Client: Mandy McGee
2006/07
Location: Glasgow
Team: Sarah Kyle, Innes Smith
Background
Mandy McGee has contacted the SSPR before, and two Investigators [Dr. P McCue & J Taylor] visited Miss McGee in June 2004. Sarah Kyle and Innes Smith have not consulted the previous investigation report, and have approached this case afresh.
Initial Telephone Interview: 15/09/06
Mandy McGee contacted the Kyle home once before she spoke to Sarah Kyle.
On the 15 September 2006 Sarah Kyle telephoned Mandy McGee and the call last approximately 30 minutes. Mandy McGee was eager to talk and sounded quite lonely. The discussion centred on how and why she had contacted the Society and what she hoped from any subsequent visit.
Mandy McGee described herself as someone who was interested in alternative therapies and the afterlife. She believed that she might have a gift (psychic) and how could she develop it or should she develop it? Mandy McGee wanted a visit as soon as possible.
Initial Visit to the Property: 20/09/06
Overview
The investigators arrived at the property, a ground floor flat in a council semi-detached building, just after eight p.m. We were met by Mandy McGee and introduced to her mother Mrs. McGee who was present during the entire evening. The interview was conducted in the living room, but the investigators were also shown the bedroom – a location featuring in several accounts mentioned by Miss. McGee.
Mandy McGee lives alone, although she is regularly visited by her ‘boyfriend’ Bob. Bob is alleged to have witnessed some paranormal events, although refuses to be interviewed on the subject.
Mandy also has two cats.
Mandy McGee was asked to list her paranormal experiences within the property in chronological order. When appropriate, her mother was asked to corroborate specific events.
It was understood that the investigators would return to ask further questions: namely about Mandy’s experiences prior to her stay at the property, and her beliefs regarding her experiences.
The client sought reassurance on several occasions, and ultimately asked for an opinion on the following question:
“Do you think it’s the house, or me?”
The investigators responded by stating it was too early for us to venture an opinion, and we would only consider such matters when we had consulted one another – and exhausted our questioning.
The investigators were shown a photograph of the front of the property with a supposed inexplicable image. Mandy McGee believes the photograph shows a figure peering round the window frame.
Innes Smith was given two VHS Video Cassettes – which allegedly have recorded anomalous phenomena – the sound of breathing & whispering.
It was agreed that the SSPR would examine the tapes and offer an opinion.
The interview terminated at quarter past ten; the investigators agreeing to contact Miss. McGee the following week to arrange another visit.
History
Mandy McGee has lived in the property since 1995. At that time she lived with her father and mother. Her father died in March 1999 of cancer. He kept his illness secret from his family, and his death came suddenly. Mandy felt that his sudden death left many issues with her father unresolved, and received counselling for a while. For a brief time in 2000 Mandy lived at another address in Airdrie, but moved back again after six months. Her mother then moved out in 2001. Since that time Mandy has lived alone in the property, although her ex-partner Bob has frequently stayed overnight.
Mandy has been sufficiently troubled by her experiences to flee her property, staying with her mother in Pollok instead.
Anomalous Experiences in the Property
Doorbell Ringing
Sometime Between 1995 & 1999
Witnessed by Mandy McGee and both Parents.
“We were first aware that there was …silly things. The doorbell constantly ringing. And you can see the front door from the window, and the doorbell would ring. And there’d be nobody there. And we’d take the batteries out”.
– Mandy McGee
Door Sticking
Sometime Between 1995 & 1999
Witnessed by Mandy McGee & both Parents.
“The bedroom that I’m in at the moment used to be my parents’. My Mum originally went to go into the bedroom and there’s keys on all the doors. And the door would shut tight and it wouldn’t move. And we pushed this door and we pushed and it wouldn’t budge. And we all had a shot of pushing it. And my Dad was a big strapping fella. And we realised that we actually tried it with the key and it still wouldn’t budge. And you would swear it was somebody behind it.. putting a lot of pressure against it for you to get it open.. So my Ma says to my Dad, ‘you go and look in the bedroom window while we’re pushing it’, and as soon as she says that, the door flew open. It just felt like someone thought, ‘they’ll see me, I better let go’”.
– Mandy McGee
Black Aura around Father
Five weeks prior to March 1999
Witnessed by Mandy McGee
On a bright afternoon Mandy McGee was getting into a car and looking back at her father standing on the threshold. Mandy saw a black aura surrounding her father.
“It was really like a big thick haze – like the old Ready Brek adverts – dark grey, black…quite thick”.
– Mandy McGee
No-one else saw this. She says that subsequently she has seen auras around other people – her Mother has a pink aura – but this was the first time she saw such a thing and the “colour round my Dad was really big”.
Since her experience she has read about auras and believes that black auras are often connected to illness or depression, and this would explain her Father’s black aura; as he alone would have known of his cancer at the time, and presumably would have been depressed about it.
Apparition of Moving Figure
Approx March 1999
Witnessed by Mandy McGee & Mrs. McGee.
“…I was in the back bedroom and my mother was in the kitchen… and I saw someone go by the door. And I couldn’t tell you who it was. I couldn’t tell you it was my Da’, I just saw someone go by the door. A minute later, I was expecting someone to start speaking to me, my Ma’ or something like that, but when she didn’t appear I went through to the kitchen, and saw my Ma’ cooking. And I said, “Did you just walk past the bedroom door?”
And she said, “No. But your Da’ just walked past the living room door”.
“So, we saw it a couple of seconds apart. My Ma’ assumes it was my Da’, but I saw someone walk by the bedroom door and seconds later my Ma’ sees ~ ”.
– Mandy McGee
“Aye that’s right…I seen it go right past here and that was it! Straight past here it went. I could actually see it from the kitchen. I thought it was my husband.”
– Mrs. McGee
“That’s the only thing you ever get in here – something from the side of your field of vision… I was just aware that it was a person. To me, I would assume that it was my father. I got the impression of ‘male’. I thought it was my Da’ because he hadn’t long passed….Just dark. Height-wise? 5’10”. Shadowy”.
– Mandy McGee
Apparition of Nocturnal ‘Shade’
Approx 2.00 am Late 1999
Witnessed by Mrs McGee
In the immediate months after her father’s death, Mandy and her Mother would often sleep in the same bed. One night approximately between 1.00 am and 2.00 am Mandy awoke to see her Mother sitting up in bed staring at something. She asked her Mother what she was looking at, and was told to go back to sleep. Mandy did go back to sleep.
Her Mother was on the right hand side of the bed, with Mandy on the left. Standing next to the left of the bed and leaning over Mandy was a black indistinct shape. Her Mother found it difficult to describe, but used the words ‘black’, ‘twirling’ & ‘fuzzy’.
Strong Odour of Incense
Approx February 2000
Witnessed by Mandy McGee & Mrs McGee
A couple of Months after Mandy’s Uncle died in December 1999, when guests were round, Mandy and her Mother could smell, what they described as ‘benediction’: incense used as part of the Roman Catholic Mass.
“It was that strong it was overpowering…It wasn’t just me, everybody smelled it – My Ma’, my Sister Victoria and Sister-in-law Sarah”.
– Mandy McGee
Vision of Deceased Father & ‘Sound of Bees’
Approx 1999
Witnessed by Mandy McGee
“I was in bed with my Mother – she was having major sleeping problems. I remember relaxing – not falling asleep – with a snap of my fingers, I was standing in a corridor and I saw my Father coming towards me; he was wearing what he was wearing in his coffin…It was like a slideshow…showing me his funeral….”.
-Mandy McGee
Mandy McGee describes having a ‘vision’ of her Father once while lying in bed. She said her Father ‘came for her’ and showed her scenes from his funeral. She said her Father reassured her that he was alright. When the vision ended she said that she was awake, in her bedroom, but could hear this intense buzzing, like ‘the sound of bees’ which “lasted for three of four minutes”.
