Paranormal Evidence: The Entity

During 1974, several researchers working out of UCLA began to investigate one of the most famous and frightening Parapsychology cases ever documented. Often referred to as a violent or extreme haunting, ‘The Entity’ investigation became famous after the 1981 release of a major film based on that case. Doctors Gaynor and Taff investigated the haunting under the auspices of Thelma Moss, a UCLA Parapsychologist. While the film highlighted the fact that the female victim of the alleged haunting was repeatedly and violently raped, it may have downplayed other events that might have provided an alternative explanation.

The film relied largely on audience imagination to fill in the blanks as the victim was sexually assaulted and highlighted the fact that most people who heard her story tended to initially discount the tale of spirit rape. However, family members, friends and those who bothered to investigate the matter more fully often witnessed the attacks themselves. Some, like her son, were hit, beaten or suffered some degree of bodily harm. The movie seemed to focus on one entity, but the case was far more complicated then that.

In real life, the victim described three entities. Two held her down and the third raped her. Black and blue marks all over her body were clear indications that she had been physically attacked and harmed. This is incredibly significant because it is almost unique in the history of the unexplained. Although there have been instances of everything from bite marks to words carved into flesh on the victims of other supernatural attacks, most of these incidents remain largely suspect when it comes to supernatural causes. ‘The Entity’ case had more then its fair share of credible witnesses to the rapes and beatings.

Beyond the terrible sexual abuse itself, one event really brought home the uniqueness of this case. During one of their visits to the home of the victim, Gaynor, Taff and others actually saw the figure of a man appear out of thin air. Gaynor gave the following statement to OMNI Magazine in the 1990s: “We saw the head take shape and then the shoulders. The light extended down to the ground until it became a full humanoid figure of greenish-white light. Then it just vanished, almost as if somebody pulled the plug. It didn’t fade away. It just vanished. Everybody was completely in awe and silent as we watched this happen.”

The appearance of the full-figured apparition always bothered me. It just wasn’t something that had ever been successfully documented during a haunting before. That, along with the sexual attacks, just didn’t fit into the normal ‘ghost’ scenario. This wasn’t an ethereal figure reenacting an event from their life or some misty spirit. It was a violent and powerful man who had full control over his victim. When asked why she thought it was a ghost that was raping her, the victim told researchers that the man just vanished after the attacks. Based on her descriptions of the perpetrator, he must have been very visible to the victim during the attacks.