{"id":7845,"date":"2021-11-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-22T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=7845"},"modified":"2022-01-07T14:04:17","modified_gmt":"2022-01-07T13:04:17","slug":"paranormal-cold-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/2021\/11\/23\/paranormal-cold-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Paranormal cold case"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PARANORMAL COLD CASE<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
INVESTIGATING HISTORY\u2019S MOST SPINE-CHILLING ENCOUNTERS<\/span><\/h5>\n\n

In November, BBC Radio\u2019s Danny Robins<\/strong> shared the story of a \u2018poltergeist\u2019 that once wrought havoc in a Belfast tower block. But there\u2019s now a new twist to the tale\u2026<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n

C<\/span>hristmas isn\u2019t just a time for receiving unwanted socks and avoiding Brussels sprouts. The true purpose of the festive season is to tell ghost stories. There\u2019s a long tradition of the spooky winter\u2019s tale, stretching back to medieval times; a rush of fear to warm us on a cold night. After the Civil Wars, such tales were stamped out by Oliver Cromwell, but were rekindled in the modern era by Charles Dickens\u2019 <\/span>A Christmas Carol, <\/em>and \u2013 slightly more recently \u2013 the BBC\u2019s tradition of broadcasting a Christmas ghost story.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"
Gary, now a respected scientist, got
in touch with Danny to share his
paranormal experiences at Alanbrooke Hall
during the 1980s<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

So, for this issue, I\u2019m revisiting one of the hauntings I\u2019ve found most intriguing and chilling, to reveal astounding new evidence that will send a large shiver down your spine. Those who read the November 2021 edition of BBC History Revealed <\/em>may remember the case of Room 6-11 at Alanbrooke Hall, a nondescript student hall of residence in Belfast. In 1981, Ken, a science student, was alone on the sixth floor during the Christmas break, when he experienced a series of terrifying events, including a sinister apparition and poltergeist activity. The truly odd thing was that Ken learnt the students who\u2019d occupied the room the year before and year after had had similar experiences!<\/p>\n\n

After Ken\u2019s episode aired as part of my new series Uncanny <\/em>on BBC Sounds, I was inundated by responses. The story went viral across Northern Ireland, and \u2013 amazingly, terrifyingly \u2013 other witnesses came forward! We were able to track down Billy, one of the students who\u2019d stayed in Room 6-11 the year after Ken. He confirmed he\u2019d su ered a year marred by appearances of the same sinister apparition and objects flying across the room! <\/p>\n\n

Then I spoke to Gary Foster. Now a respected science professor, he\u2019d been a student warden at Alanbrooke Hall back in the 1980s. \u201cI was the best poacher-turned-gamekeeper ever,\u201d says Gary, a rowdy mischievous student, now suddenly in charge of a hall full of other students. It was in the holidays, when Gary was alone in Alanbrooke, that he started to notice \u201cthe weirdness\u201d. Lights came on on empty floors, phones rang, and the lift moved of its own accord, going up and down without a passenger \u2013 or without a human one, at least. He also had an experience identical to one of Ken\u2019s \u2013 somebody banging on the door, only to open it and find an empty corridor! It felt as if there was something there, taunting him. \u201cI joked they were going to have to do better with this thick-skinned, sceptical scientist!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n

The bit of Gary\u2019s story that made my blood run cold happened, ironically, in the intense heat of summer. He had one of the large windows in his 10th-floor room open, to bring in a breeze. Walking towards it, he felt his feet connect with some big solid object and he fell forwards! \u201cMy feet were o the floor,\u201d says Gary, clearly still shaken. <\/span>\u201cI was balanced on the ledge, rocking, looking straight down, 10 floors. I wriggled back, heart thumping, to see what I had tripped over. There was absolutely nothing there.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

The memory of this moment would be uncomfortable enough, but Gary\u2019s hair stood on end when he heard one detail in Ken\u2019s account \u2013 something he\u2019d been told about Room 6-11 by the woman who cleaned his corridor. She believed the reason the room was haunted was because three students had died in it. One of the young men had fallen from the window. It was believed to be suicide, but there had always been rumours that he was pushed…<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

\n\n

Danny Robins <\/strong>is a writer, broadcaster and journalist. He is the presenter of the BBC Radio 4 podcasts The Battersea Poltergeist<\/em> and Uncanny<\/em>, available now on BBC Sounds<\/p>\n\n

LISTEN <\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

\"\" Gary discusses his time at Alanbrooke Hall in the fifth episode of Uncanny<\/em>: bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/m0010x7c<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n

PICTURE CREDITS: WILLIE RUNTE X1, IVAN EWART\/QUEENS UNIVERSITY BELFAST<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Danny Robins revisits the story of the Alanbrooke Hall poltergeist<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":8316,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"19","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"19","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_19-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_19-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"Christmas-2021","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"Christmas-2021","purple_external_id":"Christmas-2021-19-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"Christmas-2021-19-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000090391||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000090391||","purple_android_product":"com.im.historyrevealed.102","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.historyrevealed.102","purple_ios_product":"com.im.historyrevealed.102","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.historyrevealed.102","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"a2288b80-d22c-492c-8b11-acb0804789ee","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2021-12-06T14:17:04Z","apple_news_article-theme":"","apple_news_api_id":"4e5024eb-825f-40a7-a286-dff8d5b053de","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2022-01-07T13:04:24Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQ==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/ATlAk64JfQKeiht_41bBT3g","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":true,"apple_news_is_preview":true,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_article_theme":"","apple_news_sections":"[]"},"categories":[16],"tags":[55],"apple_news_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-696693034-copy.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-696693034-copy.jpg",2000,1813,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-696693034-copy-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-696693034-copy-300x272.jpg",300,272,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-696693034-copy-768x696.jpg",768,696,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-696693034-copy-1024x928.jpg",800,725,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-696693034-copy-1536x1392.jpg",1536,1392,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-696693034-copy.jpg",2000,1813,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Danny Robins revisits the story of the Alanbrooke Hall poltergeist","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7845"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7845"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8916,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7845\/revisions\/8916"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}