Barrie Colvin

Dr Barrie G. Colvin BSc, PhD, joined the SPR in 1973 and was co-opted to Council in 2007. He has been actively involved in the investigation of mental and physical mediums, including direct-voice, transfiguration and materialisation mediumship. Past projects have included the investigation of haunted houses, the human aura, X-ray analysis of hair reported to be taken from the head of Katie King and evaluation of evidence from Gerard Croiset in a missing person case. His principal interest in recent times has been the physics of poltergeist activity, including the development of instrumentation for this branch of the subject. He developed and successfully trialled infra-red absorption equipment as well as a bespoke mid-frequency infra-red camera for poltergeist field work. His most recent project has been a study of the acoustic properties of poltergeist rapping sounds. He has formed the Poltergeist Research Group, an assembly of interested specialists, and is a member of the Spontaneous Cases Committee of the SPR. Click here to listen to an interview with Dr Colvin on BBC Radio.