Episode 497: The Haunting of Doris Bither

<p>In the summer of 1974, paranormal investigators and UCLA students Barry Taff and Kerry Gaynor were approached in a bookstore by a woman who’d overheard their conversation about the supernatural and said she had a friend who needed help from someone with their expertise. The friend in question was Doris Bither, a middle-aged single mother of four who claimed she and her family were under attack from unseen entities in their Culver City, California home.&nbsp;</p><p>According to Doris, the attacks began several months earlier and included, among other things, objects moving on their own, the presence of inexplicable foul odors in the house, unusual noises with no point of origin, and most distressingly, multiple physical and sexual assaults that were increasing in frequency and intensity.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Thank you to the lovely David White for research assistance :)</p><p>References</p><p>Biddle, Kenny. 2021. "A Closer Look at the Entity Photographs."&nbsp;<em>Skeptical Inquirer</em>&nbsp;45 (6).</p><p>O'Keeffe, Ciaran, James Houran, Damian Houran, Neil Dagnall, Kenneth Drinkwater, Lorraine Sheridan, and Brian Laythe. 2019. "The Dr. John Hall story: a case study in putative “Haunted People Syndrome"."&nbsp;<em>Mental Health, Religion &amp; Culture</em>&nbsp;22 (9): 910-929.</p><p>Ortega, Xavier. 2011.&nbsp;<em>The Real Entity Case, Part II.</em>&nbsp;August 6. Accessed August 23, 2023.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ghosttheory.com/2011/08/06/the-real-entity-case" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.ghosttheory.com/2011/08/06/the-real-entity-case</a>.</p><p>Radford, Benjamin. 2021. "The ‘True’ Story behind The Entity: Untangling Hollywood Horror."&nbsp;<em>Skeptical Inquirer</em>&nbsp;45 (6).&nbsp;<a href="https://skepticalinquirer.org/2021/10/the-true-story-behind-the-entity-untangling-hollywood-horror/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://skepticalinquirer.org/2021/10/the-true-story-behind-the-entity-untangling-hollywood-horror/</a>.</p><p>2005.&nbsp;<em>The Entity Fi