Season 06 Episode 4 Extra: Strange Games and Funky Things

or other, didn't make it into the previous show. In the last episode, The Widening Gyre, we heard the remarkable story of the Hodgson family and the strange events that plagued them in their home at two hundred and eighty four Green Street in Endfield in the late nineteen seventies in what is commonly referred to as the Enfield Poltergeist. Their story is often cited as one of the most

compelling examples of apparent poltergeist activity on record. Despite the story being told in three parts, there was so much that took place over the year or so that the incidents occurred, it simply wasn't possible to fit it all in. One element that would have been fun to include was Maurice Gross's Road of a Tests, in which he attempted to capture the voices of the debt on his tape recorder.

On one occasion, while alone in the kitchen, Maurice sat down with the tape recorder and asked, if there is an entity here, will you please communicate by speaking directly into the microphone. When playing the tape back, it is said that the word no was heard in a clear whisper in quick response to the question. Another time, Guy Playfair had tried to do the same thing by leaving a tape recorder running in the main bedroom while the

Hodgsons were downstairs listening back to the tape. Later, Guy reportedly heard what he believed could potentially have been a voice saying here I come and hello. Another element that I wasn't quite able to give too much attention to was the constant questioning between the two investigators as to whether their presence in the house was actually prolonging the

disturbances rather than helping them to come to an end. Certainly, it seems both Guy and Morris felt genuine compassion and concern for the family, and despite their own personal interest in wanting to investigate the possibility of the paranormal, both wanted above all to help bring an end to the unusual activity. And though it's impossible to say whether the added attention they brought to it all made things worse or not. They would often find ways to show their

support for the family whenever they could. In December nineteen seventy seven, just as things were really coming to a head, Guy invited twenty two year old Matthew Manning to the Hodgson's home to speak with the children about his own experience with apparent poltergeists. Those experiences first began in the nineteen sixties, when Manning was only a boy. By nineteen seventy seven, however, he was firmly established as the UK's

most famous proponent of apparent psychic phenomena. In the summer of nineteen seventy four, bunkered down in a lab at the New Horizon's Research Foundation in Toronto, Canada, a nineteen year old Matthew Manning sits quietly on a chair as the men in white coats busy themselves around him. With everything ready, Doctor Joel Whitten, under the guidance of doctor George Owen, takes his place behind the computer monitor and after some final checks, turns his attention back to Matthew.

Try not to be too nervous, he says, as he places the electro and cephalerm sense a strap around Matthew's head. Then picking up an ordinary household cylinder key from a nearby table, Witten places it in Matthew's hands, then steps back to join Owen behind the monitor. Now says Witten to Matthew, switch on your power. The young man with long dark hair and van Dyke beard closes his eyes

and begins to focus. Just then a strange pattern emerges on the monitor, displaying a sudden spike of brainwave activity. Only it isn't like anything that Witten or Owen has ever seen before. In fact, only one other scientist who is present at the time has seen anything like it, when he'd been observing the brain function of a patient

in the aftermath of a severe psychotropic drug overdose. The sudden spike of activity lasts for twenty seconds, after which Matthew opens his eyes and holds out his hand to reveal the key that is now ever so slightly bent in the middle at a fifteen degree angle. It was back in nineteen sixty seven that doctor George Owen was first introduced to Matthew Manning, or more precisely, to the

Manning family. It was then that Matthew's father, Deryck, first became aware of objects seemingly moving of their own accord around the family's home in Shelford, in the southeast of England. It started early one morning in February nineteen sixty seven, when Derrick came downstairs to refuel the fire, only to find an old tankard of his lying in the middle of the living room. The tankard, which usually sat on a shelf at the far end of the room, had no reason to have ended up where it was unless

someone had deliberately placed it there. After asking his wife, Valerie and their three children, eleven year old Matthew, eight year old Rosalind and six year old Steve if any of them had left it there, all claimed not to have a clue what he was talking about. When the tankard appeared on the floor three more times in the following week, Derrick had the instinctive feeling that something other

worldly was taking place. This feeling only intensified when, over the next week or so, more items from furniture to ashtrays and vases were also found to have seemingly moved on their own accord. Strangely, the activity would always take place between seven and seven thirty am in the morning, when Derrick was often the only member of the family awake at the time. Not knowing who to speak to about it, Derek approached the local police, who suggested he

