the Scottish Society for Psychical Research

....investigating the paranormal in Scotland

Witnessing physical phenomena with the Scole Group

  by Nick Kyle

It was Sunday 1st September 1996  that I travelled with my partner, Sarah, to Scole in Norfolk to sit in a physical circle to which we had been invited.  We had heard that the group was gaining a reputation for varied and reliable phenomena.  We were not disappointed.

Where were we ‘coming from’?

Glasgow - where we had been sitting for the development of physical mediumship for several months with uncertain results. We shared a desire to witness sustained and definite physical phenomena.

I have always had a keen interest in most aspects of the paranormal, particularly Spiritualism, but I had never witnessed visual phenomena, despite having sat in spiritualist circles over four years.  If others, such as Sarah, said that they could see phenomena, when I  looked, I was never able to corroborate the sightings and I came to interpret such events as clairvoyant experiences at best.

My membership of the Scottish Society for Psychical Research both fuelled and frustrated my interest in physical mediumship as an area of interest and frankly, I was beginning to doubt whether such sightings were ever going to happen for me.  I regard myself as open-minded, but not so open that anything can fall in or out.  Anomalous phenomena need to be met with intellectual rigour and caution.  If, on the other hand, I could witness materialisation unambiguously with my own eyes, then I knew that it would have a profound impact on me.

  What did we witness?

In black-out conditions in a small basement room which I had checked beforehand, small lights like fireflies moved responsively around the circle at high speeds for around an hour, illuminating their immediate surroundings and being seen to enter solid objects, such as a crystal which glowed, or passing through a central table.  However, the most astounding event for me personally was when the lights entered the torsos of participants, including Sarah, producing internal sensations.  I had never seen such ‘energy lights’, though others had claimed to have seen them in my company. Now I could observe them, inches from my face or glowing in the palm of my hand.  Even if David Copperfield himself could have faked such a light show, I do not think that he could have tickled the inside of my partner’s ribcage! Sarah’s corroboration held staggering implications for me.  

I also witnessed:  a materialised hand which moved a bowl; a voice which seemed to converse with us from above the table in the centre of the room;  Sarah  was levitated in her chair;  bells rang;  several people felt touching (not by other participants), including me; all accompanied by remarks which were attributed by our host to spirit entities communicating through the three trance mediums present.

  What has happened since?

The long journey home that evening was a high speed buzz of chatter, as we tried to process what we had experienced.  

Years later, it is still a major reference point for us, especially since a couple who also travelled from Scotland subsequently joined our home circle.  A piece of white quartz crystal that we brought back with us and which we had been told had been ‘energised’, glowed and sparked during two of our subsequent sittings.