All language subtitles for The Afterlife Investigations (2010) 480p GAIA x264.en

[SWOOSHING]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

After endless fake ghost
TV shows, here at last

is a documentary that
presents the real evidence.

Madam, are you there?

Yes.

Hello, Madam.

The experiments
featured in this program

have been described by the
scientists who witnessed them

as some of the best evidence
for life after death ever.

We had 1,000 hours of
continuous communication

with the spirit world.

Be quiet.

Be quiet.

Be quiet.

[SHUSHING]

Marie.

For five years, the Scole
Experiment continued to produce

a vast range of
extraordinary phenomena--

[CHATTERING]

--more than in any other
experiment in the history

of the paranormal.

It was witnessed by
hundreds of visitors

and monitored by a team of
internationally renowned

scientists and investigators.

I must stress, it
changes your paradigm.

What they claim to
have seen and recorded

is so shocking that many
will find it unbelievable.

The table levitated and
began to spin very rapidly.

I'm not at all convinced that
there is such a thing as life

after death.

In the US, we put
psychic, Allison DuBois,

the inspiration behind the hit
TV show Medium, to the test.

Could she communicate with
one of the leading Scole

researchers after
his tragic death?

Is there a doctor
in the house.

And we meet this woman.

He'll just never
be this age again.

She says she can pick up
the voice of her dead son

on this simple tape recorder.

We also follow the
Scole Group to Italy,

where they conducted seances
with Marcello Bacci, one

of the world's most
unusual mediums.

For decades,
grieving parents say

they can talk to their dead
children via his radio.

Although the experiments
featured in this program

provide scientific evidence
for the possibility of life

after death, most of the
public know nothing about them.

This is the first time
both the Scole Group

and Bacci have
allowed their work

to be shown together
in a TV documentary.

There has, in my view, never
been anything like that at all

ever.

[WHOOSHING]

In the mid-1990s, in the
tiny English village of Scole,

one of the most remarkable
experiments ever attempted

in communication with
the dead took place

in the cellar of this house.

[WHOOSHING]

The Scole
Experimental Group, who

conducted these
experiments, consisted

of Diana and Alan Bennett,
two of Britain's most

accomplished mediums, as well
as organizers and investigators,

Robin and Sandra Foy.

Hello.

Hi.

Hello there.

Nice to see you.

For five years,
twice a week, the group

would meet this tiny cellar.

Here, the Bennetts
would go into trance,

allowing what they say
were the voices of the dead

to speak through them.

Yes, we hear.

Somebody's talking.

Shh.

Hello.

[WHISPERING]

Come on, friend.

Come, on friend.

We can hear your story.

[WHISPERING]

But the Scole Group
went far beyond this,

achieving spectacular
results, an acclaimed form

of spirit communication
known as physical mediumship.

There's a wide range of
phenomena that physical

mediumship over the centuries
has been supposedly able

to produce objects
levitating, chairs, tables--

[THUMPING]

--objects in the room,
apports and teleportation,

in other words, things just
dropping out of nowhere.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

Sometimes things
disappearing and reappearing.

Apparent spirit hands,
apparent spirit forms-- things

that people can see happening.

There's an effect on a real
object of things based on

supposedly the communication
or contact between a medium

and the spirit world.

The spirits are using
the medium as a conduit

to cause these events to happen.

[STRAINED BREATHING]

Physical mediumship
is entirely

different from
mental mediumship,

because everybody that's present
at the time can witness what's

happening, such as if a
voice comes from mid-air,

everybody can hear and
converse with a voice.

Very nice of you
to have us here.

If a spirit person manifests,
everybody can see what happens.

I think it's fair to say
that when you have sittings

with physical groups as
successful as the Scole Group,

you will see miracles.

You will see things which cannot
be explained under normal laws

of science.

Trying to communicate
with the dead

has been a lifelong passion
for Robin and Sandra Foy.

Today, they are among the
world's leading experts

in physical mediumship.

What happened here
during the Scole Experiment

was very successful and
a dramatic effort, which

proved conclusively to us that
life goes on after we all die.

Diana and Alan
Bennett have also

participated in physical
mediumship for decades.

They joined the Scole
Experiment in 1993.

But both claim their
astonishing abilities began long

before this.

My first discovery of being a
medium was when I was a child.

I used to see a spirit.

I used to hear things
and be aware of things

that other people weren't aware.

When I was young,
I saw spirits,

spirits that would come
and show themselves to me.

[EERIE MUSIC]

I think the greatest effort
come from the spirit side.

I mean, without them,
you can sit there,

and nothing will happen.

But a great deal did happen.

More, in fact, than any other
mediumship experiment ever

conducted.

And according to
the Scole Group,

their success was
due to the efforts

of a group of the
diseased personalities

on the other side.

They called this
group the spirit team.

Our spirit team was a
team of spirit personalities

who had lived a life on this
Earth, and several of them

had been scientists
whilst they were here.

The Scole Group
say instructions

on how to conduct
the experiments

were received from the spirit
team speaking via the mediums.

[? Put your hand ? ]
into the [? bowls ? ].

Some of the
initial experiments

involved photography.

These began
conventionally enough,

with the Foys being told to
load a film into a camera

and place it on the table.

But after this, things
began to get very strange.

We heard the camera
moving round over our heads,

clicking, and being
wound on by spirit.

In total darkness,
so that in reality,

nothing should've
showed up on the film.

But when the film was developed,
there were amazing pictures.

War-time pictures of
St. Paul's and the bus

that was blown
apart in the blitz.

Quite amazing stuff.

It was never explained
to us exactly why

we got these particular
pictures, other than the fact

that we had a separate
photographic spirit

team working with
us at that stage who

were practicing their art and
seeing what they could achieve.

Some films contained
images of faces,

including human faces in
various stages of formation.

There were a series that
appeared to represent bubbles

and various other
things coming together,

partial faces, et cetera.

We were told that
what we were seeing

were areas of communication
within the spirit world.

The Scole Group
believed these faces

were images of deceased
people, which were somehow

projected from the other side.

To them, this
theory was confirmed

with the appearance
on another Scole film

of this blurry profile.

Communicators
through the mediums

informed them that it
belonged to a man named

Kingsley Fairbridge,
who had died in 1924.

We were put in touch in a very
obscure way with his daughter,

who was happy to agree that that
was a picture of her father.

In the next experiments,
the Scole Group

say they were able to
create these images not

only in total darkness, but
without the use of a camera.

We were asked
by the spirit team

to put a totally unopened
Polaroid 35-millimeter film

just in its plastic container.

If the spirit team felt that
they'd achieved a result,

we were asked to develop it.

This could be done immediately
in a special processing

machine.

