Here is a story witnessed by authorities who wish that they did not have to admit to the truth of it!
Poltergeist’s on the prowl.
One of the most outstanding and sustained cases of poltergeistic phenomena yet recorded has taken place recently at the town of Itapura, in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. It is certainly among the best attested. Witnesses included a police inspector, an attorney general, a priest, and several physicians and schoolmasters.
Clergy, lawyers and police are witnesses. 200 stones bombard house in Brazil. Then food and cutlery fly.
The phenomena occurred at an old mansion owned by Senor Cid de Ulhoa Cento. For forty days stones and household objects rained down on family and visitors alike. The phenomena were investigated by a well-known journalist from the Brazilian capital, Audalio Dantas, and a photographer Ronaldo Morass, for a leading magazine, “O Cruzeiro.” This magazine is certainlny not biased towards Spiritualism, for it is known to have a Roman Catholic trend. These are the remarkable, reliably attested and documented events.
On Sunday, April 12, 1959, the whole family Ulhoa Canto was staying at home. Sr. Cid was reading a paper in the pantry, while his wife, Dora Regina, was preparing lunch. Besides the couple, the family consists of three children and Francisca, the female cook. It was about 10 a.m. when suddenly, two stones fell violently in the passage. Dona Regina became frightened for one of the children might have been hit by the stones. Sr. Cid made his way to the passage, examined the stones and came to the conclusion that they must have been thrown from the courtyard. He went out to the court, but didn’t find anybody there. He decided to carry out a more thorough inspection, studying the possibility of a joke played on them, perhaps by a “good-humoured friend.” Nevertheless, he couldn’t find anything of the sort.
He was still pondering over the affair, when he heard someone crying in the house. It meant the falling of new stones. On this occasion, stones were falling not only in the passage, but also in the kitchen, the pantry, the drawing room and all the other rooms, except the one where two of the children, the younger ones, were sleeping. Dona Regina and the servant became frightened. Both of them had the impression that the stones had been falling from the garret, passing through the ceiling. Though the whole situation seemed to be very strange, Sr. Cid continued to be calm. He went on examining carefully the whole house, closed all the doors and windows, examined the ceiling on the possible presence of holes in it.
All of them were expecting that the strange events should continue, when, after the elapse of a few minutes, the falling of stones “broke out” again. This time, however, they were not only falling, but hitting the walls, rolling about on the floor and springing up in the air. But even this “bombardment” didn’t disuade Sr. Cid from continuing to investigate the situation in order to find the solution of the mystery.
An interesting detail: all the stones were warm as if they had been picked up in the very moment in the courtyard. The “bombardment” went on again with short intervals. Besides stones, also splinters of bricks and tiles began to fall. Two hours had elapsed without Sr. Cid having arrived at any conclusion as to the explanation of the strange “bombardment.” Finally, he decided to call some neighbours. Sr. Alfredo Pierossi and his wife were the first to arrive. Scarcely had they arrived when the strange happenings renewed again. Other neighbours were also arriving only to witness, stupified, the continuous rain of stones. The “bombardment” went on in the presence of all until 16.30 p.m., when about 200 pieces of stones were found scattered all over the house. Not one of the stones hit anybody or broke any glass.
Sr. Cid, who is a respected landowner in Itapira, made an appeal to those who were present: he asked them to make no comments on the facts in order to avoid his home getting over-crowded. But on the next day and the subsequent days, the phenomena went on occurring, becoming stranger and stranger every time. The whole town started commenting on the “haunted house.”
The next day, the phenomena appeared again at the same hour, but, this time, they were even stranger: instead of stones, the “bombardment” was carried out with kitchen utensils, pots, vegetables. Some particular thing filled the people, who were present, with horror. The shopping bought that morning on the market, was kept in a closed cupboard in the kitchen. Suddenly, a piece of mandioca [cassava] leapt on the floor. Glances of surprise were exchanged, while Sr. Cid, in a relatively calm state of mind, caught the mandioca and put it back into the cupboard, isolated from the others that were in the basket. But, as soon as he turned his back, after having shut the cupboard, three pieces of mandioca leapt in front of him, falling to pieces upon the floor. He turned quickly to the cupboard that was still shut, and, opening it, found that the mandioca he had put in the cupboard separated from the others was gone.
