In the early 1970's, a ghost appeared in Toronto. The ghost was summoned by a group of people and the ghost had a lengthy history...

A member of England's aristocracy from around the mid 1600's made an appearance. He had a rather sad life of being married to one woman while being very much in love with another. Even sadder was when his wife had his love killed in a fit of jealousy and this man, in turn, unable to cope without his lady love, killed himself. This man was named Philip.

After a jump of 300 years or so, we come to the early 1970s... Eight people had regular visits with Philip then. He rapped out answers about himself on a table (one knock for yes, two knocks for no,) and even moved about the table by his own unseen force.

This ghost had all the trappings of a traditional haunt... the sad story, a tragic and sudden death and a life (as such) not quite complete.

It's no wonder Philip had some things to say and do but why was he in Toronto you may very well ask? Well, that's because Philip did not exist. He was carefully planned and designed by a group of eight people interested in the paranormal.

Working on the concept that we can "create" our own ghosts, they sat down and "built" a history and gave a name to a fictitious person. They came up with Philip.

They tried to contact their new ghost through traditional "seances" with no success. They switched tactics and instead simply gathered and talked about anything while keeping Philip in mind. After a few casual gatherings, Philip made his presence felt.

Philip, after a time, even developed moods that were evident through the movements of the table. When in a "good" mood, the table was positively energized and bounded around. When Philip wasn't himself and didn't want to answer a question, there was a scratching sound from the table.

Philip even managed to affect things other than the table. He turned on and off lights and move other things around.

The "Philip Phenomena" was even captured by the media. Several talk shows and even CBC's Man Alive came to see Philip. The table and the group were even studied at Kent State University. According to reports, the table was lifted off onto one leg and none of the university's researchers could get it back to normal no matter how much force was applied.

Some people have argued that Philip was a REAL manifestation that simply latched on to the group when they "summoned" a ghost. More people take this as proof that most ghosts and phenomena are productions of our own minds. Some say it's even sort of proof of psychokinesis and that the group's collective mental powers were what caused the phenomena.

Either way, Philip is one of the most important experiments and, no matter what one may think "he" was, ghosts of the last century.

Update April 2007

For those interested in purchasing a VHS or DVD copy of the film "PHILIP, THE IMAGINARY GHOST" which followed the progress of the original TSPR group, and experiments please contact:

Raymond International
122-33 Hazelton Avenue
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M5R 2E3
416-485-3406
Raymond-DOT-international-AT-rogers-DOT-com

You can let Bruce Raymond know that we at the TGHRS have recommended his film to all those interested in serious parapsychology studies.