Colin Evans was a Welsh spiritualist during the 20th century who claimed to have the ability to levitate. He would perform his séances in complete darkness, and during his supposed levitation sequence, he would pull a cord. This cord would trigger flash photography, which would capture the moment where he levitated. He claimed that spirits would lift him. His claims were debunked by magicians, who stated that due to the blurriness of his feet in the photographs, it showed movement (i.e. jumping) instead of levitation. In a show in Regent’s Park, London in 1938, the same routine was performed, but due to the complaints from the audience, their money was refunded.
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The Ghastly Historian 