You can imagine
our surprise when

we brought this film up
that had never been opened,

put it through the
processor, and viewed it,

and there was images,
and faces, and writing.

How do you explain it was there?

You know.

In order to
counter accusations

that they faked these
images, the group

invited independent
investigators

to select the films.

I checked the box,
which was factory sealed,

identifiable by the glue marks.

He then broke the seal, signed
the plastic film container,

and carried it into the session,
where it remained on the table.

But could it have been switched?

I'm 100% certain that
the film I selected

was the same film that
was returned to me

at the end of the session.

The film was immediately
processed in front of him.

Halfway along the film, we
could see a Latin statement.

The spirit team had said that
they had worked on the film,

and lo and behold, there it was.

Do I believe in an afterlife?

Yes, I do.

Completely.

I had an experience where I
met a medium on the street,

and she described my great
grandparents, my grandparents,

my great aunt, who
have all passed away,

their names, the way that
they died, and told me

that they were all around
me and walking with me,

and never really have
left me, or never

really leave any of us.

So completely believe in that.

News of the remarkable
events at Scole

reached Italy, where
the Scole Group

traveled to meet one of the
world's most unusual mediums.

Marcello Bacci amazes visitors
and scientific investigators,

who say they can hear the dead
speaking through his old vacuum

tube radio.

[RADIO INTERFERENCE]

This extremely rare
form of mediumship

is also called direct
radio voice, or DRV,

and is virtually
unknown to the public.

With it, experimenters believe
that two-way conversations

with the dead are possible.

But could the Scole
Group communicate

through Bacci's radio?

Yes.

Thank you, Manu.

After this, scientist
Harry Oldfield,

a colleague of the Scole Group,
attempts further communication.

We would like to ask the
question of the appearance

of your space.

Thank you.

Will the work progress?

Thank you.

This is what I needed to know.

Experts say that
Bacci's ability

to invite the spirits to
speak through his radio

is usually so reliable, he
conducts regular sessions.

This seems highly improbable,
but these grieving parents

don't think so.

The walls are littered with
pictures of dead loved ones.

Parents clearly
recognize the voices

as belonging to their
departed children.

[CHATTERING]

[CRYING]

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

For the bereaved,
it's an experience

that rescues them from torment.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

We wish to know
more with respect.

But are these radio
voices just a clever hoax?

Not according to
scientists who have

subjected Bacci's mediumship
to a battery of tests.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

One of the leading
Italian investigators

is Paolo Presi
and his colleagues

from Il Laboratorio,
an organization that

uses the most stringent
methods of science

to investigate
paranormal claims.

He is a medium,
surely is a medium,

because all happen when he
is present on the experiments

Using software
endorsed by the FBI,

Il Laboratorio have conducted
voice print analysis.

Like a fingerprint, a
voice print is unique.

It can therefore be used to
determine someone's identity

with near certainty.

They compared voice prints
from two audio samples.

One was the voice
of Chiara Lenzie,

recorded before she died.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

The other came out of
Bacci's radio after her death,

and was clearly
recognized by her father.

The comparison
produced a 97% match.

Despite this
startling evidence,

skeptics claim that
the voices could

be faked by transmitting
them from a remote location.

But Dr. Emmanuel
Toriello, who has

been investigating
Bacci for decades,

believes this is impossible.

Dr. Toriello was present during
key scientific experiments

that he says eliminated
any possibility

of remote transmission.

One of the first of
these experiments

involved putting Bacci's radio
inside a special device that

shields it from
all radio signals.

Yet still, the voices continued.

[LAUGHING]

Do you believe in
the possibility of life

after death?

No, I believe in a
long, long sleep, baby.

Back at Scole, the phenomena
were continuing to progress.

Nearly all of them took place
in this tiny brick cellar,

affectionately called
the Scole Hole.

It was here that the two mediums
would go into trance, allowing

what they say were
deceased personalities

to take over their bodies.

Hello.

[DISTORTED VOICES]

But just how difficult was
it to summon the departed?

I think possibly we set
about twice a week for a year

before we really got
anything significant happen.

You know, just minor
phenomena up till then.

But the group's determination
and patience paid off.

By 1995, visitors were
reporting that the Scole

Hole was alive with
extraordinary phenomena.

[CHATTERING]

According to the Scole Group,
their spirit communicators

requested that they
place this empty glass

dome on their table.

The glass dome was very
important to the Scole work.

It created energy
stored in the dome,

and was used by the spirit team
to produce the phenomena that

happened at Scole.

In this remarkable
photograph, the energy

can actually be seen
radiating out from the dome.

But since these
phenomena are so unusual,

the group knew that without
careful independent scrutiny,

their experiments would
be dismissed as fake.

Therefore, the group
allowed their experiments

to be monitored by
a team of scientists

and paranormal investigators
from the Society for Psychical

Research, or SPR,
based in London.

For over a century,
the SPR has specialized

in examining
paranormal phenomena

in an unbiased and
scientific way.

Among its members have
been some of Britain's most

accomplished scientists,
including a dozen

Nobel laureates.

Its investigators have
exposed many fake mediums.

They are not easily fooled.

One of the leading
researchers into Scole

was veteran SPR
member, Montague Keen.

Initially, we were
all pretty skeptical,

because what had been
claimed seemed so way out.

Another key researcher
was Dr. Arthur Ellison,

an emeritus as Professor
of Electrical Engineering

and a former
President of the SPR.

No scientist of
any kind would never

say that anything could
not possibly happened.

The third principle
investigator

was research psychologist
Dr. David Fontana.

Professor Fontana is one of
the world's most respected

paranormal investigators.

The paranormal is
that mysterious area

behind the scene
in the known world.

And since most of the world
is unseen and unknown,

and most of the world is
full of mystery, for me

it's a fascinating
and absorbing area.

To preclude the
possibility of fraud,

these scientists were
allowed to inspect the cellar

and all its contents
before and after sessions.

All participants had
to empty their pockets

and leave their
belongings outside.

The cellar had only one
entrance and this door

was kept locked
during all sessions.

Despite these precautions,
the incredible events at Scole

continued unabated.

And the SPR
investigators reported

what they saw in graphic terms.

We saw colored lights.

We saw materializations.

We had direct voices-- that
is, spirit voices talking

from the air.

We were touched by the spirits.

So whole range of
phenomena which

could not be mistaken
by three investigators

such as ourselves.

[FLUTE MUSIC]

In the spirit of
openness, the Scole Group

allowed more investigators
to scrutinize their sessions.

These included
leading scientists

from several disciplines,
even a professional magician.

One of the scientists was
the internationally renowned

biologist and author,
Dr. Rupert Sheldrake.

