11 Months of Strange Events In...
THE 'HAUNTED' FARM
Scientists Puzzled As Tins Float In Air
FIRST-HAND STORY
Early this yearweird, unaccountable happenings began to terrorise visitors to the lonely dairy farm of Mr. Lawrence Wilkinson, near Tarcutta.
In Mr. Wilkinson's "haunted" milking shed parts of a milking machine mysteriously flew off in all directions.
These events have continued throughout the year. In broad daylight scared neighbours have reported having watched tins rise in mid-air. Recently a 2 and a half lb brass part of the machine disappeared, to be found 250 yards away.
Some people believe it to be supurnatural. The experts don't know. What do you think?
A "Sunday Herald" reporter visited the farm last week. Here is his story :
Mr. Wilkinson's "haunted" milking shed is on a hillside in the heart of the fertile Tarcutta Valley, 48 miles from Wagga.
Hundreds of metal parts, weighing from 2oz. to 2lb have been flung as far as 250 yards.
A cast-iron axle weighing 65lb was lifted 2ft off the ground with a noise which Mr. Wilkinson describes as "a terrific bang."
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| Mr. Lawrence Wilkinson, owner of the dairy near Tarcutta, where astonished neighbours have seen parts flying from a milking amchine and tins floating in mid-air. Experts cannot account for these mysterious happenings. Some people believe they have a supernatural cause. |
Some observers believe this inexplicable behaviour is a poltergeist phenomenon. That is to say, it originates in a force unknown to science that manifests itself in moving furniture in haunted houses, breaking crockery, and throwing heavy objects without human or mechanical intervention.
If so, the happenings at the Tarcutta dairy are probably the most astonishing examples of poltergeist behaviour in the history of psychic research.
When I visited the farm last Thursday a weird change had come over the milking shed. In an effort to stop the machine from flying to bits, Mr. Wilkinson had tied every moving part to the walls and rafters with bits of chain, wire, and rope, giving the appearance of one of those fabulous machines drawn by humorous artist Heath Robinson.
Yet parts of the machine, both moving and stationary, continue to fly about, twisting the heavy iron dog chains that secure them as if they were soft copper wire.
Mr. Wilkinson said that since January 10th, when the first incidents were observed, every single moving part of his milking plant has been thrown off by some mysterious force. Twelve of them are
still missing.
When the outside world first heard of the mysterious events at the "haunted" milking shed they were viewed with suspicion and ridicule.
15 PEOPLE ARE WITNESSES
But such facile explanations are decided by no fewer than 15 eye-witnesses, all of whom were present at different times when objects were flying about.
None can offer a reasonable explanation. One man even spent a night in the milking shed in a vain attempt to solve the mystery. Mr. Wilkinson called in machinery experts from the company which sold him the machine. They told him it was in perfect order.
Mr. Wilkinson called in mechanics from Tarcutta and Wagga. They said there was no mechanical defect anywhere. Dairy inspectors from the N.S.W. Department of Agriculture came to the farm. They said the machine was running perfectly and could not account for its weird behaviour
Public works Department engineers and police officers examined the machine, and were equally nonplussed.
C.S.I.R.O. TESTS
Scientists of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation last month failed to locate the source of the mysterious happenings. Their report has unleashed a whole chain of speculation. All sorts of explanations are offered. Among them are these :-
MECHANICAL DEFECT - No. The agents for the milking machine, departmental experts, at least three independent milking machine experts, and three farmers who use the same type of machine all testify that Mr. Wilkinson's plant is in perfect working order.
MAGNETIC DISTURBANCE - No. Most of the working parts which fly off the machine are of brass, which is non-magnetic. Tests for ground magnetism are also negative.
RADIO BEAM - No. Several radio beams to guide aircraft cross above Mr. Wilkinson's dairy, but radio experts from the R.A.A.F. station at Forest Hill, Wagga, are satisfied that the electrical impulses are far too weak to cause the phenomena.
HYPNOTISM - No. Too many people, too many times, have seen the phenomena to justify this hypothesis.
TRICKERY - No. Suspicion was first turned on Mr. Wilkinson's son Robin, aged 15, by a letter published in "The Daily Advertiser," Wagga, on January 29. The writer said "I suggest that no further trouble will be experienced, at least with the afternoon milkings, after the termination of the current school holidays."
But when the holidays ended and the boy returned to school, the strange happenings continued. They also continued when he was absent at Albury for three weeks last winter.
UNDERGROUND MINERAL FORCE - This solution has not been tested.
POLTERGEISTS - Poltergeists, or "racketing spirits" as they have been called, are known to psychic research as the forces responsible for moving inanimate objects in so-called haunted houses. The phenomena at the Tarcutta dairy bear a strong resemblance to well-documented cases in other parts of the world.
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| Scene of the Tarcutta mystery. White lines show the paths taken by flying pieces of metal. The 2lb machine part which the boy, Robin Wilkinson, is picking up was found 250 yards from the "haunted" milking shed. |
They Saw Weird Sights At Tarcutta Dairy
When I visited Mr. Lawrence Wilkinson's dairy near Tarcutta I met 11 of the 15 persons who have actually been present in the dairy at different times when heavy objects were flying.