Sr. Cid de Ulhoa Canto is a Catholic, one whose faith fully keeps the commandments of the Church. Therefore, he decided to call the Rev. Henrique de Morais Matos, vicar of the parish, to bless the house. The vicar came on the afternoon of the second day. Scarcely had he arrived, when the mysterious “flights” began to take place again. Being a zealous priest, the Rev. Henrique, instead of losing his nerve, payed careful attention to the trajectory of the flying objects. A berry of red pepper (paprika) hit the chair, on which he had just been sitting an instant after he had stood up from it. He decided to bless the house. The next day, at the same hour, the “bombardment” began to take place again. The vicar was invited for the second time. This was the third day.
The Rev. Henrique did not find any explanation to the phenomena of which he had been a witness, and, therefore, he made up his mind to administer the rite of exorcism that is applied only on exceptional occasions. However, before employing this remedy, the vicar carried out what could be called a “final test”. Having learnt of the fact that refrigerated fruits had been appearing all over the house, he resolved to take a note of everything that was in the refrigerator. Among other things, there was a cooked and shelled egg in the refrigerator. He shut the refrigerator that was in the kitchen and went to the pantry, from where he could observe what was going on. He soon took sight of something that was flying quickly in horizontal direction and struck against the opposite wall in the pantry. It was an egg without the shell – “rather cold.” He ran to the refrigerator, opened it and found that the egg he had seen some moments ago was gone. After the exorcism, the phenomena ceased to appear for 11 days. But this proved to be but a truce, for the flight of objects in the mansion went on again. All the previous phenomena reappeared. The exorcism was administered two other times. It meant short “truces” and new “bombardments.”
Sr. Cid was continuing his investigations as to the causes of the happenings. Since many of the phenomena were happening near the servant, he began scrutinising her. Other persons were doing the same. All of them came to the conclusion that the possibility of a trick was absolutely excluded. Spiritualists soon drew the conclusion that Francisca was endowed with a “strong mediumistic force that attracts manifestations.” They must be simply “joker-minded spirits.” But the servant protested against the accusations, saying that she was not a Spiritualist, but a Catholic and she didn’t want to know anything “of these things.”
The happenings shocked the whole town. “One can count on the fingers,” says “O Cruzeiro,” “those persons among the 17,000 inhabitants of Itapira who doubt the authenticity of the facts. The authors of the magazine report heard the evidence of several eye-witnesses, all of them enjoying general respect in the town.”
The first evidence was given by Sr. Aroldo Costa, inspector of the local police. Three days after the “bombardment” had begun, somebody rang up the police. It was Sr. Joao Ribiero, Sr. Cid’s neighbour, complaining against the throwing of stones upon his house. The inspector, attending the case, came to the conclusion that the stones were coming from Sr. Cid’s courtyard. The inspector met Sr. Cid in the street, and was told about all the happenings that were going on in the house. The inspector made up his mind to investigate the case. He did everything that a careful policeman is supposed to do in similar cases: examined all nooks of the house and looked after all the movements of the servant. Once a knife fell in the kitchen.
This is the police inspector’s evidence: “The attorney general, Dr. Jose Carlos was also present. He picked up the knife, put it into the cupboard, without forgetting to lock it up. After some moments a metallic sound was heard again. It was the same knife, falling on the floor. It was put back on its place, but it fell again. While this was going on in the kitchen, stones and fruits were simultaneously falling in various other apartments of the house.”