Science has done very little
to investigate the afterlife

or reincarnation.

Most materialists assume that
both of them are impossible.

So there's a kind
of dogmatic denial

by some scientists of the
possibility of these things.

But I wouldn't say that was
a scientific understanding.

I would say that was a dogmatic,
ideologically-motivated

dismissal.

The only way to have a
scientific understanding

is to do the research.

We had a number of
different professors

of different
disciplines to come.

And sometimes, they could
test their expertise

against the expertise
on the other side.

For example, Professor Archie
Roy, who's an astronomer

and specializes in the
movement of celestial bodies,

had a discussion with the other
side about celestial mechanics.

And he said afterwards that
he thought there were only

about half a dozen people in the
country who would know exactly

what they were talking about.

Such evidence is gold
dust to researchers,

as it is unlikely to
have been fabricated

by the mediums who possess no
academic training in this area.

Although the scientists
found this sort of evidence

impressive, they still
needed to eliminate

any possibility of
fraud taking place

under the cover of darkness.

Therefore, the Scole Group
devised several controls

to help eliminate
this possibility.

One of these controls
involved all participants

wearing luminous wristbands.

These bands were
attached with Velcro,

so they could not be removed
without attracting attention.

They'd also requested the use
of night vision equipment.

We persistently asked them
to accept infrared cameras.

And they said, not yet.

It would interfere with
the energy in some way.

So we had to accept this
with great reluctance.

We were told that
this phenomena could

be developed in the light.

But if it were, it would
take an awfully long time

to produce-- years and years
rather than the few months

that it actually took us.

Critics saw this insistence
on darkness as an excuse

to hide fraud.

But participants to
the Scole experiment

were not always
in total darkness.

Whoa, look at you.

[CHATTERING]

Wow.

They were various
shapes, generally

like a pea-sized light.

And they had substance.

They would come and sit on
your hand, you could feel them.

They were intelligently
directed and intelligently

moving, and would be
responsive to our wishes,

whether expressed or silent.

The gyrations were
sometimes so rapid,

that it almost left like, a
circle of light going over

here and over there.

Sometimes two lights would
appear and just stare at me

within inches of my eyes.

I thought at first
that the lights

must be a small light
emitting diode suspended

on the end of
nylon fishing line.

Then suddenly, a
light would start

to do a tap dance on
the table, bouncing

up and down on the table.

And you could hear it click as
it rebounded from the table.

And suddenly--

It went pop, went
through the table,

and came out the other side.

Now, no nylon fishing
line explanation

would account for it going
through an apparently

solid-- well, it was a
solid object, a table.

The lights also had
another rather strange trick

up their sleeve, if I may talk
about lights as having sleeves.

And that was to
pass through bodies.

I was actually used as a
Guinea pig in the early days

to see how it felt and
to develop the phenomena.

And this light would actually
enter through my chest,

and then three minutes
later, it would probably

pop out of the arm or something,
and disappear across a room.

This was being developed to
produce a heating phenomena.

I have this bad
knee, and at one point

we had a light that was
moving around the room

and rested on my
knee for a, minute

and suddenly moved
inside my knee.

Yeah, she just went
into my bad knee.

[CHATTERING]

I could feel it moving
around in my knee,

and then all of a sudden
shot out the back of my leg

and took off.

The pain was greatly
reduced, and the swelling

that had been in it
that day was gone.

And then that was a huge,
wonderful thing to happen.

Visitors declared themselves
delighted by these displays,

but they were astonished
to hear voices

of what they say were
spirit personalities talking

through the mediums.

We had a thousand
hours of communication

during the Scole
Experiment, a thousand

hours of continuous
communication with the spirit

world.

Be quiet.

Be quiet.

Be quiet.

Shh.

Emily, when did you
live on the Earth?

19th century?

In this dramatic form
of spirit communication,

the mediums go into
trance, during which time

they say spirits take over their
bodies and speak through them.

It's the love
which makes people.

Yes.

Right.

And the rest
doesn't matter a jot.

So what's it like
to supposedly talk

to the dead in this way?

It becomes very natural.

And actually, talking to
somebody who is deceased,

if you like, is a natural
thing, purely and simply

because it's the same as you
talking to me here in this room

at this very moment.

There's no difference,
other than the fact

that we are aware that they're
no longer in this world.

And not be
frightened in any way.

But could the mediums
have just been acting?

The researchers didn't think so.

The voices were
quite different

from those of the
mediums themselves,

and the personalities
behind the voices

were not only quite different,
but were very consistent,

even the accents were.

But it wasn't
just the consistency

of the accents that
impressed the researchers.

They reported that
the personalities also

remembered every detail of
all conversations spoken

to visitors over a
five-year period.

Add to those skills the
ability to read minds.

This apparently occurred
when the female spirit

spoke to the group.

She would tell us what
was going to happen.

She would comment on
what we were doing,

and sometimes what
we were thinking.

She would answer our
questions quite frequently

before we had actually
asked them, which was

quite embarrassing sometimes.

Thank you for your
warm appreciation,

what you're trying to do.

This communicator
identified herself

as the spirit of a
Mrs. Emily Bradshaw.

And Mrs. Bradshaw,
who is a very commanding

figure, a lady of the
upper class Victorian

or Edwardian lady.

She sounded like that.

We continue from
our side of life

to influence people
still in the body.

But what evidence was there
that these voices were really

from the deceased?

We knew that we
were communicating

with deceased personalities,
because a number of people

who communicated with us
were able to be identified

by independent witnesses at
the time who could testify as

to them being people
they knew, evidence

which couldn't possibly have
been known by anybody else.

But what's it
like for the mediums

to have these ethereal
communicators speak

through them?

Those sensations become
more and more intense

and build up to a point where
I feel the personality actually

taking part of my senses over.

I become more and more
unaware of my own body,

and also more and more
unaware of my own thoughts.

My mother died about
a year and a half

before my father did.

And three days before
my father died,

he saw a vision of my mother,
and was very disturbed when

she suddenly disappeared.

And I believe that
his death coincided

with that vision of her and
wanting to see her again.

Back at Scole, visitors
reported seeing and especially

hearing these
objects materialize

from out of nowhere.

In the language of
physical mediumship,

these objects are
called apports.

An apport is an object,
which is quite solid,

which is brought
from one location

to another during an
experimental session,

but so show doing, apparently
passes through solid walls,

doors, et cetera.

Well, the total
number of apports

that we had during the
experimental sessions

was about 80 or even more.

Whilst we were sitting
here, this object

would arrive, just materialize,
and arrive on the table.

And as it arrived, [THUMP]
that's the sort of noise

it would make.

Despite the fact that
witnesses heard a loud bang

every time an apport
arrived, no matter how small,

skeptics have dismissed
this phenomenon as objects

merely thrown into the air.

