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Enfield poltergeist investigator dies
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 LONDON. The death of Maurice Grosse on Saturday, 14 October, at the age of 90, comes almost 30 years after he was asked by the Society for Psychical Research to investigate happenings in the Hodgson family home. The case became known as “the Enfield poltergeist”.
He and a fellow SPR investigator, writer Guy Lyon Playfair, spent two years studying the case and were convinced that some of the phenomena they saw and recorded at a house in Green Street, in the north London suburb of Enfield, were genuine. But they also conceded that one or more of the four Harper children could have been responsible for some of the events.
Playfair told the full story of this extraordinary case in This House is Haunted: Investigation of the Enfield Poltergeist.
By the time Grosse arrived at the home of the Hodgson family on 5 September 1977, police officers and reporters from the Daily Mirror had witnessed the inexplicable movement of objects, such as toys being thrown across the room or furniture moving, and heard knockings on the wall – an almost daily occurrence. One of the children, Janet, also claimed to be “thrown” out of bed, but sceptics argued that photos of her “levitating” could have been simply the result of her leaping from her bed.
Adding to the mystery, radio and TV crews who tried to capture the phenomena, found that their equipment suddenly stopped working or tapes were mysteriously erased.
One of the strangest aspects of the case was the development of voices speaking through Janet, one of the children around whom most of the poltergeist phenomena, including metal bending, appeared to be centred.
One voice claiming to be “Bill” said he had once lived in the house. He spoke in a deep, gravely male voice through which could have been produced by 11-year-old Janet, using a second set of vocal chords that we all have but seldom use. Despite speaking in this voice for many hours her normal voice was not damaged.
 Among other SPR researchers who investigated the case for short periods were John Beloff (left) who later became SPR president – he died on 1 June this year – and Anita Gregory, who caught the children cheating. She pointed out that the “poltergeist” only performed when she turned her back on the youngsters. Two of the Hodgson children later confessed to newspapers that they had tricked everyone ... but later, in a distressed state, they retracted. [“Psychical Research and the Legacy of John Beloff” is the subject of the SPR's 51st Study Day, which will be held in London on 21 October. For more information, click here.]
Some sceptics argue that Grosse, whose own daughter, also named Janet, had died a year earlier in a car accident, was predisposed towards believing that the case could provide evidence of an after-life. But it must not be forgotten that many others – including police and journalists – who were not newly-bereaved also saw things they could not explain.
Grosse, who went on the investigate several other hauntings and poltergeist cases, believed his role as a psychical researcher was as much about helping and counselling families experiencing inexplicable happenings, as it was about proving the genuineness or otherwise of the phenomena.
The Enfield Poltergeist Case demonstrates how difficult it is for psychical researchers to produce evidence of paranormality that satisfies everyone. It certainly divided SPR members into two camps – believers and sceptics. But the two main investigators, Grosse and Playfair, were better placed than most to make their judgment, and they were both on the side of the believers.
Maurice Grosse accepted the children tried to trick observers at times, but pointed out that what they did was easily recognised and was never as impressive as the genuine phenomena.
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Posted on Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Category: Ghosts
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