The Skeptics Society & Skeptic magazine

Episode Notes for
The Columbus Poltergeist
(featuring James Randi)

FRAME 25: Famous photo of Tina Resch and the “flying phone.” Copyright © 1984 by The Dispatch Printing Company. Photographer: Fred Shannon.

James Randi

Early in March of 1984, the Ohio newspaper The Columbus Dispatch began to tell the tale of a 14 year old girl who was undergoing a terrible ordeal. Objects in her house began to fly across the room and smash. Clocks ran faster than normal. Silverware and china flew and broke. Several witnesses reported seeing these terrifying events and a newspaper man caught photos of a telephone flying through the air in front of the frightened teen.

Tina Resch, a foster child, was in the care of a couple who, over the course of 31 years would take care of over 250 foster children. Was she just seeking attention? Or was she being plagued by the terrifying paranormal phenomena known as a poltergeist?

We talk with James “The Amazing” Randi on his recollections of this case and on the tragic life of a poltergeist victim. Randi highlights the case in his upcoming book, A Magician in the Laboratory (digital excerpt).

Additional Reading

• Tina Resch
• The Tina Resch (Christina Boyer) legal case
• William Roll, Parapsychologist
• The Guyra Ghost (Australian Poltergeist)
• The Enfield Ghost (Australian Poltergeist)
• Poltergeist (The Skeptic’s Dictionary)

Music

• Restless Spirits: Underscore by David Beard
• Restless Spirits: Beat C by David Beard
• Churchyard by David Beard
• Monstertalk Theme: Monster
  by Peach Stealing Monkeys

Episode Transcript

Read a complete transcript of this episode

The views expressed on this program are not necessarily the views of the Skeptics Society or Skeptic magazine.