But the appearance
of these apports

are not so easy to explain away.

These newspapers arrived
in pristine condition,

despite having
originated in the 1940s.

But who might have sent it
to the Scole Group, and why?

The answer arrived,
they say, when

dead British medium,
Helen Duncan,

spoke to them via
one of the mediums.

During World War
II, Duncan's life

was ruined when she was
arrested and imprisoned

for practicing mediumship.

As she described her
ordeal to the group,

this newspaper allegedly
appeared out of nowhere.

[THUMP]

To their astonishment, displayed
prominently on its front page,

was the story of Duncan's
trial and conviction.

I think she suffered
greatly for her mediumship.

And she was really
coming to wish us well.

And she brought the newspaper as
a sign of a very turbulent time

in her life.

The scientists knew that
an old newspaper could easily

be copied and printed
onto a modern paper,

so Montague Keen had the
suspect newspaper analyzed.

We took it to the leading
research station in England,

indeed in the world,
on paper and printing.

And it was absolutely
clear from their report

that, first of all, it was
done on letter press, which

has gone out of
existence virtually

since the early
1970s, I would say.

It was newsprint
produced during wartime,

which lacks certain chemicals,
which you couldn't get hold of.

So this was a genuine
article, which

appeared 50 years
after the event,

but no one has been able to
explain how it got there.

So where did all these
apported objects come from?

We were told by the
spirit team that they

were never stolen,
but basically objects

that had been lost or
discarded, or at one time been

owned by the spirit personality
that brought them for us.

Back in Italy, we
were given unique access

to film one of Bacci's
private seances.

I think, now you have
to sit somewhere, and sit

not in my bed.

Not in my bed.

Somewhere that you can, yes--

Despite the loss
of this camera,

we were allowed to continue
using this night shot

camera to record
the seance, which

took place in total darkness.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

[SHUSHING]

As the seance progressed,
the medium went into trance.

[HEAVY BREATHING]

[GROANING]

We were hoping to capture
what visitors to Scole

said they had witnessed, the
levitation of solid objects.

However, minutes later, we
were asked to switch off

the night shot camera.

But secretly, we
kept it running.

And what we captured
was truly astonishing.

This heavy oak table
rose into the air.

[GROANING]

[STRANGE LAUGHING]

But levitations were
not the only phenomena

we witnessed during
these seances.

Like the Scole experiment,
visitors to Bacci's center

say they have received
apported objects.

This woman is one of them.

Once again, we were permitted
to use night shot cameras

in the hope of capturing
the arrival of an apport.

[GROANING]

We were not disappointed.

With the medium in
trance, the camera crew

were astonished
when, out of nowhere,

they felt these flowers
falling on them.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

[GASPING]

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

With the lights on,
people reacted in amazement

at just how many
flowers had appeared.

As they collected them,
we continued our filming.

[CHATTERING]

Although we saw no
signs of trickery,

this seance was not conducted
under controlled conditions.

Therefore, critics could claim
it was possible for someone

to have thrown the
flowers into the room.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

But apports which have a
specific connection to departed

loved ones frequently appear
at the Center, connections

that Bacci has no
previous knowledge of.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

This woman said
that a single red rose

was apported into her hand.

She was also convinced it
came from her dead son,

because every week, she told us,
she placed an identical flower

on his grave.

As impossible as it sounds,
could this rose really

have been sent from
the other side?

I'm not sure that I do
believe in the afterlife.

I think it's because I'd like
to have final rest when I die

rather than have to think about
coming back as something else.

Back at Scole, the phenomena
were continuing to progress.

The scientists were about to
experience something even more

shocking.

Another thing that happened
was that a hand materialized

and sort of glowed.

And there was this disembodied
hand floating around.

When I told some of
my friends about it,

they said it sounded just
like The Addams Family.

And I commented to the medium.

I said, oh, I can see
a disembodied hand.

And she said, it's
not disembodied.

This was Mrs. Bradshaw,
who was speaking

through one of the mediums.

And I said, you mean there's
an invisible body attached?

And she said precisely.

And then she said, would
you like it to touch you?

And I said yes.

So she said, well, ask it.

So I said hand,
will you touch me?

And so the hand went
around behind me,

and it tapped me
on the shoulder.

But could these
hands have been hoaxed?

This visitor who felt
the truncated length

of a disembodied
arm didn't think so.

And I was so startled,
I moved my hand,

and it traveled
right up a sleeve.

There was a sleeve,
like a cotton sleeve,

very much like this,
right up to the shoulder,

and then it just stopped.

There was nothing beyond where
the shoulder would have been.

It was a really
amazing experience.

Is it a hand?

Oh, yes, yes.

Yes.

Yeah, it's a hand.

[CHATTERING]

Oh, I see it.

Yes.

Sometimes, we would be
touched by these hands.

Sometimes, we would
invite them to touch us.

Sometimes, they would touch
us on our knees, let's say,

or on our feet, which as
it was a fraud proof table,

were inaccessible to
the mediums themselves.

So what's it like to touch
one of these spirit hands?

It felt cool, but not cold.

It didn't feel clammy.

It didn't feel slimy.

It felt like a
normal human hand,

and it grasped my hand firmly.

The unseen communicators
told the scientists

that they usually
materialized a hand or an arm

because it was easier than
materializing a full body.

But some cases of full
bodies being materialized

were reported.

I had the presence,
the physical presence,

of my mother, my
father, and my sister,

all in solid form standing
in front of me, all of whom

I was able to hold,
to embrace, carry out

conversations with them.

I witnessed it so many times,
it just becomes a normal thing.

Normal is a word strained by
the experiences of the Scole

experiment.

And there was nothing
normal when patches of light

floated over the
scientists' heads

and slowly changed
into spectral forms.

The diffused
patches of light would

take the form just of human
face, moving around the room,

with the direct voice
very, very faintly

coming from the
diffused patch of light,

and the lips moving,
again, very faintly.

As I stared at the face,
it was noticeably smaller

than a normal size head.

But within the faces itself,
features were clearly visible.

You could see the
glistening of the eyes.

We could see the eyes moving.

And even more remarkable
forms were to appear.

They looked like angelic forms.

[CHATTERING]

Oh, my goodness.

Would you look at that.

And I was very fortunate one
came and landed on my hand.

And just the energy
that you felt from it

when it connected with you
was a lovely experience.

And it just felt like an
overwhelming feeling of love.

These are great
experiences, you see.

Again, I must stress, it
changes your paradigm.

You go in thinking none
of this can be true.

But after an experience after
experience after experience,

it gradually dawns
on you, hey, there's

something going on
here that we can't

explain by normal
scientific laws,

but which nevertheless exist.

