One of the difficulties with discouraging bogus claims of the paranormal is the profit motive.
A lot of it, of course, is that the money that stands to be made can be significant. There's not only the possibility of writing about alleged supernatural encounters, and/or making films about them, there's also paranormal tourism -- and I'm not just talking about the "ghost walks" that happen pretty much every night in every big city the world over.
I ran into a good example of this just yesterday when I happened upon a link to the story of the "Black Monk of Pontefract." This apparition has been called "the most violent poltergeist in Britain," and is seen at 30 East Drive, Chequerfield Estate, Pontefract, West Yorkshire.
The story began when a couple named Jean and Joe Pritchard, and their children Phillip and Diane, moved into the house in 1966. Shortly afterward, the entire family -- along with Jean's mother Mrs. Scholes, and a neighbor named Marie Kelly -- started experiencing bizarre occurrences. Sometimes when the kitchen tap was turned on, green foam came out instead of water. A wardrobe in Phillip's room suddenly started swaying back and forth, thumping on the floor. Puddles of water appeared in various locations around the house. Scariest of all, Marie Kelly was locking up the house -- she was looking after it while the Pritchards were away -- and found that Joe and Jean's wedding photograph had been slashed.
There was a lull for a while, but soon events picked up again, and in fact got way worse. Food left on counters showed bite marks. Light switches flickered on and off with no one there. The family members heard footsteps, and saw objects thrown through the air. Worst of all was when the local vicar came and tried to talk to the culprit -- and a candlestick floated up into the air, followed by the entire china closet falling over, smashing everything inside.
The haunting had numerous witnesses. Joe Pritchard's sister Maude Peerce, a vocal disbeliever in paranormal phenomena, said as much while in the house -- and the next thing she knew, an unseen hand had dumped an entire pitcher of milk on her. René Holden, Jean Pritchard's sister-in-law, saw a whole carton of eggs fly through the air and smash against the kitchen wall.
It was only after this had been going on for some time that the Pritchards actually saw the entity itself. It was, they said, a figure wearing a dark robe and cowl, like a monk's habit. This was the point that the paranormal investigators got involved, in the person of Tom Cuniff of the Doncaster Psychical Research Group. He got made contact with the perpetrator, he said -- it was the ghost of a monk who had been hanged during the reign of Henry VIII for the rape and murder of a teenage girl, and whose angry spirit still resided there. It even got the attention of novelist Colin Wilson, who visited the house in 1980. "The ground itself contains some peculiar force that favours 'manifestations,'" Wilson wrote. "The early haunting was triggered by Phillip and by his psychological tension. The 'entity' remained in the area until Diane – who herself seems to possess undeveloped mediumistic powers – could provide the energy it needed to manifest itself."
The house has figured prominently in books and at least one film. But here's where the profit motive comes in; shortly after the film (When the Lights Went Out) was released, producer Bill Bungay bought the house for £80,000 -- and rents it out to thrill-seekers and paranormal investigators for a cool £300 per person per night.
It's currently booked up two years ahead, with a waiting list as long as your arm, despite the fact that you have to sign a hold-harmless waiver before you can stay there.
Okay, so what's going on here?
As I've said many times before, I'm not saying the paranormal is impossible. Thus far, the evidence I've seen does not meet the minimum standard that would be required to convince a rationalist skeptic, but that's as far as I'll go. Present me with better quality evidence, and I'll have no choice but to change my mind.
Here, though... I see very little that couldn't be accomplished by fakery. If it is a hoax, which of the eyewitnesses were dupes and which were in cahoots with the perpetrators is anyone's guess; I'm not going to point any fingers. I've just seen too many examples of "True Tales of the Supernatural" that turned out to be some mix of trickery and gullibility to dismiss the possibility out of hand. And considering how many honest-to-goodness skeptics are out there, willing to investigate, you'd think if there really was a honest-to-goodness haunting that was this blatant and in-your-face, it'd be a shoo-in to win someone James Randi's million-dollar prize for proving a paranormal claim under scientifically-acceptable conditions.
So I'm still dubious. Especially -- to return to my original point -- considering how much money there is to be made from the Black Monk's existence.
Anyhow, that's our creepy tale for the day. Even if I'm not convinced by it. And if I end up getting pelted by eggs or having my china closet fall over today, I guess it's no more than I deserve.