Tapping Blinds Cord
Approx 8.00 pm Autumn 2001
Witnessed by Mandy McGee
“I had some blinds up at the time and I had ropes at the side with hooks at the bottom. And I was sitting watching the telly one night and I could hear this clicking. I could hear, but I couldn’t pinpoint it. I was concentrating on the telly, but I knew it was coming from my left hand side, and I turned round and it was actually the cord on the blinds. And it was just sitting, bouncing off the wall – lightly bouncing. And to me it was like somebody flicking it, and that was actually quite freaky. And I was never really afraid in this house, but I didn’t actually like that. I had visions of somebody standing there doing it and staring at me or something. I think it was because I was in myself. This was happening quite frequently. This was happening for quite a few days in a row”.
– Mandy McGee
Mandy asserts that at the time the window was not open. The windows are double-glazed and Mandy says that there are no draughts. Mandy tapped out the frequency and Innes Smith estimated it to be approximately 120 bpm. Mandy estimated that it lasted three or four minutes at the most. As soon as she paid attention to it stopped.
“It probably felt longer than it actually was. I think it was only a few minutes. It’s like when you become aware things in this house, they stop. Or that’s the way it feels to me. You’re aware of something, but the minute you pay attention to it, then it stops”.
– Mandy McGee
Ornamental Grass Swaying
Approx 10.00 pm Autumn 2001(same night as above)
Witnessed by Mandy McGee
“I’ve had that basket with that grass stuff in it for years. And at night it was blowing, like someone was blowing on it, or someone was brushing past it”.
– Mandy McGee
Mandy demonstrated the force of movement by brushing her hand across the grass. It was an initial force and then a slight settling of the grasses, which lasted no more than four seconds. However, Mandy asserts that she’s seen children brush past the grass, and naturally the grass settles quicker.
Bright Flash of Light
11.30 – Midnight Approx Winter 2001
Witnessed by Mandy McGee & Bob
Mandy McGee and her partner Bob were in bed together, with the lights out and the curtains drawn, but both still awake.
“I had very heavy blinds and heavy curtains – Bob has sleeping problems – we both saw it”.
– Mandy McGee
She describes seeing a bright flash of light high up on the wall opposite the bed. The light lasted a fraction of a second, was white and was compared to a photographer’s flash – as used by the ‘paparazzi’.
This was witnessed by Bob, although Mandy says that he immediately rationalised the experience and dismissed it.
Strong Odour of Cigarette Smoke
2001 until approx 2004
Witnessed by Mandy McGee, Mrs McGee & Bob
A strong smell of cigarette smoke has been experienced by three witnesses. Mandy does not smoke, and there are no smokers in the house. Sometimes the smell is so intense that Mandy has to leave a room, or the flat.
“There was one night my Mum and I were sitting at the table…and it was bad so we left to go into the living room, and it followed us through. And it was so overpowering, I had to say, ‘No! Back off!’ and it stopped”.
– Mandy McGee
On one occasion the smell was noticed in bed, but on only the right side of the bed. If one moved to the other side of the bed, then there would be no smell.
This olfactory hallucination has been particularly noted by Bob (according to Mandy), although he refuses to corroborate any of Mandy’s experiences.
Child’s Voice
9.00 am Summer 2002
Witnessed by Mandy McGee & Bob
“We both heard a child’s voice say ‘Mummy’- Bob definitely”.
– Mandy McGee
One morning while lying in bed together, both Mandy and Bob witnessed a child’s voice saying ‘Mummy’. Mandy thought the voice belonged to a ‘very young… wee boy’.
Hypnopompic Apparition of Child
Possibly 2003
Witnessed by Mandy McGee
“You know when my nephews stay and you wake up and they stand at the bed, waiting for something? …I wasn’t 100% wakened, but I turned round and saw this wee boy”.
– Mandy McGee
Mandy herself is not sure if she dreamt this, and offers the following account as potentially being a dream. However she does stress that she was awake ‘for a minute or so’.
She describes seeing a ‘wee boy’ looking like ‘Oliver’ in dirty clothes. She thought the child was approximately 4 or 5 years old. The apparition was described as being ‘brown’ and lasted no more than a fraction of a second.
Sound of ‘Cough’
Approx 2003
Witnessed by Mandy McGee, her Sister Victoria, Her Mother’s Friend Maggie & Mrs McGee
“Maggie’s a very nice person, but if you’ve got a migraine – she’s got a brain tumour…it was me and my Sister – the noise came between us. It sounded like my Da’. It wasn’t frightening – it was comical”.
– Mandy McGee
The sound of a cough was interpreted as being the sound of her Father expressing scepticism when Maggie was telling ‘a tall tale’. It is alleged that all in the room heard the cough and believe the deceased Mr McGee to be the source of the noise.
Nobody found this experience unsettling, but rather reassuring.
Whizzing
Approx Autumn 2005
Witnessed by Mandy McGee & Mrs McGee (& Bob)
“The whole energy thing is the only way I can describe it. I was seeing it as well as feeling it. But I was catching it from the side of my eye and it was like it was whizzing around the living room. It was whizzing by that window. And I didn’t tell anybody, and I was sitting watching the telly one night and Bob was sitting there and the next minute – a big gust of wind. Back door’s locked, front door’s locked, late at night; windows are all locked. And I was sitting, arm on the chair watching the telly and he’s sitting there and a big gust of wind right up the middle of the room. And it was that much a gust of wind it moved my hair. And it was freezing. And I said, ‘What the hell was that?’”
“And the two of us weren’t really getting on and we started arguing, so while we’re sitting arguing; Bob is sitting on the couch while I’m standing and bawling like a loony. And the next minute it was like in his trainers -making a ticking noise: to the point where he was getting a bit afraid. He was shouting, ‘what the hell is that? Get that stopped!’ But, I don’t what it is? And eventually I went out, I went to my Ma’s for a wee while – came back – had a wee cup of tea and everything was fine. And it stopped.”
“And I still hadn’t told anybody. And my Ma came in one night and we were standing and she said to me, ‘something’s just whizzed right by, right across there’ and the way she described it, it was the exact same thing as me… Some kind of movement, low down. How can I describe it? The noise is coming from the speed. It’s going so fast it’s buzzing….It’s like a buzzy…it’s like a ‘zzzz’….it’s an excited energy kind of thing.”
– Mandy McGee
When asked about the frequency of the experience Mandy said it had happened eight or ten times; the first experience being in Autumn 2005. She stressed again that it was hard to describe. Mandy could not remember any occasion when her two cats had been present when the ‘whizzing’ was happening. Indeed, she remarked that her cats were not notably troubled by any of the phenomena.
Loud Whistling in Face
Since the beginning of 2006
Witnessed by Mandy McGee
“This whistling is driving me up the wall – I’ve got to be honest. Imagine if there is someone in a house that doesn’t want them to be aware that they are there, you know, they wouldn’t do these things. This is loud: this is really loud. I was staying a lot over at my Ma’s because of this strange thing that was happening, and I came home in the morning at seven o’clock, opened the front door and right in front of my face – whistle whistle – and that’s what I get! As loud as that! I’m sitting on the chair having my tea and I hear it coming from the kitchen, and I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve got up and got in that car and ran to my Ma’s late at night – this year alone. And I’m like ‘don’t laugh at me! I’m telling you someone’s whistling at me!’ It’s difficult for me to go up there and do that because my Ma’s partner thinks that I’m a crackpot. He really thinks I’m a crackpot. And it’s difficult for me to go up there and say that when people are going to laugh at me, and it’s got to the stage where it’s making her [her mother] uncomfortable.”
– Mandy McGee
Mandy has heard the whistling at least twice a week since the start of 2006.
Voice saying ‘Boo!’