Years ago, I was staying
in this very old inn,

and I actually saw somebody
come out from the wall

and walk through, and
just disappear again.

And I just believe
there are people

that are trapped between
here and the next world.

The experiments
featured in this program

have been described by the
scientists who witnessed them

as some of the best evidence
for life after death ever.

After two years
of intense effort,

the Scole Experiment began
to produce more phenomena

than in any mediumship
experiment in the history

of the paranormal.

Their initial claims were
that they were in contact

with a group of deceased
entities who were producing,

with their help, a
number of pictures

of either deceased persons
or strips of films, which

they claimed to be produced
without any cameras

and in the dark.

To eliminate any
possibility of hoaxing,

the scientists
brought their own film

and locked it in a specially
designed security box.

The box was held in the
hands of the investigators,

so that no one could get at it.

And then immediately
afterwards, we

would take it out
of the box ourselves

so that no one else touched it,
and then develop it ourselves

in a special machine.

Despite all these
precautions, the experiments

continued to produce the
incredible images seen here.

They were able to achieve
whole lengths of film,

sometimes up to as
much as four feet,

with various words,
symbols, messages--

all sorts of different
things on that films.

Other firms contained poems
and centuries old German

and fragments of Greek,
Chinese, Hebrew, Latin, and even

Sanskrit.

The Scole group
were ordinary people

with no knowledge
of these languages.

But did these films
have a purpose?

If dead personalities were
producing these images,

why did they apparently
design some of them

as complex puzzles?

Providing something
which is a puzzle, which

is difficult to solve
is simply because it

is difficult to solve, it
isn't readily available.

It can't be easily attributable
to the person sitting

around the table.

Despite lengthy
investigations,

the possible authors
of some of the films,

like this German poem,
proved impossible to trace.

But others were
easier to track down.

This one contains a
poem by Frederick Myers.

Intriguingly, Myers is one
of the founders of the SPR,

and a passionate researcher
into the evidence

for life after death.

Before he died in 1901,
he promised his colleagues

at the SPR that he
would try to communicate

with them from the other side.

Could this film
actually represent

evidence of the afterlife
sent by one of its greatest

investigators?

Mostly the researchers
were unclear as

to who might have
created these films.

However, there were clues as to
who the ghostly authors might

be in the form of
initials, or signatures.

For example in this
film, the signature

appears to belong to the dead
singer and actor Ivor Novello.

This was received on
one of the Scole films.

Compare it to Novello's
actual signature.

Investigators say these images
were created in total darkness,

but how?

I think that
those pictures can

be explained only by imagining
that the spirits can project

their recollections and images
onto a film in some way we

can't begin to understand.

The only alternative explanation
is they are all fakes,

but I don't believe that there's
evidence that that is the case.

Although the mechanism
for their creation

remains a mystery, investigators
concluded they were unique.

As far as the
photographic evidence

is concerned at Scole,
the strips of film,

there has, in my view, never
been anything like that at all

ever.

As far as I'm
aware, I don't think

there is any scientific
evidence for life after death.

Spurred on by the
photographic experiments,

the Scole group began a
series of video experiments

called Project
Alice, after "Alice

Through the Looking Glass."

Their ambition was nothing
less than to try and capture

moving images sent
from the spirit world.

The Scole group insists
that instructions

on how to position
the camera and mirrors

came from their
spirit communicators.

They were told to set up a
video camera in the dark cellar,

aim it at a pair of mirrors,
so that it could only

film its own viewfinder.

While it was recording,
nothing unusual was seen.

But when the tape
was played back,

these remarkable
pictures appeared.

We had images on
the video, sometimes

of what looked like
on a tunnel of light.

Other times, spirit faces
were coming towards us.

Sometimes, what appeared
to be a doorway moving.

Skeptics claim these images
were created by video feedback

occurring when a camera
records its own output.

But scientists have
ruled this out.

Video feedback doesn't
produce this kind of result.

As to what these extraordinary
pictures represent, we can only

guess, since their
meaning was never

explained to the Scole Group.

This video, also
totally unexplained,

appears to be a ghostly
face with moving eyes.

Later, a few video experiments
were attempted in full light.

Again, nothing unusual was
seen during the recording.

However, on playback, this
otherworldly figure appeared.

But was it possible
for the Scole Group

to have faked these images?

Not according to
the investigator

who monitored these experiments,
Swiss lawyer and businessman,

Doctor Hans Schaer.

There's absolutely
no possibility

that the film could have
been prepared before,

because I selected one
of the video films, which

was in its original
packaging, which I opened.

I took the film out.

I signed the film, and I put it
personally in the video camera.

He inserted it
into the camera.

We never touched at any
stage the camera or the film.

When he played the film,
it showed at the beginning

a number of bubbles
of various colors.

But there was one
particular bubble on there

in which the face of
a person appeared,

and it was a man
with spectacles.

Although Dr. Schaer did
not recognize this face,

the Scole Group thought
it might have belonged

to someone who was
trying to communicate

with him from the afterlife.

I have heard of the
electronic voice phenomenon.

I think it's actually one of the
most disturbing and unnerving

aspects of the notion of
there being an afterlife.

[FEEDBACK]

Attempting to capture spirit
voices via technical devices

like radios and tape recorders
has a long tradition that

goes back to the last century.

Today, there are
tens of thousands

of people around
the world who say

they have captured
the voices of the dead

on simple tape recorders.

This is known as the electronic
voice phenomena, or EVP,

and was recently popularized in
the Hollywood blockbuster White

Noise.

Despite the Hollywood
treatment, EVP

has been the focus of serious
scientific investigation.

One of the leading researchers
is Alexander McRae,

an electronics engineer who
has worked on communication

systems for the space shuttle.

He has been investigating
EVP for decades.

If somebody came up to
me in the street and said,

there's nothing paranormal
about EVP, I would say,

well, I've done at least
20 years and hundreds

of experiments, and I know
that it is paranormal effect.

Now how many experiments
have you done?

But skeptics
insist that EVP is

nothing more than the random
pick up of broadcast signals,

like radio and TV.

To test this theory,
McCrae try to obtain

EVP inside a laboratory
that was fully shielded

against radio and sound waves.

This meant it was impossible
to pick up any stray broadcast

signals.

So inside the laboratory,
you couldn't pick up anything.

But yet the device
still produced voices.

Although this audio sample
is hard to understand,

the very fact that
it was recorded

defies all known
laws of science.

One experimenter of
EVP is Vicky Talbot,

who lost her son Braden in
a boating accident in 2001.

OK.

I'm coming down into
Wildcat Cove right now,

which is the Cove that my
son departed from and did not

return.