But all this was not sufficient for the inspector to draw conclusion as to the existence of “super-natural phenomena.” He sat down in the pantry, at a place, from where he could observe everything that would happen not only in his neighbourhood, but also in the kitchen. There was an interval. In a joking tone, Mr Aroldo Costa said he would like to see a more convincing “demonstration,” perhaps a lemon that would hit his head. Scarcely had he uttered these words when he saw something falling upon the refrigerator. He ran there to examine it, but didn’t find anything. Hardly a moment had elapsed when he felt something – slightly touching his head and then rolling away on the floor. It was a lemon, and, moreover, a very cold one. Sr. Paulo Serra, a lawyer, who was standing by, commented: “It is a disrespect to authority.”
The Rev. Henrique de Morais Matos is very moderate and careful in his statements. Nevertheless, he doesn’t deny to have witnessed this phenomena. Amongst other things, he mentions the case of the egg that had escaped from the shut refrigerator. As to the nature of the phenomena, he says: “I refuse to admit that things like these should come from God, for the angels and saints of God would not “play tricks” like these. It must be either a natural phenomenon still unknown or nothing else but things of the Devil.”
The attorney general, Dr. Jose Carlos de Camargo Ferraz, relates the happenings with great details. He has been present various times in the mansion, witnessing about 100 “cases” including that of the lemon that had hit the police inspector’s head “in accordance with his desire.” This is what Dr. Jose Carlos asserts in his written evidence: “On the basis of my own personal observations and the evidences given by persons of absolute competence, I am in a position to affirm that the facts are authentic and cannot be attributed to any physical causes whatever. The witnesses have gone there with the aim of explaining the ‘trickery’. Almost all of them had been having doubts. All of them had been suggesting natural explanations. Nonetheless, the manifest facts smashed all doubts and hypotheses. Nobody can deny them.”
Sr. Orlando Dini, secondary school teacher and municipal councillor, has called on the “haunted mansion” to “split his sides with laughing.” He didn’t succeed. “No sooner had I arrived in the house,” relates Sr. Orlando, “when a stone was passing by, ‘rubbing my head,’ while another that seemed to have been produced in the air, at the height of the female cook’s waist, went up to the ceiling instead of falling upon the floor.”
The lawyer, Sr. Paulo de Almeida Serra, from among the numerous facts of which he has been a witness, stresses something what he finds “more than extra-ordinary”: He saw something – that looked like an electric socket in the wall. But it was not, for it was slowly descending, gliding over the surface of the wall. It turned out to be a splinter of tile.
There are many other witnesses, whose evidences coincide with each other. The physician, Dr. Antonio de Almeida da Serra, a materialist, says he has seen “many things,” but denies their supernatural character.
Sr. Anisio Simones, a dentist and his son Osmar, also a dentist, have seen “thrilling things.” A stone has hit Mr. Anisio on the head, while his son has seen a mysterious tangerine orange flinging down out of the globe of a light. Sr. Alfredo Pierossi and his wife, among other things, have seen the stone that had left the ground and flown up near the female cook.
The journalist, Sr. Benedito Martins, director of the “Cidade de Itapira” (“Town of Itapira”) has, so far not yet succeeded to get reconciled to having seen an orange hitting violently against the wall in its “flight” and yet remaining intact.
There was, however, one person, the most directly struck by the happenings, who maintained absolute serenity of mind: This was Francisca Aparecida Rogatti, the servant. A simple maid of 22 years of age, uneducated, she looked at all the happenings as something quite natural. Huge pieces of stones were falling at a distance of a few centimetres from her, but she went on with her kitchen work with impassivity. Whenever someone referred to her as the “attractive factor” of the phenomena, she smiled and continued working with her stove.