Approx End of July 2006
Witnessed by Mandy McGee
“I’m going to tell you something that I’ve not told anybody else except my Ma’, simply for the reason that it sounds so stupid, so embarrassing. But I need to tell somebody. Bob was at Dominoes one night doing a league thing …I made myself a cup of tea, a slice of toast and I sat down. I heard whistling, ignored it because I’m used to it. I noticed that Bob had left his bus pass, picked up the toast, put it right in front of my mouth and right in front of my face, someone went, ‘Boo!’ And the reason this embarrasses me is that it’s just such a stupid thing. ‘Boo!’ People do this as a joke. And excuse my language, but I shit myself. I got up and I went to leave, but then I thought, ‘Christ! I need to get that bus pass!’ So I grabbed the bus pass, grabbed the car keys and ran! Because it was loud, and it was unmistakably saying ‘boo!’ It was just so stupid”.
– Mandy McGee
Atmosphere
Since Mid-August 2006
Witnessed by Mandy McGee & Mrs McGee
“This is why I’ve contacted yourselves, because I feel as if it’s not right. In the last four weeks I became aware, I’m sitting in here and I’m reading, and I’m asthmatic – and I can taste something and it’s foul. It’s an old, horrible…you know that I was struggling to take a breath…it was just there, in my face. It was so in my face it was uncomfortable. It was if I had put my hand out I could have touched the air. That was the way it felt. Just before lightning. The air was very heavy and thick. And I ignored this, but it happened quite a few times until I do what I eventually always do – which is tell my Ma’. She’s the only person that believes me. So, two weeks ago, I was sitting in here and it happened again, so I thought, ‘I don’t like this – I’m going to my bed’, so I got up and go into the kitchen. I switch the light on, and it wasn’t just that I could taste it – I could see it. And it looked like the entire kitchen – you know when it’s a really hot day and you see a haze above the road? My whole kitchen looked like that. I felt like if I put my hand in it would have been like electricity. It was really odd. I came out and switched the light off. I didn’t even go in. I went to my bed. And I was in my bed half an hour and it came into the room. And again I could taste it. And I thought, ‘I really don’t like this’. Surprisingly, I stayed in my bed, and must have got to sleep. Woke up in the morning and I was fine”.
– Mandy McGee
“A couple of days later – this was going into last week – my Ma’ had came round at night. She’s sitting here, and I’m sitting there and I just become aware of the atmosphere changing. And I thought, I won’t say anything and see if she notices? And I start to taste it and I you feel you want to put your hand out and touch it – it’s just a strangeness. And I can see my Ma’ acting a wee bit funny, and I’m sure she’s aware of that. I’ll not say anything at first, and I wait a wee minute and she doesn’t say anything, so I eventually say, ‘that smell’s back’ and she says, ‘I know. And you know what it tastes like? It’s like a really, really old building that’s been pulled down’. And it wasn’t until she said that…it’s like a really old building”.
– Mandy McGee
“It’s like a pulled building…the bricks all….I could taste it as well. It lasted quite a bit. And I said ‘there’s a heaviness in here’. It was horrible”.
– Mrs McGee
“It lasted five minutes and the all of a sudden – it gets lighter by the minute – it was actually going from that end toward the kitchen until eventually it was like – everything’s back to normal”.
– Mandy McGee
When asked about the duration of the original experience, Mandy said that it took half an hour to follow her from the kitchen to the bedroom. Mandy also mentioned that there seems to be some kind of coincidental electrical interference, as her television started going blue at the same time as the atmospheric phenomena emerged. Not that the two phenomena are entirely in synch – but both started to be noticed at the same time – The screen does not go entirely blue, rather a blue tint to the images on the screen.
Slapping Sound on Chair
Morning, 20th of September 2006
Witnessed by Mandy McGee
A slapping noise was heard next to the couch on which the cat was napping. The cat noticed the noise then went back to sleep.
Client Consults a Spiritualist Medium
Over the Telephone
Mandy McGee has sought out the advice and counsel of mediums. She talks extensively about a Phonecall to one medium contacted through the Spirit Destiny Magazine.
The medium described what Mandy believes to be the figure in the photograph, ‘a Nun in a Dutch Cap’: and took this as evidence as the Medium’s accuracy. We may suspect that Mandy therefore gives credence to the rest of the medium’s statements.
Mandy McGee’s following statement also reveals a great deal about her domestic situation.
“This lady went on and told me that this Nun was standing with a Dutch Napoleon style hat on and everything and I was stunned. Because she was describing exactly what I knew to be in this picture. I never thought of it as a Nun, but I can see it now. I can see it. And she described it to an absolute ‘t’ and I couldn’t believe my ears. And then she started telling me that there was a gentleman in the house. A young gentleman. And I think I should tell you that Bob has a bit of a drink problem. Bob was abused when he was growing up. I’d been through some domestic violence with Bob about five years back, and he’s no well liked in my family; my Mother can’t stand him. So, here’s me, trying to help him and all that nonsense. And she says to me, ‘Bob has got a drink problem’, and I say, aye – that’s right. And she says ‘there’s a young gentleman around you and he’s no there because of you, he’s there because of Bob. He’s just died recently and he’s died of the drink’. And I knew exactly who she was talking about. And this young friend of Bob’s had at the beginning of this year, he was only twenty-six – and Bob used to drink with him – dropped down dead. And it was the alcohol. And she said she was terrified, because Bob is going the same way. And I know Bob is going the same way, and he’ll definitely kill himself. And I don’t like that, because I don’t want him here. I didn’t want him here when he was alive, and I don’t want him here when he’s dead. And I know it might sound terrible. So, a lot of these strange things started up again, but they started up when Bob wasn’t here. But when Bob comes back, they stop. And I can’t understand why this is? Lately, he goes – they start up, I bring him back – they stop. It’s happened again this past week and half, I’ve let him come back in, everything that’s been going on has stopped again. And I’m saying, ‘is there somebody deliberately frightening me? So that I’ll bring him back?’ They may think they’re helping him, but they’re not helping me! So, I just don’t want him here if that’s what it is! I’m really confused now about what is actually going on in this house. I’m really confused”.
Second Telephone Interview – 28/09/06
Innes Smith phoned Mandy McGee to clear up a few issues arising from the first visit. Innes Smith asked further questions about several experiences.
Mandy McGee asked about the two VHS tapes, and whether the SSPR had examined them? Innes Smith reported that he had found nothing anomalous on the tapes, and read out a few notes regarding what noises he had heard on the tapes: cats, neighbours, doors shutting, etc, but nothing inexplicable. Innes Smith remarked that this may point to a heightened awareness of the paranormal, and without discounting her experiences – this heightened perception may make her misinterpret mundane experiences as paranormal ones.
Mandy McGee accepted this, but remarked that she is spending most nights with her Mother – as she has split up with her boyfriend Bob.
Innes Smith arranged to visit Miss McGee with Sarah Kyle on Tuesday the 3rd of October.
Second Visit to the Property: 03/10/06
Overview
Sarah Kyle & Innes Smith arrived at the property at 8.20 pm. Mrs. McGee and Mandy McGee were both present and the interview again took place in the living room.
Innes Smith returned the two VHS video cassettes to Mandy McGee.
Mandy McGee began by expressing her concern over a word used by Innes Smith during the last telephone interview. Miss McGee said she recollected Innes Smith saying, “…I believe you think you saw…” when discussing an experience that she and her sister Victoria had shared. This was interpreted as a sceptical dismissal, and Miss McGee wanted to be reassured that she was being believed. She felt that she had opened up about personal and embarrassing experiences ~ and if she was just talking to sceptics, then she wanted us to terminate the investigation immediately.
Innes Smith reassured Miss McGee that he was taking her experiences seriously, but could not assert a positive opinion about the reality of her experiences one way or the other. It would be just as irresponsible to blindly accept the reality of her accounts as it would be to casually dismiss her accounts as untrue or mistaken.
With further reassurance from Sarah Kyle the interview began proper, with Mandy McGee being asked about her paranormal experiences prior to living at 12 Acacia Avenue. Miss McGee, and her Mother were asked to share any paranormal experience they had; it became apparent that prior to living at Acacia Avenue Mandy grew up in ‘a haunted house’, and her Mother Mrs McGee, also grew up in ‘a haunted house’.
