WEBVTT - S03 Episode 8 Extra: The Voices of Energy

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<v Speaker 1>That's allbrds dot com. Welcomed Unexplained Extra with me Richard

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<v Speaker 1>McClean smith. For the weeks in between episodes, we look

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<v Speaker 1>at the stories that, for one reason or other, didn't

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<v Speaker 1>make it into the show. In last week's episode repeat

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<v Speaker 1>Input until end, we looked at the bizarre story of

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<v Speaker 1>how in the autumn of nineteen eighty four, one British

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<v Speaker 1>couple currently found themselves exchanging letters through their BBC microcomputer

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<v Speaker 1>with people from the distant past and future. This type

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<v Speaker 1>of apparent communication has been termed instrumental transcommunication, a phrase

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<v Speaker 1>first coined by physicist professor Ernst Senkovsky in the nineteen seventies. ITC,

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<v Speaker 1>as it is more commonly known, describes the process of

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<v Speaker 1>supposed communication with the dead or discarnate through electronic devices.

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<v Speaker 1>Although it can take the form of images or indeed

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<v Speaker 1>textual messages, ITC is most widely pursued through the process

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<v Speaker 1>known as electronic voice phenomena, the apparent capture of the

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<v Speaker 1>voices of the dead through radio or recording equipment. Senkovsky

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<v Speaker 1>first heard about the alleged phenomena of ITTC after stumbling

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<v Speaker 1>upon the end of a peculiar panel discussion on German

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<v Speaker 1>TV involving parapsychologist professor Hans Bender and the fascinating artist

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<v Speaker 1>and singer Friedrich Jurgensen in nineteen fifty nine. Jurgenson, who

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<v Speaker 1>as a young man was forced to flee from the

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<v Speaker 1>Russian Revolution before eventually settling in Sweden, claimed to have

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<v Speaker 1>been attempting to record birdsong when he inadvertently picked up

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<v Speaker 1>the sound of human voices. After compiling hundreds of hours

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<v Speaker 1>of similar recordings, Jurgensen became convinced that the sounds he

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<v Speaker 1>was picking up were the voices of the dead. Like

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<v Speaker 1>any rational scientist, Ernst Senkovsky naturally balked at Jurgenson's outlandish claim, and,

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<v Speaker 1>deciding he hadn't been sufficiently challenged during the TV discussion,

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<v Speaker 1>endeavored to test it out for himself. It wasn't long

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<v Speaker 1>before an incredible Lesenkowski, using short wave radio transmitters recorded

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<v Speaker 1>by a real to real tape player, was picking up

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<v Speaker 1>voices of his own, some making statements such as we

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<v Speaker 1>are the dead and that the dead were thinking and speaking.

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<v Speaker 1>Seven years previously, Latvian psychologist doctor Constantine Roudevai had also

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<v Speaker 1>embarked on his own period of ITTC investigations, having been

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<v Speaker 1>inspired by Friedrich Jurgensen, specifically his nineteen sixty seven book

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<v Speaker 1>Radio Contact with the Dead. Roudevai, who would go on

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<v Speaker 1>to create the term electronic voice phenomena also known as

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<v Speaker 1>Raudevai voices recorded over seventy thousand vocal communications of unknown

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<v Speaker 1>origin under what were claimed to have been strict laboratory conditions.

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<v Speaker 1>In nineteen seventy one, Roudevay was invited to demonstrate his

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<v Speaker 1>findings at a special lab in Enfield, London, which had

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<v Speaker 1>the facility to shield specific radio frequencies. The experiments that

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<v Speaker 1>subsequently took place were carried out under the watchful eye

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<v Speaker 1>of physicist Ralph Lovelock. And Peter Hale, one of the

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<v Speaker 1>UK's foremost experts on electrical screening at the time. Although

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<v Speaker 1>it isn't clear exactly what occurred, the results of the

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<v Speaker 1>experiments were enough for Hale to declare, something is happening

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<v Speaker 1>that I cannot explain in normal physical terms. Are you

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<v Speaker 1>care of others and not yourself? Now it's time to

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<v Speaker 1>Download the app or visit teledoc dot com forward slash

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<v Speaker 1>Unexplained podcast Today to get started, That's teladoc dot com

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<v Speaker 1>slash Unexplained Podcast. It was December seventh, eighteen seventy seven,

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<v Speaker 1>when a thirty year old Thomas Edison walked into the

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<v Speaker 1>offices of Scientific American Magazine carrying a bulky wooden box.

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<v Speaker 1>After placing it on the editor's desk, he proceeded to

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<v Speaker 1>open it and remove its peculiar contents, a strange looking

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<v Speaker 1>contraption formed of two metal diaphragms pointing inward toward a

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<v Speaker 1>large cylindrical object made of brass covered over with a

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<v Speaker 1>strip of tinfoil. As the small audience of journalists waited

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<v Speaker 1>with bated breath, Edison plugged a crank into the end

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<v Speaker 1>of the cylinder and began to turn it seemingly from nowhere.