Ever since then, she says
she can record and recognize

his voice using this
digital recorder.

Well, that's Braden.

What has really convinced
me is the way he speaks,

the stress, the intonation.

Sometimes, he sounds
exactly as he did in life.

Happy New Year.

He will use certain
phrases that we used to use.

He will say
certain things that

will identify himself as the
person that he was in life.

I am convinced personally that
I am communicating with my son.

Like visitors to Scole
and to Bacci's center,

EVP practitioners find
comfort in the belief

that they can still
communicate with loved ones.

But even this
conviction can't make up

for the unbearable
burden of losing a child.

These just make me want
to cry, just looking at him.

He'll just never be this
age again, or do that again.

What matters is the love that
you have for your family.

That's what really matters,
and not to screw it up,

and to remember they
could be gone in a flash.

You know, these other people,
I feel so sorry for them,

because they have no way
of communicating with those

that they have lost.

And they go around thinking,
if only, if only, if only.

I don't have to think that.

And that's a good thing.

Although EVP provides some
comfort to the bereaved,

practitioners say that the
voices are often unclear,

always one way and
frustratingly short.

One way that we also
communicated with spirit,

and which was a
very effective way,

was by use of an ordinary,
very cheap tape recorder

whose amplifiers were
used by the spirit team

to carry on a two-way
conversation with us.

We inspected this machine and
found it was completely normal.

Earlier, it's
built-in microphone

had been removed to eliminate
the possibility of recording

anything.

When the machine, which
contained a blank cassette,

was activated, witnesses
were astonished,

when they heard this voice
asking them a question.

Yes.

[LAUGHING]

Yes.

Historic moment, it is.

The Scole Group say that
their spirit communicators

suggested ways of improving
their experiments.

For example, they told
Professor Ellison,

one of the SPR
scientists, how to build

a device for boosting
communications via the tape

recorder.

But this information arrived
in a very strange way.

These images appeared
after an unexposed film

locked in the
security box was later

processed by the scientists.

The scientists speculated
about who was providing

this technical information.

Their initials at
the end of the film

seem to have solved
this mystery.

I wrote to the Edison
Memorial people in America,

and they sent me a copy of
one of his letters, which

contained his
initials, which look

almost identical to the
signature on this film.

This matching set of initials
convinced the researchers

it was Thomas Edison
providing this information.

Not only was Edison the
world's most famous inventor,

he also had an enormous
interest in the possibility

of an afterlife.

His intention to build a
machine that could communicate

with the dead made
headlines around the world,

but he died before
being able to build it.

Is it possible that
through the Scole Group,

he finally achieved this aim?

My understanding
of life after death

is what we've done
here, the way we've

affected the people about us,
and the things that we do,

and it lives on through them.

Spirit voices speaking
through the mediums.

Spirit communication written
on sealed film in locked boxes.

All of these
incredible phenomena.

But could the scientists
have been tricked?

Skeptics are often unaware
of the amount of experience

and the amount of knowledge
that goes into investigations

of this kind.

Between the three
investigators, you

could say we've had
50 years and more.

We know all the tricks.

I don't see how
it could be faked.

It's impossible.

Nevertheless, was it
possible for the Scole Group

to have perpetrated
a massive hoax?

These things are so
extraordinary that when

one tells them to
people who've not

had the experiences
themselves, they

think, oh, it must be trickery.

And the challenge then always
is, OK, you duplicate it.

But so far, no one has
been able to do this.

Nevertheless, critics still
claim that the events at Scole

were produced by the kinds of
conjuring tricks used by stage

magicians and entertainers.

You fan them in this
manner, like this, you see?

Because professional
magicians learned all the skills

of illusion and misdirection--

I'm not going to
show you how it's

done, because if I showed
you how it was done,

you'd tell everybody else.

They are also well-qualified
to detect this type of fraud.

[SNAPPING]

Presto.

With that in
mind, James Webster

was invited to scrutinize
a number of Scole sessions.

Webster is a member of the
Magic Circle in Britain,

and has been a professional
magician for over 40 years.

Well, I had an opportunity
to view the cellar.

I could see no magic
props or anything

which made me feel
inclined to think

there was any hoax or trickery.

But could he replicate
the events at Scole?

I could not do it myself
as a professional magician.

And I don't believe that
any magician that I knew

could do even the lighting,
let alone the other phenomena

that I witnessed.

Any one of those
in the cellar,

I'd say they were wasting
their time doing this here,

for nothing, when they could be
earning a million dollars out

there on the stage.

In 1999, after an exhaustive
two-year investigation,

the investigators
published their conclusions

in the SPR's
official proceedings.

They were looking for
evidence of a hoax.

They sifted evidence
for signs of fakery,

but did they find it?

If you take all the
phenomena within the whole

of the Scole experiment over
two years while we were there,

I would say that the possibility
of fraud and faking was nil.

Although the Scole
report includes theoretical

discussions about how individual
phenomena might have been

faked, the chief investigators
concluded that events at Scole

cannot be explained either
by known scientific laws

or by trickery.

But Psychology
Professor Chris French,

the co-editor of Skeptic
Magazine, remains unconvinced.

There's lots of claimed
evidence for life after death

from lots of different sources.

The debate should be about
the quality of the evidence.

At the moment, on the basis
of the available evidence,

I'm not at all convinced that
there is such a thing as life

after death.

I think the skeptics regard
the possibility of the survival

of human consciousness
as inherently so

impossible that any one must
be rather crazy to believe it.

But you look at
the evidence, you

have to ask yourself whether
you'd be even more crazy not

to believe it, or to find some
alternative explanation which

makes any sort of sense.

And I haven't found one.

When we die, we go
into another world.

A lot of worlds, 3,665 worlds.

How can you be specific?

Because I read
it in the Bible.

News of the amazing events at
Scole spread around the world.

In 1997, they were
invited to hold sessions

in four European countries
and the United States.

Some of the most
successful sessions

occurred in the Los Angeles
home of Brian Hearst.

We wanted to see whether
it could also take place

so many thousands of
miles away from Scole

here in Southern California.

Hearst's converted garage was
the venue for eight sessions.

As many as 30 people
attended each one.

Hey.

Hi.

Hello, Cynthia.

Nice to see you.

Hi, how are you?

Great.

Before each session,
investigators carefully

inspected the room.

Many people went
in at different times

before the sessions, and
there was no paraphernalia.

There was nothing
hidden there at all.

Despite being interviewed
a decade after the Scole

experiment, these witnesses
are still profoundly moved

by what they saw.

There was so much
phenomena going on.

It was really overwhelming.

As with most
sessions, visitors

began by sitting quietly
in total darkness.