The investigators then asked Mandy about her beliefs, her health, her interests (what books she owns) and what she wants the SSPR to do.
Innes Smith sketched a floorplan of the flat prior to leaving the property; the interview being terminated at half-ten.
Sarah Kyle told Miss McGee that we may not necessarily visit again, but we would definitely phone – as soon as we had a chance to discuss the details of her case.
Miss McGee accepted this.
Mandy McGee: Other Anomalous Experiences
Marlow Crescent
Mandy McGee went into some detail about the house she had grown up in – 35 Marlow Crescent in Pollok. She had lived there until she was 23 and then moved to Acacia Avenue in 1995. She lived with her Mother, Father (who briefly lived elsewhere during a short separation) and her two siblings; Barry, 10 years her senior, and Victoria, 7 years her senior.
Mandy said that she “never felt comfortable” in Marlow Crescent, and was looking forward to moving into her current address, so much so that she described moving as a ‘celebration’. She was ‘ecstatic’ to move.
Subsequent to moving the family have heard from the neighbours that “nobody lasts more than a year in it; they keep changing occupants”.
Mandy McGee also remarked: “the thing with Pollok was that it was a consistent thing, in here (Acacia Avenue) it isn’t. In here …over 11 years there’s actually been not a lot. But in Pollok it was a persistent problem, from childhood to leaving as an adult, it was a persistent problem. You’d be guaranteed something weekly. Weekly”.
Hearing her name being called
“Not a comfortable house, I was never comfortable in it on my own… I never seen anything, but I heard plenty. I can honestly say we heard a lot in it, and it wasn’t just me – the whole family. And believe me, we’ve got a family full of sceptics. You know, you’re maybe in the bedroom reading and you’ve got the radio on low, and plain as day, somebody would say your name. And that happened to myself, my sister and my brother – quite regularly”.
“Just your name: quite clear, quite precise ~ ‘Mandy’. Very, very clear…I remember the first time I heard my name being called – it’s quite comical thinking back. I was on an exercise bike – I’ve always had a weight problem – and I just heard it, as plain as day from my left hand side, really loudly in my ear ~ ‘Mandy’. And you know your automatic response is to turn round and say, ‘What is it?’, and I did. I said, ‘What?’ And then I realised that, of course, nobody was standing there, and I got up and just legged it. I ran from the room right into the kitchen and I just stood there for I don’t know how long, but it was as plain as day….I think I must have been about 18 at the time”.
– Mandy McGee
Hearing Scratching
“A thing that used to happen quite often, and I know it sounds silly, but…scratching. Constantly from the wallpaper. And it used to come always from behind pictures…always came from the area where there were pictures or things – like someone was scratching the walls. …I was about 12 or something when I started hearing something funny in that house… It was always night time, it was always when you were in your bed. I’ve always been terrified of the dark, because when it was dark – that’s when I would start hearing these things. I would need the light on and my sister Victoria, she would need the light off, and we would argue over this – quite constantly. So we’d get up, put the lights on but the scratching would continue. …It could last for 5 minutes, and would always seem to be behind something… And it stayed in one place one night, but the next night be in another place… It progressed from the walls: and I need to say this. My Ma’ and My Da’ went through a minor split for a short period of time, when my Ma’ came back she slept with me for short while until things got back to normal and during that time the scratching continued. Now, I must have been 20 at that point. It wasn’t just the walls, it was doing it in the bin. Inside the bin, or in the bin, whatever – it was coming from the bin. And my Ma’ says to me, ‘I think you’ve got a mouse’… It just eventually fizzled out, I can’t remember when…you just get used to it”.
– Mandy McGee
Hearing Crowds of People
“She never liked the dark, but I never liked the dark either, so we always left a hall light on”.
– Mrs. McGee
“Right up until now, at 34, I associate the dark with hearing voices when I was little. It didn’t frighten me – it terrified me. It terrified me. I remember one night in particular, and this was probably the scariest thing that happened to me at this address: Victoria and Barry had gone to a party this particular night, and I woke up in the middle of the night – I don’t know what time – I just know it was pitch black outside and I woke up and I could hear a noise like a party. Without music. Like this room was full of people. And I thought, ‘they must have brought their pals back with them’ but no. You know it takes you a couple of minutes to get your bearings when you’ve just wakened? I just lay there with my eyes open. And then I started to get confused because the voices didn’t stop. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but there were just so many of them. I was in a single bed, and I looked over and saw the other single bed had nobody in it. So I sat up and I could still hear these voices. And I shouted, ‘What the hell is that?’ really loud. And it was just like that (clicks fingers): it stopped. Instantly. At the exact same time. It didn’t fade out: it went from all these voices to being just cut dead, and that absolutely terrified me. Because if I was maybe dreaming …but it followed me to being wide awake. And it wasn’t a couple of voices. It was like the room being completely full. …I would have been about 18 at the time”.
– Mandy McGee
Animal Behaviour
“We had a dog and the dog terrified me. Not the dog, but its behaviour terrified me. I’m not really a dog person but I brought it into my room for company. And I woke up during the night and the bed was bouncing, and it was the dog that was doing it. He would stand in the middle of the bed with his face facing the wall and his ears would go back and he’d be growling, and his fur was standing up. And that was him staring at the wall. And that dog did that every night to the point that ..eh, in my 20’s, I’d have to get up and sleep on my Ma’ and Da’s floor. I just couldn’t take it anymore. I ended up buying a fold-up bed, and I’d sleep on my Ma and Da’s floor in my 20’s”.
– Mandy McGee
Other Witnesses
Brother sees apparition of Woman
Sister sees apparition of Woman
Nephews converse with Man & Woman
“My brother went into get a fold-down bed and I saw him look in the room. And he turned round and I saw him: he was deathly white…And he ran down the hall, and this was quite funny – remember he’s 10 years older than me. And he’s running into the living room and he’s going, ‘There’s a woman in there! There’s a woman in there!’ And to this day all he’ll tell you is there was a young woman, standing in the middle of the bedroom, and that is all that he’d ever say. Barry just doesn’t like this kind of thing. But there was no denying he’d seen something. You could tell by looking at him. …
And one night my sister was sitting bolt upright in bed and she was saying, ‘There’s a woman! There’s a woman!’ and my experiences in the house meant I was hitting her saying ‘stop that! Stop that!’ And I was thumping her and panicking. So she eventually lay back down again and put the lamp on and went to sleep. And the following morning she told my parents that she’d woken up during the night and there was a woman standing at the bottom of the bed. Thankfully I never saw this woman…Never to this day did they give a description of her. They just said it was a young woman. And I’ve never asked. Because if you mention things like that to my brother, he’d throw you out! He doesn’t like and he doesn’t believe in it. He doesn’t believe in it but he’s had one or two of an experience himself. My sister would gladly talk about it, but my brother wouldn’t…
I’ve got twin nephews and they would always come into the living room and you’d ask, ‘what were you doing?’ And they’d say, “oh we were just talking to the man and the lady in the wall”. And they used to say it all the time… And they’d take you into the back bedroom where I used to hear the voices and they’d point to the man and the lady on the wall. They’d go through that for a good few months…then they’d stop saying it. They would be about 3 or 4 at the time”.
– Mandy McGee
Mandy was asked why she didn’t sleep in the one room that had no expectation of paranormality?
“The living room didn’t have the feeling as the other rooms. I slept in the living room hundreds of times, with the Telly on. But it used to cause problems. My Da’ used to say, ‘Why aren’t you in your bed?’
– Mandy McGee
Fear of Paranormality
Difficulty sleeping leads to GP visit and Referral to Psychiatric Unit
Mandy was asked due to her experiences (or her family’s) in the back bedroom, the end room or her parents’ bedroom – whether or not she came to expect paranormal experiences?
“As an adult, walking into those bedrooms, I came to expect it. And then it became so much of a problem that I had to go the GP, and tell the GP that I couldn’t go to sleep at night because I’m terrified I’m going to see a ghost. I have to sleep in my parents’ bedroom. And their reaction was to send me to a Psychiatric Unit”.
