The Why Files: Operation Podcast - 589: Proving the Afterlife | The Scole Experiments (STRIPPED)

Episode Date: April 20, 2025

 In 1993, four people gathered in a dark basement in Scole, England, hoping to communicate with the dead. What followed was five years of unexplained phenomena that challenged scientific understanding.  Strange lights danced in the darkness. Objects materialized from thin air. Photographs appeared on sealed film.  Scientists and professional skeptics were invited to investigate, and many left without explanations. The spirits claimed to be building a network between dimensions and warned of coming changes to humanity.  Were the Scole Experiments genuine contact with the afterlife, or an elaborate magic show perfected over 500 séances? The evidence remains controversial, but the impact on those who witnessed these events was undeniable. 

You searched for your informant, who disappeared without a trace. You knew there were witnesses, but lips were sealed. You swept the city, driving closer to the truth. While curled up on the couch with your cat. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover heart-pounding thrillers on Audible. Five people sit at a table in a dark basement, hands linked, total silence. They wait. Then, lights. Small at first, growing brighter, moving with purpose. Objects appear from nowhere, solid, real. Then came the

voices. The Skoll experiments ran for five years, 500 seances. The group made bold claims, contact with the dead, beings from other dimensions, from beyond time. Scientists and professional skeptics were invited to watch. They saw the objects and the lights. They heard the voices. The beings had a warning. But the warning wasn't for the scientists. The warning was for us. In 1993, a small English village called Skull became ground zero for contact with the dead.

Robin and Sandra Foy weren't new to the paranormal. They spent years investigating spirit communication. So did Alan and Diana Bennett. Together, they formed the Skull Experimental Group. Their lab was a simple cellar under a 17th century farmhouse called Street Farmhouse. Stone walls, low ceiling, no windows, no light pollution, no outside interference.

They always worked in total darkness. Not for show, for science. They believed spirits would only appear in a perfect isolation chamber. The group didn't use the usual tools to speak to the dead. No Ouija boards, no tarot cards, no gimmicks, no props, just a wooden table and an empty room.

Everyone wore glowing wristbands so you can always see where their hands were. No room for tricks. In the early sessions, they sat for hours in the dark, waiting, talking, sometimes singing, trying to raise the vibrations. Weeks went by without results. Then something changed. Bear became charged. Static electricity tingled their skin. The temperature dropped suddenly, eight degrees in five seconds. Then a voice spoke directly to them. The voice called itself Manu, but Manu wasn't a human spirit.

He was an entity from somewhere else. Manu said he led a team of communicators, scientists, philosophers, technicians. All had died decades or centuries ago. They called themselves the Team of Many Minds, and they had a mission to prove there was an afterlife. They would provide three types of evidence, physical, photographic, and audio, things scientists could check, evidence experts could study. But the team of many minds needed to build energy first, seance after seance,

layer upon layer. In early sessions, small lights appeared, tiny at first like fireflies, then brighter. They moved with purpose, answered questions with flashes, spelled words with patterns. The group saw what mediums had described for centuries, but this was different. This was controlled. The team of many minds gave specific instructions. Same time, same basement, same four people. No changes, no visitors. Not yet. They were building a delicate energy field. A disruption could ruin months of work.

They needed everyone to follow the rules exactly. Robin Foy kept detailed notes of everything. Time, temperature, air pressure, every light, every sound, every message. The Skull 4 weren't just seeing strange things. They were mapping them carefully. Science needed proof. The spirits promised proof. And they delivered. Session 6. A light appeared above the table. Session 7. It splits into three. By session 12, dozens of lights, dancing in the cellar, moving together, responding to thoughts, touching faces, touching hands, witnessed by all four people simultaneously. Finally, the team of many minds started sending solid objects to our world.

Metal artifacts, ancient coins, small crystals with strange markings. The Skull Group wanted more proof. The spirits accepted the challenge by ending the session with a simple instruction. They said, tomorrow, bring a camera. Look, some habits just aren't good for you. It's not you, it's them. Time to drop that old routine and upgrade to something way more refreshing. Fume is here to help you move on and look cool doing it.

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Out of thin air. Stones, crystals, old coins. The group never knew what object would appear next, but each item had a purpose. A message. Sometimes written right on the object. During one session, a brass locket appeared. Inside seemed to be empty, until it was put under a microscope. Three simple words were etched with impossible precision. Inside seemed to be empty until it was put under a microscope. Three simple words were etched with impossible precision. It read, Bridging Two Worlds.

