Case file · Haunting
Televised exorcism at Murray House
The colonial barracks in Central, Hong Kong, said to be haunted by victims of the Japanese occupation, were exorcised in 1963 and again in 1974, the second rite shown on TV.
1974 CE · 22.28, 114.16 · status: official
The account
The government approved the 1974 ceremony because the building was a public office. It was dismantled in 1982 and rebuilt at Stanley.
The researched reading
A haunting known mostly from rumour and an official exorcism held to reassure staff. A wartime past and a strong ghost culture explain it.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A cultural story | 40% | Hong Kong’s strong ghost tradition and the government’s willingness to hold a televised exorcism, mainly to reassure civil servants, show the case as a social and cultural event rather than a set of recorded phenomena. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 28% | Office staff who knew the building had been used by the Japanese military during the occupation, with stories of executions, were primed to read odd sensations as ghosts. |
| Something in the surroundings | 15% | An old colonial barracks with thick walls and long corridors produces the noises, drafts and cold spots typical of “haunted” buildings. |
| Undetermined | 5% | The share a generic explanation had beyond what has been shown for this case: it fits many cases like this one, but has not been demonstrated for this one. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 4% | No sign of deliberate fakery. |
| A known natural phenomenon | 4% | Animals in the building could account for some noises. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 4% | No specific phenomenon was documented. |
Official position: The colonial government approved the 1974 exorcism to calm staff; it made no finding on ghosts.