“I was assessed and checked over and sent home with a letter saying that there was nothing wrong with me – mentally. I had a very, very stable upbringing, so there was never anything that bothered me, other than being in this house. And by the time I reached about 21, I wasn’t sleeping. …Apart from anything else, it was humiliating. I was 21 and going into my parents’ room and saying, “I have to sleep on your floor”. And of course, you can’t tell people that because they think you’re crackers. So, it got to the stage with the lack of sleep, it was really driving me crazy. So, I actually started taking anything that would help me sleep. Benylin, anything drowsy to help me sleep. I was doing it on a nightly basis. I knew it was getting out of hand, so I went to the GP. And it was difficult, because I hadn’t told a soul outside the family.
…I still have that clarity of waking up in the middle of the night and hearing all those people talking ..and even when you’re 20, 21, you’re old enough to think, ‘Christ! I hope I’m not schizophrenic or something’. And I told that to the doctor, but I don’t have any obvious mental problems or anything like that. The Psychologist herself was quite content that there was nothing wrong with me. She said that there was no such thing as ghosts…
The fact was that I was discharged. And I knew that it was coming from outwith me, not from within me”.
– Mandy McGee
Mrs McGee’s New House
“When I go to my Ma’s, there’s a tiny wee spare room they’ve got. And there’s a wee single bed in it. The first time anything happening in there – I woke up during the night and somebody was at the bottom of the bed. Now, I didn’t see them, but I know someone was at the bottom of the bed. I thought what I saw, was the tail end of someone disappearing…And it woke me right out of sleep, the feeling that somebody else is there in the room. By the following night, I thought I should mention it, and that was when she (her mother) said that she’d seen something herself the previous night – it didn’t want to say for the fear of me not coming back to stay”.
– Mandy McGee
Sketch of Marlow Crescent by Mandy McGee
Notes by Innes Smith
Mrs V. McGee: Other Anomalous Experiences
Marlow Crescent
Apparition of a Woman
“The woman that reared me up, it was her daughter. It was Sally, Sally Dundas. I had a wee lamp on. I was in my bed 5 minutes, if it was 5 minutes? I was in my bed, propped up on the pillows. Next minute she came from in the door, walked right up, she actually – walking or floating, whatever they do – she came right up to me, and I’ll tell you: I got a fright. But she was saying something about ‘Mary’. I remember her saying ‘Mary’, but I got so afraid I threw the covers over myself and said, “What ye want? What ye want?” And when I took the covers down she was away. And I never saw her since. That woman came up to me just as if I’m looking at you just now. …Very, very clear”.
– Mrs McGee
“Their faces are funny. Funny. It’s queer looking… As plain as can be – that woman walked up to me. Came right up to me. I don’t know if they float…but you know, the look on their face, it’s…when you know they’re dead, just the look at them. I don’t know. I can’t even describe the look on the face. Horrible. I wouldn’t say ‘nasty’, more like ‘sad’ than nasty. The face just didn’t look right. When she died she was a real enormous woman, but she didn’t look that size when she came. By the face, I knew it was her. The door was open a bit, and it was if she came through the door and came right up to me: it was unbelievable. …It was more like a kind of greyish…it was if she was – not like in a kind of cloud, but – what could you say? God. I can still see her. It was as if she was in something, with something around her. It was like a she was in a kind of cloud but it wasn’t a cloud. It was as if she was still alive with the actual body…but it was the colour of the face, the look of the face – you know that they’re dead. If you didn’t know her, you’d know it was somebody that wasn’t alive. …It was frightening. There’s just something about them, that you know they’re not alive. It was that quick – she was there like that and away like that (clicks fingers) – As soon as she walked through the door I knew who it was and I knew she’d been dead for years.
That happened in the middle bedroom”.
– Mrs McGee
“She died when I was pretty young. I don’t mean a baby, but young. She was okay to me. I was brought up by her. Her daughter was brought up with me: her name was Mary”.
– Mrs McGee
Mrs V McGee’s Current Residence
“It was a man, but not the same way as I saw the lady. The man was totally different. It was just that it was there, and then away – it was if it was passing. But definitely a man. It just seemed as if it was walking”.
– Mrs McGee
Govan Road
Mrs McGee talked about the house she grew up in. She began by describing a dream she had years after leaving the house she grew up in. While her husband was still alive she dreamt of her old flat, but with different furnishings and fittings. She decided to visit the old place, somewhere she had not seen for over 20 years. When she visited the property the new owners consented to a tour of the flat, and she said that the interior was just as she had dreamed it. She could not explain it, ‘I don’t know how I done that?’
Mrs McGee then talked about her experiences in the house she grew up.
“I stayed in a house in Govan Road. I got reared by an old woman…she believed in spirits, definitely. And I was brought up, grown up, knowing there was ghosts. I remember being very,very,very young and every night ..this man..tormented me, night after night”.
“He was there, and that’s what tormented me. And I remember saying, ‘a man’s here again’, but I was young. I can’t put a finger on what I meant by ‘that man’, but in that house there was only me and one old woman that brought me up, and her granddaughter Mary. There was no men in the house. I grew up in a house without a man. I grew up all my life with no man about me. Same with; there was a woman that grabbed my leg in that house, she had me by the leg and I was shouting, screaming – I grew up with things like that in the house. I don’t know what they are, or who they are”.
“She went to a Spiritualist Church – Annie Park. There was one right across from me..in Govan Road. She went there all the time, and I went there with her sometimes. I just sat there at the back, but sometimes we wouldn’t be there – Mary and I would be in the house. Mary is a year older than me…64. …The only feeling that I had from growing up in that house..I used to be quite afraid of that house, that close, and every night if I’d go out and come in I’d – and this is the way I’d come in every night, guaranteed without fail (crosses herself). And I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t. And they guys Granger – who stayed across from me, they’d say, ‘God! See that Lassie over there? I think she’s going to be a Nun! Every time you see her she’s blessing herself!’ For some reason, I just couldn’t stop this”.
“Frank was a cousin of mine and he’d say there was something funny about that close”.
“Mary and I slept in a single bed, every single night with our heads covered…because I think I was afraid. Annie didn’t lie in a bed, she sat in a bed. She had a wooden thing. I never seen her in a bed. She knew we were afraid… And that’s one of the things she would have said, ‘there’s nothing to be afraid of’; that’s one thing she would have said. And she had a big holy altar in the house, I remember it. Full of statues. And her son was a Brother.
She went to Mass every morning – she didn’t miss it.”
Mrs McGee said that the woman that brought her up, Annie Park, did not share any spiritualist experiences or beliefs with her. It wasn’t discussed. Although she realises that her experiences of ‘the man’ must have happened in the same room as Annie Park, and ‘nothing was said’.
Mrs McGee said she was not a regular attendee of the Spiritualist Church, and only really started to go ‘when there was dances’.
Other Anomalous Experiences in the Immediate Family
Mandy McGee describes an incident in her sister’s house, when her sister, upstairs, heard her 2 year old son screaming downstairs. She ran to his aid to find him terrified of a box of tissues; the tissues were allegedly being taken from the box by an invisible hand.
Mandy McGee also describes an incident when her 5 year old nephew described a conversation with ‘his grandfather’. The child correctly identified the clothes he was wearing in his coffin: a denim shirt and a leather waistcoat.
Mandy McGee also tells of an incident witnessed by her brother Barry and his wife in their own property. An apparition from the waist up allegedly walked briefly around their living room. Miss McGee expressed frustration over her brother’s inability to acknowledge or accept his own anomalous experiences. She also remarked that the only person not to talk about – or admit to – any paranormal experience was her Father.
