Apport (paranormal)

Short description: Paranormal transference

Lajos Pap (middle), fraudulent apport medium.

In parapsychology and spiritualism, an apport is the alleged paranormal transference of an article from one place to another, or an appearance of an article from an unknown source that is often associated with poltergeist activity or séances.^[1]^[2] Apports reported during séances have been found to be the result of deliberate fraud.^[3] No medium or psychic has demonstrated the manifestation of an apport under scientifically controlled conditions.^[2]

History

A famous apport fraud is attributed to Charles Bailey (1870–1947). During a séance, Bailey produced two live birds out of thin air but was undone when the dealer who sold him the birds appeared in the crowd. Common objects that are produced are stones, flowers, perfumes, and animals. These objects are said to be "gifts" from the spirit(s).^[2]

In March 1902 in Berlin, police officers interrupted a séance of the apport medium Frau Anna Rothe. Her hands were grabbed and she was wrestled to the ground. A female police assistant physically examined Rothe and discovered 157 flowers as well as oranges and lemons hidden in her petticoat. She was arrested and charged with fraud.^[4] After a trial lasting six days she was sentenced to eighteen months imprisonment.^[5]

In 1926, Heinrich Melzer was exposed as a fraud as he was caught in the séance room with small stones attached to the back of his ears by flesh coloured tape.^[6] According to neurologist Terence Hines "Some female mediums went so far as to conceal in their vagina or anus objects to be 'apported' during the seance and gauzy fabric that would become 'ectoplasm' during the seance. These were places that Victorian gentlemen, no matter how skeptical, were highly unlikely to ask to search."^[7]

There are many cases where apports have been smuggled into the séance room.^[8] Other apport mediums that were exposed as frauds were Lajos Pap and Maria Silbert.^[9]^[10]

References

↑ "Historical Terms Glossary". http://parapsych.org/historical_terms.html.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Melton, J. Gordon (2008). The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. pp. 12–13. ISBN 9781578592098. https://archive.org/details/encyclopediareli00melt.
↑ "apport". The Skeptic's Dictionary. 2015-10-27. http://www.skepdic.com/apport.html.
↑ Treitel, Corinna (2004). A Science for the Soul: Occultism and the Genesis of the German Modern. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 165. ISBN 9780801878121.
↑ Foreign Correspondence New York Times E.T.H. (1903-04-11). "Trial of German Medium - Frau Rothe Sentenced to Eighteen Months' Imprisonment. Produced Beautiful Flowers at Her Seances - Remarkable Evidence - How the Police Exposed the Woman.". https://www.nytimes.com/1903/04/11/archives/trial-of-german-medium-frau-rothe-sentenced-to-eighteen-months.html. (Subscription content?)
↑ Pslmer, E. Clephan (2003). The Riddle of Spiritualism. Kessinger Publishing. pp. 35–39. ISBN 9780766179318.
↑ Hines, Terence (2002). Pseudoscience and the Paranormal (2nd ed.). Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books. p. 51. ISBN 9781573929790. https://archive.org/details/pseudosciencepar00hine/page/28/mode/2up?q=anus.
↑ Shepard, Leslie; Spence, Lewis; Fodor, Nandor (1984). Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology (2nd ed.). Detroit: Gale Research Company. p. 504. ISBN 9780810301962.
↑ Polidoro, Massimo (2001). Final Seance: The Strange Friendship Between Houdini and Conan Doyle. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books. p. 103. ISBN 9781573928960. https://archive.org/details/finalseance00mass.
↑ Gyimesi, Júlia (2014) (in en). Between Religion and Science: Spiritualism, Science and Early Psychology in Hungary. International Psychology, Practice and Research. pp. 1–20. https://www.academia.edu/15777560. Retrieved 20 April 2017.

External links

"Apports". The Mystica. http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/a/apports.html.

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[1] "Historical Terms Glossary". http://parapsych.org/historical_terms.html.

[Melton-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Melton, J. Gordon (2008). The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. pp. 12–13. ISBN 9781578592098. https://archive.org/details/encyclopediareli00melt.

[3] "apport". The Skeptic's Dictionary. 2015-10-27. http://www.skepdic.com/apport.html.

[4] Treitel, Corinna (2004). A Science for the Soul: Occultism and the Genesis of the German Modern. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 165. ISBN 9780801878121.

[5] Foreign Correspondence New York Times E.T.H. (1903-04-11). "Trial of German Medium - Frau Rothe Sentenced to Eighteen Months' Imprisonment. Produced Beautiful Flowers at Her Seances - Remarkable Evidence - How the Police Exposed the Woman.". https://www.nytimes.com/1903/04/11/archives/trial-of-german-medium-frau-rothe-sentenced-to-eighteen-months.html. (Subscription content?)

[6] Pslmer, E. Clephan (2003). The Riddle of Spiritualism. Kessinger Publishing. pp. 35–39. ISBN 9780766179318.

[7] Hines, Terence (2002). Pseudoscience and the Paranormal (2nd ed.). Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books. p. 51. ISBN 9781573929790. https://archive.org/details/pseudosciencepar00hine/page/28/mode/2up?q=anus.

[8] Shepard, Leslie; Spence, Lewis; Fodor, Nandor (1984). Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology (2nd ed.). Detroit: Gale Research Company. p. 504. ISBN 9780810301962.

[9] Polidoro, Massimo (2001). Final Seance: The Strange Friendship Between Houdini and Conan Doyle. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books. p. 103. ISBN 9781573928960. https://archive.org/details/finalseance00mass.

[10] Gyimesi, Júlia (2014) (in en). Between Religion and Science: Spiritualism, Science and Early Psychology in Hungary. International Psychology, Practice and Research. pp. 1–20. https://www.academia.edu/15777560. Retrieved 20 April 2017.

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v t e Parapsychology
Outline
Topics	Apparitional experience Astral projection Auras Bilocation Clairvoyance Deathbed phenomena Dermo-optical perception Dream telepathy Ectoplasm Electronic voice phenomenon Extrasensory perception Ganzfeld experiment Ghosts Kirlian photography Levitation Materialization Mediumship Near-death experience Orb Out-of-body experience Pam Reynolds case Parapsychology research at SRI Past life regression Plant perception (paranormal) Poltergeist Precognition Psychic Psychic detective Psychic reading Psychic surgery Psychokinesis Psychometry Pyrokinesis Reincarnation Remote viewing Retrocognition Second sight Sensory leakage Spoon bending Telepathy Thoughtography Xenoglossy Zener cards
Active organizations	American Society for Psychical Research Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena College of Psychic Studies Institut Métapsychique International Institute of Noetic Sciences International Association for Near-Death Studies Koestler Parapsychology Unit Parapsychological Association Parapsychology Foundation Rhine Research Center Society for Psychical Research The Ghost Club
Defunct organizations	American Psychical Institute British College of Psychic Science Cambridge Ghost Society International Club for Psychical Research International Institute for Psychical Research London Dialectical Society Metropolitan Psychical Society National Laboratory of Psychical Research Oxford Phasmatological Society Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Laboratory Society for the Study of Supernormal Pictures
People	List of parapsychologists Skeptics of parapsychology
Publications	An Experiment with Time Extrasensory Perception Irreducible Mind Journal of Near-Death Studies Journal of Parapsychology Journal of Scientific Exploration Life After Life (Moody book) Life Before Life Mental Radio Old Souls: The Scientific Evidence For Past Lives Parapsychology The Roots of Coincidence Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation Varieties of Anomalous Experience
Category Commons

Apport (paranormal)

Topic: Unsolved

Contents

History

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References

External links