Then came the pictures. The team of many minds told the Skull Group to bring sealed packs of Polaroid film and keep them sealed. The spirits would provide photographic evidence of the afterlife. And here's how it worked. In complete darkness, an empty Polaroid camera was placed of the afterlife. And here's how it worked. In complete darkness, an empty Polaroid camera was placed on the table. A few seconds later, the camera levitated several feet into the air. Flashes of light would appear around the camera as it slowly floated back down. Then someone loaded it with fresh film and took a picture. The Skoll group watched the photographs develop in real time. One showed a man

nobody knew. The photo came with a message. Giuseppe Rolls sends his regards. Weeks later, a researcher learned that Giuseppe Rolls was a film pioneer who worked for Polaroid. He died in 1926, decades before this experiment. His picture was never published. The photo matched the only known portrait of him, locked away in Polaroid's private archives. Photographs showed people long dead as if they were in the room with the group. Other photos showed Victorian scenes in perfect detail, ancient writing, lost civilizations. The images didn't come from light hitting film. They came from inside the film, directly changing the chemicals. Experts checked the photos and confirmed these are not double exposures, not camera tricks. The images formed inside the emulsion. Sounds got weird too. In a silent room, the group used a

simple tape recorder. They heard voices speaking multiple languages, some modern, some ancient, some unknown on Earth. Language experts studied the recordings. The voices talked about everything from philosophy to quantum physics. But one message kept coming back. We're not alone, and death isn't the end. This is an apport which arrived during the earliest days of our Skoll experiment. In fact, it's a very small object, and whilst we were sitting here, this object would arrive, just materialize, and arrive on the table.

As it arrived, that was the sort of noise it would make. Objects appeared and began moving on their own. Instruments floated in the air playing music. Heavy tables lifted off the ground. The group put glowing panels around the room to track the movements better. Everything was locked, every detail. One session stood out. A piece of film was sealed inside a locked box. An image appeared on it anyway.

A page from a newspaper that wasn't printed yet. Three days later, the paper came out. The page matched. Exactly. The spirits weren't just talking from beyond the grave. They were talking from beyond time. Robin Foy and his team weren't stupid. They knew about fake mediums, the long history of fraud. They operated under strict rules. They worked to eliminate any chance of cheating. Before every session, the room and the people were searched. Not only did the strange events continue, they got even stranger. After two years of private

sessions, the Skull Group was ready for outside witnesses. They invited members of the Society for Psychical Research, Britain's oldest, most respected paranormal group. These weren't easy believers. The SPR is made of scientists, professors, and professional skeptics. They came expecting to find fraud. Instead, they found proof. One minute you're stuck in traffic. The next you're unraveling a decades-old mystery. That's the magic of Audible, where everyday moments transform into thrilling adventures. Listen anytime, anywhere with Audible.

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There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover best-selling adventure stories on Audible. Word about the Skull Group was spreading. Strange lights, levitating objects, photos from sealed film. Their claims were getting attention. But not everyone was convinced. The Society for Psychical Research,

or SPR, decided to investigate. The SPR takes paranormal claims seriously. They've done it since 1882. Members include Nobel Prize winners, Cambridge professors, professional skeptics. These are serious people. Three of their best took the Skoll case. Professor Arthur Ellison, an electrical engineer,

Montague Keane, a career skeptic and media expert, and Professor David Fontana, a psychologist who spent years detecting fraud. The SPR didn't trust the Skoll Group. They brought their own gear and enforced strict rules, sealed the doors with tamper-proof tape, brought their own unopened film packs. The SPR searched everything, the room, the furniture, the people. The investigators confirmed the Skoll basement had no hidden spots, no secret doors, nowhere to hide helpers or equipment. Once the scientists were satisfied that this was a controlled environment, it was time to begin. 40 minutes. Nothing. The investigators were not surprised. They thought, how convenient that once there were actual scientists in the room, the so-called spirit activity stopped.

And just as the SPR was ready to claim fraud, the room got extremely cold. The familiar lights appeared. This time they responded not to the mediums in the Skull Group. The lights were reacting to the thoughts from the investigators. SPR member Montague Keane thought in German, make a triangle. The lights did.

Ellison thought, make a zigzag. The lights did. Ellison thought, make a zigzag. The lights did. All this happened without anyone saying a word. The skeptics couldn't explain this. Another session, a crystal appeared on the table. Professor Ellison held it. It was solid and cold to the touch. He asked the Skoll group if he could take it and have it investigated.

They agreed. But after Ellison left the basement, the crystal was gone. But in his pocket was a small brass plate, engraved with his name, Arthur Ellison. This was shocking because Professor Ellison never mentioned his first name. The sealed film tests were also very convincing. The scientists brought their own film. They marked the packs with invisible UV ink.

The film didn't leave their possession. The images still appeared. Faces, landscapes, ancient writing, 20 sessions, stricter rules each time. The scientists had a choice. Admit something real was happening, or accuse the Skull 4 of the best hoax in history. The investigators found no fraud, no hidden projectors, no helpers, no tricks could explain objects appearing from nowhere. Then the team of many minds began speaking directly to the scientists.