What the Client Believes
“I have these memories of voices. When I was 4 or 5. When I was really young the house was really busy, and it was a happy house. When I started to get older, when I found myself sleeping in my rooms by myself – I just used to think: ghosts. I couldn’t think of anything else – just ghosts. Dead people who were still there. I just wondered what they wanted me for? Why are they talking? What are they trying to say to me? I’ve got visions of them queuing up. A child I was terrified of that. There was never a clear …message or anything. Thinking about it now, I think I was tuning into something. Was it the house? Or the foundations? Or was it me? I don’t know. They did seem to follow me from room to room. I didn’t really give it much thought at the time. It was never a subject discussed in the house. When I was really young I used to sleep with the quilt over the head. It was only later when I had problems that I approached my parents. …Even being young, and this is going to sound strange, I don’t know, but knowing something – just knowing, or a gut instinct, even being small, but as an adult I developed an understanding of medical things, answering medical questions, illnesses – I’ve never studied a medical thing in my life. And I’m fascinated by that. So, there’s a lot of things that go on with me, and I don’t understand them. I know them, but I don’t know how I know them because I’ve never learnt them. It’s just strange. And as a child – it was just ghosts, and that was it. But I never discussed ghosts with my family. …I would have been about 16 when I first mentioned it…. I don’t think they took me seriously. I think she just brushed me off”.
– Mandy McGee
“I wouldn’t have brushed you off! Because I believe in it. Your Dad would have.”
– Mrs McGee
“I don’t remember getting any kind of response. Victoria did. Victoria did when she told you about the woman at the bottom of the bed, maybe it was because she was 7 years older – I don’t know. I remember feeling quite – for want of a better word – lonely”.
– Mandy McGee
Mandy felt as if she was never taken seriously and it was difficult to bring the subject up. Her Mother remarked that she felt the same way when she was growing up.
Mandy didn’t talk about ghosts with her brother or sister. She didn’t tell her friends. When her friends came to stay with her at Marlow Crescent she didn’t experience anything anomalous. She was ‘too busy enjoying’ herself.
Mandy also volunteered this additional anecdote about an experience she had in the living room of Acacia Avenue. It is instructive that she has included it during an exposition of her beliefs. She accepts it as a subjective experience.
Sound of Radio being tuned
Approximately 2.00 pm 2004
Acacia Avenue
“I was just lying on the couch, on the quiet. Just relaxing. And out of the blue I heard just in my right ear – this is the first time I can say that it came from inside my ear – it was like a radio being tuned in. And I lay there and I said, ‘I don’t know what you’re saying, it’s not clear enough’, and I don’t know where I got the bottle to do that, and it didn’t scare me. And it’s the only incident I’ve ever had that didn’t scare me”.
– Mandy McGee
Mandy remarked that she was so curious about the experience – because she wasn’t scared, and she wanted to know ‘what was being said’ – that she went to a Spiritualist Church. At the end of the service, she approached a medium and told her about the experience. The medium advised Mandy to attend a Development Group.
“I didn’t think they were terribly helpful. I felt like she didn’t have enough time to talk to me, and I never went back. I didn’t really have any patience. I wanted an answer there and then. If I was being honest – now – there’s a big part of me wanting to accept it, and not be afraid of it. Because, now – I’m wondering do I have…? People call it a gift: I don’t call it that”.
– Mandy McGee
Mandy McGee was asked if she had ever talked to anybody else about her experiences, or read any books on the subject.
“I ended up doing that, I ended up researching it. And in a strange way, it attracted me as much as it scared me. From when I was really young, I had a strange attraction to Tarot Decks. Even when I was young, I don’t know what it was. But I bought my first deck when I first moved in here. I was about 23. My interest was always very private. It was the fear of being brushed off and ridiculed, whatever. I was sacred of them, intrigued of them. I can’t remember anyone owning a deck – never. I remember reading a magazine one day when I was young, and it was a book club, and I was instantly drawn to it – I saw a pack spread out – and I wanted them. Back then, I thought of what people said – Devil’s Tools….I went to a Tarot Class when I was 23, at The Psychic Centre – Clifford Lane – I actually worked there for a time, reading the cards…but they’re quite unethical, so I left”.
– Mandy McGee
Mandy then talked about her Tarot cards and what she thought of them. She said she dreamt of Tarot cards: “I dream in pictures. I don’t know. It’s quite strange. It’s hard to describe. It’s only something that’s started happening to me in the past couple of years”.
Mandy McGee was asked if she had shared her experiences with anyone at the Psychic Centre: “The only experience I shared with them was seeing the aura around my Dad at the front door”.
The Client’s Health
Mandy has supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), a heart condition that causes fast heartbeat, and was medicated for the condition. She has not been on medication for a while.
She also suffers from fibromyalgia, a condition affecting the joints and causing fatigue and pain. There is no known cause, or cure, although a variety of therapies are used to alleviate the condition.
Mandy mentions developing benign cranial hypertension; for which she was prescribed ‘really strong’ diuretics. When this condition set in, she gave up work, and hasn’t worked since. She also talks about having ‘really bad panic attacks’.
She also mentioned having a lot of gynecological problems, and weight being ‘a massive issue’. At one point during ‘domestic abuse’ Mandy ‘couldn’t swallow’ and within 16 weeks she had lost about 4 and half stone. She received medical treatment and an endocrine problem was diagnosed. She was advised to eat very little and Mandy has opted for Surgery in 10 months (Summer 2007): she will get her stomach stapled in the Gartnavel Hospital.
She is currently attending a ‘stress clinic’ and in receipt of counseling. This is not the first time she has received counseling; she has received counselling in the past due to bereavement and domestic violence.
“I don’t take any medication at all, because years ago I was on about 12 tablets a day and it took me along time to get off them, and I did gradually. And that’s when my interest in alternative therapies kicked in….I haven’t worked for years because of my health problems. I was a PCB Repair Specialist – circuit boards; and then I worked in a Nursing home for a while, and then it was secretarial work. …I gave up work, and then I went to college and did Business Studies, accounting, that sort of thing. And as soon as I passed – I just hated it, it just wasn’t me, I just didn’t fit in. Whatever I was trying to do, there was something missing – I wasn’t fitting in. So, as soon as I passed I didn’t use it….
I would like to work again, to use my college…”
– Mandy McGee
What the Client Wants
Sarah Kyle asked Mandy the following question ‘How would you define Mandy?’
Mandy McGee provided the following statements, which Sarah repeated and reinforced:
She lost herself 6 years go.
She’s looking for who she is.
Finding herself, or accepting, what has happened to her over the past number of years: the voices, the experiences, whatever.
“I could never really accept myself. It came down to my parents, and I could never really accept that. I feel this person, and I look in the mirror and I don’t see the person I feel. And it’s not just a weight issue, that’s just a part of it…a part of it. I’ve always felt there’s something massive missing in my life, but I don’t know what it is”.
“If I was to say what I was looking for? In one word: an answer. I don’t know if I look at you as my answer….There must be somebody that can tell me what is going on. I’m trying to understand it now and accept it. Accepting it is the thing”.
Sarah Kyle then asked Mandy: “What if we can’t speak to you and give you a definitive answer? What if we don’t come back with black and white answers? How are you going to feel?”
“I’ve not really thought about that. I’ve only thought about getting an answer. I don’t even know what both of you are? In terms of: are you a medium and not telling me? I don’t know.
…what I want to do is understand it. I need you to say to me: ‘Mandy, this is your imagination’, or ‘Mandy, this is..I don’t know – a clairaudient thing you’ve got and you’re picking up on people that have passed away’ or…’Mandy, you seem to be in tune with something’…or….I’m hoping you’ll point me in the right direction”.
“Before, the ghost thing was a big issue, but right now I believe that I’m picking up on something from people that have passed on. That’s what I believe”.
Mandy then wondered if she could control her experiences, to close herself off to experiences. She said she had tried to suppress her experiences in the past and now “it’s just a part of me, and it’s something I have to accept. But there’s a difference in being able to do it, and control. I need to learn control”.
Sarah Kyle then asked if Mandy had ever been on her own before, to which Mandy replied: “I have never been on my own”.
Mandy also at the end of the interview agreed that she would accept a non-black & White answer, as long as she got “100% guaranteed honesty”.
