ILLUSTRATIONS Estevan Silveira
Harry Price
ORIGIN London, England
Born in 1881 and died in 1948, this Briton was considered the first investigator to employ scientific methods to identify supernatural phenomena. He became world famous for unmasking false mediums who «invoked» spirits and demons – as he was also a magician, he had a keen eye for identifying other people’s tricks. But Price also found some authentic cases, such as the Borley house (read on page 22).
strict control
Price even created a private laboratory, the National Laboratory of Psychical Research, to try to reproduce, under control, paranormal events. Its advanced technology for the time (such as X-ray equipment, electrical motion detection systems and sound recording capable of authenticating voices) gave rise to today’s «ghost hunting kit».
Hans Bender
ORIGIN Freiburg, Germany
He lived between 1907 and 1991 and was the greatest German researcher in this area. One of his main hallmarks was his interdisciplinary approach: to eliminate possible natural causes or fraud, he maintained a team with professionals from different specializations, such as physicists, engineers, electricians and mathematicians, among others. He himself studied a bit of everything early in his career: medicine, psychology, law and even philosophy and literature.
Tell me more about that
Naturally curious, over time Bender delved into psychic investigations. In 1950, he founded the Freiburg Institute of Parapsychology, considered the most important in the world. Even so, he maintained a genuine concern for the people involved in the phenomena he studied. He conducted several interviews and accompanied them in their familiar surroundings.
Barry Taff
AGE 66 years old
ORIGIN Los Angeles, USA
One of the most renowned researchers of paranormal phenomena today, he is a consultant to the US government and intelligence agencies. Taff, who is a doctor of parapsychology, claims to have investigated more than 4,000 supernatural events. But, like most of his colleagues, he is a sceptic: most of the time, he considered that the cases stemmed from mental problems or the imagination of the victims.
Ghost X Poltergeist
Taff always resorts to thermometers, electromagnetic field meters and special cameras. He has also conducted experiments on telepathy and premonition at the University of California. As a scientist, he does not deny the existence of ghosts, but credits 99% of his real cases to poltergeists – phenomena in which the victim himself, unconsciously, is the agent of occurrences.
João Tocchetto and Rosa Maria Jaques
AGES 54 years and 67 years
ORIGIN Porto Alegre, RS
João is a publicist with extensive experience in audiovisual production agencies. Rosa, a clairvoyant, telepath, and psychic who has been in constant communication with supernatural forces since she was a child. The two form the first Brazilian couple to investigate haunted places and produce a reality show along these lines, on the YouTube channel Caça Fantasmas Visão Paranormal
dream team
The duo’s skills complement each other. In some cases, Rosa has a vision that indicates the location to be investigated – and is able to point exactly to the point on the map. In the others, the local residents themselves make the suggestion, and Rosa is able to identify when the request is serious or a joke. João takes care of the records: several meters and special cameras
Ed and Lorraine Warren
ORIGIN Bridgeport, USA
They are considered the most famous and respected in the USA. Ed, who died in 2006, was an artist, ex-Navy member and son of a police officer who used civil and military investigative techniques in his work as a self-proclaimed “demonologist”. Lorraine, now 88 years old, developed clairvoyance in childhood and confirmed whether or not the cases involved occult forces
Hollywood darlings
In a short time, the couple became recognized and found thousands of cases that became very famous. Three inspired films (Horror in Amityville, Annabelle It is conjuring). And, with the gruesome relics they amassed over the years, they created the Warren Museum of the Occult.
THIS ARTICLE IS PART OF THE REPORT HUNTERS OF THE SUPERNATURAL. CHECK OUT OTHER PARTS:
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SOURCESBooksThe Poltergeistby William G. Roll,Spontaneous Psychokinesia Phenomenaby Carlos Alberto Tinoco,The Encyclopedia of Demons and Demonologyby Rosemary GuilleyThe Demonologist: The Extraordinary Career of Ed and Lorraine Warren, by Gerald Brittle; documentariesThe Ghost Huntersfrom the BBC,Mysteries at the Museumfrom the Travel Channel,Interview with Lorraine Warrenfrom FearNotTV, and episodes fromStranger Than Fiction: The Entity CaseIt isSightings: Ghost Contact; websitesdaily mail,Telegraph,Ghost Theory,Before It’s News,Atlas Obscura,History vs. Hollywood,All about Heaven,barenormality.wordpress.com,warrens.net,barrytaff.netIt isharrypricewebsite.co.uk
CONSULTANCYRosa Maria Jaques, psychic and author of the booksSpirits and Ghosts and the Paranormal: The Missing Linkand João Tocchetto de Oliveira, chief investigator of the YouTube channelGhostbusters Paranormal Sight