A Realistic Look at Paranormal Phenomena • Those who Produce Them & Musings on Their Nature
Levitation
LEVITATION OF OBJECTS
Many people in and out of the psi field have had the experience of sitting with others around a table in a dimly-lit room, their fingers touching the surface lightly, and getting it to move and eventually to rise. Some groups get so good at it that they can just hold their hands over the table and it will rise up to them as the boys in the “Bindelof” group did.
SELF-LEVITATION
Even rarer are those individuals who have been seen to levitate themselves both in and out of the séance setting.
British medium Jack Webber levitating table while entranced
The most recent example was the Italian Catholic priest, Padre Pio, now a saint, who allegedly rose slowly while praying. Long before him was the more impressive monk, Joseph of Copertino, who while in religious ecstasy “flew” into trees and onto altars. He was viewed and examined by hundreds, if not thousands of people including members of the Inquisition and foreign dignitaries. [See video below]
ALTERATION OF GRAVITATIONAL FIELD?
One aspect I found intriguing is that when the ecstatic Joseph ascended, it was as though he were in a bubble or vacuum. For example, one time he “flew” up into a tree and although there must have been some air flow or breeze, his robes did not stir. They remained seemingly untouched by the air until he emerged from his trance state.
This, I believe, might indicate that there was some alteration of the gravitational field around him. The same phenomenon was noticed in the phenomena of Daniel Dunglas Home, e.g., when a table tilted, not only did objects on the table not slide off, but the flame of a lit candle was observed to tilt at the same angle as the table.
SELF-LEVITATION IN SÉANCE SETTING
Within the séance setting three mediums were outstanding for causing not only objects but themselves to levitate: the aforementioned, D.D. Home (pronounced in the Scots’ way, “Hume,”) the Neapolitan Eusapia Palladino, and Indridi Indridason of Iceland.
Some of Indridason’s levitations were violent and seemed not to be under his control, in fact put him in danger of being hurt. Home’s were spectacular and ranged from raising up a foot or two while being observed by investigators to floating near the high ceiling of a room to flying out a second floor window and in again.
Nina Kulagina levitating a ball in a Russian lab
LEVITATION IN THE LAB
There are also individuals, outside the séance room, some in laboratories, who have demonstrated an ability to levitate objects such as ping-pong balls without touching them.
Psychologist Kenneth Batcheldor, in a series of experimental “séances,” devised electrical sensors to let sitters, who were working in the dark, know, by hearing a sound or seeing a light, when all four legs of the table at which they were sitting were off the floor. He came up with many insights that have been essential to investigators. (see Batcheldor)
Unfortunately there is too little of this kind of experimentation being done today especially now when more sophisticated means, such as infra-red cameras, are available.
Watch video of Professor Michael Grosso being interviewed about Joseph of Copertino