“I feel a bit relieved to be able to speak so openly and honestly without that fear of ridicule with people who know what I’m talking about. Relief is probably the biggest thing. It’s nice to get them off your chest – definitely”.
Mandy has read books about auras, mediumship, survival, tarot, crystals, healing and angels.
Third Telephone Call: 31/10/06
Innes Smith spoke with Mandy McGee briefly to arrange the following visit. No other information was exchanged.
Third Visit to the Property: 06/11/06
Overview
Sarah Kyle and Innes Smith felt that much had been resolved at the conclusion of the second visit, and essentially Mandy McGee had both raised and answered some fundamental questions pertinent to her current situation. However, Sarah Kyle and Innes Smith agreed that a third visit would enable a final counselling session to take place, and provide some sense of closure.
Prior to the third and intended final visit to Acacia Avenue, Sarah Kyle and Innes Smith met and discussed the case. Referring to case notes an action plan was drawn up; taking into account the needs of the client and the evidence presented – both anecdotal and physical.
Once a strategy was decided Kyle and Smith arrived at the property at 8.15 pm. Mandy McGee’s Mother was present and the visit lasted 1 hour and 20 minutes.
The points made by Kyle & Smith are bullet pointed, and is followed by additional information provided by Mandy McGee.
Before Sarah Kyle and Innes Smith left they were warmly thanked by Mandy McGee.
What was said to the Client
- It was made clear to Mandy how far personally she had come since we had first seen her. She was no longer in an unhappy relationship and she was dealing with both her personal life and her health with increasing confidence.
- The Client’s increasing self assurance and confidence was also applicable to her ‘psychical’ situation. That she could take charge and regain control of her psychical situation as much as her physical or emotional situation.
- It was pointed out to her that on the previous two occasions when she took control of anomalous events [Strong Odour of Cigarette Smoke in Acacia Avenue and Hearing Crowds of People in Marlow Crescent] the anomalous experiences stopped. It was stressed that she had already proved herself capable of managing the paranormal.
- The Client was reassured that her experiences although anomalous and frightening, were not rare. It was commented upon that phantom smells, apparitions and nocturnal ‘visitors’ are relatively common, and even exotic experiences such as the ‘whizzing’ are not unknown in the literature. Mandy’s hallucination of many voices was similar to a phenomena often recorded in the oral history of the faerie faith.
- It was stressed that the SSPR could not advise her on whether or not she should seek guidance on developing any ‘mediumistic’ talent. Indeed, no definite statements were made to endorse the Client’s belief in her mediumistic ability. The investigators made it clear that she should continue to assert herself, increase her self-confidence and with time ‘the decision would make itself’.
- It was also pointed out that Mandy’s experiences as a child would undoubtedly influence her perception. On a psychological level we are all trained to perceive and experience, and it was suggested to Mandy that her experience of living in a haunted house when young had possibly influenced her experience of living in Acacia Avenue.
- Finally the Client was again reassured that she was already making progress – and it was up to her what she wanted to happen. She need only take control.
How the Client Responded
The Client responded well to the points made and sought further clarification on: how to assert herself when experiencing the paranormal; how to ‘stop people coming’; and whether we thought it was ‘the house’?
The Investigators offered advice on ‘closing down’, ‘positive visualisation’, and ‘just saying No!’ It was also stated that it was normal and natural for people and places to have ‘personalities’ or ‘entities’ attached; what differed was the sensitivity and attitude of the percipient. Attitude was something the client had control over.
Mandy McGee also said that two weeks previously she had paid for a private sitting with a medium called ‘Francesca’ – who had impressed her greatly. She said she felt a sensation of pressure on her shoulder when the medium had said her Father was touching her.
Mandy McGee also said that she could see ‘stars’ around Sarah Kyle’s head. She said that she had never seen this before – only ‘auras’.
Incidentally, the property was being refurbished, and Mandy McGee is considering selling.
Telephone Conversation on 13/07/07
Innes Smith was contacted by Trish Robertson regarding Mandy McGee. Trish was contacted by an SSPR member, who in turn was contacted by Mandy McGee. Apparently Mandy McGee was unhappy with her dealings with the SSPR. Innes Smith therefore contacted Mandy on 13/07/07.
Mandy stated that “things have started up again” approximately at the end of June, beginning of July. She listed the following phenomena:
- The first thing she noticed was when she was lying in bed, early morning and she couldn’t move. She felt a weight in bed, and initially forgot she was in bed alone. When she realised she was she leapt out of bed.
- A few days later she was sitting in the living room when she noticed out the corner of her eye a ‘horizontal blue light’.
- When she was in the same room at a different time with her Mother she could hear “somebody playing an organ”. It lasted for 10 to 15 seconds and was loud enough for Mandy and her Mother to both look in the same direction at the same time – the table.
- On Sunday the 8th of July she was in the flat alone. Mandy was wearing a nightdress and sitting in an armchair. She scratched the top of her leg and “somebody whistled exceptionally loud”. Mandy repeated the whistle: it was a wolf whistle.
- Mandy also describes “seeing a cat – but they’re not mine”.
Mandy also provided the following additional detail – that from New Year 2007 until “3 or 4 weeks ago” she was back with her partner Bob. Apparently at the turn of the year Bob had a serious accident (he fell down some stairs and lost an eye) and Mandy ‘took him back’. However, she threw him out again recently, and for the time being, is living alone.
Mandy also discussed her dissatisfaction with Innes Smith. She queried why she ‘never had a medium out’ and felt that she was not being taken seriously. Innes Smith responded that he did take her seriously, but he could not validate her experiences. Mandy remarked, “You make me uncomfortable”; “you strike me as a sceptic and that’s a problem for me”; “I’ve had years of abuse and it’s not down to stress” and “when you have a leak you get a plumber, or when your electrics go, you get an electrician – but when this kind of thing happens – who else are you going to call? Who else can I go to?”
Innes Smith concluded the telephone call by stating that he would discuss bringing a ‘medium’ out to see her with a colleague – but could not promise anything in the short term as Sarah Kyle was on holiday. He also suggested that he would not conduct any future interviews – if his perceived scepticism made Mandy uncomfortable. Innes Smith agreed he would contact Mandy in the short term by telephone to let her know what he could arrange.
Fifth Telephone Conversation on 17/07/07
Innes Smith contacted Mandy McGee to tell her that he would discuss Mandy’s case with Sarah Kyle once Sarah had returned from holiday. It would also be possible to ‘bring a medium out’ to see Mandy, but it may be some time until that was possible.
Mandy mentioned that she wasn’t staying at home at the moment and the latest phenomenon was the smell of pipe smoke – but “nothing scary”.
Mandy also provided a land line number for the property.
Sixth Telephone Conversation on 5/08/07
Sarah Kyle telephoned Mandy McGee on 5 August 2007 and repeated the information provided to Innes Smith in the two previous phone calls.
Mandy was delighted at the prospect of a revisit with a medium, and arrangements for the visit were made.
Fourth Visit to the Property:12/08/2007
Sarah Kyle returned at 1.00 pm on Sunday 12 August. Tommy Johnston, in his capacity as a medium accompanied Sarah Kyle. Mandy was alone for the meeting. She looked relaxed, comfortable and quite upbeat about the situation. Mandy McGee appeared to be in control of what was happening to her.
She had redecorated part of her home.
Tommy Johnston asked Mandy McGee to describe what had happened recently. Mandy McGee indicated that she had:
- seen a blue tube of light one night when in bed
- heard an organ playing – loud and distinctive
- heard someone whistling – a wolf whistle
- been woken up twice at exactly 5.35 hearing a man speaking and this had also occurred in her mother’s house
- woken up hearing the sound of a bike bell
- seen a black cat out of the side of her eye (but not one of her own cat) and she once had a black cat.
Mandy McGee was not frightened, rather she was looking for an explanation.
Mediumistic Statements
Tommy Johnston had the following conversation with Mandy McGee:
TJ There is a nice feeling in this house – nothing nasty.