Here is what some of them told me :-
MR. ALEXANDER PORTORS, garage proprietor, Tarcutta - "I was standing in the creamery with some friends watching the master pulsator, which had been flying off.
"Mr. Wilkinson walked into the engine-room when an empty 1lb grease tin, which had been standing on the top of the vacuum pump, began to rise slowly in the air. We saw it spinning as it rose.
"It cleared a 6ft wooden partition with 18in to spare, then turned and fell with terrific force to the ground about 18in from where I stood.
Tin In Air
" A peculiarthing about it was that it seemed much bigger than it really was - as big as a football. I suppose that was because it was spinning diagonally.
"We were so astonished we thought we'd see what would happen to an empty 50-cigarette tin. W eput it on the top of the moisture trap of the vacuum pump. A minute or two later it also rose over the 6ft partition.
"On another occasion I was called in by Mr. Wilkinson to repair his engine. I was standing in the the milking shed with all machines in view when I heard a loud rush of air, and on looking up found that one of the pulsators that produce the suction for the milking machine was missing.
"We later found it in the grass outside the shed, a distance of about 30 yards. The shed is open on two sides and the pulsator would meet no obstruction in its flight.
"After this I made further tests and found the machine was throwing off more pulsators, some of which were later found 150 yards away, nearly all in a northerly direction from the hails.
Saw Them Fly
MR. R. V. DONOHOE, mechanical engineer, Tarcutta - "I was standing at the door of the milking shed with Mr. Portors on the day the pulsators flew off. One moment they were there, the next moment they were gone."
MISS VERONICA DONOHOE, Tarcutta - "I was standing in the seperator room with my father, Mr. Portors, and Mrs. Portors when I saw the grease tin rise in the air and crash at my feet with a loud bang. I got a terrible fright."
MR. EDWARD W. BROWN, drover, Tarcutta - "I went to Mr. Wilkinson's dairy one day with Mr. Portors to see what was the matter with his milking machine. We examined the pulsators, made sure they were fixed firmly on, and then started up the engine. Suddenly, the master pulsator flew off.
"After the master pulsator went we had a look at the other pulsators and found two of them were missing."
A RADIO AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEER (name surpressed at his request) - "When I first heard about the strangeevents at Mr. Wilkinson's dairy, I didn't believe them, but thought I'd go and see for myself. I went, and as a result of what I saw I visited the dairy again and again, as many as 20 visits in all, sometimes spending whole weekends there.
"I was with the party of people who saw the grease tin and cigarette tin rise in the air, but there were many other remarkable experiences.
"I once kept the master pulsator block in the creamery under observation for four hours. Suddenly I became aware that it had gone. We found it later 50 yards away in the paddock.
"One Sunday, sometime in August, I was looking through the engineroom door when I saw the lid of a cream can lift itself off the creamery shelf, rush through the air and strike the opposite wall. No one was present when this happened but myself. Mr. Wilkinson's boy was in the cottage 100 yards away.
"It's impossible to explain these things by any known law. I've thought of magnetic deflection and electrical interference, and at one time I made a lot of electro-physical with instruments I brought to the farm for the purpose, but all my tests proved nothing. It's the biggest mystery I've ever experienced."
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INVESTIGATOR BELIEVES A POLTERGEIST IS CAUSE OF TROUBLE
By A Member Of The Magic Circle (London)
After a visit to Mr Wilkinson's so-called "haunted" dairy and a careful study of all the evidence, I am convinced that the whole affair is of poltergeist origin.
Poltergeist is a word used in psychical research to cover all sorts of strange happenings, such as the movement of heavy objects, loud noises and rushes of cool air, which cannot be explained by any physical force known to science.
When I went to MR Wilkinson's dairy I had two things to settle in my mind. Was the rampaging milking machine in a state of neglect and disrepair? And was there a loophole for any trickery?
The answer to the first question was patently "No."
Mr Wilkinson himself is too stolid and hard-working a farmer to want to play tricks on himself. The continued disintegration of his milking machine had imposed a tremendous physical strain upon him and reduced his nervous system to a wreck.
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| Mr. Wilkinson's 15-year-old son, Robin, fixing a chain to prevent an observation glass being thrown from the milking machine. An investigator believes a pltergeist is the cause of strange events at the farm and that Robin is the agent. |
Then what of his son, Robin. Here is a strong, healthy boy of 15, obviously interested in machinery, always doing odd jobs in the dairy, and - most supicious circumstance of all - the indefatigable retriever of missing engine parts.
But I am convinced Robin intentionally was not responsible for these strange goings-on.
The evidence of eye-witnesses is that although he was present when some phenomena were happening, he was miles from the place when other things happened.
Yet it was the boy Robin who gave me a clue.
He said, in answer to my question : "Not much happens when I'm away."
That was it. The history of psychical research in other countries proves that nearly all poltergeist phenomena occur in the presence of a human agent, usually an adolescent boy or girl.
In other words, I think it reasonable to suspect that the absurd happenings at Mr. Wilkinson's farm are of poltergeist origin and that the human agent in the case is Mr. Wilkinson's son.
It is only a theory, but the pattern is there.
(The Magic Circle is the leading and oldest society of amateur and professional magicians in England)
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