Case file · High strangeness

Florence Cook and 'Katie King'

In 1874 the young Hackney medium Florence Cook said she materialised a spirit called 'Katie King'; the physicist William Crookes photographed the spirit and declared it genuine.

1874 CE · 51.55, -0.06 · status: disputed

The account

Crookes said he saw Cook and Katie together. Critics noted that Katie looked like Cook and suggested Crookes was infatuated with the medium.

The sceptical view

In 1880 a sitter grabbed a 'spirit' at a séance and found it was Cook in her underwear.

Sources

  1. Wikipedia: Florence Cook (medium)
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