contact doctor Owen. At the time, Owen was a lecturer on the subject of genetics at nearby Cambridge University, while also a member of the Cambridge Psychical Research Society. Recognizing what he thought to be the telltale science of potential poltergeist activity, Owen agreed to visit the Mannings to see it for himself one foggy morning. After driving up to the village of Shelford, Owen parted car some distance from

the Mannings house. Then, making sure not to alert the family to his presence, he quietly made his way to the property at six thirty am. He positioned himself outside the living room window, then simply watched for any sign of movement inside. When forty five minutes had passed, having seen nothing untoward, Owen made his way to the front door and let himself into the house. By the time he'd reached the living room only seconds later, a number

of objects inside it had moved. It took me a long time to realize that it isn't the bed or even the mattress necessarily that makes for the perfect sleeping experience. It's the sheets. Now. I might not be sure of much in life, but this I can guarantee you that feeling when you get home from a stay at your parents house or a night at a fancy hotel. If you're so lucky and your bed just doesn't feel the same,

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and Branch dot com. Promo code unexplained. It wasn't long before the family began hearing strange sounds throughout the house, from the occasional knocking on walls to high pitched pinging sounds like beads being thrown against glass. After spending more time with the family, doctor Owen came to the conclusion that one of the children were unwittingly responsible for the unusual act civity, and suggested to Derek and Valerie that they be removed from the house for a week to

test out his theory. During that time, the strange events ceased completely. When the children returned, the unseen movement of random objects continued just as it had left off, with as many as eleven various items being found to have moved in the space of fifteen minutes in one room

when apparently nobody was near them at the time. With Matthew being the oldest child and on the cusp of puberty, doctor Owen began to speculate that he was the true focus of the events, though things petered out for a time. In September nineteen sixty eight, Matthew was sent away to boarding school. It was there in a dormitory one night that a number of pupils were woken by a loud, clattering noise, realizing with horror that one of the bunk beds was shaking back and forth of its own accord.

Within days, beds were being moved across the floor by apparently unseen forces, while lights would appear randomly on the dormitory walls at night that were warm to the touch, and soon objects were being thrown around the premises, with pupils claiming to be frequently showered by broken crockery and glass that appeared to materialize from out of nowhere. The only common denominator, it seemed, was that Michael was often

nearby at the time. Things became so traumatic for some of Matthew's fellow pupils that his head teacher made arrangements to have him removed from the school. However, after being convinced that Matthew wasn't in control of the events, it was agreed to let him stay. As a compromise, Matthew was ordered to recite a banishment spell in his dormitory

every night, but the peculiar activity continued unabated. Later, Matthew claimed to be sitting at his desk one morning planning to write an essay when he felt his hand suddenly taken over by an exterior force. He could only watch in amazement as his hand moved across the page, while word after word came flowing from his pen, none of

which he said he was responsible for. These episodes of automatic writing soon extended to automatic drawing, in which Matthew, who had no demonstrable artistic skill prior to this, was seemingly able to churn out pieces of art in the style of such buried artists as Albrecht Dura and Pablo

Picasso in a matter of minutes. A further development had Matthew one day claiming that a series of old fashioned cursive signet had just suddenly appeared on the ceiling and walls of his bedroom, apparently written by individuals who died hundreds of years before. In the following days, more signatures would mysteriously appear, with the number eventually totaling six hundred and sixteen, with so many bearing witness to Matthew's supposed

unusual abilities. It wasn't long before he came to the attention of the wider paranormal community at only eighteen years of age. With the support of doctor Owen, Matthew was invited to write a book about all the extraordinary events of his young life so far, titled The Link and published in nineteen seventy four. It would eventually go on

to become a best seller. As Manning's fame and popularity began to rise, he went on a national tour and volunteered to undertake hundreds of laboratory tests, many of which appeared to confirm that Manning was indeed able to exert invisible forces on the environment around him. Many others, however, maintain that Manning's exploits were simply the result of fraudulent behavior. For his part, Matthew Manning, who today can be found offering his services as a psychic healer, maintains that his

abilities are very much genuine. If you enjoy Unexplained and would like to help supporters, you can now do so via Patreon. To receive access to add three episodes. Just go to patron dot com forward slash Unexplained Pod to sign up. Unexplained. The book and audiobook, featuring ten stories that have never before been covered on the show, is now available to buy worldwide. You can purchase through Amazon,

Barnes and Noble, and Waterstones, among other bookstores. All elements have Unexplained, including the show's music, are produced by me Richard McClain smith. Please subscribe and rate the show wherever you listen to podcasts, and feel free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of

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