Welcome to Haunted Road, a production of IHeart Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Manky.

Listener discretion is advised.

What if you could make a ghost?

In 1972, an experiment conducted by a Toronto-based Parapsychological Association, led by mathematical geneticist Dr. A. R. Owen,

and overseen by psychologist Dr. Joel Whitten, attempted to determine if that was indeed possible.

The test group consisted of folks like the former chairperson of Menza, a few engineers, a sociology student, an accountant,

and a bookkeeper.

Together, the group invented a fictional character named Philip Aylesford.

His made-up background included being described as a 17th century English aristocrat,

who lived during the reign of Oliver Cromwell. His story included

a tragic love affair, an unjust execution of his beloved, and his eventual suicide. The participants

who were aware that Philip was a creation of their imagination conducted regular seance-type sessions.

They attempted to communicate with Philip through these

sessions, reciting his history over and over. Over time, various phenomena such as raps and knocks

in response to questions and movements of the table were interpreted as Philip's presence

and interaction, despite knowing he was not real.

The experiment suggested that a group's collective belief and focused intent could induce intelligent, interactive, paranormal activity,

which raised the question, could paranormal phenomena be attributed to psychological or unconscious processes

rather than, well, ghosts?

I'm Amy Bruny, and this is Haunted Road.

On Plymouth Street in Middleboro, Massachusetts, a Georgian-style two-story house sits behind a wide lawn.

It's surrounded by leafy trees and green grass with some distance between the front door and the street.

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