And, on the subject of animal news, it’s the the fourth anniversary of when the Gloucestershire alpaca murderers (aka the Animal and Plant Health Agency) did deliberately, callously, and with beastliness aforethought murder a lovely, innocent furry mammal
![A bizarre photoshop of “Geronimo, The Peoples [sic] Alpaca, 6th February 2013- 31st August 2021”, showing his face inside a neon purple heart shape between two purple candles](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vckf3haopb3yncclmf7o2m3f/bafkreibtwa67var3quevngsdhmewlo3ltjcfmrn5v7npr6altwsr6wci2q@jpeg)
And, of course, it’s the 28th anniversary of the greatest of all newspaper corrections (with apologies to @seamas.bsky.social who traditionally posts this, but it’s 10.39, and I can only wait so long)
OMG
But the most exciting news of the day is – yes, of course – it’s the 48th anniversary of the beginning of The Enfield Haunting, when a COMPLETELY REAL poltergeist moved furniture, made knocking noises and caused children to levitate
She's just got her O Level results.
That plus a foot compression from where the poltergeist forced her to leap from the bed.
Good spot
No, of course, she isn’t just jumping and shouting. GOOD HEAVENS, WHAT A SUGGESTION!
There had been “some eerie and unexplained knocking” the day before, but on the night of 31 August 1977, 11-year-old Janet Hodgson and her younger brother Jonny “were in their bedroom when a strange rattling began to sound” www.vice.com/en/article/4...
At this point, Mrs Hodgson called the police, who (remarkably) came, with a WPC witnessing a chair wobble. Not being able to see the malefactor, which would naturally have been an obstacle to slapping the cuffs on, they ‘took no further action’
For the next 18 months, furniture moved, objects were flung, children floated, and noises and voices were heard. Charlatans* came from across the world to investigate (*sorry, I appear to have misspelled ‘qualified psychic researchers’)
One day, the entire family was “chased out of the house ... and sought refuge with Peggy’s brother who lived up the road. While his wife Sylvia made some tea, a Lego brick appeared in front of her and dropped onto the table.” Yes, indeed: what could be more horrifying than... some Lego?
Having “realised that the entity could follow them out of the house”, they went to Clacton for a week, and merely heard a dog barking from Janet’s bed. Once back at home, psychic investigators suggested they leave pens and paper out, and QUITE BY COINCIDENCE messages began to appear
The sentence which follows that is perhaps the least surprising in that or any other account: “The writing was very similar to Janet’s”. She was also issuing “weird, gravelly sounds” and “a torrent of subconscious gobbledygook” (which makes her sound like a low-rent Linda Blair)
Then, one night, Janet heard investigator Maurice Grosse say “All we need now is the voices to talk”, and QUITE BY CHANCE they began to do exactly that. A man called Joe Watson spoke, and came back the next night with a new name: Bill Wilkins. They asked JoeBill how he died
Always love how they got ‘experts’ to claim Janet couldn’t have just done the voice, would be physically impossible…like, had they *met* children? My 10 yo does that kind of creepy voice ALL THE TIME for funsies.
"Can I have a tea bag?"
Kids these days can't even levitate because of woke
Hahaha!
As the parent of a former teenager, I feel I have grasped exactly *why* poltergeists hang out around adolescents. "No, of course it wasn't me who flung several fragile family heirlooms around the room in a fit of hormonal rage. It was my imaginary friend over there".
This is sound analysis
Did nobody notice that strands of her hair are rising away from her head, as it would at the top of a jump? Levitation would surely not cause her hair to move in a way that implies more rapid movement. But, quite a sharp action picture for your regular family camera of those days.
Good point
I mean, how else in a room with the bounciest piece of furniture in the house, could someone possibly be in the air like that?
It’s so mysterious. Oh, well. I suppose we’ll never know
I LOVE THIS! That’s the day I was born. I brought evil into the world. That’s so cool.
To be fair, I used to get really excited when I saw Starsky & Hutch too 🚨
Maybe it was a poltergeist assisted jump in which case, she should have done a deal with it and become a gold medal winning athlete in the long jump or something, the old ghosty giving her a helpful shove at the right moment to sail over the sand pit thingy.
All I see is someone who got good A level results.
As a memorial for the time, it's absolutely perfect.
reminded me of this thanks
Only sensible explanation
can believe it's not bigger news but good for him that it's kept quiet ;3c
Haha, I wish I could claim ownership of the greatest correction of all time but it belongs to us all!
They weren't sorry until she died!
omfg
I remember that. Utter bastards.