Colin Evans (medium)
Colin Evans was an early 20th century Welsh Spiritualist medium who claimed to have the ability to levitate but was discovered to be a fraud.
Levitation
In a flash-illuminated picture taken at a seance in Wortley Hall, Finsbury Park in 1937 Evans can be seen "levitating" in mid air. Evans was later discovered to be a fraud as a cord leading from a device in his hand has indicated that it was himself who triggered the flash-photograph and that all he he had done was jump from his chair into the air and taken the photograph to pretend he had levitated.[1] He peformed in complete darkness so that sitters in the seance could not see what he was doing.[2] Magicians have pointed out that Evan's blurred feet in the photographs are proof that he simply jumped high into the air.[3]
In another seance held at North Gate Mansons, Regent's Park in 1938 Evans performed the same trick. The sitters were not happy and Evans had to return the money to the sitters who had paid him.[4]
References
- ^ Joe Nickell. (2010). Camera Clues: A Handbook for Photographic Investigation. pp. 177-178
- ^ John F. Michell, Bob Rickard, Robert J. M. Rickard. (2000). Unexplained Phenomena: A Rough Guide Special. p. 82
- ^ Life Magazine. London Medium Snaps His Own Levitation. 4 July. 1938
- ^ Harry Price. (1939). Fifty Years of Psychical Research. p. 199