What Enfield Skeptics Actually Experienced At The Hodgsons' House

Some of the most prominent critics of the Enfield case are individuals who visited the house where most of the poltergeist phenomena occurred. People like Milbourne Christopher, John Beloff, and Anita Gregory claimed to have not experienced anything at the house, and their skepticism has been cited against the case for decades. Because I've now listened to Maurice Grosse and Guy Playfair's audio cassettes and because of some other information that's recently come to light, I want to revisit the subject of what these skeptics actually experienced when they were at the house. As we'll see, their experiences have often been misrepresented, and they do more to support than to undermine the authenticity of the case.

It's useful to know the layout of the house, so go here to see a floor plan. I'll use "MG" to designate a tape from Grosse's collection and "GP" to designate one from Playfair's. MG8A is Grosse's tape 8A, GP21A is Playfair's 21A, etc.

Scientific Experiments On Janet Hodgson's Paranormality

Guy Playfair and Maurice Grosse wrote:

Carrying out fully controlled experiments in somebody else's home is not easy, especially when the home is suffering from poltergeist activity. However, at least one fully instrumented experimental PK [psychokinesis] session was held under the supervision of David Robertson with Grosse as witness. Janet was asked to deform a piece of 'unbendable' eutectic alloy without contact. On separate occasions, a pulse counter and a three-channel chart recorder produced readings that could not be accounted for. The metal sample broke while under observation. (Playfair 1980, ch. 9).

With the cooperation of Professor J. B. Hasted, it was possible to carry out a fully controlled experiment in a laboratory. Janet was taken to Birkbeck College for an experiment in which she was seated on a specially constructed weighing platform and asked to alter her weight. She was one of three subjects out of more than 20 tested who managed to produce anomalous chart readings. (Journal Of The Society For Psychical Research, vol. 55, 1988-9, "Enfield Revisited: The Evaporation Of Positive Evidence", p. 213)

I've already discussed the experiments on Janet's ability to bend metal. Watch here until 19:13. But what about the "fully controlled experiment in a laboratory"?

The Enfield Poltergeist: Anita Gregory's Skepticism

(Earlier posts in the series: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7.)

In some ways, Anita Gregory is the most formidable skeptic of the Enfield Poltergeist, even though she died in 1984. She was a prominent member of the SPR. She visited the Hodgson home during the months when the poltergeist's activity was at its height. She knew of some occasions when the Hodgson girls had faked phenomena, including on video, and she was largely responsible for publicizing that information. She knew Grosse and Playfair and often interacted with them about Enfield, including several times in the JSPR. She's the one who reviewed Playfair's book for the JSPR. She had discussions with some of the most significant witnesses in the case and used their testimony to argue against the authenticity of the Enfield phenomena. She wrote a doctoral thesis that argued against the authenticity of the Enfield case. Today's Enfield skeptics probably cite Gregory more than they cite any of the other original skeptics.

That record looks impressive at first sight. But it doesn't hold up well under closer examination.