A research group led by Dr. A.R.G. Owen in Toronto, Canada, in the early 1970s created a “ghost.”
Owen (1919–2003) was a Cambridge-educated mathematician and geneticist who became a parapsychology researcher for the non-profit New Horizons Research Foundation in Toronto. He was well-known for his poltergeist research, which suggested poltergeist activity may be the result of psychokinesis.
Psychokinesis, or telekinesis, is the purported ability of the mind to influence a physical system; some people today still support the theory that poltergeists are the result of people experiencing emotional disturbances and psychokinetically causing physical disturbances in their homes.
Owen wondered if “ghost” activity in general may be caused by psychokinesis–if people who have had ghostly encounters have created them.
The research group created a fictitious character, Philip, and tried to contact him through a seance. They constructed his life in detail beforehand: he was a 17th century English aristocrat whose wife discovered his mistress and had her burned as a witch.