Then, they started hearing
the voices of the spirit team

speaking through the mediums.

Be quiet, be quiet, be quiet.

Marie.

Then the darkened
room burst into life.

Ain't that cool?

Look at that.

That is awesome.

Wow.

It's like a firefly

It's like fireworks.

Wow.

And then it would go up
to the rafters of the garage

and come down and thunk
hard, like a big rock hitting

the table, and then disappear.

[CHATTERING]

As well as these amazing balls
of light, furniture in the room

began to move.

We had a table in the
center of the room that

had crystals on it.

It's moving.

The table is
indeed levitating.

The table levitated,
was turned on its side,

and began to spin very rapidly.

[LAUGHING]

The crystals never fell off.

Even if there hadn't been
crystals on the table,

it would have been impossible to
have turned the table sideways

and rotated it with the
speed at which it rotated,

and we could see this because
there were luminescent strips

on the table.

And it began to spin around
actually so rapidly it

almost looked like a pinwheel.

[APPLAUSE]

As well as familiar
spirit communicators,

other voices, the group say
belong to dead relatives,

also attempted to communicate.

Someone for Shirley.

Yes.

Dad?

Hi, Dad.

I really do feel
that my dad came,

and he was the one who put
his hands on my shoulders.

Oh.

The way we were
situated in the room,

my chair was right
up against a wall,

and there was no way another
person could be behind me.

Then another hand
appeared in front of them.

But who did it belong to?

There was a
particular communicator

called Reg Lawrence, who was
an engineer in his lifetime,

and who became very expert at
producing voices from midair.

Hello, Reg.

Hello, Brian.

Very nice of you
to have us here.

He just touched my hand.

[GASPING]

Oh, yes.

He's stroking it.

It's slightly cold,
but it's flesh.

He's shaking my hand.

Oh, my god.

[LAUGHING]

Reg, you've made my year.

You've made mine.

[LAUGHING]

As usual, Lawrence
did not communicate

through the mediums.

Instead, the group
could hear his voice

projected from different
parts of the room.

Some of the voices were
moving around the room,

even high up in the
rafter area that somebody

would have had to climb up
on a ladder to get up there,

and there was no way
that that was happening.

The spirit team also came
to be regarded as healers

by the participants.

Has it gone inside
you, that light?

It's in my chest right now.

It was right there by my
heart, and I have a little bit

of a heart problem.

I was diagnosed
with cancer and a very

fast-moving, dangerous cancer.

I sat with Scole, and probably
two to three weeks later, I

had biopsies again, and they
came back completely negative.

All of the visitors
are attending

the LA session said
the experience changed

their lives forever.

When you walk out of
the room, you definitely

feel like you've been exposed
to something very extraordinary.

We actually saw the spirits.

And that's got to be positive
evidence for survival.

We do live on after death.

They certainly proved
that to us that night.

Being survived in Auschwitz,
and also my parents were killed

in Auschwitz, including
my 11-year-old brother,

who was killed on
arrival with my parents,

and I just cannot accept that
that should be the end of them.

Previously, we have
shown how experiments

at Scole and with Bacci provide
powerful evidence for life

after death.

But some researchers
think there may be

another possible explanation.

Could some of the remarkable
events shown in this film

be the result of human
paranormal abilities

like psychokinesis, the
claimed ability of the mind

to directly affect matter.

There's an enormous amount
of evidence for the existence

of psychokinesis.

In the laboratory,
we're talking mainly

about the evidence of human
consciousness on random number

generators and very small events
that can be totally controlled.

There is clear evidence that
people can affect things.

One of the most
famous practitioners

of psychokinesis, or PK,
is a Russian housewife

called Nina Kulagina.

Kulagina was able to
demonstrate her abilities

under strictly controlled
conditions in front

of a team of scientists.

Researchers who investigated
her were convinced she

was able to do this solely
by the power of her mind.

So could the Scole Group and
their visitors unwittingly

have created some or
all of the phenomena

using mind over matter?

As an explanation, although
it's not more than just

simply a label to it, this
is psychokinesis and physical

mediumship, whether it is a
spirit working through someone,

a spirit acting
directly on an object,

or the medium's mind
causing the things to move.

Say there were real mind
over matter effects going

on as supposed to
conjuring tricks?

Then how do we know
they were coming

from the minds of the
disembodied people,

rather than from the
minds of the mediums who

were sitting in the room?

There is no definitive
answer to this question,

but the theory that
these phenomena were

due solely to psychokinesis
from the living

seems improbable, since PK
produced in laboratories

tends to be weak.

Therefore, mind over
matter from the living

is unlikely to explain the
huge range of phenomena

featured in this film.

Emily, when did you
live on the Earth?

Oh, a long time ago now.

19th century?

Yes.

We simply have a number
of clues of information

which was extremely
unlikely to have derived

from the subconscious
mind or the conscious mind

of the medium.

And the more
impressive those are,

the less likely it is that you
can say that this is an aspect

of mediumship, and the more
likely it is it's an aspect

of [? disconic ? ]
communication.

Previously, we traveled
with the Scole Group

to Italy, where they first
met with Marcelo Bacci.

They say they were able to talk
to the spirits via his radio.

Come on, who's this?

Come on, on here.

Timestream?

But when the
school group visited

Bacci in a later session,
he was having problems.

For months, hundreds
of people who

came from around the world
in the hope of hearing

their dead loved ones were
bitterly disappointed.

All they heard was static.

Bacci was depressed.

He feared he had lost
his unique talent.

Then, in an extraordinary
piece of luck,

as our cameras rolled
in an interview

with Bacci, the radio which
had been silent for so long,

burst into life.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

Bacci's drought was over.

When the radio voice stopped,
there was celebration.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

Bacci felt he'd
regained his ability

to communicate with the spirits.

But then joy turned
to disappointment

as he thought he had
failed to record the voice.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

Once the recording
was transcribed,

Bacci told us the voice
belonged to a spirit

called Gregorio,
a Catholic Friar

who had died many years ago.

Later, independent
researcher Dr. Toriello,

read the last part of
this ghostly message.

Man, he passed he time
just deceiving himself.

OK.

But when all of you, you
will be here where we are,

then you will find answer
to all your questions.

I'm sorry.

I cannot say more.

We do look down our
friends and loved ones

after we die, until
such time as we move

on to some other dimension.

I think you can think
what you like, really.

Despite the evidence
from Scole and Bacci--

--most scientists still
refuse to even consider

the possibility that
consciousness might survive

death.

Dr. Rupert Sheldrake, the
internationally-renowned

biologist and Scole investigator
offers an explanation.

There's a dominant
materialism in science

that grew up in
the 19th century.

