Dark Histories

Philip: The Ghost That Never Was

September 21, 2026·55 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

In the early 1970’s a small group of Canadians making up the Toronto Society for Psychical Research set out to prove the existence of ghosts and poltergeists. Such an investigation was sure to need a highly controlled experiment if it were to hold any integrity at all, and the Toronto group felt they had created just that, when they sat for several years, communicating with their very own poltergeist. There was one small twist, however, and that’s that the poltergeist never actually existed and was nothing more than the product of their own imaginations.SOURCES Owen, Iris (1976) Conjuring Up Philip: An Adventure in Psychokinesis. Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Toronto, Canada. Ingus, Thomas et al (1971) Auditory and Visual Phenomena in an Allegedly Haunted House. New Horizons Journal, Vol 1, No.1, Summer 1971. New Horizons Research Foundation, Toronto, Canada. Ingus, Thomas et al (1974) Generation of Paranormal Physical Phenomena in connection with an Imaginary "Communicator". New Horizons Journal, Vol 1, No.3, January 1974. New Horizons Research Foundation, Toronto, Canada. ------ For almost anything, head over to the podcasts hub at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠darkhistories.com ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Support the show by visiting our Patreon for bonus episodes and Early Access: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/darkhistories⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Dark Histories books are available to buy here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://author.to/darkhistories⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Dark Histories merch is available here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/3GChjk9⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Connect with us on Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://facebook.com/darkhistoriespodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Or find us on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://twitter.com/darkhistories⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/dark_histories/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Or you can contact us directly via email at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠contact@darkhistories.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or join our Discord community: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/cmGcBFf⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017 Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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