Direct voice, they called it. Voices from nowhere filled the room. They called the investigators by name, talked about their private research, answered hard questions about quantum physics, about human consciousness. The voices gave real information, stuff nobody in the room knew. Keene asked about dead relatives. The voices gave details, names, dates, private family stuff, all accurate. Ellison asked complex engineering questions. The voices answered with technical detail. The investigators recorded everything. Evidence was piling up. Something was happening in that cellar,

something that needed a scientific explanation, and the scientists didn't have one. The weirdest evidence came when the recorders were allowed. A heavy table started floating. Ellison put his whole weight on it. It stayed up, inches off the ground, with no visible support. Cameras recorded this. A voice from nowhere announced, We exist in dimensions perpendicular to yours. The recording got the voice. Clear.

Audio experts checked. It came from the middle of the room, away from everyone. After two years of tests, the SPR investigators released a report. 300 pages. Full of events that broke the rules of science. Things they couldn't explain. The SPIRIT team promised proof of life after death, and they delivered something stranger.

Proof that our universe, our entire reality, isn't what we think it is. But most disturbing were the messages, thousands of them, all pointing to the same conclusion. Instructions, predictions, warnings. And it was time for humanity to listen. Over five years, the spirits called the team of many minds sent thousands of messages,

some personal, for specific people in the room. But most were for everyone, for all of us. A clear story started to form. Our planet is on the verge of a major shift. The spirits said consciousness is more than awareness. It's more than neurons firing in your brain. Consciousness is reality itself. Because consciousness is reality, there is no such thing as death, at least not as we know it. We live and we die, but consciousness continues to evolve. This is a concept shared by many religions, that we live a short time on Earth, then we take what we learned back to this universal consciousness. Our episode about the Gateway Process revealed that the United States military was studying this concept at the Monroe Institute. The military's report

was very similar to the message being sent by the team of many minds. The spirits said our awareness has far more potential. We see three dimensions. They talked about at least seven. Their primary message concerned a major change coming to the Earth, a shift in frequency, a new energy level. They called it the crossing point. This change would alter human minds, they claimed.

New abilities would wake up. Telepathy, remote viewing, direct access to knowledge. The skull experiments were preparing a few people to lead the way. The spirits gave instructions on how we can handle the change. Meditation, ways to match the new frequency, ways to see beyond the physical world. They stressed living in harmony with nature. No more fighting. Their messages sounded like old spiritual ideas, but they also incorporated science,

advance mathematics, quantum physics. They even sent plans to create devices to help communication between worlds. One design looked like a modified crystal radio. It used geranium, a rare metal, and a semiconductor. The idea was to use the crystal to capture spirit voices, then feed the audio straight to a tape recorder. No microphone needed. Investigators looked at the plans.

The science seemed interesting, maybe even possible. The idea of inventors trying to talk to the dead isn't new. Both Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla worked on devices to try to communicate with the other side. Both Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla worked on devices to try to communicate with the other side. Tesla was convinced his spirit radio worked. But the most disturbing messages were the warnings. The spirits predicted political chaos, social collapse, climate catastrophe. Humanity wasn't in sync with Earth's energy. We can avoid the disaster if we change course, but time is running out. In 1996, the Spirit Team mentioned

something new. Contact with non-human intelligences without physical form. Entities who are interested in humanity's development, but exist in dimensions beyond our comprehension. These beings were described as watchers and guardians. Direct communication with them would be the next phase of the experiment. But how? The spirit team presented a mathematical formula that described interaction between dimensions. When Fontana showed it to quantum physicists, they confirmed it represented a model for quantum entanglement that hadn't been published yet. The formula used scientific symbols that wouldn't appear for another two years. Either the spirits were seeing the future, or they were helping create it. The SPR scientists wrote down the messages.

They got worried. The predictions about climate, politics, all were disturbingly accurate. Names, dates, places, details confirmed later by news reports. Once again, the spirits were either seeing the future or shaping it. In late 1997, the messages got urgent. The team of many minds, spirit groups, said the experiment was ending soon. They did what they came to do, built a bridge between dimensions, planted ideas in human minds. The next part would happen naturally, without the seances. They were pulling back, letting things evolve. Their final messages focused on personal choice.

Everyone must choose their path. Awareness could grow or shrink. Depends on what you focus on. Fear closes the mind. Love opens it. The future wasn't fixed. Collective thoughts shaped it. The Spirit Team's last message was simple. We are always here. The door remains open. You need only step through. After the

experiment ended, something strange happened. People around the world reported similar things. Lights in their homes. Objects appearing. Voices from empty rooms. A 2006 survey conducted by Benashi University revealed that about 70% of respondents believed they had experienced a paranormal event that impacted their lives, often in a positive manner. The Skoll energy field had spread beyond the cellar. The team of many minds built a network, and it was getting larger. So the result of the Skoll experiments can mean one of only two things.

