to which Geller and other claimants have been subjected. Suitable primarily for the scientifically and mathematically qualified.
Playfair G. L. (1980) This House is Haunted, Sphere Books, London 0 7221 6908 6
A first hand account of a prolonged poltergeist case in Enfield investigated by Maurice Grosse and Guy Playfair, and still the subject of controversy, mainly from those preferring to disregard the impressive evidence on the grounds that one of the girls involved admitted to playing tricks.
Beloff, J. (1993) Parapsychology: a concise history. Athlone Press, London. ISBN 0 485 11405 hb.
This is an excellent general guide to the whole subject of psychical research, including a brief but balanced account of the most celebrated examples of physical phenomena. A useful general introduction for the inquiring layman.
Watson, Lyall (1986) Supernature II .Hodder and Stoughton, London ISBN 0-340-41352-2
Together with his earlier work, Supernature (1973) Lyall's exploration of paranormal mysteries remains among the most readable and stimulating. The chapter (7) devoted to physical phenomena is especially worth reading.