You were quite sensitive as a wee girl and worried about people talking behind your back.
Can I walk around the house and how long have you lived here?
MMcG 12 years and I’ll open all the doors for you.
TJ There is a nice feeling in the bedroom.
MMcG I agree and I’m comfortable in my room.
TJ I sense something at the back of the door – a different feeling.
MMcG I agree.
TJ A haze or a spiral.
MMcG A lot of things happened in the kitchen at the beginning – someone walking by. I have been aware of something physically brushing by me.
TJ Have there been renovations recently because even planning can have an effect.
MMcG Directly before me a gentleman died in the house and he smoked himself to death! He never allowed anyone into the house – not even his niece who brought him soup – he would not let her in. The Council had left this house when they had been doing work before – may be the changes were difficult for him.
TJ Changes and the talk of changes.
TJ Did your great grandfather play the organ?
MMcG My great, great grandfather played the organ.
MMcG Speaking of my great, great grandfather, I had been speaking to a spirit artist from Liverpool and she sent me this portrait. Do you think it is him?
TJ The gentleman in the house before you had agoraphobia.
MMcG As a child (since the age of 2) I have heard my name being called and woken up in the middle of the night to what sounds like lots of people in my bedroom. I have been terrified and never really comfortable with the whole thing.
TJ Mary, you are psychic and very aware, but need to talk to someone.
MMcG When I am upset sometimes I can taste a pipe.
TJ Your great, great grandfather may be working with you – you need to learn to close down.
MMcG I never really close down – I like it and in fact I am quite comfortable with it!
TJ It is important that you close down or you will become exhausted. (MMcG given two ways of closing down and advised to do this three to four times a day.)
TJ Do you have any problems with the old man and do you want him to move on?
MMcG Not if he does not want to because he does not bother me. May be it is in his best interest to move on.
I got the picture of my great, great grandfather four to six weeks ago and when I saw it I felt warm like a hug. I am really a lot more content since then.
TJ With your psychic side and you can have ups and downs. You are picking up on other people’s energies. You are passing people and picking up on them – you need to close down.
By this point Mandy McGee appeared to be quite relaxed and enjoying the conversation.
She was reluctant to end the visit and asked about spiritualist churches she should attend.
She was advised of the two main churches in Glasgow and the times of their various meetings.
The meeting ended with the usual pleasantries and the option to call Sarah Kyle if the situation did not change.
Mandy McGee thanked both visitors and indicated that she hoped not to contact the society other than to attend a meeting.
Physical Evidence
Two Video Cassettes of Footage
Cassette One – VHS – Duration: 2.19
The Video Footage features a static view of the front of the property, the street and the buildings beyond. It is taken in late afternoon or early evening and the light is good. The tape was not blank when used to record the footage.
Innes Smith watched the footage, and in his opinion, cannot see or hear anything inexplicable or anomalous. Some noises were ambiguous, in that their source is not known – however, by a large degree – a rational explanation for all noises is most likely.
0.18 – Few taps – cats? Neighbours?
0.27 – Tap/floor – cat? Neighbours?
0.32 – Neighbours TV
0.38 – Neighbours? Keys in door
0.41 – Cat jumps onto window ledge
0.47 – Neighbours’ voices
1.30 – Door closing on opposite street audible
1.52 – Helicopter heard
1.54 – Breathing? Cats? Too ambiguous. Irregular. Cats?
2.15 – Barking dog
2.19 – Miss McGee Returns with Mother
Cassette Two – VHS – Duration: 6.06
The Video Footage features a static view of the living room at night. The Hallway is illuminated and therefore provides some indirect light. The tape was not blank when used to record the footage.
Innes Smith watched the footage, and in his opinion, cannot see or hear anything inexplicable or anomalous. Some noises were ambiguous, in that their source is not known – however, by a large degree – a rational explanation for all noises is most likely.
0.02 – Interference
0.05 – Cats Meowing & Interference
0.19 – ambiguous noise. Cats?
0.23 – Tone when Fridge goes on
1.03 – Fridge goes off
1.21 – Insect/Moth flies across wall
2.35 – Pop. Interference?
3.19 – Fridge on
3.43 – Cats grooming
3.57 – Fridge off
4.22 – Interference
5.26 – Cat walks into kitchen
5.36 – Cat walks out of kitchen
5.37 – Other Cat walks into kitchen
5.41 – Other Cat walks back
Photograph of Window
During the Initial Visit the investigators were shown a photograph of the front of the property (taken from the front garden) with a supposed inexplicable image.
“I had taken a photograph quite a few years ago…there was nobody in the house. The only two people were me and my Da’. And my Da’ was at the front I was standing in front of him… Now I didn’t really notice this straight away… but when you really look at the photograph you can see a white face, a hat that looks like Napoleon’s Hat and a black cloak”. – Mandy McGee
Mandy McGee believes the image to be the face of a Nun with a Dutch cap, peering round the corner of the window from within the front room of the flat. This photograph was also allegedly referred to by a medium, and Mandy attaches some significance to it.
Innes Smith after a brief glance ventured the opinion that it was a partial reflection of the photographer on the exterior of the glass. Because the anomalous image is within the window frame it is entirely possible that it is a reflection and the ‘Dutch cap’ is a fold of cloth at the elbow of the photographer.
This explanation was neither accepted nor refuted.
Personal Notes
Sarah Kyle (Team Leader)
Mandy McGee presented the Society with an interesting case. Her domestic situation and health problems might lead some to believe that she is an attention seeker. Mandy McGee appeared to need the support of her mother in particular to function on a daily basis. She presented as a woman with low self esteem and self worth.
I am not sure if Mandy McGee was looking for ‘answers’ so much as a new direction in her life. I believe Mandy McGee wanted the Society to endorse her ‘psychic experiences’ and confirm that she had mediumistic ability.
The Society investigators allowed Mandy McGee to tell her story and begin to examine issues in her life in a constructive, supportive and non threatening way.
Innes Smith
Judging the case purely on physical evidence – Mandy McGee could be thought of as being highly imaginative and prone to fantasy. Taking into account her domestic situation and complicated health problems many would dismiss her experiences as simple attention seeking. However, I do not personally doubt Mandy McGee’s sincerity and believe her experiences to be interesting and worthy of serious investigation. It’s also notable that many of Mandy’s experiences have precedence in the literature, which may add considerably to her credibility. Although she may have read about such experiences before (and she spent time with people presumably well-read on the paranormal when she worked at The Psychic Centre).
Indeed, it is Mandy’s complex situation that challenges the Society to respond in a measured and sensitive way; neither casually dismissing her experiences nor validating them with an ‘official seal of approval’.
I feel that the confusion and lack of control in her personal life was expressed in her ‘psychical experiences’ ~ and she sought intervention to solve her current crisis.
I also feel that there were many dynamics at play:
- Mandy’s unwillingness to live alone.
- Her relationship with an abusive partner. The relationship ended during the investigation.
- Mandy seeking validation of her ‘special ability’.
- Her self-esteem: she had no job, poor health, unhappy with her body.
- Her relationship with her Mother. Her Mother supported her belief in the paranormal, and indeed, both Mother and Daughter grew up in Haunted Houses.
This complicated situation required tactful counselling ~ mostly provided with great skill by Sarah Kyle. There was a better rapport between Sarah and Mandy once Sarah admitted “some may describe me as sensitive”.
I feel that the Case was concluded satisfactorily and that the SSPR can do no more.
Finally: the Client was at one point awakened to the possibility that I was a ‘sceptic’ due to a clumsily worded sentence. This sudden suspicion that an investigator may be sceptical immediately destroyed the rapport between team and client. This is not the first case that this has happened. I must remind myself to choose my words more carefully: reassuring the client that I am taking them seriously without endorsing the reality of the event(s).
The Scottish Society for Psychical Research
This report has been anonymised. Permission to copy for education – not for resale or profit.
Copyright the author.
The Scottish Society for Psychical Research 