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<v Speaker 1>An ambiance of rustling and hissing was conjured into the air,

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<v Speaker 1>followed by the disembodied voice of Edison inquiring as to

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<v Speaker 1>everyone's health whether the people liked the phonograph, before bidding

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<v Speaker 1>everyone a cordial good night. The reaction on the faces

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<v Speaker 1>of all those present was in keeping with what you

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<v Speaker 1>might expect of anyone who had just borne witness to

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<v Speaker 1>the first public demonstration of recorded sound. Though no evidence

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<v Speaker 1>survives of Edison's first recording, it is believed to have

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<v Speaker 1>been a short rendition of the popular nursery rhyme Mary

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<v Speaker 1>Had a Little Lamb, recorded sometime in August eighteen seventy seven.

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<v Speaker 1>A later recording, made on June twenty second, eighteen seventy eight,

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<v Speaker 1>remains the oldest sound recording that was intended for being

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<v Speaker 1>played back in existence. It was said that when in

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen seventy eight, Edison's phonograph was first demonstrated at the

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<v Speaker 1>Academy of Sciences in Paris, audience members were so stunned

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<v Speaker 1>by the disembodied voice coming out of the device that

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<v Speaker 1>many believed it was a hoax. Jean Baptised Bullou, a

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<v Speaker 1>senior academic of the day, was even said to have

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<v Speaker 1>violently grabbed the coat of the demonstrator, demanding that he

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<v Speaker 1>come clean about the magic trick. As journalist Philippe Boordoin

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<v Speaker 1>remarks in the short documentary Thomas Edison and the Realms Beyond,

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<v Speaker 1>such a reaction could be explained by a pervading Aristotelian

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<v Speaker 1>ideal of the time that only something with a soul

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<v Speaker 1>was capable of having a voice. In two thousand and fifteen,

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<v Speaker 1>Bordouin made an interesting discovery of his own. While perusing

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<v Speaker 1>the shelves of a second hand bookshop in Paris, he

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<v Speaker 1>came across a rare edition of The Diary and Sundry

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<v Speaker 1>Observations of Thomas Alva Edison. The book, in itself, a

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<v Speaker 1>well known collection of writings and ideas, originally published in

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen forty eight, seventeen years after Edison's death, was not

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<v Speaker 1>a rare find. However, when Bourdomin flicked to the back,

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<v Speaker 1>he discovered in this particular copy a chapter that he

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<v Speaker 1>had never seen before, one that had not been published

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<v Speaker 1>in the original nineteen forty eight edition. Edison was well

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<v Speaker 1>known to be a committed atheist, described by writer and

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<v Speaker 1>mathematician Martin Gardner as considering nature to be the one

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<v Speaker 1>and only supreme intelligence, indifferent and merciless in its attitude

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<v Speaker 1>toward humanity. The missing chapter rediscovered by Boudouin, dedicated as

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<v Speaker 1>it was, to theories involving the spirit world and how

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<v Speaker 1>it might one day be contacted, revealed a somewhat different

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<v Speaker 1>side to the Edison that most are familiar with, as

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<v Speaker 1>it happened. Edison had spoken openly on the subject as

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<v Speaker 1>far back as nineteen twenty, speaking to BC Forbes in

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<v Speaker 1>an interview later published in Scientific American, with the proviso

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<v Speaker 1>that if it were possible for personalities to somehow survive

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<v Speaker 1>after the death of the body, Edison stated, then it

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<v Speaker 1>is strictly logical and scientific to assume that it would

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<v Speaker 1>retain memory, intellect, and other faculties and knowledge that we

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<v Speaker 1>acquire on Earth, going on later to suggest that again,

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<v Speaker 1>if such a thing were possible, it would surely also

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<v Speaker 1>be possible that, through the careful application of science, we

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<v Speaker 1>would one day be able to construct a device capable

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<v Speaker 1>of communicating with those disembodied personalities. Some believe that Edison

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<v Speaker 1>had even begun work on such a device, variously referred

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<v Speaker 1>to as his spirit phone or necrophone. However, despite apparently

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<v Speaker 1>alluding to the proposed invention in a number of interviews,

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<v Speaker 1>no patent or plans for such a device were ever

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<v Speaker 1>found in Edison's papers. If you enjoy listening to Unexplained

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<v Speaker 1>and would like to help supporters, you can now go

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<v Speaker 1>to Unexplained podcast dot com forward slash support All donations

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<v Speaker 1>no matter how large or small are massively appreciated. All

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<v Speaker 1>elements of Unexplained are produced by me, Richard McClain smith.

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<v Speaker 1>Please subscribe and rate the show on iTunes. Feel free

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<v Speaker 1>to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding

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<v Speaker 1>the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you have

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<v Speaker 1>an explanation of your own you'd like to share. You

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<v Speaker 1>can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com or

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<v Speaker 1>on Twitter at Unexplained Pod. Now. It's time to take

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<v Speaker 1>care of yourself. To make time for you, teledoc gives

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<v Speaker 1>you access to a licensed therapist to help you get

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<v Speaker 1>back to feeling your best. Speak to a licensed therapist

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<v Speaker 1>by phone or video anytime between seven am to nine

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<v Speaker 1>pm local time, seven days a week. Teledoc Therapy is

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<v Speaker 1>available through most insurance or employers. Download the app or

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<v Speaker 1>visit teledoc dot com Forward slash Unexplained Podcast Today to

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<v Speaker 1>get started. That's t e l a d oc dot

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<v Speaker 1>com slash Unexplained Podcast