It's become part of
the culture of science,

but it's really a dogmatic
belief system rather than

a testable theory.

What this means
is that scientists

have become completely
focused on the things

they can both measure
and replicate in labs.

Within science, based on
the materialist point of view,

the mind is the brain.

So anything that
suggests the mind

might be more than the brain
goes against the theory,

and therefore most scientists
don't want to know about it.

Another prominent
scientist not convinced

that consciousness is solely
the result of brain activity

is Dr. Charles Tart.

That's just a small
part of the spectrum.

Dr. Tart is Emeritus
Professor of Psychology

at the University of
California and a leading

researcher into the evidence
for life after death.

The idea that survival of
bodily death is impossible

and that we're nothing
but our brains and bodies

is really a function of an
outmoded view in science,

a Newtonian worldview.

Now, the Newtonian
worldview works very well

for everyday events.

But one of the most interesting
things about modern science,

especially when you look at
stuff like quantum theory,

is that the world is far more
mysterious than we think.

And we now have
experimental evidence

of what Einstein called
spooky action at a distance,

that we could instantaneously
affect something

in a distant part
of the universe.

That's really wild.

If consciousness has any of
the qualities of this quantum

level of existence,
then phenomena

like survival of bodily
death are probably not

so mysterious after all.

But could quantum
theory explain one

of the most shocking
experiments conducted at Scole?

This particular
experiment was perhaps

the most important experiment
of the whole series.

Previously, we
showed how visitors

reported seeing these balls
of light appear before them.

It's like fireworks.

On this occasion, one of
them flew inside a large quartz

crystal.

The crystal then levitated.

We could see it glowing,
and then descended

into a Pyrex bowl.

Then Arthur Ellison was
invited to pick it up.

He picked it up and satisfied
himself that it was there,

and it was glowing, and
he put it down again.

He was asked right away to
pick it up again, he tried to,

and his fingers
closed right over it.

It had dematerialized.

There's nothing there.

Yes, it looks the same.

But there's nothing there.

Then he was asked
to pick it up again,

and it rematerialized
in his hand.

Ah, it feels crystal now.

Now, this dumbfounded him.

This is what finally
convinced him

that this was real,
because it couldn't

have been faked in any way.

And he had his head right
over the top of the bowl

in order to ensure that
no hand or no instrument

could interfere with it.

Of course, we were
totally amazed by this.

Things do not materialize
and dematerialize.

This is against all
the laws of nature.

We are trained
scientists, of course.

We know how the
world behaves, and it

doesn't behave like that.

But what does this
remarkable demonstration

tell us about what might
happen after death?

The spirit team told
us that the experiment

with the crystal in the bowl
gave a good example of what

happened when we die, in that
the essence of the crystal

remained, even when the
physical part of the crystal

had been removed.

Our bodies represent
the physical,

but the essence of
ourselves remains the same.

This, if you like,
can be termed the soul

[MUSIC PLAYING]

If I believe in the
possibility of life

after death, what do I
think would happen after?

I don't know.

I just don't know, do you?

[LAUGHING]

I don't particularly
want to have anything other

than pure death.

And I would rather not
believe in survival.

But I find it impossible
to be intellectually honest

and not believe in survival.

Tragically, during the
production of this film,

Montague Kean died.

But this gave us the opportunity
of testing whether or not

he actually got his
wish for oblivion.

This came in the form
of Allison DuBois.

DuBois has become one of
the most famous mediums

in the world, after her
abilities were dramatized

in the hit TV show, Medium.

That's huge.

When things come through that
strong, I can't get back--

Huge.

We visited the
University of Arizona,

where scientists were
testing the abilities

of America's top mediums.

Here, we challenged
Allison DuBois

to contact the spirit
of Montague Kean.

It's not the same
as when you're alive.

She was able to conduct
her mediumship in full light,

in front of the camera,
with two researchers seated

behind asking questions.

Do you have any idea
who this person is?

DuBois wasn't given any
information about Kean.

The only thing she was
told was the first name

of Kean's widow, Veronica.

The fact that he gets to
still be here around the people

he loves is huge to him.

Although many of DuBois'
statements were vague,

some were
astonishingly accurate.

He went down at a
podium, or no-- no.

Um, he's showing a man falling
at the podium like [SNAPPING],

like [SNAPPING], and falls,
and he goes down to the podium.

OK.

This is important.

It's like an assembly.

On the night of
his death, Kean

was taking part in a
debate at the Royal

Society of Arts in London.

While defending his
position, his voice

faltered mid-sentence,
and he died.

[INAUDIBLE] to be here.

Take a rest.

Now, I don't even
know what it means.

I mean, he's making me feel like
either he had a heart attack,

or his breath was
taken from him.

But he's showing him knees
buckling and going down.

Is there a doctor
in the house?

People jumping up,
like everybody rising.

He goes down, and they go up.

Right.

Also, there would have been
like, a banner announcement,

or a banner hanging of
what this conference was,

or whatever it was.

He's kind of laughing, and
he's like, way to go out.

You know, like, way
to leave this world.

You know, right there and then.

DuBois stated that Kean is now
as interested in communicating

with the living as he once
was in talking to the dead.

To try and understand
better, like to understand

the other side, what you
guys are seeing that's right,

and what's not right, and
almost to like, try and help

make that clearer.

I do believe in an afterlife.

I'm not sure what that life
will look like, if we just

go back into the source.

But I just kind of live
my life like, we'll

see when we get there.

Although some
researchers continue

to question whether the
experiments featured

in this film represent
convincing evidence

for an afterlife,
for the leading

investigators and participants,
there is little doubt it does.

We actually saw the spirits.

Emily, when did you
live on the Earth.

19th century?

Come on, I'm here.

I think we were pushing the
barriers further than they'd

ever been pushed
before, and I think

we've just got to the
state which at that time,

we couldn't go any further.

In 1998, after five
years and 500 sessions,

the Scole experiment
finally came to an end.

The Scole experiment may be
over, but today in Italy,

grieving parents
continue to report

hearing the voices of their
dead children on Bacci's radio.

And Vicky Talbot's
says she continues

to receive the voice of her
deceased son, Braden, via EVP.

But the debate about the
authenticity and significance

of this evidence
continues to rage.

Now according to science,
when you physically die

and when your brain stops
functioning, that is it.

That is the end.

The experiences that
I've had have convinced me

that it is very difficult to
explain any of these things

by an alternative explanation
to that of survival.

You're not going
to win everybody.

I mean, you're not
going to be able to ever

have everybody believe
that there's another side.

That's just not going to happen.

I hope the significance
of those experiments

will literally be to make
people think, to stop and think,

look at their own lives, look
at where they're going, perhaps

to be better people.

[THEME MUSIC]