WEBVTT - S01 Episode 4 Extra: The Victorian Ghostbusters

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Unexplained Extra with me Richard mcclained smith. For

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<v Speaker 1>the weeks in between episodes, we look at the stories that,

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<v Speaker 1>for one reason or other, didn't make it into the show.

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<v Speaker 1>In this week's episode, where Darkness Plays, we touched briefly

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<v Speaker 1>on the supernatural theories of the eminent Sir William Barrett.

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<v Speaker 1>Sir William passed away in nineteen twenty five, roughly forty

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<v Speaker 1>years previously, however, he had been a founding member of

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<v Speaker 1>a fascinating collective known as the Society for Psychical Research,

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<v Speaker 1>counting among its early members such luminary figures as Arthur

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<v Speaker 1>Conan Doyle, Alfred Lord Tennyson, and John Ruskin. The Society

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<v Speaker 1>had been established in an attempt to legitimize the investigation

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<v Speaker 1>of paranormal phenomena. Rather than dismiss reports of strange occurrencies

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<v Speaker 1>that might not tally with conventional wisdom, the Society made

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<v Speaker 1>it their mission to approach each case impartially adopting a

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<v Speaker 1>strict scientific method with each investigation. You might say they

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<v Speaker 1>were nothing less than the original Ghostbusters. The Society for

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<v Speaker 1>Psychical Research had been established in response to a peculiar

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<v Speaker 1>craze that was sweeping the Western world, a craze that

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<v Speaker 1>had its origins in a small wooden house in the

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<v Speaker 1>hamlet of Hydesville, New York. In eighteen forty eight, two

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<v Speaker 1>sisters named Kate Margaret Fox claimed to have made contact

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<v Speaker 1>with the spirit of a dead man. The sisters alleged

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<v Speaker 1>that the spirit had communicated with them through a series

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<v Speaker 1>of knocks and bangs. In short, they professed to have

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<v Speaker 1>made contact with a poltergeist, and in so doing inadvertently

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<v Speaker 1>created a movement that would come to be known as spiritualism.

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<v Speaker 1>As news of the Fox sisters incredible claims spread, it

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't long before everybody, from the Romanovs to Queen Victoria

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<v Speaker 1>were conducting seances in an attempt to replicate the apparent

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<v Speaker 1>communications with the dead. Inevitably, as the movement's popularity increased,

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<v Speaker 1>so did the number of bogus mediums, psychics and clairvoyance,

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<v Speaker 1>ever ready to take advantage of a gullible public. For

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<v Speaker 1>the Society of Psychical Research, it was these charlatans that

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<v Speaker 1>posed the biggest threat to what they believed was an

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<v Speaker 1>otherwise perfectly legitimate area of study. It wasn't until eighteen

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<v Speaker 1>eighty six that the society established itself with the publication

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<v Speaker 1>of what is now considered the first classic text of

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<v Speaker 1>Paris psychology, titled Phantasms of the Living. The book was

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<v Speaker 1>the work of three Oxbridge graduates, the psychologist Edmund Gurney,

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<v Speaker 1>the poet Frederick Myers, and author and founder of the

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<v Speaker 1>Fabian Society, Frank Podmore. The fascinating book, which can be

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<v Speaker 1>found online, provides an exhaustive study of the paranormal taking

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<v Speaker 1>in witchcraft, dreams, hallucinations, telepathy, and of course, the Poltgeist phenomena.

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<v Speaker 1>In conclusion, the authors believed that rather than describing the

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<v Speaker 1>workings of the spirits of the dead or paranormal phenomena

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<v Speaker 1>was merely the result of extrasensory perception, or, as Frederick

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<v Speaker 1>Meyer's notes, instead of describing a ghost as a dead

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<v Speaker 1>person permitted to communicate with the living, let us define

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<v Speaker 1>it as a manifestation of persistent personal energy. The trio,

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<v Speaker 1>who also went by the brilliantly titled Committee of Apparitions

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<v Speaker 1>and Haunted Houses, soon caught the attention of controversial newspaper

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<v Speaker 1>editor William Thomas Stead. Stead, a pioneer of investigative journalism,

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<v Speaker 1>is perhaps most well known for a series of articles

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<v Speaker 1>published in the Palmar Gazette exposing the dark underbelly of

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<v Speaker 1>Victorian society and its proclivity for child prostitution. The articles

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<v Speaker 1>not only helped to raise the age of consent from

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<v Speaker 1>thirteen to sixteen, but are also considered to mark the birth,

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<v Speaker 1>for better or worse, of something we now take completely

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<v Speaker 1>for granted, the power of the media to influence public opinion.

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<v Speaker 1>As a commentator on popular culture, Stead had grown increasingly

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<v Speaker 1>interested in the spiritualist movement, and so it was to

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<v Speaker 1>him that the society turned for their next extraordinary venture.

