Rita Goold was a British

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use extrasensory perception (ESP) to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance, or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws ...

and spiritualist medium from Leicester.

Biography

Goold acted as a physical medium in the 1980s. She claimed to be a psychic and communicate with beings who created

crop circle A crop circle, crop formation, or corn circle is a pattern created by flattening a crop, usually a cereal. The term was first coined in the early 1980s by Colin Andrews. Crop circles have been described as all falling "within the range of the ...

s. She also acted as a trance medium and claimed to channel and materialize the spirit of a dead nine-year-old boy known as "Russell". Other spirits she said to materialize included the discredited medium

Helen Duncan Victoria Helen McCrae Duncan (née MacFarlane, 25 November 1897 – 6 December 1956) was a Scottish medium best known as the last person to be imprisoned under the Witchcraft Act 1735 for fraudulent claims. She was famous for producing ectopla ...

and Raymond the son of

Oliver Lodge Sir Oliver Joseph Lodge, (12 June 1851 – 22 August 1940) was a British physicist and writer involved in the development of, and holder of key patents for, radio. He identified electromagnetic radiation independent of Hertz's proof and at his ...

. Goold was accused as being a fraud by other spiritualists throughout her career.Jim Schnabel. (2003). ''Round in Circles: Physicists, Poltergeists, Pranksters and the Secret History of the Cropwatchers''. Hamish Hamilton. pp. 247-249. She became a popular medium in Britain known for her abilities to produce ectoplasm and materialize spirits, however, investigators discovered that the materialization figures were Goold herself and that she was a fraud. Goold refused infra-red cameras in her

séance A séance or seance (; ) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word ''séance'' comes from the French word for "session", from the Old French ''seoir'', "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, spea ...

s and would work only in dark conditions.

Tony Cornell Anthony Donald Cornell (born 1924, died 10 April 2010, aged 86) was a British parapsychologist and prominent figure in the investigations of ghosts and other paranormal activity across the United Kingdom during the later part of the twentieth ...

. (2002). Investigating the Paranormal. Helix Press New York. pp. 347-352. In 1984,

attended a series of séances with Goold. During a séance the spirit Russell materialized. However, Cornell felt the hands of Russell and described them as female-like with long nails; moreover, he was the same size as Goold when he was meant to be a boy and he smelt of Goold's perfume. The other spirit who materialized

was the same size as Goold but was 224 pounds before she died. At the end of the séance when the lights were turned on Cornell observed that one of the

shoe A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture ...

s was different on Goold from the one before the séance and that one of her trouser legs was rolled up, indicating that she had changed clothing during the séance. Goold would also play

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

during her séances which provided cover for her to change clothes and when the music was turned off would pretend to be the spirits.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goold, Rita English fraudsters English spiritual mediums People from Leicester Possibly living people Year of birth missing