The investigators from “O Cruzeiro” visited the mansion of Itapira twice towards the end of May. The first day, beside the reporters and the master of the house there were present Sr. Jose Carlos de Camargo Ferraz, attorney general; Sr. Paulo de Almeida Serra, lawyer; Sr. Antonio de Almeida Serra, physician; Sr. Rayneri Galdi, psychiatrist and Sr. Victor dos Santos, landowner. Inanimate objects started falling a few minutes after their arrival. They couldn’t see where they came from, but the succession of various falling objects, such as fruits, vegetables, kitchen utensils and stones, falling almost simultaneously, was impressive. When the servant was serving coffee on the kitchen table, they heard something hitting against the floor with a metallic clang. The noise came from the direction of a cupboard adorned with mosaics that stood in the kitchen. In the cupboard that was shut, a small gas lid for gas stoves was found. Having removed all the external lids of the stove, they found that one of the pipes had no lid. Then a series of most extraordinary happenings followed.
The psychiatrist, Dr Rayneri, who was visiting the house for the first time, had not yet become convinced. He made several tests with the maid. Suddenly, a dark object appeared stuck to the wall, at a height of about 1 metre over the stove. Somebody uttered a cry, and, all present saw something glide down the wall and drop at the feet of the stove. It was a purse of plastics. Francisca stated that it was hers, adding that it was kept in her room at a distance of 20 metres from the spot. There followed various other phenomena until 2 p.m., when everybody decided to leave.
The maid was about to shut the kitchen door (everybody was in the courtyard), when various kinds of sweets dropped with a great noise, rolling about on the pavement. Dr. Rayneri went to the door and started talking to the servant. Then two other sweets dropped in the middle of the kitchen. The doctor exclaimed: “Now, I am more than convinced!”
The next day at 11:40 a.m., the journalists were in the pantry of the mansion. Only Sr. Cid and the maid were with them, the latter busy at the stove. Hardly had they started talking than a large piece of wood dropped at their feet. After this, an empty can exploded under one of the chairs, while a heavy stove plate fell near the refrigerator. A little later, an oil can dropped in the pantry. Stones of the most various sizes dropped simultaneously in various places. They rang up the inspector, who arrived at 12.30 p.m. The “bombardment” went on: objects that had fallen previously dropped in the same places again. A toy ship, coming from the passage, rushed down upon the floor of the pantry with such a violence that it was flattened. At the same time, stones were falling in the courtyard, pantry and kitchen. Some of them were falling vertically downwards.
Sr. Cid de Ulhoa Canto, who seems not to have lost his serenity of mind, asked the reporters if they were satisfied with the “demonstrations.” They said that they were satisfied. How would one explain these strange facts, they asked, which suggested the trickery of a sorcerer in a fairy tale? Without seeking to explain the magazine stated that the phenomena certainly defied the scientific laws of gravity, inertia and the inpenetrability of solid matter.
Now, if you would like to brush up on your medieval English, let us take a look at these strange doings. They have to do with ancient Ipswich, and are quotes from the “Spiritual Magazine,” 1864, which copies it from the journal of a schoolmaster, living in “ye ancient town of Ipswich” near the end of the 17th century. “Last nighte, as my wyfe and myselfe were going to bedde, a dreadful noyse was heard about ye house; an’ ye sounds increased viollentlie, and seemed to be in the bedde-roome lykewise. Ye windowes shook lyke unto a dyce box, and a horrible stynke arose, smelling very much lyke unto brymstone, almoste taking from us our breths. Suddenly ye chairs and tables did move hyther and thyther by some unscene hand; anon all was sylent. Soo ye beddes did rocke and shake terribye, and ye bedde clothes didde move hytherre and thythrre violentlie. Then yet plastering dide cracke and snappe lyke unto ye report of a pistoll. Soon ye jordan began to move aboute, and it did jump upon a chair, whyrlynge around right meryie. I clutched it by ye handlee, and ye potte did hoppe ane skyppe around ye room all toe our gueste amusement.”
No, I didn’t know either, but Mr Webster tells me a “jordan” is a chamber pot.
Psychic Observer, no. 532. January 1961.
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Itapura, Sao Paulo, Brazil (1959) – Poltergeist Archive
Here is a story witnessed by authorities who wish that they did not have to admit to the truth of it! Poltergeist’s on the prowl. One of the most outstan …
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