Either this was the start of a great energy shift that would change our entire existence, or it was the greatest magic trick in history. Kids want phones. We all see it. But most devices come with risks. Social media, internet access, and content they're just not ready for. That's why Gab exists. Gab makes phones and watches specifically for kids and teens.

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seances, 1993 to 1998. That's documented. Real scientists investigated the Society for Psychical Research. They wrote a 300-page report describing things the scientists couldn't explain. But there are serious problems, big ones. First, the darkness. Always in total darkness. It blocks the main tool for observation, sight. Yes, they had glowing wristbands, but you could see where their hands were, but not what their hands were doing. The sealed film sounds like strong evidence, but even here there are issues. The investigators brought their own film, true, but the Skoll group controlled the room. The darkness gave them plenty of chances to switch film, to fake images.

No independent lab ever checked to see if the film was switched. That UV writing? Nobody checked. The group refused video recording. Big red flag. They said electronics messed with spirit energy, which is convenient. That removed the best way to document things.

When infrared cameras were finally allowed, the strange events mostly stopped. Later, investigators learned that Alan and Diana Bennett used to perform stage magic. They didn't mention this during the experiments. When asked, they admitted it, but they said their work with the spirit world was real. Magicians can do a lot in the dark. Magic experts say most skull events match old magic tricks used by fake mediums for centuries, just done very well, very patiently.

Professional magicians showed how it could work. Spirit lights, small LEDs, hidden magnets, easy to move with wristbands on. The objects appearing? Sleight of hand. Hidden pockets. The photos? Pre-exposed film. The voices from small hidden speakers. No advanced technology would be needed to pull off any of this.

Just darkness, planning, and patience. Four people working together for five years could create an extremely elaborate hoax. But why? Well, there's money in it. They charged fees for lectures. They wrote books. Remember, there's always a book. They charged for seminars and seances.

Now, I'm not saying money was their primary motivation, but plenty of money was being made. But the skeptic view has holes too. If this was fraud, it needed amazing coordination for five years straight. And strange things happened in other places, not just the Skull Cellar. Dozens of witnesses saw things, including trained scientists. Events that needed incredible skill to fake every single time. Now what about the spirit messages? Most of their predictions didn't happen. The big consciousness

shift, the planet changing, that hasn't happened yet. At least not like they said it would. So was this a five-year fraud? Not according to the investigators from the Society for Psychical Research. Until the day he died, Montague Keene believed something real happened in that basement. In fact, he died during a debate where he was defending the paranormal so vigorously he had a heart attack. Professor Ellison was more measured. He admitted he witnessed unexplained events, but he stopped short of saying there were spirits involved.

But he also said he found no evidence of fraud. Professor Fontana was also impressed and also hesitant. He couldn't explain what he experienced either, but he didn't think it proved life after death. Maybe the biggest clue is what happened after Skull. If the team of many minds really built a spirit network, we should see more proof. We should see proof everywhere. Instead, the event stopped when the Skull Group broke up. When asked what went wrong, the Skull Group said, and let me get this right, The interdimensional doorway they had established attracted interference from entities described as experimenters from the future. This interference was said to violate strict laws of space and time, leading the spirit team to advise ceasing the sessions to prevent further disturbances.

That's a quote, and that explanation sounds a little too convenient. I think the Skull Experiments were four friends putting on a spooky magic show. But I approach the story as someone who doesn't believe in ghosts. I admit that I'm biased. Still, I can't prove they were faking. Nobody could, and many tried. There may not be evidence of ghosts, but there is evidence that many people had positive experiences when they attended a Skull Seance.

We have video statements from witness after witness describing these amazing life-changing events. Some people felt reconnected to lost loved ones. Others swear that the spirits healed their illnesses. Was this all in their minds? I think so. But what does it matter what I think? The Skoll Group gave comfort to hundreds of people. Is my skepticism more valid than their actual experience?

I don't think so. Some of the people were so happy, they left the seance in tears. I don't have the right to rob anyone of that joy. Nobody does. And don't let anyone rob you of yours. Remain faithful, even as people like me remain defiant. If you believe that after we die, we go to heaven, keep believing

it. If you believe we reconnect with our loved ones, keep believing it. If you have some belief about the afterlife that gives you comfort, keep believing it. I'm willing to bet you're wrong, but I say this with all sincerity. I really want to lose that bet. truth. Like most topics we cover on The Y Files, today's was recommended by you. So if there's a

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