An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural

Introduction | "R" Reading | Curse of the Pharaoh | End-of-the-World Prophecies

Index | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | Z

Lodge, Sir Oliver Joseph (1851-1940) Sir Oliver was a scientist who did pioneer work in early radio and research on lightning. Among other inventions, he perfected a model of coherer, a device used in early radio before the invention of the vacuum tube.
      Lodge's son Raymond was killed in battle in 1915 in France. In 1916, Lodge published a book, Raymond, or Life and Death in which he said that the spirit of his son had communicated with him through various spirit mediums. Raymond, he said, described clothes worn in heaven, as well as all other material things there, as being made of the “smell” of the same decayed matter in the earthly world. Such claims, and his fervent support of the spiritualist movement, eventually made Lodge the laughingstock of his peers and the public, though he was, and still is, a sainted figure to the spiritualists.

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