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<v Speaker 1>or employers. Download the app or visittelldoc dot com Forward

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<v Speaker 1>slash Unexplained podcast today to get started. That's teladoc dot

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<v Speaker 1>com slash Unexplained podcast. This time a team consisting of

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<v Speaker 1>Frederick Myers, Frank Podmore, Eleanor Sedgwick, and Alice Johnson, the

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<v Speaker 1>Society Secretary set about compiling the data for what would

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<v Speaker 1>become known as the Census of Hallucination. Just as an

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<v Speaker 1>aside as was regrettably standard for the time and in

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<v Speaker 1>many cases still is, the contribution of women was often

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<v Speaker 1>criminally undervalued, but this was certainly not the case in

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<v Speaker 1>the Society for Psychical Research. Eleanor Sedgwick in particular, was

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<v Speaker 1>a very highly regarded member of the Society and would

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<v Speaker 1>later be elected its first female president in nineteen o eight.

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<v Speaker 1>After six years of hard work, the Census of Hallucination

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<v Speaker 1>was finally completed and the results were published in eighteen

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<v Speaker 1>ninety five by William Stead in the pall Maw Gazette.

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<v Speaker 1>What the data revealed was nothing short of astounding. After

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<v Speaker 1>collating the responses of over seventeen thousand participants, they found

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<v Speaker 1>that as many as ten percent of respondents had experienced

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<v Speaker 1>some form of waking hallucination. After further cross checking and verification,

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<v Speaker 1>the team concluded that of the seventeen hundred reports that remained,

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<v Speaker 1>at least two percent claimed to have experienced a hallucination

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<v Speaker 1>that revealed information they were highly unlikely to have known before. Furthermore,

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<v Speaker 1>many of the people who claimed such experiences had recently

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<v Speaker 1>suffered a profound moment of crisis, suggesting that such occurrences

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<v Speaker 1>may make the mind more receptive to such an experience.

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<v Speaker 1>Although of course the validity of the research is wide

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<v Speaker 1>open for debate, it remains a fascinating document. The Society

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<v Speaker 1>for Psychical Research continues its work today, as ever, employing

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<v Speaker 1>the because of science in its tireless investigation of paranormal phenomena.

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<v Speaker 1>For the original Committee of Apparitions and Haunted Houses, their fates, however,

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<v Speaker 1>were somewhat more tragic. Edmund Gurney had stated much of

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<v Speaker 1>his reputation on his investigations into the existence of telepathy.

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<v Speaker 1>In the spring of eighteen eighty eight, he discovered his assistant,

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<v Speaker 1>George Albert Smith, had in fact faked many of his

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<v Speaker 1>successful results. Broken hearted by the deception, Gurneus believed to

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<v Speaker 1>have taken his own life in the June of that year.

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<v Speaker 1>In nineteen o seven, Frank Podmore was forced to resign

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<v Speaker 1>from a senior position in the Post Office due in

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<v Speaker 1>large part to the revelation that he was gay. Shunned

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<v Speaker 1>by his family and friends, Podmore later drowned in the

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<v Speaker 1>town of Malvern in nineteen ten. Neither his family or

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<v Speaker 1>any members of the society are believed to have attended

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<v Speaker 1>his funeral. For William Thomas Stead, his fate was sealed

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<v Speaker 1>as one of the two thousand, two hundred and twenty

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<v Speaker 1>four passengers of the maiden voyage of the Titanic, sinking

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<v Speaker 1>beneath the freezing waters of the North Atlantic Ocean on

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<v Speaker 1>the morning of April fifteenth, nineteen twelve. And as for

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<v Speaker 1>Frederic Myers, he died a peaceful death in Rome in

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen oh one, or so was thought. Surely before his death,

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<v Speaker 1>the classicist Myers had informed his friends of his intentions

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<v Speaker 1>to prove the existence of life after death by contacting

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<v Speaker 1>them from beyond the grave. One such friend was the

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<v Speaker 1>world renowned physicist Sir Oliver Lodge. Not long after Myers

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<v Speaker 1>passed away, Sir Oliver was contacted by a medium. She

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<v Speaker 1>had a message for him. She said, it's from a

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<v Speaker 1>man called Frederic Myers. What ensued over the course of

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<v Speaker 1>several years was a series of messages of supposed that

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<v Speaker 1>be relaid to mediums all over the world, none of

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<v Speaker 1>whom had previously met. The obscure, highbrow illusions and snippets

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<v Speaker 1>of Latin verse contained in the messages meant little on

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<v Speaker 1>their own, but when piece together were found to form

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<v Speaker 1>a cohesive set of communications, known as the Cross Correspondences,

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<v Speaker 1>it is considered by many a compelling proof of life

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<v Speaker 1>after death. All elements of Unexplained are produced by me

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<v Speaker 1>Richard McClain smith. Please subscribe and rate the show on iTunes.

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<v Speaker 1>Feel free to get in touch with any thoughts or

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

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

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

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

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<v Speaker 1>take care of yourself to make time for you. Teledoc

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

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

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<v Speaker 1>therapist by phone or video any time between seven a m.

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<v Speaker 1>To nine p m Local time, seven days a week.

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<v Speaker 1>Teledoc Therapy is available through most insurance or employers. Download

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<v Speaker 1>the app, or visit teledoc dot com Forward slash Unexplained

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<v Speaker 1>podcast Today to get started. That's t e l a

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<v Speaker 1>d oc dot com slash Unexplained podcast